Additional details on recreating live-action titans for the Shingeki no Kyojin movie and Subaru CM!!
Remember the Subaru Forester CM featuring the grotesque female and male titan and Colossal Titan (Oogata Kyojin)? Well, previously on AFACHAN, we mentioned that the titans were not completely created by computer-generated (CG) visual effects, but instead involved massive amounts of special effects make-up and a 2-meter tall model of Colossal Titan.
Based on a short feature segment aired on Nippon Television (日テレ), we got sneak peek at what really went into the creation of those terrifying titans. This was led by director Higuchi Shinji (樋口真嗣), who’s considered a tokusatsu (特撮 – special effects) expert for his work on Kyoshinhei Tokyo ni Arawaru (巨神兵東京に現わる-special effects film for Museum of Contemporary Art,Tokyo), Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris, and Tokyo Sinks (Tokyo Chinbotsu 日本沈没).
Using live-action motion capture enhanced by special effects make-up and later computer visual effects, stunt actors recreated the deformed postures and unbalanced swinging gait of the regular titans. Director Higuchi revealed that due to the immense popularity of Shingeki no Kyojin, they were under pressure to stay as true to the original work as possible.
The star of the CM, the Colossal Titan, was a two-metre tall upper body “miniature” built to painstaking anatomical detail of every muscle and ligament. This “miniature” was controlled by SEVEN puppeteers, one in the torso, one controlling the head, one each for the arms, two for facial expressions and the final one for the fingers in the left hand. This combination of live cinematography and puppetry was employed to create a realistic sense of motion to the Colossal Titan, maximising its ability to induce terror.
With three green-suited heroes perched over the miniature, you get smooth yet powerful arm sweeps, and when its head is thrown back, you can almost hear the deafening roar. Levers controlled by other puppeteers hiding behind the green screen control the facial, jaw and finger muscles, giving amazing flexibility to change from one menacing facial expression to the next, and horrifying clawing motions to the fingers.
Director Higuchi also revealed that similar technology will also be used for the Shingeki no Kyojin full-length live-action feature film, so we can look forward to more tokusatsu wizardry!
All images property of Nippon Television.
Youtube video of the special feature here:
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