Ice Cream With Heisenberg:
It's a hot, bright June day in Vancouver and we're sitting outside of a personalized ice cream truck with Walter White's gloriously grim mug plastered across the front, eating a delicious scoop of Mothra flavored (salted caramel) ice cream, and chatting it up with Bryan Cranston.
This is the set of Legendary and Warner Brothers' Godzilla the day before Cranston wraps picture. As a thank you to the crew, he's ordered an ice cream truck to come and offer Godzilla-themed flavors as a mid-afternoon treat. Cranston stands joking with the crew and reporters alike, and is every bit the charming, hilarious, and relatable man that you'd hope he'd be. Stay tuned for more from our interview with him.
Standing In Godzilla's Rib Cage:
Godzilla will come roaring into theaters in just about two months, but we were able to suss out some key details during our time on the Vancouver set. While there, we went through the "war room"; which was filled with the concept art from the film that essentially laid out the trajectory of the story in pictorial form. We were then hustled into a pre-vis screening where we were treated to an early look at that epic halo jump sequence from the trailer. From there we went to set, where we observed director Gareth Edwards working with Cranston and Aaron Taylor-Johnson on a pivotal scene. We were able to speak with all three in between takes. Then it was on to a set featuring the construction of a massive kaiju's remains (you've also seen this brought to life in the trailers). We completed the day at the exterior of what will become an elaborate airport action/destruction sequence. Along the way, we spoke with visual effects, producers, production designers, and more.
Here's just a taste of what we learned...
How This Connects To The '54 Film:
As we've seen in the trailers, as well as the image above, Godzilla 2014 makes reference to the monster's existence in 1954. There are flashbacks of the military setting off atomic bombs in an attempt to kill him, as well as present day scenes featuring his colossal bones. Yet, as Edwards told us on set, their movie is functioning as an origin story. If this film was following the events of the original precisely, and Godzilla had invaded Japan, then the world would know about his existence...They don't.
"What we wanted to do was create a mythology that made sense, back to '54, but certainly not building on it and acting like a sequel," Thomas Tull, Godzilla producer and CEO of Legendary told IGN in a subsequent interview. "There's an agency that knew Godzilla existed back then in '54, so our thread was to create that link."
"We never go there on the nose that in '54 there was a nuclear event, Godzilla attacked Japan and all that," the producer continued. "That's not part of our film. But I think we connect the dots in a way that will -- you'll certainly understand the origins, and you'll certainly understand the reverence, but we've just got our own angle on it."
As Cranston explained, "The idea is to give you a little historic perspective to what may be the genesis of what becomes the initial problem in this story, and then it moves up to 1999, and again to 2014."
Cranston Was Hesitant, But Said Yes After A Slight Script Change:
Cranston was initially reticent to do the film, as he was feeling protective coming off of "a very well-written and executed show" -Breaking Bad. The actor's concern was that whatever he did next would be compared to the series. Cranston also didn't want to make the mistake of being "a prude about it," as he says, so he spoke with Edwards and became convinced that the human element would play a central role in the film. There is a "cats in the cradle" estranged father/son dynamic between he and Johnson's character that the actor responded to and nurtured in early drafts of the script. Cranston is also well aware of the movie he's in - Godzilla with a capital KAIJU - and has fully embraced the pure joy and fun of being in an epic monster movie. Though, one which they've all worked to ground in a deep sense of reality.
"This movie is about what it would be like if this were really happening," Edwards says.
A Global Road Movie:
That is how Edwards describes the film, which features locations ranging from Japan, the Philippines, Hawaii, and the United States.
"It felt like what we were doing with the franchise was taking something that was very Japanese, that belongs to Japan, and bringing it to America," the director explained. "And so from a very early stage, the journey of this movie was a journey from Japan to America. That felt like the heart of everything. Hawaii's in the middle of it, obviously. So we sculpted the story around that basic, global path. And it's not as literal as 'something from Japan comes to America.' But it felt like visually we wanted that transition to happen from a feeling of a very Japanese thing to become an American thing."
What They Learned From Man of Steel:
You may never hear the "G word" in this movie.
"For a long time, we liked the idea of never, ever saying his name," Edwards said when asked how they would introduce the titular character's moniker. "We had a million ideas of how you could say that name. And it might be that one of them ends up in the movie. We're still playing with a couple of them. But I think it's just as good to never say his name out loud. We're going to have it on every single poster and every single everywhere. There's something more ethereal about a person you don't really label. It's so obvious to say, 'It's Godzilla!' How do you talk about this thing? Is it a thing? Is it a creature? Is it a monster? Is it an organism? Is it an animal? And we kind of use all of those, and wait for the right moment to use the actual name gag. I saw Man of Steel last night and thought they were quite clever about it."
Did Andy Serkis Do Performance Capture?:
Maybe...probably. When we were on set, we were told that Serkis had made a call offering his services to the production, in the event that they'd elect to use performance capture for Godzilla. There's been talk since that time that indicates that the actor did indeed do some work on the film, but we do not have full confirmation, yet.
The key was, creating a creature that is a force of nature; one that carves a path of ruin with a sense of indifference towards the human race, but that also has a personality. A mythic beast that is God-like in his stature and might, and yet that is also, in some ways, our hero.
"That really is at the heart of it," Tull said of striking the right balance for the character. "Because if you have a Godzilla that's too familiar and too sort of, like, 'Heeeey, it's Godzilla' then that can get goofy in a hurry. On the other hand, in my book, Godzilla is the good guy. He's got the reptilian brain, but I absolutely think it will be clear to audiences that you'll be rooting hard in that direction."
Hear Him Roar, Revamped!:
The studios focus and intent has been to honor the source while integrating a contemporary take at every stage of the production - from the script to Godzilla's design. The team worked very closely with Toho on his visual aesthetic. The same is true for his iconic roar.
"We asked ourselves, 'How do you make sure that you can tell it's the classic roar and yet an updated version?'" Tull said in our interview. "In our minds, when we sat down with Erik [Aadahl], our sound designer, on this, the guiding principle was always -- well, look, when you hear the classic roar in Godzilla movies, we want people to be like, 'Oh, that's the movie version,' then when they hear our version, it's like, 'If you're on the ground, that's what it actually sounds like.'"
Easter Eggs:
Eagle-eyed viewers have already started to point out potential Easter eggs in the teasers and subsequent marketing materials. There's been speculation that the Mothra twins made an appearance in the most recent trailer, though that's been denied.
However, we do know that Ken Watanabe's character, Daisuke Serizawa, shares a name with the scientist who created the Oxygen Destroyer in the '54 film. Given that it would be impossible for him to be playing that same character, and that this is Legendary's own origin story, it's possible that the link is just a call out to hard-core fans. Or, it's possible that this is the man who will find a way to stop this beast.
"Certainly there are things in the movie that if you're a massive fan of Godzilla, you're gonna notice little tips of the cap to that. That was important to us," Tull said evasively when asked about the the link between Watanabe's character and the original film.
Edwards did promise that he would include those nods, in subtle ways. When we were on set, there was a paperweight on a desk with "Mothra" written on it. You'd have to really be looking closely to notice, though.
Now, we're going to head into some territory that could be a bit spoilery, so if you want to steer clear of specific details on the story you may want to jump out now or skip ahead to discuss all things King of the Monsters in comments. Stay tuned for more on Godzilla in the weeks to come, though, as we'll have interviews, including Cranston's, and plenty more details to divulge.
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