Today on Behind the Reel, we're going to
talk about this shot from Godzilla Minus One. Hello everyone, my name is Ben Farmer and welcome
back to Behind the Reel, where I talk about how films are made, the techniques that are used, so
that you can use them to make cinematic magic in your next project. So today we are going to be
talking about that specific shot in Godzilla Minus One. We're going to look at it together
and analyze it. But before we do, I want to talk a little bit about the film. Godzilla Minus One
premiered in the United States on December 1st, 2023, and it is a mind blowing movie. If you
haven't seen it yet, go take a look. I mean, it is it is unbelievable. If you're even a
remote fan of Godzilla or monster movies, this is probably one of the best monster movies
I've seen in the last good 20 years. But as far as Godzilla movies go, it's just the best one
I've seen in the last 40 years. Godzilla has been around for 70 years. And this has been
the first installment where I've actually been terrified of Godzilla. If you look at some of
the clips from the movie and even in the trailer, Godzilla is just this menacing thing, which is
what he originally was back in 1954 when they first premiered Godzilla King of the Monsters.
So fun fact about Godzilla Minus One, and it's something to really think about, is the movie
costs $15 million to make. It's a lot of money, but not when you compare it to something like
Avengers Infinity War, which cost $316 million, $311 million more than Godzilla Minus
One. And yet Avengers Infinity War is one of those films where it was a knockout
blockbuster. And here we have Godzilla Minus One where the director is also the writer and
is also the VFX supervisor. So for comparison, let's not talk about Avengers because that's
a completely different movie altogether. Let's compare it to an actual Godzilla movie. How
about Godzilla King of the Monsters back in 2019? That had $170 million budget compared to
the $15 million budget of Godzilla Minus One. So why does the Godzilla in King of
the Monsters already look a little bit dated and Minus One is the best, I think,
Godzilla's ever looked? And it comes down to, I think there's no excuse for Hollywood anymore.
Hollywood is done making excuses of, Oh, we can't get good VFX when $15 million is enough
to make one of the best looking movie monsters in the last 40 years. Anyway, rant's over. Let's
talk about this shot. Let's look at it together. [Music] Okay, this is the shot I'm
talking about. This right here, I think is practical. I think this is a real
Godzilla model going through the water and you have this little ball that's in his mouth.
I think this is a hundred percent practical. And the reason I say that is because
if you look back, let's scoot back. If you look back, look at the way his
skin is glistening and the water that's coming off of it. That's really hard to do
in a CG effect. Now, I know we went through this with Avatar 2. They had some of the best
water effects I've ever seen. Terrible movie, great water effects. Don't at me. But just the
way the water is kind of coming off of his skin and just kind of bubbling up. Could it be a VFX
shot? Absolutely. But I fully believe that it is a fully practical shot. I mean the rest of the scene
looks amazing too. So let's just keep watching. Very reminiscent of JAWS as well. Okay, so here's my reason right here. Here
it is. So you look at this shot versus the shot we just saw. Look at the water
displacement on this version versus the one versus this. And look at the
difference in the water displacement. It looks like a lot of water, but
when compared to this other shot here, there's a lot more water
displacement in that shot. I think this is real. Okay. So what do you think?
Is it real or is it CGI? Let me know down in the comments. I'd love to have a conversation about
why you think it is or it isn't CGI. But I went a step further. I contacted the VFX company that is
responsible for Godzilla minus one and I haven't heard back from him yet, but keep an eye on the
comments down below. I will make sure to post an update if they ever do respond. I hope you enjoyed
this deeper dive into this particular clip from Godzilla Minus One. If you have another movie that
you want me to do this with, let me know down in the comments. I'd be happy to make a video about
it. Be sure to like and subscribe for more content just like this and hit the notification bell to
be notified when the next Behind the Reel goes live. That's a wrap for today. Hope you enjoyed
it. I'll see you in the next one. God bless.
