Tsuburaya's Last Five Years In Review (2006-2010)

[dante424325]

What? TYO packed up Tsuburaya after they bought them and moved them to an entirely new location. Ultra Galaxy Legends was not shot "on the old school sets" in any meaning of the notion.

By "old school" I refer to the sculpted sets with some backdrop built like cliff-faces and such, not the original location. The Kaijin Graveyard was especially impressive.

The digital shooting, to me, is a great step forward. High Defination and 3D being all the rage now and releases now being put on Blu Ray classic backdrops would look dated now. The best advantage to it is how it gives directors like Sakamoto a great chance to use angles that previous series hadn't dared before.

Having said that I don't mean to say previous shows can't be watched in a better definiton or on Blu Ray, but it'd be like wtaching 60's Trek or Original Doctor Who, it's there purely for nostalgia. Those other shows also use backdrops mixed with built sets and location shoots now, current Toku's also accept these methods though normally (and especially) for theatrical releases. Hell the New Rider War movie will have a totally digital Evil Kamen Rider.

Things move with the times, but we can be greatful that they remain faithful to the franchise in as much as the costumes stay the way they always have, new characters are still following staples of the franchise and that they merge old school, or for the sake of better explaining myself original fashioned sets, with modern filmaking techniques.

Ultra, Kamen Rider & Sentai have been great at sticking to it's roots and (for the most part) not forcing the formula to change against it's very nature, but without advances then they lose the audience it was intended for and that's the kids who want the toys and will run around in the costumes. Kind of like Christmas, see the smiles on their faces and it's all worth it.

 

[Daikamonohashi]

Dude, the entirety of the Ultra Galaxy film was shot on green screen stages...

Also: Kaiju, not Kaijin.

 

[dante424325]

Dude, the entirety of the Ultra Galaxy film was shot on green screen stages...

Well, I stand corrected, but they sure looked like the sets of old to somebody who hasn't watched a behind the scenes or read production notes. However it adds to the fact that it's moving with the times.

Also: Kaiju, not Kaijin.

Subs I had said Kaijin. Pretty much any Japanese I've learned has been from subs, to be honest, I assumed they were all supervillans (which I understand the translation to be) from previous series.

It still doesn't change the fact it's brought in a new audience. Hell, my kids turn their nose up at any Ultra movie other than Mega Monster Battle. My Toku intolerant best friend even was coloured impressed and that was due to the direction, the pacing and the effects (particularly on the Ultra Homeworld).

And, at the end of the day, that's just my opinion.

 

[Daikamonohashi]

However it adds to the fact that it's moving with the times.

Ish. The newest film is a blend of the CG backgrounds of Ultra Galaxy Legends and practical effects and locations, which, to me, is a much better route to go than the all-CG Legends. It just feels so much better when you know you can really reach out and touch a set. Like so:

Love that shot because it's aaaallll practical. Woo!

I loved Ultra Galaxy Legends but it all feels a little hollow to me knowing that it's almost entirely computer generated.

Subs I had said Kaijin. Pretty much any Japanese I've learned has been from subs, to be honest, I assumed they were all supervillans (which I understand the translation to be) from previous series.

Kaiju (Kaijyuu) means "Strange Beast" and Kaijin means "Strange Being". Roughly speaking, the terms refer to large monsters and more humanoid creatures, respectively.

Hell, my kids turn their nose up at any Ultra movie other than Mega Monster Battle.

Well that's sad. :|

 

[okunohoshimichi]

In case you dont know
Ultra Q colour version is in production.

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[dante424325]

First I'll discuss this:

Love that shot because it's aaaallll practical. Woo!

I loved Ultra Galaxy Legends but it all feels a little hollow to me knowing that it's almost entirely computer generated.

Well this is the thing, sometimes it's a case of budget, sometimes it's a case of the directors take as to go digital or not, or amalgamate the two. That shot in paticular shows this director went a smart route and used forced perspective to come up with the same effect of certin shots in the last film and it looks great. On the flip side the digital landscapes in the prior film made it look alien. Another director may have gone with filters as a way around this but it'd change the colours of the actors too much unless another form of camera trickery is used. Sakamoto went digital and that looks great too.

