How VFX updates take Godzilla back to its nuclear roots

“Godzilla: Minus One’s” Takashi Yamazaki is the first feature director to be nominated for a visual effects Academy Award since Stanley Kubrick in 1969. “Minus One’s” rich, gorgeous visual effects, seen in two-thirds of the unusually emotional, 38th Godzilla movie, cost between a quarter and a third of the film’s bargain-basement budget. “We wanted to make Godzilla very, very cool for this film,” says Yamazaki, who after much trial and error utilized aesthetics his team employed for the “Godzilla: The Ride” attraction at Japan’s Seibuen Amusement Park. And we wanted impact for the audience, so there’s an intense level of getting up close, personal and detailed, that you can’t really do with a man in a suit.” “In terms of polygon counts, we’re talking millions” to reach the final product, says “Godzilla: Minus One” director and vfx chief Takashi Yamazaki.