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filbarlow — Godzilla: False Modelsheet
Published: 2012-03-15 13:38:53 +0000 UTC; Views: 6481; Favourites: 90; Downloads: 0
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Description
This is the false model sheet that I mentioned in the Side View post in this gallery. The idea was to give the Storyboard artists something that they could work with that would give them the correct proportions, but would keep the actual appearance of Godzilla secret until the movie was released.While the back fin was deliberately misleading, it gave the artists the proportion of the back spines. The protruding lower jaw is missing for a more typical lizard mouth. I also omitted the extra claws on the feet. The most important element was to ensure that the artists pivoted the head from the back of the skull.
I called it "Thingy" as a bit of a joke at Sony's obsession with secrecy, which was making our Animation Production difficult. No boards could be cleaned up until the final design was released.
I was interested to hear the Board Artist's reactions to seeing the final design for the first time, unfortunately the handout was done without me being present. The feedback I got was mixed, but most thought that the final design was cooler than this false model they had been using in the previous months.
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Comments: 59
Wow, this is really interesting to see. Also a useful reference for proportions if I ever decide to try and draw Junior, since it's blocked out without major detailing haha. That body is pretty difficult to get right. I am thoroughly impressed.
"Keep out of reach of children"… definitely!
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I have other breakdowns of his structure, but this was what the storyboard artists used during the "secret" phase of production.
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The secretive aspect of the design is interesting. I never knew that companies were that secretive with their designs. Guess they need to be with all the risk of plagiarism. But I still love the design and the whole secretive stuff with it. ^^
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The mandate for secrecy came from the Producers of the feature film, their big reveal for the movie was the new look of Godzilla. I was one of the very few not directly involved in the movie who got to see Patrick's sculpts and animatronic models.
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That's pretty awesome getting that type of clearance. You must have been psyched. ^^
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To be honest I never let it go to my head, I took the responsibility seriously and went to great lengths to make sure I was completely professional and trustworthy. I had employees who's livelihoods depended on my keeping the job. I've worked behind the scenes on many animatronic movies, most of my original artistic friends were sculptors for film, so this was very familiar territory to me. I was much happier once the movie was out and the secrecy over. It was a big relief!
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Wow, but still awesome chance that you got. ^^
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Yeah it was, I'm glad that I got to design some cool monsters.
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Faved this out of the sheer awesomeness of the inside knowledge. Great story
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Just a bit of behind the scenes
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Awesome! A never before seen GTS exclusive! This guy looks pretty cool. His pose here looks just like Zilla's in that one picture. Why was this guy rejected/never used?
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This was traced from the Side View you are referring to. It was used as a guide for the Storyboard artists as they roughed penciled the shows, but they weren't allowed to see the final look of the Godzilla until the movie was released. Sony was being that ridiculous, so even though we were in production on the animation no one but me (and a few of my Superiors) were allowed to see the film version of Godzilla. Once the movie was screened, I was allowed to release the design and the Storyboard artists could finally ink in their backlog of panels.
If you'd like further details, the descriptions under each post go into more information.
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Ah, i see. This is essentially a buleprint of Godzilla so they artists could draw his positons and dimentions correctly right? Cool! I love seeing stuff like this. I love how you wrote "Keep out of reach of children" lol.
Gease, it sounds like they really had you guys on a leash. They should have at least let the rest of the production see the movie. Speaking of which, what did you think of the movie when you saw it? Ironically, i saw the movie while we were having this conversation.
Also, how did you insert the link to that piece in the word "Side View"?
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Exactly! I had to give enough of the design away that the rest of the team could get to work, but not enough to reveal the secret.
Don't forget the movie hadn't come out while we were working on the TV show, I was working in secret almost a year prior to the film's release. The whole production team was invited to watch screening of the Godzilla movie on the Sony lot on the 19th May '98, just prior to the film's release on the 25th. After all of the build up, most of the crew was disappointed with the film. I thought it was okay, more of a kid's film than I'd expected. I just felt the casting was all wrong. I have only seen the film once, I would like to see it again. Perhaps my opinion has changed.
