The lights dim. Cameras start to roll. A film crew silently watches. Suddenly! From behind a hand-built skyline, a towering beast appears! Shaking off a layer of dust, the massive foam-and-rubber monster leans back to act out an amazing roar (the sound effect will be added in later). Then, stomping towards the camera, the giant moves closer, and closer, until…” Cut ! ”
Seen this film before? This live action genre, known as “ Tokusatsu ” (特撮) in Japanese, is unmistakable in its style, and still evident in many modern beast-based thrillers. In today’s Doodle, we spotlight one of Tokusatsu’s kings, Eiji Tsuburaya, the quiet pioneer who created Ultraman, co-created Godzilla, and brought Tokusatsu to the global cinematic mainstream. Doodler Jennifer Hom led us through the inspiration behind the interactive Doodle :
Who was Tsuburaya, and what drew you to create this tribute to him ?
“ Director Eiji Tsuburaya is best known for the famous characters he brought to life, like Ultraman. After many years in the ' monster business, ’ he set up his own practical effects studio, Tsuburaya Productions, which we were lucky enough to visit for this project! Having grown up as a film fan, I’ve always had a deep love for Tokusatsu, so I was eager to find a way to bring attention to Tsuburaya’s art. It’s fascinating to me how long-lasting the results of his work has been – it’s easy to see remnants of the Tokusatsu style in Benicio Del Toro’s Pacific Rim, Evangelion, and even the Power Rangers. ”
The main set of Tsuburaya Productions, awaiting its monsters...
Back up a second...you visited Tsuburaya’s studio ?
“ Yes! We wanted to witness the studio’s production in person to be able to create an authentic filmmaking experience within our Doodle. Their construction process is incredible: all of their costumes and props are made by hand, in a secret studio. The workspace felt organized and messy at the same time, with each member having their own system behind which materials lived where. And there was a palpable respect for the tradition and legacy that they’re upholding through their craft. ”
Tell us about the Doodle itself !
“ Post-visit, I was resolved to make a Doodle that could show how fun, fast, and totally chaotic the Tokusatsu filmmaking process can be. This guided one of many, many rounds of brainstorming. ”
Initial sketches and notes focused on ways to best capture the frenzy of Tsuburaya’s production style.
“ While several of ideas revolved around a game format, I thought it would be more interesting and engaging to recreate the filmmaking experience from scratch – what better way to get an appreciation for the creative challenges Tsuburaya the director had to face ? ”
Early game-like ideas, like this sketch, eventually evolved into the filmmaking experience.
One style exploration leaned towards a more dramatic Tokusatsu feel.
“ After deciding to focus on the filmmaking process, we went to work defining the look of the monsters themselves and building out the quick tasks the user had to complete. Above all, we wanted to make sure the beasts were both charming and Googley, and that the mini-challenges were appropriately fun and frantic ! ”
Monster iterations were created within a Googley framework !
The mini-challenges illustrate the wide range of jobs necessary to create a Tokusatsu movie.
Doodlers Jennifer Hom & Mark Holmes on set, wearing masks to protect them from the special effects dust kicked up by monsters
TEAM CREDITS :
Doodlers : Jennifer Hom, Mark Holmes, Olivia Huynh
Animators : Sophia Foster-Dimino, Tony Papesh
Additional Art : Alyssa Winans
Engineers : Corrie Scalisi, Jonathan Schneier, Kris Hom
Novel "Ultraman F" by Yasumi Kobayashi receives Seiun Award. Ultraman F is the 3rd Series of TSUBURAYA × HAYAKAWA Works. This novel depicts the story of SSSP after original Ultraman left Earth. This novel has connections with the characters from 2004's Ultraman Remake movie "ULTRAMAN", Ultraman Nexus, Ultraman Dyna's F Plan & also the current running manga "ULTRAMAN".
Seiun Award is the Award given for Speculative Fiction of the preceding year.
Story
It's about the earth after Ultraman has left
The countries were facing the problems of Aliens and Monster who were approaching earth. For this they decided to develop a system to defend & fight against them. Japan's SSSP were conducting the research on the Man who became Ultraman → Shin Hayata (SSSP's member actually knew that Shin Hayata was Ultraman in TV Series but didn't tell him in order to protect him) in order to find the secret of it. Akiko Fuji who was turned into a Giant by Mephilas Seijin in the past gets involved in experimental accident. Because of this she gets back into the same form of her from that time → Giant Fuji.
Giant Fuji Akiko with Super Alien Armor
Threats like Beast the One (from 2004's movie ULTRAMAN), Jamila, Dark Destuction God Dark Zagi (from Ultraman Nexus), U-Killersaurus (from Ultraman Mebius & Ultraman Brothers) & Hyper Zetton (from Ultraman Saga) come to earth. Giant Fuji Akiko uses the Super Alien Armor developed by Mitsuhiro Ide to fight the monster and protect earth. In between the fight she gets surrounded by a mysterious light. Ide shouts "This is Pattern, Ultra!". Beyond this sees Silver colored Glowing Giant. The Unknown Ultraman is born! → Ultraman F (F stands for Fuji).
Highlight
- Even if Fuji Akiko is the one who transforms into Ultraman F, Mitsuhiro Ide is the protagonist of this novel.
- In Ultraman TV Series, three suits were used for Ultraman → Type A, Type B, Type C. Mitsuhiro Ide considers this as Form Change in the novel but another character named Impatient rejected his thesis saying that even human's change their appearance daily.
- Beast the One is from another universe and sent to this universe just like seen Ultraman Zero Series
- Along with Dark Zagi, the other two Dark Ultraman → Dark Mephisto (not Zwei) & Dark Faust will also appear in the novel.
- Initially Ultraman F called Dark Zagi as Fake Ultraman but in the end she referred him as "Noa the God" (Noa the God refers to the Statue of Ultraman Noa appeared in TV Series which later connects to Ultraman Nexus' Ultimate form → Ultraman Noa).
- Many Final Monsters from different Ultraman Series will appear in the novel. This also includes Dark Rugeil from Ultraman Ginga.
- Ultraman F's F refers to both "Fuji" & "Female".
- She has a Spacium Finisher whose Spacium Temperature is 87,000 degrees → M87 Ray ?
Ultraman F resembles Ultraman Saga because the Illustration Cover for Ultraman F is drawn by Masayuki Goto who had also designed Ultraman Saga.
In 2019, “Ultraman” will be moving onto a new phase! The serialized comic “ULTRAMAN” will become a full 3DCG animation!
-Synopsis of “ULTRAMAN”-
In “ULTRAMAN”, Ultraman was drawn as a “Human-sized hero” who fights in a metallic Ultraman suit. And Shinjiro Hayata, a high school student who inherited the gene of Ultraman from his father Shin Hayata, becomes Ultraman. This comic became a big seller and its circulation has reached more than 2.6 million copies.
Post time 7-7-2015 08:14 AM
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