"New Ultraman" uses CG, will the special photo disappear?

If the words "Fantasy Special Photography" appear at the beginning of a film, it will be enough for special photography fans.

's latest work that can excite them is " New Ultraman " directed by Hideaki Anno, as 's producer, screenwriter, and Shinji Higuchi . Regardless of the visual elements or the storyline, the film pays a lot of tribute In 1966, " Ultra Q" and the first episode of the series "Ultraman". At the same time, it takes the creation of "Ultraman that no one has seen so far" as its main focus.

"New Ultraman" is part of the "New Japan Heroes Universe" project, which is controlled by Anno Hideaki. In addition to the 4 new theatrical versions of "Neon Genesis Evangelion", it will also realize Godzilla, Austrian The linkage of the three special IPs of Terman and Kamen Rider. The movie "New Kamen Rider" has also entered the announcement period and is expected to be released next year. When

was released in Japan earlier, "Ultraman New" attracted more than 640,000 viewers in three days, with a box office of 990 million yen, a 17.2% increase in opening performance compared to " New Godzilla " in 2016. However, the film's final box office was 4.38 billion yen, which is far from the previous 8.25 billion yen result of "New Godzilla".

"The special shot is realistic, and some fictional things can be mixed into the captured images of the real world. This is the most interesting part of the special shot." Hideaki Anno explained the charm of and . Interestingly, although the film tried to simulate the texture of the leather case in terms of visual perception, "Shin Godzilla" created the first pure CG Godzilla in the Japanese series.

This seemingly superfluous method of "shooting special films with CG" has been widely used in "New Ultraman", and the entire film is almost entirely completed with computer special effects. "CG" and "special photography", two seemingly contradictory and alternative special effects methods, have achieved subtle coexistence in several films beginning with the word "new". This phenomenon of

may just show that the "special photography" that has long become an independent film genre and a cultural collection will never usher in the day when it will be completely replaced and die.

"put on the leather case and talk about it"

"special photography" was originally an abbreviation for "special photography". In a broad sense, any film and television work that uses some special techniques to shoot scenes or objects that are usually difficult to shoot can be called special photography works. The meaning of

can be traced back to the time when the film was created. George Méliès In 1902, when filming "Journey to the Moon", the film that had stopped for a few seconds was washed out during the shooting due to occasional problems, and the resulting image The horse-drawn carriage turned into a "hearse", creating "images that do not actually exist", and the "special photography" technique was invented in this way.

With the popularization of CG and the reduction of the use of traditional special photography technology, the broad meaning of "special photography" is basically no longer used, and replaced by the narrow meaning that was fixed after the transformation in Japan. "Special photography" has changed from a technical name to a specific type of film. Its expression is generally performed by real actors wearing leather jackets and fighting in miniature models. The subject matter is generally about "heroes" or "monsters" s story.

For more than half a century, "special photography" has developed a mature industrial system in Japan, and has been labeled as a cultural output, but its history in Japan is not glorious.

In the 1940s, special feature films were part of Japan's "national policy films". The so-called "national policy film" is a propaganda tool that incorporates imperialist sentiments and is used to praise war. The fascist camp includes Mussolini , Goebbels and others have used similar slogans, and also filmed " Triumph of the Will "Olympic" and other well-skilled but notorious films. The Japanese government is also determined to use films to promote militarism, and has formulated a series of detailed rules for the "film law". The request of the

government gave birth to a "representative work" called "Hawaii-Malay Sea Battle". The climax of the film is " sneak attack on Pearl Harbor ", which triggered the Pacific War . Due to the long production cycle, the Japanese people When I saw it, the Japanese army was actually losing ground in the Pacific battlefield . Shortly afterThe U.S. military occupied Japan, and the U.S. representative asked the film industry representative Ozu Yasujiro to hand over the real documentary film of the Battle of Pearl Harbor, but in fact, the corresponding sections in the film were "specially shot" with miniature models.

These war shots that achieve the effect of "fake the real" are all from the hands of photographer Eiji Tsuburaya . According to his recollection, all the models used in the largest scene in the movie are 1800 square meters, which is converted into the "miniature scene". The area is 6670 square meters.

Eiji Tsuburaya entered aviation school when he was 15 years old. In the "Japanese Special Photographic Investigation Report" written by Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi invited a number of academic experts, the authors described the experience of Eiji Tsuburaya as "a symbol of his life", because "the control of the plane is carried out with firm Technology realizes the dream of the sky, which is similar to the special photography that realizes the 'fantasy image' with photography technology." It is worth mentioning that the report also stated that "Eiji Tsuburaya has nothing to do with the ideas of the war period", but the various filming needs at that time determined his future work direction.