Ok to insert a link a bit of coding is needed....
Just replace these brackets [ ]
With these brackets < >
[a href = "COPY YOUR URL HERE" target = "_blank"]
[strong] TEXT IN HERE [/strong] [/a]
Use the Preview button to see if it works
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Ah, i see. How come you couldn't reveal the "secret"?
Yeah, i know. I read an article about it on SciFi Japan. It said that the show was in production about a year before the movie debuted. It said you that guys wanted to air it early, but Sony essentially said "FUCK NO!!!!" to you guys and told you to wait til after the movie. I guess that was a logical decision on their part. Cartoons are always better after the movie releases.
As for the movie, i loved it. I dont think it was as bad as people were claiming it was. then again, it has a rather sentimental value to me. I saw it when i was 5. I thought it was Jurassic Park back then when i saw the little Zillas running around lol. Its cause of that movie is why i love giant monsters or kaiju as their known today as. My parents even got me a figure of him too back then lol. Since then Zilla has remained my favorite monster and has a rather sentimental spot in my heart. Sounds corny, i know lol.
If you really want to see the movie, view your T.V's listings. They've been airing the movies here a lot on channels like ShowTime.
Thanks for the info by the way. Im going to see if i master it's use lol
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Well if anything leaked we were assured we would be fired and the animation production shut down. As it was, two newly hired writers leaked something we'd seen at a screening on "Ain't it cool news" and was called into a group dressing down meeting with the Execs. I was so upset I'd been so careful for a year and these bozos come in and because they didn't 'fess up (they would have lost their jobs if they did, cowards) the blame was spread across all of us with clearance.
I agree, waiting until after the movie made sense. Seeing as everything was based on it.
You see! I told you it was more of a kid's film, I was 35 when I saw it, so at age 5 you would have had a lot more fun with it. I'm glad you did! I don't think it's corny at all, we bond with things that inspire us when we are young, I completely understand.
I hope you can figure out the code.
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I wonder what was up with all thge secretcy though. I mean stuff like that isnt as strict now. I remeber you telling me that story. You and the rest of your team essentially wanted to hang them for leaking the info out lol. I'm glad you worked for that show. If you guys got fired it may not have been as awesome
But yeah, you should watch the movie and the cartoon again. I bet it will bring back old memories.
Wellllllll, it really wasnt much of a kids film lol. It stll had mature stuff in it. I saw Jurassic Park as a kid too and that wasnt a kids flick lol. But yeah, i love the movie regardless what people say. I dont think it was as bad as people keep claiming it is. At least seeing Zilla was really really awesome. It gave you a real life depiction of what he would look like.
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Revealing Godzilla's new look was the big sell for the movie. There were a lot of nervous Executives over at the Sony lot.
Helen and I have started watching the cartoon again. Can you believe I haven't watched many episodes? It's weird because Elsie's face is Helen's, so we keep seeing Helen animated, only MUCH shorter than she is in real life. I'll be revealing the story behind that in a future post that I'm preparing.
I wouldn't expect Gozilla to be suitable for a 5 year old lol. You are an exception 
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True, i guess they didnt want to ruin the jeporady of the movie. I guess if people didnt like the design, they wouldnt go and watch it. Makes sense i guess. i feel sorry for you guys though. Its hard to believe that movie is 14 years old
What!? Youve never seen any episodes of the cartoon you personally drew and headed? Thats kinda funny actually. How come you never watched any? I guess its good your starting now. Whos Helen by the way? Your wife or something?
Well, for me it was lol. I loved it and im glad i watched it when i did. If i didnt then i probably wouldnt have fell in love with giant monsters lol. I agree, i guess the movie could have been a bit more serious, but i guess they were trying to mirror the cartoon's alternate character personalities so when they saw the cartoon there wouldnt be a big transition from the cast.
So what do you do now Fil?
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They were banking the whole movie on revealing Godzilla's "new look". It was a gimmick. Yeah it was a long time ago.
