Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1124104
This film reveals the worlds the creatures come from, as shown in Godzilla's lair. No previous Godzilla movie had revealed where he comes from, and Michael's ancient cultural construct was applied to develop the concept. His home is the long- forgotten city humans built for him in worshipful tribute, and by the time of this story the city has been settled at the deepest bottom of the sea for thousands of years, due presumably to natural cataclysm. The creature development possibilites were enticing: Michael and his writing partner Zac Shields wanted me to be their creature redesign team leader. It was an interesting challenge that I've never attempted before, and I was excited about visually sharpening the storytelling qualities of the "live" creatures in the film. (I had nothing to do with the creature in Cowboys & Aliens [2011], another film I designed.) Michael has been a lifelong monster geek, so the fan perspective was actively covered there. I approached the creatures in the same way I approach creating the environmental world for a story: discovering the essential character and nature of, in this case the creature, and bringing it to visual life as specifically and articulately as possible. The process focused on the specific characteristics and contrasts of each monster, bringing them into a more current visual lingo while acknowledging their roots from the original 1950s and '60s designs. Staying true to intended character was a necessity, having experienced how easy it was to become carried away by an incredibly cool design idea that had too little to do with the actual character. It was part of my job to make sure the film didn't get stuck there even if we wanted to be. Mothra was the monster who needed the most careful handling in this regard. The process began by engaging creature design and development companies Legacy, Amalgamated Dynamics, Inc., as well as the independent design team Miguel Ortega and Tran Ma, whom Michael had worked with on his previous feature Crampus (2015), to be our collaborating team. In our first round of development, we worked with all of the collaborators on all of the creatures as one big team, throwing the door open wide as to what the creatures could develop into given our fundamental personality (monsterality?) and physical characteristics. This version of the story was following in the footsteps of Legendary Studios' 2014 Godzilla feature, and we were all happy with the updating design work director Gareth Edwards, Production Designer Owen Paterson and Illustrator Matt Allsopp accomplished for their earlier film. As a result, Godzilla didn't require much adjusting. Michael, being the major fan that he is, had a few tweaks to perform on the silhouette, and together we designed a specific lighting effect to play throughout Godzilla's body each time he bellows his annihilating radioactive roar. A A. WITHIN A CENTURIES- OLD TOMB IN A NORTHERN CHINESE JUNGLE, MONARCH MONITORS MOTHRA'S EGG. CONCEPT ILLUSTRATION BY MILENA ZDRAVKOVIC. B. DISCOVERED WITHIN A LIVE VOLCANIC MOUNTAIN SITE NEAR MEXICO CITY, A HUGE-SCALE BAS RELIEF FROM ANCIENT TIMES DEPICTS THE ANCIENT GOD/MONSTER RODAN, CONCEPT SKETCH BY WARREN FLANAGAN AND DEAN SHERRIFF. B C