In 1954, the war was over, and the traumatic memory of the war was still very vivid among the Japanese people. Inspired by the 1933 version of the monster movie " King Kong ", Eiji Tsuburaya and his colleagues created one of the most influential monster images in the world in the future - - Godzilla. During the release of the movie "Godzilla", a record of 9.61 million people watched the movie, and it also laid the technical foundation for Japanese special photography.

"Let actors in monster costumes perform in a city decorated with miniature models", this method is actually the result of a compromise with time. "Godzilla" only took half a year from planning to release, and Eiji Tsuburaya had to abandon the usual Western practice of "stop motion animation" of shooting giant creatures, and instead created this new form based on his previous special shooting experience.

According to Haruo Nakajima, an actor who has played Godzilla 12 times, when he first went to the set, Eiji Tsuburaya only had a dozen storyboards, and Eiji Tsuburaya said to him, "I don't know what will happen. When the monster costume is made, we will consider the performance plan after you put it on and act." In an interview 60 years after the release of the

movie, Haruo Nakajima still remembered the audience when they first saw Godzilla. Reaction: "I bought a ticket to the cinema and watched people's expressions in the front row with my back to the screen. The kids were all chatting. At this point, 'Boom, Boom' sounded and Godzilla appeared. Children's eyes It lit up in an instant, and it was everyone's eyes! You don't know how happy I am, I was moved to tears." During the shooting of

, the creators also worried that such a production would "appear cheap". But in fact, the Godzilla costume, which weighs more than 100 kilograms, is very powerful, and the resin skin is also full of texture. Not only that, the facial expressions of the monsters were shot with a small manual Godzilla, and only Godzilla's lower body was used for the scene of stepping on the city... This kind of categorization instead of shooting the panorama all the time makes Godzilla's every move better than before. Monster films are more realistic.

On the other hand, Godzilla's various sci-fi abilities are different from the pure realist works of Hollywood at that time, such as dinosaurs and orangutans. Combined with a different look and feel.

Meiji University visiting professor and special photography researcher Hikawa Ryusuke believes: "Using 'real-looking' monster costumes and miniature models to reflect the fantasy world... This 'real but not real' contrast has become The catalyst that stimulates the audience's imagination produces a shock that is stronger than seeing the real thing. This is the concept of Japanese special photography, and it is also its charm. "

"One Super Three"

After the great success of "Godzilla", production company Dongbao realized the huge market potential of special feature films with monsters as the main body, and then produced "Godzilla Returns". "(1955), "Osama bin Laden" (1956), "Balan the Great Monster" (1958), " Mothra " (1961) and a series of special films.

1962 "Godzilla vs. King Kong" " was released, and the number of viewers reached the highest in the series at 12.55 million, and Dongbao thus established a fixed "The "Monster Battle" mode, that is, let Godzilla constantly fight with different new monsters. The Godzilla series that follows this mode is almost one a year. By 1975, "Mechanical Godzilla Counterattack" had a total of 13 films. The "Showa Godzilla series".

Meanwhile, Eiji Tsuburaya, who calls himself a "special director" for "Godzilla", has found another way. With the popularity of television in Japan, he believes that it belongs to television The era is coming. In 1963, he left Toho and founded his own company Tsuburaya Co., Ltd. , and planned the first TV series "Ultra Q" of the "Fantasy Science Special Shot Series" with TBS TV's "Tokyo Broadcasting" program. ".

Previously, audiences could only go to the cinema to watch special-shot monsters once every other year. After landing on the TV screen, they could "watch monsters every week". "Ultra Q" was very popular, and most of the episodes had a viewership rate of more than 30%.

This drama continues the style of "Godzilla". Each episode features a monster as the protagonist, and uses video spectacles to show some natural and social problems, but the problems have to be solved by humans themselves. If things go on like this, the audience will also suffer from visual fatigue. In 1966, Television has entered the era of color, the US-Soviet space race is in full swing, and topics related to space have also become a topic of conversation for Japanese people after dinner. Humanoid hero - Ultraman. After the first "Ultraman" of

was broadcast, it created an astonishing audience rating of 36.7% on average and 42.8% at the highest. From 1966 to 1968, the influence of the two channels of film and TV was superimposed, It also set off a social phenomenon known as the "first monster boom" among groups dominated by children.