By the time Godzilla animation was airing I was working on Starship Troopers. I saw a few episodes, but I kept looking at how off model the characters were. It's the funniest thing to watch a screening with people from all of the departments, they have their eyes on different things. You hear groans from the Background artists, Prop people, the Character Department at different times as they see how their hard work wasn't interpreted correctly by the artists overseas.
It's great to have so much time away from it so that I can enjoy the animations as a whole. The level of artistry really strikes me now, I can enjoy the stories much more.
Oh I thought I'd mentioned Helen to you before. We've been working together for 28 years since my comic Zooniverse, she was the colorist. Helen was a character designer on Godzilla and inked a lot of my art. Helen's DA Page
We were following the Godzilla film rather than the other way around, just to be clear
Here's what I've been working on over the last 4 months, a new animation is due out this coming Sunday.
my new animations
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Yeah, i figured they were.
No way!!! You worked on Starship Troopers!?! Thats one of my fathers favorite movies of all time and the first movie we saw on our first DVD player! What did you do for that movie?
Ah, so you two are work partners uh? So she looks like Ellse uh lol? Cool. I wish i was used for a character in a cartoon featuring giant monsters.
Huh, i would think that you guys would have been more in tuned with your project lol.
LOL! I love your animations! I love the one with the condom lol. I also love the first video especially the part with the aliens and especially the one where the two aliens are hitting themselves in the head with hammers. I was a little dissapointed that the one that cheese in its name didnt have anything to do with cheese lol. You make some really funny and awesome animations
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Wait! Not the film, I meant the TV version, I just get lazy saying "Roughnecks" all the time. Sorry for the misunderstanding.
Yeah it's weird cos it actually looks like her sometimes. As far as the shows go we had to love 'em and leave 'em there wasn't any time to enjoy the older shows.
I'm really glad you like my animations! As I said I'm working on a new "liquid" one that will be posted this Sunday. For the cheese one I ate cheese for 3 weeks and wrote down every dream I had in preparation, but this was the best idea. Sorry there was no cheese lol.
Seeing as you like my animations, here's Helen's...
[link]
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Really? There was a T.V. version? I didnt know that.
Man, i would love to be a character in a cartoon like that.
No problem dude! They were really funny. Did you voice any of them? Also, did you and her do the same thing as far as plots for you animations. She had an idiot one as well as a condom one and an equally strange cheese dream one lol. I have to admit though, i LOVE cheese and i eat a ton of it. It may explain why i've been having these strange dreams too lol. Though i dont think my dreams have been as "interesting" as yours lol
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You haven't seen my bug designs? [link]
Yeah, you'd have to run away a lot as a cartoon character then stand around and explain things, then get glooped, laughed at and probably need to be doused with water. In one episode.
Yeah I did the voices, I'm cheaper than an actor (free). Each month Loop De Loop has a theme. This month is "liquid". Last months was "idiots".
Haha cheese is yummy. Have you thought about making a cheese pillow, then you can eat cheese and dream at the same time.
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Ohhhhh, i thought those bugs were from something else lol. I was wondering why one of them looked familar.
Huh???????? I dont think all THAT would happen in one episode lol.
Indeed. Hiring yourself or one of your friends would save a TON of money. You have a nice and funny voice. It was especially funny in the Idiots one. Ah, i see. So its a monthly thing. I wonder who came up with the cheese one though lol. I cant wait what youll do for this month's theme.
Uhhhhhh, no lol. I wouldnt want to choke on cheese while im sleeping lol. Although it would be a fantastic invention for those who love cheese and eat their pillows during thier sleep
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Now you can enjoy them on a whole other level!
It actually did, in the 1st episode. I pleaded with the head of writing not to gloop or wet the main cast in the first episode because we were struggling to finish the main model pack in time. So what did he do? Glooped and wet the entire cast. >:/
Thank you I'm glad to hear that it's working, I wish I could act though lol Sound is my weakest area at the moment. Helen and I have to record some water noises today for both of our animations. She might be doing the voice on mine, I usually do the male voices on hers although I did the female in her smoking one. Ivan Dixon and Gregory Sharp came up with the Cheese Dreams theme [link]
I'd hate to see the cheese lover's hair in the morning after sleeping and drooling on a warm cheese pillow.
