The Tallest Kaiju Podcast
The Tallest Kaiju podcast - a spinoff of The Longest Take Podcast - brings on guests to talk about their favorite kaiju media. Writers, filmmakers, content creators, and more! All kaiju, all the time!
The Tallest Kaiju Podcast
Ebirah, Horror of the Deep with Lost Utopia Films | Tarrell Christie
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Welcome! Today I have talented filmmaker and Godzilla superfan Tarrell Christie (Lost Utopia Films on YouTube) to discuss Ebirah!!! An obscure little Godzilla opponant that isn't as popular, but nonetheless fascinating! We also discuss the incredible work Tarrell is doing on his YouTube channel - linked below. thanks for listening!
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Thank you for listening to Pikens Podcast. In today's episode, I'm joined by Tyrell Christie, also known on YouTube as Lost Utopia Films. If you've ever been on the Lost Utopia Films YouTube channel, you would see an amazing collection of found footage style Godzilla films: The Griffin, Shelter 54, Sub Zero Terror. I absolutely love the content. Please go check it out. And please tune in to today's episode where him and I are going to discuss Ebera, Horror of the Deep. Thank you for listening. All right. So first things first, what was your introduction to Kaiju Cinema and how has that affected your trajectory as an artist?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I was introduced. Uh it was it's hard to say because I was really little, but it was either my dad or my grandpa. Um, I just remember having this huge, I think it was pretty much like all of the original Godzilla movies from like uh, you know, Gogira, or I guess the American one, King of the Monsters. Um, the Terror of Mega Godzilla, and I was just like obsessed with it, really loved it. Um, and then you know, later discovering there's even more movies out there that they made in the 90s and you know, and then the early 2000s. Um so I was really always obsessed with it. And it's really kind of as far as me like being like a filmmaker, it's kind of I see like an essential foundation piece to it. Um, like even if I'm doing stuff that's not necessarily Godzilla related, um, that was always the stuff that initially like I was like, that's what I want to do when I grow up. Uh before I even knew like making movies was really a thing. Like, I just I originally wanted to be a comic book artist, but my skills kind of just like plateaued around like 11 years old. So I was like, I gotta I gotta figure out a different way. And uh yeah, I kind of just fell into filmmaking and now it's kind of just come full circle where I'm making some uh kaiju stuff.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's that's really awesome, especially to be introduced at like a really young age. And so you said it was a it was a collection of those first like few Godzilla's um yeah, that because I I didn't get a chance to see a lot of those until later, but they were like it was like the King Kong vs Godzilla, the original, and some other ones, but um to to be able to get like a bunch of them from the beginning, I think that that's pretty dope too. Um but when it comes to like I guess out of that collection that your dad had, what was your favorite?
SPEAKER_01My my favorite probably was King Kong versus Godzilla. That was I mean, the the smack down at the end was just like that's every like I remember there was one moment specifically I was really obsessed with the ending where they fall off the cliff into the water. I watched it so much, I still have the VHS, like that part is kind of damaged, like it doesn't, it doesn't fully play right because I just watched it over and over. So that one is just like it's one of those movies where I just have watched it so much that I know when the sound effects are coming, you know, like all the music cubes. Like, I just yeah, that one's I still say that's my favorite. There's probably better Godzilla movies, but that was that one is still I just kind of I say that's my favorite.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, absolutely. And you know, you can't go wrong with uh there's a gif of it everywhere where uh I think it's King King Kong shoving the tree in Godzilla's mouth. Hilarious. Um yeah, that that one's definitely a classic. And um, I'm glad that they got to it in the monster verse nowadays. Yeah, they they get to play with each other now, um, you know, years, years, years later.
SPEAKER_01Um, it's crazy. I never pictured as a kid to be in like this Godzilla Renaissance. It's crazy.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and um, did you hear that uh Toho's talking about releasing like simultaneous Godzilla releases moving forward?
