The Future of Suitmation in Toho Godzilla Films

[omgitsgodzilla]

Jerkiness in stop-motion isn't the technique, it's the animator.

Anyway, Both have their pros and cons, and I think they're best used in a combination where the use of each technique is tailored to its strengths.

[Tyler]

It's interesting to note thought that stop motion is basically obsolete while suitmation is still being used. But I'm not black and white in my opinion. I really like both. It depends on what I want to watch at the time. I really appreciate both when they're well done.

But Catface did bring up something that I like a lot about Eastern style monsters. Most Western monsters are basically huge animals while ones from the East are very elemental and unstoppable. It's an aspect I like a lot and I don't think there's ever been a truly Japanese style American monster film.

[Kaiju-King42]

I'd say the closest eastern style western monster is Clover or the Giant Claw, but I havn't seen a lot of western giant monster films. I wish I could get my hands on some.

[Living Corpse]

I'd say the closest eastern style western monster is Clover or the Giant Claw, but I havn't seen a lot of western giant monster films. I wish I could get my hands on some.

I find it odd one of the biggest complaints about Clover was "the design is weird". I can't speak for everyone but I rather we get a new original weird design then just "oh it's just another giant bug/squid/dinosaur movie".

[CatfaceFourtoes]

It's interesting to note thought that stop motion is basically obsolete while suitmation is still being used. But I'm not black and white in my opinion. I really like both. It depends on what I want to watch at the time. I really appreciate both when they're well done.

But Catface did bring up something that I like a lot about Eastern style monsters. Most Western monsters are basically huge animals while ones from the East are very elemental and unstoppable. It's an aspect I like a lot and I don't think there's ever been a truly Japanese style American monster film.

The Black Scorpion, It Came From Beneath The Sea and Cloverfield are the only three American films I can think of where the things were practically unstoppable. Maybe The Blob, if that even counts. And the goofy Giant Claw. The big bugs in Black Scorpion were practically mini Godzillas in their durability, only getting Ko'ed by other Scorpions or a prolonged electric shock to a weak point. And the giant octopus from ICBTS seemed to be impervious to electrical shock, and torpedoes that were meant to destroy enemy submarines. Fire drove it's tentacles back though.

Speaking of the jerkiness of stop motion, it is true that it tends to be up to the animators in making Stopmotion look more smooth. The smooth quality of the animation in The Black Scorpion managed to suspend my disbelief on a number of occasions. It was like watching Starship Troopers in black and white. This animation was done by Willis O'Brien and his second apprentice Pete Peterson. Peterson was able to produce extremely smooth animation in his own Stopmotion creatures, namely The Los Vegas Monster and his strange looking "Beetlemen". I think you can still find the clips on youtube. Some incredibly smooth animation given that this was before Phil Tippet came up with his Go-motion technique. And then you have Ray Harryhausen's myriad achievements in making the movements of his creatures look more realistic and less jerky. It's mostly just that dithered look that makes the animation stand out, kind of like the full motion video sequences of most Playstation titles. Like how animation suddenly changes in the polygon rendered characters when they interacted with pre-rendered background animations in FF7. It gets all "flickery".)

"Another thing I noticed about suitmation compared to stop motion. With suitmation, the slow, non-jerky movement in the giant monsters looks a bit more realistic than the comparable fast, jerky movement of giant stop motion monsters. Not to mention the destruction scenes look more realistic too."

Ah, but the truly magical effect is when you get to see a stopmotion animated creature crashing into a real miniature prop and watching the minature crumbling as if under the stopmotion creature's weight or momentum. I find that makes the stopmotion a lot more believable, when the things it interacts with are real props.

[Gyaos]

The Blob is basically unstoppable unless you freeze it or completely annihalate it.

[ManWithNoName]

If they use suitmation in one more film I'm gonna skreeonk burn Toho to the ground.

[Rody]

What do you have against suitmation??

[SuperSaiyan4Godzilla]

I still fail to see any connection between suitamation and durability...

[CatfaceFourtoes]

Well, unless they physically damage the suit on camera, with all the important squibs to spray blood, the monster suits tend not so show damage in the scenes where they are getting pelted with projectiles. The fact that they are stiff with mostly unmoving facial expressions also bolsters it. Heck, half the time Ray Harryhausen's critters only leak a bit of red to show they are injured, and Cloverfield was simply never shown to bleed.

[JGAR4Entertainment]

I think they should use Motion Cap. If they are using suits, then Toho needs to upgrade them so it wouldn't be obvious that they are guy in rubber suits.

[eabaker]

I think they should use Motion Cap. If they are using suits, then Toho needs to upgrade them so it wouldn't be obvious that they are guy in rubber suits.

But that's part of Godzilla's cultural identity. You wouldn't mo-cap Punch and Judy, would you?

[Rody]

I really don't see what's so bad-looking about suit animation anyway, unless you're referring to more extreme examples like the mini T-Rex in One Million BC.

[JGAR4Entertainment]

Wanna use suitmation in a movie? ONLY for the Monster destroying city and fighting Military scenes. Those parts are the only good time to use a suit.