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Yay! Now i can look at those bugs and say "Those are the SST Bugs!" instead of me not knowing what the hell they are from lol.
Really? How did the first episode go anyway? Also, what you mean by glooped?
No problem dude! Its good that you guys help each other on each other's animations. it keeps things from getting reptitive. Now you need to get a 3rd guy so you can have more diversity lol! I dont know what was going through their minds when they had you people do that. I somehow think marajuana, alcohol, or a combination of both contributed to that idea lol.
Indeed. It would be a woman's nightmare everywhere lol. Cheese Pillow........You should draw that or make that an animation of a person sleeping with one lol
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Glooped, glooped is when the writers have characters covered in some slimy fluid, snot, ectoplasm, tar. Basically it means we have to redraw the characters with the fluid on them so that the artists at the animation house (in Korea in the case of Zilla) knew what to draw.
It's easy for a scripted writer to type, "..and then Godzilla sneezes on the entire team, covering them in snot", it's much harder to draw a new model for every character with snot on them.
Helen's new animation is posted [link]
We finished it last night! Just for the record I've never been drunk (don't like the taste of alcohol) and don't take drugs (I'm just not interested).
Yeah, you can do that animation! lol I still have to finish mine!
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Ah, i see. Come to think of it now, they did do all that in the first episode lol. Its funny how people dont listen lol. But i guess it turned out better that way. It made the first episode make more sense. Oh, i bet it is. They dont have to draw the gooey stuff on them lol.
Yay! Orange Soda! I love orange soda. Its so good and delicious. Im surprised it was soda actually. I was thinking along the lines of actual water. I wasnt refer to you, i was refering to the people who came up with the idea lol. But that is good to know
Your the expert animator! Why dont you do it when you have time! I mean, it was your idea lol! I dont think i could ever make a cheese pillow animation as good as you could lol
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We were so under pressure to finish the main model packs for the storyboard guys that extra models like wet AND glooped really pushed us to the edge. A bit of planning we could have done those models in later episodes and reused them when needed.
Wait the coffee in Helen's animation looks orange to you? You might want to consider color adjusting your screen! 
I'll have to sleep on it, the idea I mean, not the pillow made of cheese! O.o;
Okay my new animation is done.... enjoy!!! [link]
Don't forget to have a look at the other entries, a record for this month
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Well, at least it turned out to be a really awesome show, glooped and all. I cant wait for you to post more GTS stuff
WOW!!!! I saw the wrong animation! I saw someone else's animation they did on orange soda lol.
Yeah, i bet you would want to sleep on a pillow made out of cheese though lol.
Nice animation! You know what i noticed? Helen's animations tend to be quick and simple while yours are very long and complicated. Well not necessarily complicated, but you get what i mean lol.
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I can get back to the DA postings now that I've finished the animation, at least until I have to start on next month's challenge.
Ahh that makes more sense lol
I'd only sleep on a cheese pillow, if I was wearing my cheese night cap and cheese pajamas.
Yes, she's smarter than I am lol Plus we work together so we usually get her's done first so that we can focus on just one project. She did the music for my "liquid" animation and we record all of the sounds together. I'm also trying to give people a really good idea of what Zooniverse is all about and then expand that into a larger animation later using the same assets.
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Good! I cant wait to see what you post up
Yeah, i thought you sent me directly to her page. Thinking that, i just clicked on the one on the top being that it was new.
Lol, its good that you help each other withh your animations. It helps you guys to make better animations and faster too.
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Oh wow a piece of Animation History! Thanks for sharing this piece with us! That's really fascinating.
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It's a wonder that project got completed with all the secrecy Sony had on this project, now I kinda wish Thingy here had appeared in Godzilla: TAS.
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Meca-Godzilla more than made up for it
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