SPEAKER_01I'm all for like bringing on more Godzilla. Let's do it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, because I mean we've got the the minus one universe, and now I imagine they're gonna either continue Shin or they're gonna have like another one coming up, you know. I just just like fuck yeah, you know. Yeah, I'm so hyped. Um, but you know, speaking of Godzilla, would you like to introduce our focus of today's episode?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so today we're talking about Ebera, horror of the deep. Uh this one is a personal favorite of mine because I like to say it's it's kind of like Godzilla on vacation. It's very much just it's it's we're away from like the cities, we're away from, you know, we're just kind of chilling on an island with probably one of my favorite human character casts of the Godzilla movies. Like, you know, you kind of got like the comedic relief character, you got you know the real serious kind of leader, and uh, you know, the the native woman that they find. Like it's just for me, uh one of my probably top five favorite Godzilla movies. It's just it's groovy. The music is so different. Um, and yeah, I just I I I love it and I'm really excited to talk about it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, no, it's it's definitely um it's it's goofy in a good way, I think, with a lot of of you know, just how it is. It is a little more serious with some of the things that happen in it, but um, I was able to catch it not too long ago on one of these YouTube channels. I forget which one it was. I don't know if it was a Toho official one, but they were playing like I think they had Ebera, um All Monsters Attack, um, and like three other ones just plain um it was a marathon for like a whole week or something like that. Yeah. Um but I also have a sweater and it's like this pink sweater and it's got Ebera on it. It's one of my favorites to wear. Um because I I always love the obscure like Godzilla characters, like the ones that you don't see around as often. Um and Ebera's definitely one of those. Um and one of the things I found super interesting about it um is that Toho didn't want Ebera to be bipedal like a lot of Godzilla's um, you know, opponents, uh, because they thought it wouldn't be interesting. Um which I I do agree with that because when you think about it and you know, since then and now um some of the more interesting, you know um opponents against Godzilla are ones that aren't, you know, either they're we we've got the flying ones, but then we've only got like a few of them that are you know, they crawl around, they're on all fours or whatever, like um female muto from 2014, for instance. Um I think it creates a really cool dynamic and it's more immersive because when you see a bunch of bipedal monsters fighting each other, you're like, okay, though that's obviously guys in suits, right? Because right, yeah, we're people we're bipedal, like it's it's just it's harder to immerse yourself or suspend disbelief. But when you have something like Ebera or other, you know, non-bipedal monsters, it's like, okay, now that actually looks kind of like a creature, you know, it it helps with that perspective.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, Ebera, especially, I feel like was really cool for its time because if I remember right, that's the first movie where we see Godzilla actually fight underwater. Like we we actually go underwater with him and we see you know that type of battle. Um, so yeah, mixed with just like I feel like you there's not a lot of shots where you actually fully see Evera's body because of you know it's not bipedal and it's you know they don't have something to keep it up. And I feel like it honestly works better because you like as a kid watching it, like I could never figure out just like what exactly he looked like. Like his body was either always underwater or obscured. Um yeah, a really interesting opponent, and I'm sure we'll get later into you know how it how it relates to King Kong and whatnot. Um, but a very different kind of monster to see Godzilla fight from what we've had up to that point. Um, and yeah, I think it is a really cool trend that we see monsters that are kind of go further outside of what would be like restricted to a person in a costume. I think uh like King of Dora, I think, for example, is one of the monsters I think with CGI comes to life better than they probably did practically. Um, like not to diss the classic King of Dora because I love him, but you know, it was just heads kind of on strings, and they're kind of not really, you know, and then you see King of the Monsters, and King Adora just really comes to life and has personality and um but yeah, really long way of saying really do love uh how Ebera is just a very very different kind of monster that Godzilla fight fought at that time.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and um thinking about it now in um New Empire, I think it was uh was it Scylla or Skilla? That more like um not really interactant, but like you know, that's another one that's not bipedal. And yeah, um, yeah, yeah. I I guess they have a shitload of them now that I think about it in the monster verse, but um yeah, I just I always think that that's such a cool way to do it. Um especially because like like I already said about you know um all the other villains before then are either you got Mothra flying or you got them just more men in suits, just you know, boxing with each other. Um but you you did just mention King Kong, and um this originally was supposed to be a King Kong movie, which is also super interesting. Um because like I think you said it best when you said this is like Godzilla on vacation, yeah. It's because it's you know it's a King Kong movie, but we have Godzilla at the forefront. Um I don't know. I I just I love that idea where it's just like they're setting up, they're getting all the shit ready, and then they're like, you know what, like Godzilla instead, and you just swap it out and you just still run with it. I I think there's like a scrappiness to that that uh that's pretty dope.