From suits to sets to CGI, discover how the Godzilla franchise’s visual and special effects innovations changed film production forever.
From Eiji Tsuburaya's early miniatures and monster suits, to visual effects innovations that have transformed 21st Century cinema, the Godzilla franchise has had an outsized impact on on filmmaking craft.
Tsuburaya's Godzilla suit was an early example of tokusatsu (or ‘suitmation’) – a technique which endured for decades on screen – and his intricately designed miniature sets for the Godzilla franchise made scenes of Tokyo’s destruction all the more resonant.
Recent entries in the Monsterverse franchise have harnessed CGI by visual effects masters from studios like Luma Pictures and Weta Workshop to create stunning new worlds and bring bigger and badder monsters and setpieces to new audiences.
Joining host Silvi Vann-Wall will be Brendan Seals from Luma Pictures, who was the visual effects supervisor for Godzilla vs Kong, and tokusatsu expert Dr. Sophia Staite.
Our thanks to The Japan Foundation & Academic consultant Jessica Balanzategui
Panellists
Brendan Seals
Brendan Seals is a Visual Effects Supervisor at Luma Pictures and has worked in the Film and Commercial industry for the last 15 years. Having completed a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in 3D, he started his career as a Generalist and quickly developed a versatility across Look Dev, FX and Compositing. He has supervised on major Hollywood productions such as the recent Spider-Man trilogy, Jo Jo Rabbit and Alien: Covenant.
Sophia Staite
Sophia Staite’s research into tokusatsu film and television has taken them from Oita University in Japan to the University of Tasmania, Australia and even to Germany, where they were a visiting fellow with the Global Sentimentality Project at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität last year. Sophia’s research draws on transcultural media studies, childhood studies, and queer theory to explore the ways audiences around the world have made meaning from tokusatsu texts. Their research has been published in The Australasian Journal of Popular Culture, M/C Journal, Intersections: Gender and Sexuality in Asia and the Pacific, Aeternum: The Journal of Contemporary Gothic Studies, and Jeunesse: Young People, Texts, Cultures.
Kevin Smith
Kevin Smith, originally from Los Angeles, joined Wētā FX in 2000 as a Shader Writer for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, contributing to Gollum’s development. He later led sequences on The Two Towers and worked as VFX Supervisor on projects like Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Avatar, Tintin, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and Mortal Engines. Kevin studied Physics and Computer Science at Case Western Reserve University.
Silvi Vann-Wall
Silvi Vann-Wall is a writer, podcaster, and filmmaker with a love for bombastic genre flicks. They currently work as the film content lead for ScreenHub.com.au, where they review film and TV, and write news about the Australian screen industry. They spend their increasingly scarce spare time doing improv comedy and musical theatre.
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