Godzilla: Creating the Animalistic and Masculine Kaiju Monster
Released on 05/23/2014
(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)
Starring: Mike Seymour
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