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's it's funny how many times there seems to be almost like a King Kong movie, and then last minute, they're like, No, we gotta make it Godzilla or something, you know. Um, and yeah, and it's funny too that it was gonna be Kong because that would have, had it happened, been another movie where Kong fights some type of aquatic. Like that seems to be a weird running trend where he's fighting octopuses or these krakens, or you know, you'd think Kong being a land monster, you'd fight more of those, but we keep seeing him fight these um an aquatic, and it makes sense for that one, though, you know, because why would Godzilla struggle with a giant lobster? You know, I don't really know. That'd be that would be a challenge for Kong. Um, but it is so cool. Just you can definitely tell that, you know, like with Godzilla's weird connection with the woman on the island and just all these all these little moments that it's it makes for an interesting Godzilla movie, knowing that it was supposed to be King Kong.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and I think it it's it it especially speaks to just how um how well those two characters work um with each other and separate of each other and why they're at the forefront of kaiju cinema at this point. Um just because like yeah, yeah, I wouldn't say it's it's like nicely interchangeable, but like it's still interchangeable. I'm sure there's a story somewhere where 2014's Godzilla could have been a King Kong movie. Correct. I don't know how you would get like how you would how you'd make it work, but Godzilla fighting two muto or uh King Kong fighting two mutos, I could I could see it. Uh because they're like bug type of creatures, and um yeah I I I see that vibe there, but yeah, no, it it definitely speaks to those two, and I just I think that it's fascinating. Um and another thing about this, and Ebera being like the the cool little lobster monster thing that it is. Uh I guess after this one it didn't come back until 2004's Final Wars.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um I'm trying to remember, did did Godzilla kill Ebra at the end of this, or did he just scurry off into the ocean?
SPEAKER_01Uh at the end of the uh original movie? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, so it yeah, it ends with Godzilla rips off uh I'm pretty sure he rips off Ebra's claws. And then yeah, I think you see Ebra just go off into the ocean. Maybe Godzilla hits him with atomic breath one last time. Yeah, yeah, it it's it's something like that, yeah. Okay.
SPEAKER_00Um because yeah, Ebra is just another one of the roster that you see once and then you like never see again, really, except here and there. Um which um is really funny too, because there's another creature that's in this one, giant condor that showed up another time. Um and a lot of people joke about giant condor coming into the monster verse to some capacity. Right. And like the the OG or like the obscene or obscure Godzilla fans are just like, we want giant condor. But I think that's that's another one of my favorite things about these types of Godzilla installments is that you get those, like, those that quirky, charming, obscure little characters in in the lore of that. Um and you don't you don't get that as much any like af afterwards, you know. Um like I guess when they're trying to be more kid friendly, you get a little bit more of that quirkiness, but not in always a good way. Like, I'm not a fan of all monsters attack, really. I think uh giant condor comes back in that one, right? For like two seconds.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, they were used with pretty much a lot of past movies in that one.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, that one just ridiculous, though. But I I love it too, but with you know, Ebera and some of the ones with a similar style, um definitely I definitely feel like that's something that the Monsterverse nowadays could probably use. Um but it's hard because with like how they've done similar things, it doesn't always hit because they give us Doug, you know, Doug, right?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00I think it would hit more if instead of giving us just Doug, they had like a like an OG character. And it was like the like a silly little like quirky side thing. Yeah. Um probably at least for me, um, very selfishly, it would make me feel a little better about it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean, there's so many characters to pull from, it's like infinite possibilities.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, absolutely. Um and you know, the cool thing about Ebera and Godzilla facing off is that their origins are very similar. Um, you know, the red bamboo terrorist organization from this movie, they had a bunch of nuclear waste, and that led to uh, you know, the the creation, the development of Ebera or Ebera. And you know that it's exactly what happened with Goji, you know, got hit with some radiation, some nuclear energy, and uh kind of blew up.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it was that's one thing I love uh about Ebera's just a Godzilla villain. It's just like yeah, like it's just another kind of radioactive sea monster. Like it just you you can almost feel like there's probably battles they have off-screen and underwater, and we just have never known about it, you know. Um, and I love the way that they tie the red bamboo, which I'm pretty sure is like the first terrorist organization in the Godzilla series.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think I think so. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01And I I don't think they ever came back after that movie, but they were I like, I mean, the villains in the old Godzilla movies, the human ones, I always love them. They're always sometimes over the top, and you know, but um, yeah, and I like that with Ebra, they figured out uh it was the first movie where they figured out that like if they use that fruit that Ebra actually won't attack them, you know, and if they spray it from their ships. Yep. So that was cool that we kind of got to see like, oh, they actually have like a deterrent system um against giant monsters. So uh yeah, really cool. I I love the red bamboo. I hope to somehow intertwine them into my series somewhat.
