Explosive Vintage Godzilla (1954) Storyboards


Check out Godzilla storyboards by Eiji Tsuburaya!

Welcome to Flashback Friday where I feature artwork from classic science-fiction movies or tv shows. Today's feature is Godzilla (1954). 

The storyboard artist for all these images isn't confirmed but is widely believed to be Eiji Tsuburaya.  Tsuburaya was a Japanese special effects director known as the "Father of Tokusatsu". He was a prolific science-fiction filmmaker working on 250 feature films in a career that spanned 50 years. Tsuburaya was head of Toho's Visual Effects Department when they created the first Godzilla movie. The film won him his first "Film Technique Award" for the ground-breaking film techniques to bring the giant creatures to life. Unlike popular films like King Kong (1933) that use stop-motion, the film used performers who wear monster suits on miniature sets. 

The process of storyboarding was new to filmmaking and Godzilla is believed to be the first Japanese film to use the technique. While  Eiji Tsuburaya was an illustrator for many films Kazuyoshi Abe was also hired to draw storyboards. So it's hard to say who drew what. Still, Tsuburaya's influence on film is enough to credit him for the work. The sense of raw power from the creature explodes off the frames.

Click on the images to enlarge












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

About Godzilla (1954)

Official synopsis: "Directed by Ishiro Honda, a friend of collaborator of Akira Kurosawa, and starring Takshi Shimura as the revered paleontologist who uncovers the horrible secret at the heart of the monster (Godzilla is a long-dormant Jurassic beast awoken by the atom bomb), the original Godzilla is a fierce indictment of the atomic age."
Directed by Ishiro Honda
Cinematography by Takeo Kita
Production Design by Masao Tamai
"Godzilla" stars Akira Takarada, Momoko Kōchi, Akihiko Hirata, and Takashi Shimura, with Haruo Nakajima and Katsumi Tezuka
"Godzilla" was released on November 03, 1954

© Copyright 1954 Toho Co., Ltd. and Eiji Tsuburaya. All rights reserved.

Comments

Post a Comment