(piano tinkling)

(ominous orchestral drumming)

(people yelling)

Hi, I'm Mike Seymour from fxguide.com for Wired.

Looking at the tech of the making of

the King of Zillas, the mighty Godzilla.

Godzilla is a huge, solitary and even noble figure.

Almost oblivious to man.

A metaphor for nuclear horror.

And he's one of cinema's greatest monsters.

Director Gareth Edwards was faced with

the task of modernizing the classic,

but in a way that was much more

respectful to the past than perhaps

the 1998 Roland Emmerich film

which depicted a more iguana-like creature.

Initially Godzilla's look was going to be

very much based on nature,

on real animals.

But Edwards wanted to allow Godzilla

to act and express emotion.

So visual effects studio MPC animated the new Godzilla

with enough human traits to deliver a narrative

and still be one of history's most impressive monsters.

But it wouldn't be a Godzilla movie without him

taking some heat from the military

and fighting off some pretty serious threats.

The climax of the film takes place in San Francisco,

but Edwards wanted to shoot as much

real footage as he possibly could.

For example, the iconic halo jump into the city.

While CGE was certainly added

all the base photography of the troops was real.

Shot with a real parachute team.

Similarly, the arrival in the city

of the Mutos and Godzilla

used as much real footage as the director could shoot.

Which helps add realism to some very unnatural creatures

and give them scale.

This newest Godzilla is the largest he's ever been.

But unlike the current trend in big effects films,

the director holds back what this

massive creature can do until the end of the movie.

And even then, Godzilla is only really shot from

realistic camera angles, often below looking up.

The team worked out that,

at this size if he swung his tail,

he would actually reach super sonic speeds.

The character is just that much bigger

than we've ever seen him before.

(roaring)

Don't forget to subscribe for more

behind-the-scenes action.

I'm Mike Seymour for Wired.

(ominous orchestral music)

(roaring)