SPEAKER_00Oh, you do yeah, you definitely have that uh capability, and I think people would like the the Godzilla fans would definitely appreciate that. Um see the return of them and um has a has Ebera showed up in any of your shorts?
SPEAKER_01No, so it's it's funny. There's uh there's a crab monster I introduced a couple videos ago called Kanyira. Oh it's basically Ebera is just it's just Japanese for giant shrimp, and so kanyra just means giant crab. Um because I couldn't find an Ebera model. Um so I created like his crab cousin, basically, is what I call him. Um and I use like a pitched modified version of Ebera's roar. Um so there's still a little bit of that like DNA in there. Um but yeah, once once the model comes available for him, I'm definitely hoping to put him in there somewhere.
SPEAKER_00It's gonna be the the true sequel to Horrors of the Deep, you know. That would that would be amazing. Um I also um when reading up about this, because I mean it it's been a while since I've watched it. I did re-watch it maybe I think a couple weeks ago, but um they tried to use a placebo deterrent for um Ebera and it didn't work for them. I think that that's funny too, that they're just like let's try this instead, and it's just like no, that didn't fucking work at all. Um but the the idea of a deterrent, I think, is always fascinating for kaiju films because I think it's um and I had a conversation with someone recently about this that like there's a purity when it comes to monsters in general, because like a monster is just an animal and it's gonna do its naturalistic impulses, right? It's gonna want to eat and do whatever. Um so you you know it's not always the plan to like hunt it or or whatever, or you use it to protect you. Like Red Bamboo was able to be on this island, um, they had their deterrent, and then anybody else who tried, Evera, was able to just you know fight them off. But um, I like this idea that like monsters are pure in their intentions, they're just it's just nature. And for one of the things for humanity to kind of fight against them, it's like like let's just like try to deter it. Like, we're not gonna engage, try to kill it, but yeah, let's just try to make it like not see us in the wild type thing. Um, the same way that like you know, you've got insect repellent and shit like that. Like, yeah, um, I just think it's it's cool when you take something like a kaiju and it really brings it down to like okay, this is just an animal, it's massive, but at the end of the day, it is just you know, just a creature that um you could kind of try to avoid like other creatures, you know.
SPEAKER_01Right, yeah, that's something I wish they uh they played with that idea in Godzilla Raids again, where they figured that if they turned off the lights of Tokyo, that they they thought that maybe those lights were like triggering the Godzilla or something, so they turned them off and Godzilla could just be led away with flares, and then they just never really like picked that up again. I thought that was such an interesting way to look at it is like, yeah, of course, to him the lights probably do look like an explosion or something, and he's just angry all the time. And um, I always wish they had they they did kind of I wish they went more into you know, instead of fighting the monsters, how about we just kind of adapt to how they are and just kind of live around them? I always thought that was cool.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and that's something that you know, even nowadays they should explore more. Um off the top, I think uh Godzilla 2014 had something similar with the way that they tried to move the Mutos around. They had like the nuclear bombs and they would move it just to try to lure it away from somewhere. Um so there's like tidbits of that, but um, I would love for it to be more of like a like a I don't want to say plot device because that sounds negative, but you know, something like a plot device. Experience that a little bit more. Um, I think Monarch might a little bit. Um, I'm not caught up on season two, but being down in the trenches with the people in that show with like these creatures around, um if not that specifically, like deterrence and things of that nature, like you said with shutting off the lights, you get you get other versions of that, having it more grounded, I guess.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_00But with um the biggest missed opp the biggest missed opportunity is having instead of having Titan X, a C based monster in Monarch, they should have had Ebera.