If a film-maker has a preference for one form over another then of course they will look at the opposite and go "I wouldn't have done that" and get that hollow feeling you mention. I am not a film maker, I am an actor however and have done shoots on both green screen and actual sets, both have advantages and disadvantages for performing and to the directors I've worked with, but I personally prefer seeing a meld like in The Chronicles of Riddick (not that I worked on it or anything as big, I probably never shall), big lavish sets and lots of hard work mixed with digital effects. So, like you, I prefer to see both being used, but I don't get the hollow feeling in the last film purely as I did get sucked in by the story, the action and a build up to (personally) the most exciting debut of a new Ultra I've seen in a long time.

Well that's sad. :|

Now, I am going to be very serious and I will say this once politely:

If you refer to the fact they don't watch other versions of Ultra it is as my son is nearly 2 and a half, my daughter is 17 months old, they do not sit and watch anything for story, they want colour and excitement, that movie provides it, that's all. The older Ultras just don't do it for them, shows like several runs of Kamen Rider, however, do. They are children, they don't want complexity, just fun.

However if you mean as to say that they are "sad" then I will tell you not to speak down about my children, you do not know them. I only say this as I do not know which of the two ways you mean it and I would ask that you clarify as I do not wish to think that somebody who I have been having quite a constructive and honestly enjoyable discussion with has gone and done the latter. That would be unforgivably rude and uncalled for.

I sincerly would prefer to think I have misunderstood your sentence and apologise if this is the case.

 

[Darkster]

In case you dont know
Ultra Q colour version is in production.

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:O_O:

:castlerock: :castlerock: :castlerock:

 

[okunohoshimichi]

I think he meant "I feel sorry about you cant share your interest with your children"

 

[dante424325]

I think he meant "I feel sorry about you cant share your interest with your children"

I do for the most part, they love Kamen Rider and they dislike Den-O, so far it's win-win as I am not a fan of Den-O personally, though I can understand it's appeal.

I still get to see some of my other faves when they are napping or on the PC with one earplug in, so it's no hardship.

 

[Daikamonohashi]

Firstly, dante, you will find that I may have the biggest boner for practical effects on this entire forum. Hence, the last movie, while pretty, left me a little cold. Among other reasons, I am a very touch-oriented person and my work as an artist and more and more in my work as a filmmaker this shows in my endeavor to use as little digital work as possible. When I draw, for example, I cannot bear to use a tablet. I must be able to feel the paper and get my hands dirty.

In movies, I find it far more impressive and admirable when a special effects crew pulls of amazing-looking shots with as many practical effects as possible because of the difficulty involved to make it work just right. When the effects are largely digital, well, it had BETTER look good because you have a limitless resource in the computer. The fact that practical effects are usually a gamble of sorts make them that much more worthy of praise when they succeed. Additionally, they just look better to me. The cliffs in the shot I posted look a hundred times more life-like than those in the Ultra Galaxy Legends battles. They're wondeful.

Secondly, I meant no offense towards your children and I apologize if I came of in such a manner. I did not realize your children were so young. My comment was directed more at the fact that more and more of today's youth are being raised to think that the only "good" effects are those slick and shiny CGI effects that Hollywood has made so popular. I consider it a sad thing when a well composed, well-lit shot from any given Ultra series (Nexus was the one in question in a particular incident that comes to mind) is dismissed as "bad" or "cheesy" simply because it's not "realistic" enough. Even though, at least for me, CGI is often far more unrealistic. That kind of attitude is one of the things I hate more than most.

And finally, a colorized version of Ultra Q is quite possibly the worst news I have heard in the past month. Some of the most beautiful black and white photography I have ever seen in a Japanese work is going to be ruined. Great.

Luckily, I'm sure TPC will merely release it as an alternative option to the original black and white version.