and " Seven Ultraman " launched in 1967 tried to get rid of the "child supply" label for adulthood It is an attempt to transform into the plot, adding thinking about the Cold War, anti-war, anti-, nuclear weapons, , anti-militarism, etc., but the children seem to be more interested in Ultraman fighting monsters. The ratings of the 36th episode of the

series fell 16.8%, and then hovered between 17% and 23%. At this time, the media began to promote the "yokai craze" and "sports-based craze", and the "giant monster" had a trend. At the end of the episode, the bruised and bruised Ultraman Seven left the earth, and Tsuburaya also failed because of this, and no new works were released for 3 years. ") began to be broadcast, and the 1971-1974 special drama triggered the "second monster boom". However, this boom was also called "transformation boom", and the children's new favorite became "Knight VS Freak". "Japan "It was originally centered on giant heroes such as 'The Space Ape Gori' and 'The Return of Ultraman', but it was actually very popular. What changed the times was the life-size hero "Kamen Rider" riding a motorcycle. Taking the popularity of this work as an opportunity, the younger 'transformation boom' has become mainstream. "

Compared with the "Ultraman" series, the "Kamen Rider" series does have some inherent advantages. The most intuitive difference between the two is the difference in the body shape of the protagonist, and this simple difference corresponds to the "cost" and "theme" "Two important layers.

The main cost of the "Ultraman" series is not spent on holsters, but the miniature sets that are destroyed every episode. Traditional production with " unit drama " The mode means that the scenery needs to be changed frequently in different episodes, which limits the reuse of miniature models. And because "Kamen Rider" is a "lifetime hero", it can directly use the real scene, which basically avoids the most "burning" In addition, the producer Toei has strong strength, and the opportunity for trial and error and investment space is greater than that of Tsuburaya, which only relies on a few core IPs such as "Ultraman".

"Lifetime Hero" also Let "Kamen Rider" not be limited by subject matter, since any occupation can become "Kamen Rider", the range of story selection in the series is very broad, which can continue to bring freshness to the audience. This advantage of

goes by with time. It became more and more obvious that in the "Heisei era", "Kamen Rider" tried novel themes such as campus, magic, Warring States military commanders, video games, etc., and "Ultraman" regardless of hero status or "fighting monsters".The story frame has been difficult to break through since its birth, and it can be said that it has been "dancing in shackles". This is also why after the wave of "giant special photography", works familiar to the audience, such as "Super Squad" and " Iron Armored Little Treasure ", all adopted the setting of "lifetime hero", which can be regarded as "Masquerade" to some extent. The pioneering inspiration that Knights brought to the entire genre of special photography.

And in the 1970s when it was born, its popularity is also related to the change of the times. At that time, the big companies that supported the rapid development of Japan's economy began to be condemned for issues such as monopoly exploitation and environmental pollution. Ryusuke Hikawa proposed: "Respected large companies are suddenly regarded as 'the root of evil', and 'social distortion' is like breaking a dam. Even a work aimed at children cannot sever the connection with this influence." The evil organization called "Shuka" in the

"Kamen Rider" TV series is a metaphor for such a pyramid-shaped modern enterprise. Compared with the more idealized product "Ultraman" during the "U.S.-Soviet Space Hegemony" period, it is natural that "Kamen Rider", which is closer to the reality of Japanese society in material selection and expression, gradually took over the banner of special photography.

Xiuka

In 1975, the last IP of the "three special shots" appeared - "Super Team". It is also a "Hero of Life", which was also launched by Toei. Like "Kamen Rider", it was adapted from the original work of Shotaro Ishinomori, but "Super Sentai" has its own characteristics such as the first group combat and color themes. The first episode of the

series, "Secret Team Five Linkers", achieved a good rating of 22.3%. Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, "Ultraman" and "Kamen Rider" both slowed down the pace of new works. , "Super Squad" "takes the opportunity" to fill the gap in the market, impressing the audience while also consolidating its own position. When

took shape in the "one super three strong" pattern of Japanese special photography works, a technical storm was brewing on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.

Will special photography disappear?

The popularity of TV sets in the 1960s also had an impact on Western audiences, but unlike Eiji Tsuburaya's idea of ​​"pushing film technology into TV production", Steven Spielberg, , George Directors such as Lucas began to explore the upgrade of screen special effects, and filmed landmark works such as "Jaws" and "Star Wars" in the 1970s. In the late 1970s, during the production of the third "Star Wars" "Return of the Jedi", Lucasfilm established a CG division within the company, specializing in the production of CGI (computer three-dimensional animation).

By 1991, the T-1000 liquid robot in "Terminator 2" stunned the audience. For the first time, CG technology produced a realistic human appearance in a film, and the film box office exceeded 500 million US dollars. In the same year, Disney built a lifelike CG dance hall in " Beauty and the Beast ", and the dance of the hero and heroine in it was paid tribute to the later remakes several times.