SPEAKER_01That would have been sweet. Just give a whole season.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, even though, like, if you look relook at the fights and everything, Ebera sucked and was not that much of a challenge to Godzilla, but just do it for the fans, man. You know?
SPEAKER_01I know. Yeah, I'm like, I know there's licensing fees, but. I'm like, really, how much are they charging for that guy? Like, they can't all just be an equal price, right? Like, they gotta be a lower tier of monsters you can pay for, you know.
SPEAKER_00Right, like giant condor. Like, how much do you think Toho's gonna have you pay for that? Right, exactly. Um do you have anything else that you'd like to discuss about Ebera? Any other points?
SPEAKER_01Let me think. Um I will say I this movie was probably as a kid like the first uh real like stressful movie experience I had in that uh do you remember there's like an entire scene of where there's just this button slowly going down? I think if if the button eventually reaches a certain point, the entire island blows up or something, and the characters have their hand in this thing trying to reach it, and they're just so close to it, but it just keeps going down. Yeah, do you remember this part?
SPEAKER_00Uh no, I I don't think so, but because there's like this alarm blaring the whole time.
SPEAKER_01I just remember as a kid, like that part always just stressed me out. Um, and that's just that's just something I just always remember of this movie, is just how stressful that part was to me as a kid.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and now that you bring it up, I mean moments of tension like that is something that was it felt, at least to me, with revisiting the series uh more often now, it feels so rare. Like I don't at least in the back in the day, yeah, there wasn't as much tension, right? It was like, you know, big monster fight. Here's like these almost cartoonish villains with guns, and the the humans are trying to stop them. Um but yeah, yeah, I think that's another thing that would make it very uh would have made it more, I guess, effective as is like a an interesting sci-fi monster movie is a little more tension to add in there. Yeah, um the stakes was always just like big monster. Um but something like the introduction to that button, I think that that's really compelling. I'm gonna have to look that up. Yeah. Um because I know um not that specifically, but I definitely remember being a kid and watching certain movies, and you're just like freaking out.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, right.
SPEAKER_00If you have anxiety nowadays, it's probably because of some of those movies you watch. Um exactly. But no, that's really that's really fascinating. But if that is it, um switching gears to uh the cooler part of the episode today, which is Lost Utopia Films, um and all the all the cool shit you're doing over there. Um what was the genesis of Lost Utopia Films? I see that the oldest video on your YouTube channel is 17 years old, which that's insane. Um, so you've been messing around with the camera for a long time. At what point did you realize these Godzilla films were kind of like what you want to do, at least within the last couple years?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. So I started, I think it's it's changed name. I've been Lost Utopia Films since I think 2015. Um, and that one I've just really stuck with because yeah, before that, um, I mean I've I made the account when I was in middle school. So I was I think I was like Fear Films at one point, I think I was iStudios at another point. Um, and then yeah, now now we've landed on Lost Utopia. Um, and yeah, the god the list stuff was kind of an interesting um development because up until then, aside from a Spider-Man fan film I did, I was pretty much only doing the original stuff. Um, it was actually during COVID. Uh I was just I mean, quarantined, there was just not a lot to do, and I got really interested um in seeing like what would it take to kind of pull off this Godzilla stuff in something like Wender. I had a little bit of experience in it. Um, and so I kind of just had time to really just kind of dive in for like a couple years, work on that. Um, and then I did the first video, which was called The Griffin. Um, and people really like that, and so I was like, okay, if people are down for this, let me make this into a series. Um, so then after that, every episode was kind of scripted, and now there's like an overall plan. Um, and it's almost I'd say we're probably towards the end of uh you know the story I'm trying to tell with it. Um, and it's just been like I love making them, but three years of making them, they're they're so they're the biggest projects I've made easily by far. Um but yeah, it's it's been it's been a it's been a fun pivot, and uh it's I mean it's making Godzilla stuff. Like I some I I get stressed, you know, like you always get stressed making anything, but I try to just remember remind myself, like, hey, I'm just making making Godzilla stuff. It's just Godzilla, it's you know, just just keep it chill.
