As “Godzilla Minus One” surges in the Oscar race for visual effects, more than 400 people filled the Harmony Gold Theater on Tuesday to watch the kaiju’s latest on-screen outing for…
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
As “Godzilla Minus One” surges in the Oscar race for visual effects, more than 400 people filled the Harmony Gold Theater on Tuesday to watch the kaiju’s latest on-screen outing for the Variety Artisans Screening Series.
“Godzilla Minus One” marks the first time in the franchise’s 70-year history that a Godzilla film has landed an Oscar nomination. It’s up against “The Creator,” “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” and “Napoleon.” Not bad for a film that, unlike its peers, didn’t have a phase one campaign and submitted its entry right before the deadline.
“It’s going to take me a few years to process what has happened and what it all means,” writer, director and visual effects supervisor Takashi Yamazaki replied when asked how he was feeling. Yamazaki, who spoke through a translator, added, “But I have to thank Godzilla for opening the door and paving the way and making it to the Oscars.”
Yamazaki was joined by Kiyoko Shibuya (visual effects director), Masaki Takahashi (3D CG director) and Tatsuji Nojima (effects artist and compositor).
Shot on a budget of $15 million, the film follows former Kamikaze pilot Kōichi Shikishima (Kamiki Ryunosuke), who deals with PTSD and survivor’s guilt following World War II — and an attack from Godzilla. Despite that, he manages to build a life for his newfound family, but still suffers nightmares and at times can’t separate his terrors from reality. Meanwhile, a local nuclear test plant sets off a reaction that reawakens Godzilla, who wreaks havoc on the city.
In a conversation moderated by Variety senior artisans editor Jazz Tangcay, Yamazaki explained how the film came together with a group of just 35 artists and and a total of 610 visual effects shots. Takahashi described the process and how tasks were divided: “We didn’t scale our team based on how many shots we had, we just divided things up differently, and that meant our artists had three times the shots they normally would.” It also meant that five artists worked solely on the film’s water effects.
Nojima revealed that as a hobby, he would spend time simulating water effects on his home computer, which was music to the director’s ear. As a result, Yamazaki added more water scenes. Not only did that mean a dedicated water effects team, it meant approximately 100 VFX shots went into those sequences, which included Godzilla rising from the water and almost capsizing a boat, and a mighty battle at the end. “It took up a lot of our VFX team to do the water scenes, but what we achieve is pretty amazing,” Nojima told the audience.
Notably, Yamazaki didn’t just lead the team as director and writer. With a background and established career in visual effects, he was in the trenches with his artists, working alongside them. “There were a chunk of tasks no one was taking, and it came back to me. I had to start planting trees in on a mountain as the director-slash-VFX supervisor,” he said, adding that he also worked on the smoke effects that protrude from the monster’s spine.
When it came to writing the screenplay, Yamazaki discussed how decided to introduce Godzilla in the film, and when. Ultimately, he chose to show the monster early on — at least a pre-atomic bomb version of him. Once he had done that, it gave the filmmaker a chance to focus on the human drama element of the storytelling. Said Yamazaki, “Just about when everyone’s forgotten about Godzilla is when he smashes on the screen again.”
Shibuya, who made history when she became the first woman of color to be nominated for the visual effects Oscar, described her experience working on the film. Having spent 35 years working alongside Yamazaki, she said, “In Japan, when you work in the VFX industry, it’s almost non-existent to run into another female, especially on the VFX supervisor level.”
She added, “Coming to the U.S. and having that same message resonated, just being able to talk in front of everyone during Q&As, or even during the Oscar luncheon, I felt this connection with the other women in the field and the film industry in general. Although we’re speaking different languages, we have the same love for films in that way. I just hope that we can help transform this industry and make it open and welcoming to everyone who wants to be in it.”
Watch a video of the panel above.