Whether creating characters or creating scenes, CG has become more realistic than leather cases and models, which is the biggest highlight of Special Photography. In terms of function and purpose, the two shooting techniques are the same, both are just to create images that are difficult to shoot or "actually non-existent".

Pixar founder, the founder of pure CG film Edwin Cartham once concluded: "The huge commercial success of "Terminator 2" and "Beauty and the Beast" shocked everyone. 1991 was a turning point ... Later, CG took over the whole of Hollywood like a storm, and all film companies began to set up their own CG production departments."

The subsequent technological change process is very clear to the audience, and Hollywood's "visual effects blockbusters" began to sweep from the 1990s. In ticket warehouses all over the world, the increasingly mature CG technology has created countless bizarre "real worlds". Special photography used to create big scenes for classic films such as "Japan Sinks" (1973) and "The Capital Disappears" (1987), but today's traditional sci-fi themes do not need special photography at all.

, the original monster of special photography, Godzilla, was also "transformed" by CG for the first time after 1998. Although the version of and Roland Emmerich was only made into a realistic "dinosaur" according to Western thinking, but in the past ten years legendThe three Godzilla movies of the film industry have already made it difficult to distinguish the true from the false on the basis of restoring the image.

In Japan, special photography has remained as a fixed genre and cultural form. "Ultraman", "Kamen Rider", and "Super Sentai", the "three special shots", still maintain the speed of one drama per year. Even so, their audiences have been relatively stable, and their influence and their respective The peak period is not the same.

In 2012, Anno Hideaki issued a sincere initiative, which is the title page of the "Report" mentioned above: "Please save the special photography. The technical system of special photography will soon disappear, and Japan is about to lose this A product to be proud of. This is a normal trend in the world, and I can't help it. However, I also deeply hope that Tesh's technology can be passed on to future generations as a cultural heritage..."

If it is regarded as a "cultural heritage", Tesh's future destiny Most of them can refer to the "stop-motion animation" it replaces, that is, it is used in some works with unique expression when there are special artistic needs. For example, every year Oscar's "Best Animated Short Film" nominates some stop-motion animations, " Negative Space " in 2022, " Kubo and Two String Qin " in 2016, etc. are all received because of the excellent compatibility between technology and expression. Good reviews.

But looking at it now, Teshe's life is actually far from being "into the ground". In addition to the "three special photography" that has been in operation for decades and has its own IP appeal, if the special photography as a technology is combined with CG, it can provide an experience that cannot be achieved by pure CG.

2015's "Attack on Titan live-action version" adopted the way of CG, live person acting and miniature model, with 20 actors playing the role of ordinary "giants", and 7 people jointly operating "super giants". Japan's live-action manga version is the worst hit area for quality. The film's IMDB and Douban scores are just over 5 points, but only in terms of visual effects, the "Giant" shot by Shinji Higuchi's special shooting method is very in line with the original. It gives the audience a creepy and strange fear.

"Attack on Titan"

In the final analysis, it is the special quality between the unreal and the real that works. However, it used to be the most realistic technology, and it was the fantasy themes of heroes and monsters, as well as the corresponding transformations, lasers and other elements that gave it a sense of fiction.

Nowadays, people know when they look at the leather case that "this thing is fake and acted" - this is also an important reason for the stereotype of "naive" in the special photography club. However, when people have become accustomed to CG, they will accuse "five hair special effects" when the level is low. Leather cases and models are just "real objects", but they will have a real texture.

Anno Hideaki and Higuchi Shinji collaborated on "New Godzilla" and "New Ultraman", "shooting with CG" is actually based on the same reason. Aside from the emotional factors of the main creator and the special effects pictures that are bound to be more in line with modern habits, the work is also in pursuit of the effect of "being in the blurred area of ​​fiction and reality", and the corresponding shooting methods are selected. Visually, they do bring a different look and feel from pure CG films: a bit strange, and fans can't stop.

It can be said that as long as there are people who still love the "unreal and real" charm of special photography, special photography will not disappear.

1 Japanese special photography investigation report. Anno Hideaki et al.

2 Monster special photography films and Japan's unique shooting techniques. Hikawa Ryusuke

3 On the development of Japanese special photography "Ultraman". Wang Zhuo. "Changjiang Literature and Art Review", 2022 Issue 1

4 On the dilemma and transformation of special photography. Shen Ziyuan. "Jiangsu Vocational College of Economics and Trade", Issue 6, 2019

5 Nakajima Haruo: The "Ancestor" of Godzilla Drag Actors. nippon.com

6 In the special photography Postwar History of Japan. 1905 Movie Network