SPEAKER_00Right, right. Um was the Griffin inspired by the original idea for 1998's Godzilla?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. So it's the yeah, so it's that Griffin monster, and then um my idea was that oh, it'd be cool if we had the two American Godzilla's fight the one American monster that was, you know, unmade type of thing. Um, and I'm a huge fan of Cloverfield, so that was obviously like a big inspiration on the entire series. Um, so yeah, I was kind of just taking uh like the series as a whole, I guess Project Monster really I liked taking unused concepts and stuff that um you only like would read about on Wikipedia pages because like as a kid, those would really just get my imagination going.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_01Um so the Griffin is one of those monsters that was like, I kind of want to fill in some gaps, kind of give my take on like what it might be like, what it might sound like, what it might move like. Um, and so yeah, that's where the inspiration for that came from.
SPEAKER_00Um, and then have you been using Blender for all of them? Right? Is that the is that the software you've been kind of playing in the sandbox of?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. So Blender I use for the animating, and then um After Effects is where I you know kind of put everything together, and then uh premiere I do the final editing, sound effects, all that stuff.
SPEAKER_00Oh, cool. Adobe. Um, a lot of people I talk to nowadays they're on Da Vinci now, but yeah, they're all dumping. Yeah. Um, but I remember years ago when I when I wanted to get into film, I I was really into Adobe. Um because that at that point, I mean that was also uh it was Final Cut and Adobe Premiere. Um so that's yeah. And um what's the music one called?
SPEAKER_01Oh, um audition.
SPEAKER_00Audition, right, right, right. Yeah. Um do you pay for the subscription or have you been able to get like no?
SPEAKER_01I gotta I unfortunately have to pay for it. Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah. That's why I don't I I don't fall. I mean, I don't really have a uh what's the expression, dog in the fight, I guess. I don't know. I don't have a real side to pick in like the Da Vinci versus Pamiere.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, for me it's just kind of whatever gets you from point A to point B, you know, whatever.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. And um, I think if if there wasn't such like a because I stopped being interested in Adobe when it came to like the creative studio like subscription. Um I like being able to just like pay up front and like you have it, which is how it was before. But when I was in high school, I definitely pirated some software. Um those are the good old days. Now you I doubt you can even get away with that because companies know and they'll they'll catch you if you try. Yeah, but still that's that's super cool to hear though. Um, because like I said, I I used to be in into Adobe, and those have been really great tools, and I'm sure they're even better now. Um so that's that's really interesting. Like, so you use Blender and in Adobe After Effects and and Premiere. So, how long is that creation process once you get the idea? You know, from getting the idea, writing it, and then just like going in and executing everything.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, um, it varies because like some projects, like the last one I did Sub Zero Terror, for example, that had um some live action parts with like you know, actors and stuff. So that one kind of stretched the timeline because like scheduling and whatnot that made it uh take a little bit longer. Um I'd say if I were to like average it, I'd say roughly from like writing to creation, it's probably like six-ish months, I'd say. Um, but I usually will work on that on and off over a period of about a year. Um, just so I don't burn myself out and get too under, you know, pressure with making these things and whatnot. Um yeah, I I try to make I try to not to go past the year in between videos.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, because I I think especially for shorts, if you devote too much time, too much, too many resources, um sometimes there's not always an ROI, a return on investment with shorts. Yeah, um, it's a little cooler when it's Godzilla because like it's an IP and you know people are gonna watch it, but you don't want to like sacrifice so much time into that. Um and you're the only one who's doing the the effects and everything, like all that editing, all the the software. Yeah, so you definitely burn out fast if you just try to like marathon it.
SPEAKER_01I'm working I'm working on a video right now that's kind of uh a making of video because a lot of people just haven't they don't really know who's behind these, they don't know like you know, like my stories or inspirations behind making it. Um so I'm excited to do that and kind of hopefully shed a light on the process. Um, I'm always like a little nervous to show it just because like I consider myself a noob still to it, and so I don't want to give people the wrong info, but I figure I'll just show them how I do it and they can do it the info, you know what they will.
