Evangelion Director Resurrects Classic Special Effects

[The Wooster]

Evangelion Director Resurrects Classic Special Effects

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Evangelion creators and Studio Ghibli team up for a monstrous short film.

The trailer to the right is for Kyoshinhei Tokyo ni Arawaru (Giant God Warrior Appears in Tokyo), a live-action short film developed by Evangelion director, Hideaki Anno, directed by Evangelion storyboard artist, Shinji Higuchi and produced by heartwarming animation merchants, Studio Ghibli. The 5-10 minute film is being shown by The Tokyo Museum of Contemporary Art as part of a special effects exhibition curated by Anno himself.

Aside from the whole "giant monster blows things up" angle, there're two particularly cool things about this film. First, there's no CG. All the visual effects in the film are achieved using classic special effects techniques, particularly miniature models. Think classic Godzilla or, if you happen to be around my age, Power Rangers.

The second cool thing you might have noticed is that the God Warrior in the trailer looks a lot like one of the Eva units from Evangelion. It's actually the other way around: The God Warrior depicted in the movie is taken from Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, a film directed by Studio Ghibli co-founder, Hayao Miyazaki. Hideaki Anno was a key animator on Nausicaä, and he later admitted he drew inspiration from the film's giant creatures (alongside Super Sentai progenitor, Ultraman) when he was creating Evangelion.

The exhibition opened on July 10th and is running till October 8th. Hopefully once it's finished, the movie will be released online for those of us don't live in Japan.

Source: ANN [http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2012-07-28/long-giant-god-warrior-teaser-by-evangelion-anno-and-ghibli-aired]



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[evilneko]

Anno's involved? Be prepared for off the charts levels of wangst!

 

[Ftaghn To You Too]

It looks awesome. There's a special charm to model special effects, and this has that charm.

Also, Anno is awesome. He can make a giant robot show, and make it well.

 

[IndianaJonny]

...The God Warrior depicted in the movie is taken from Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, a film directed by Studio Ghibli co-founder, Hayao Miyazaki.

There, fixed that for ya'.

 

[The Wooster]

...The God Warrior depicted in the movie is taken from Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, a film directed by Studio Ghibli co-founder, Hayao Miyazaki.

There, fixed that for ya'.

That's what we call him in the playground. Fixed though, thanks.

 

[Flamezdudes]

This is pure awesome. Studio Ghibli and Hideaki Anno? Count me in.

It'll be interesting to watch if I get a chance to, since these sort of films don't happen often.

 

[Casual Shinji]

That final scene of the multiple giants with light spears is lifted straight from the opening credits of Nausica.

And it wouldn't be an Anno production witout atleast one 'giant creature + skyline silhouette' shot.

It looked pretty sweet, but it won't make me decry the all of CGIdom.

 

[omegawyrm]

That's nice Anno, but you released that first Rebuild movie, what, 5 years ago now? Mind getting around to finishing that anytime soon?

 

[Jabberwock xeno]

Kaiju film directed by NGE director?

Where do I send my money?

 

[Akimoto]

Now I know where he got the Eva design from. And I can't wait to watch Rebuild 3 and 4, I remember getting leave just to watch Rebuild 2.

On a related note: YEEEAAAAHH!!

 

[Dashiva]

Kinda bummed we won't be seeing English Rebuild 3 for at least another year once it's out in Japan...

 

[Nemu]

OMFG

Now I must go watch NGE and cry because the 3rd movie isn't out yet. T_T

 

[Draconalis]

So it's a 10 minute live-action prequel to Nausicaä set during the time in which the giant warriors destroyed the world.

I'm game.

 

[orangeapples]

those explosions weren't CG? Sometimes it is hard to distinguish between superimposing and bad CG...

 

[Flamezdudes]

That's nice Anno, but you released that first Rebuild movie, what, 5 years ago now? Mind getting around to finishing that anytime soon?

Evangelion 2.22 is already out and 3.0 is coming out in Japan in November. He's working on it, you gotta be patient with Evangelion. The final Rebuild film is supposed to be out next year though, however I kinda doubt it.

 

[rcs619]

Man, I miss old-school practical effects, especially in monster movies. Don't get me wrong, CGI has its uses, and when used well, it can do amazing things. Still, there's just something so aesthetically pleasing about something that is actually... there, actually physically in the shot, interacting with other elements.

A lot of modern films really would benefit by going back to basics with practical effects. When you go too crazy with CGI (especially when the visuals you want are far too ambitious for your budget), it just looks like people running away from a cartoon. Like, in my opinion, that's why John Carpenter's "The Thing" was superior, and scarier, than the remake that came out a year ago. The practical effects were great, and to me anyway, there's something scarier about a monster that is physically there, than something that was done in a computer and tacked into the shot months after filming.

Also, I just love all the work that goes into suit-work, and stop-motion and miniatures. They really are art-forms all unto themselves.

 

[josemlopes]

While the monster looks cool (with the exception of 1 shot where it clearly shows the "figurine" side of it), those explosions fucking hurt. They look really bad.

Still interested though

 

[Ohlookit'sMatty]

I need this in my life // I remember a while back there was suppose to be a Eve movie going into production, even seen the per-production designs done by Weta // Sadly nothing ever came of it

Now if you will excuse me, I think I need to go and watch the Eve anime now

-M