Exclusive: Interview with GODZILLA 2014 Concept Artist Brian Cunningham

Godzilla (2014) concept art by Brian Cunningham
Godzilla (2014) concept art by Brian Cunningham
Check out Godzilla (2014) concept art by Brian Cunningham!

Gareth Edwards' ambitious Godzilla rebooot has made an astonishing $174 million domestically and over $400 million worldwide. I got the chance to ask concept artist Brian Cunningham a few questions about his time working on Godzilla and the answers are fascinating!  Cunningham is a professional concept illustrator who's worked on major Hollywood films like Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), Watchmen (2009) and X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009).

Click on the images to enlarge.



Maurice Mitchell: Thanks for your time Brian. What did you work on for the film?
Brian Cunningham: I worked on various sets and key frame images, no creatures designs on this one. I also produced a night backing for Joe Brody's apartment and did Photoshop work on the hero young Brody family pic. Both [production designer] Owen Patterson and [director] Gareth Edwards were very involved with the illustrators, in pre-production Gareth would spend time sitting down with each one of us on an almost daily basis, it was fantastic getting that level of first hand feedback.

MM: It's great that he's such a hands on director. It really shows through in his work. Was there a design you found the most challenging? How did you overcome it?
BC: The San Francisco skyline from the Harbor was a challenge. We had a practical set, a harbor in Vancouver, this needed to be worked into San Francisco's skyline which doesn't have the number of tall buildings Gareth wanted to see in the final battle. The angle also didn't showcase the iconic Transamerica pyramid building the way he envisioned. Ultimately it is a bit of a cheat, however through trial and error we found a scale and arrangement that looked right.

See more of Brian Cunningham wonderful portfolio at www.novelgraphic.ca. Make sure you head to his site for higher resolution versions of these illustrations! Also, look for more of his work in the upcoming Tomorrowland (2015).

Click on the links if you want to see more of Brian Cunningham's work or Godzilla artwork on my blog.

Check back tomorrow for another exclusive interview with a Godzilla concept artist.

What do you think of the concept art? If you've seen Godzilla what do you think of the designs?

Official GODZILLA Synopsis
"An epic rebirth to Toho's iconic Godzilla, this spectacular adventure pits the world's most famous monster against malevolent creatures who, bolstered by humanity's scientific arrogance, threaten our very existence."
Directed by Gareth Edwards
Cinematography by Seamus McGarvey
Production Design by Owen Paterson
Starring: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ken Watanabe, Elizabeth Olsen, Juliette Binoche, David Strathairn, Bryan Cranston, Sally Hawkins
Official Site: http://www.godzilla-movies.com
Release date: May 16, 2014
© Copyright 2014 Legendary Pictures, Warner Bros., Toho. All rights reserved

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Comments

  1. Sweet interview Maurice.

    You can see how it influenced the final product.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very cool to see how the process worked

    ReplyDelete

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