A fan film of 1954’s Godzilla completely tricks a group of VFX artists, who analyze the clip as if it’s from the original movie before being told it’s not. Multiple versions of Godzilla have appeared over the course of the last 70 years, with 33 Japanese movies and 5 American movies featuring the kaiju having been made so far. However, the popularity of the famous monster has also led to fan creations, ranging from short films to YouTube series inspired by the King of the Monsters.

Now, Corridor Crew has reacted to a fan film of Godzilla 1954 during their VFX React show, not being told that it’s a fanmade production until after they’ve started their analysis.

Starting at 13:00, Jordan brings in a clip that he claims is from the original movie, which Niko and Wren start to analyze. Then, he blows their minds by telling them the entire clip they just saw was animated in Blender by a channel named TAIYAKI. Check out some of their analysis of the clip after they learn the truth below:

Jordan: This was uploaded three weeks ago to YouTube and made almost entirely in Blender.

Niko: Wow, are you kidding me!? [Laughs] Dude, you just ruined my credibility on Visual Effects Artists React.

Wren: I was fully convinced that was made 80 years ago.

Jordan: He posed every single keyframe [for a stop-motion segment] one picture at a time, one post per picture. He basically just matched the approach you would take in the real world and did it in 3D instead. And the results speak for themselves, it holds up really, really well.

Head over to the bridge section, because this was the most cleaver approach of all the things that I saw. He didn’t use any simulation approaches to any problem. But he actually built a bone structure into the bridge, and animated the bones like you would a character’s arm. He animated the end of an IK chain and bent the bridge over time. So instead of having to worry about a simulation where you’re deforming metal, which is really quite challenging, he’s just animating like simple, character bones. Even the giant chunk that falls off from the middle of the bridge is hand-animated to fall and land.

How Godzilla’s Effects Have Changed Over The Years

TAIYAKI’s Blender-made Godzilla fan film is one of many fan projects that utilize particular effects to make their versions of the King of the Monsters stand out. The same can be said for the actual film series, which originally utilized only practical effects to bring its famed kaiju to life. This included having the monsters in the film series portrayed by people in suits, who fought inside scale model cities or landscapes. Later movies started incorporating digital effects while also keeping the man in the suit as part of the filmmaking process.

However, Japan’s latest film in the franchise, titled Godzilla Minus One, utilized extensive CGI for its version of the character, as well as the destruction he causes throughout the country. This puts the newest movie closer to TAIYAKI’s short film than it does the older movies in terms of what types of effects were used. It also hints that the franchise’s future will likely involve relying more on newer VFX technologies to bring its stories to life.

As the Godzilla franchise continues to grow and shift over time, it’s possible more movies utilizing the techniques TAIYAKI brings to the table will be made in the future. Fan works like the one Corridor Crew reacted to could help to inspire different approaches to effects in the actual movie series. If this does become the case, then other impressive fan works inspired by the franchise could help define the future of the famous kaiju moving forward.

Source: Corridor Crew/YouTube