SPEAKER_00Right. Um, can you give like a little like a little um peek into what that you know what you're gonna discuss in that video? Like anything you could talk to right now.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so mainly uh one of the things I would talk about is a big thing for me was I didn't really want to do outside of like the animating, I didn't want to do like the compositing work, like explosions and blending that and stuff in Blender because I just didn't I'm more comfortable in After Effects, like I have years worth of experience. So I basically was figuring out that there's a code where you can send a 3D camera from Blender to After Effects, so I'd get my animations in there, so then essentially I could just drop in explosions, whatever, and it would be perfectly camera tracked to it. So I'm pretty much gonna just kind of show like um it was a lot of workshopping, like it was probably like I said, it was maybe like a year or two before I actually did the first video because it was a lot of just uh research in the lab, just figuring out how can I make this possible within my skill set and kind of um yeah, just just I guess hide some of the faults of being like found footage and not having the skills and whatnot.
SPEAKER_00Right. Um, yeah, I I'll love I'd love to see that because I I love anything behind the scenes. Um and I'm sure your your fans will really appreciate that, you know, get a little peek behind the curtain and just see how that all goes. Um be pretty dope. Um so and and you mentioned it a little bit earlier about how you used to do originals, um, except for that Miles, the Miles Morales uh fan film you did. Um, so you did things like the crooked place in the field. Once you kind of wrap up this Godzilla, this Project Monster stuff, are you is your plan to go back into like originals and get out there and make sure yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_01I'm actually I'm probably gonna try and fit in. I don't know if I'll post it yet, but I'm gonna try and film something um original next, just because yeah, like I love Godzilla, I've been in the world for a little too long. I need to take a step back and just kind of get fresh ideas, you know, and whatnot. Um, some of the goal I'm challenging myself is to do uh some original stuff, especially because I'm I I mean, I I enjoy animating, but I don't consider myself an animator. And I feel like I've done these so long that now people are starting to call me an animator, which is fine. But I'm like, I like I like movies, I like making movies. So I kind of and I do miss interacting with like actors and being on set. Um like being behind a computer is fine, but it's just it's not the full experience I'm looking for. Um, but yeah, once Godzilla's wrapped up, it's probably gonna be a pretty hard pivot back into just um original stuff. Hopefully, people still stick around. And if you if you like my Godzilla stories, um I think you'll probably still dig some of the stuff I'm doing. Um but yeah, that's that's that's the journey so far.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that I'm I'm definitely looking forward to that because I love the the originals. Um, I think I don't remember if it was uh crooked place or the field, but um they had laurels on them from like film festivals. Um were any of those like film festivals like the in-person festivals where you could go and play it for a crowd, or were a lot of these uh which um I guess what was the the best part of that experience? Like where were you and how was it to showcase that work in front of a crowd?
SPEAKER_01Oh well, what sucks is the the biggest festival it played at, um which uh is of I believe it's in Florida, it's called Spooky Empire. That one I wish I went to because that one they have like um I mean you got like Freddie Krueger there, like you get like all the OG like actors and stuff. I wish so I wish so badly I was there in person. Um, but it's played at some local stuff. I'm in the Iowa, I'm in Iowa uh area, so I played it in some local stuff and uh yeah, I mean horror movies with the crowd, that's just what it's all about, you know. It's yeah, next I mean next to I haven't done a comedy, but I'm sure that probably feels you know really satisfying when like a joke lands. But um no, horror horror movies are cool. I always love just creeping people out.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and I've noticed that's probably the best community, especially if you're starting out as a filmmaker. Might be best to just make horror because the community is just so great and supportive.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, 100%. Yeah, I've I've I've my roots were pretty much on YouTube in horror, and uh yeah, it's it's I mean you'll get you'll get some mean people every now and then, but for the most part, people just really they eat up horror. Like I've noticed even with like Godzilla stuff, like the more I lean into horror stuff, it seems to be more popular than uh some of the lighter Godzilla stuff, which is really interesting to me because I kind of it seems like I probably prefer darker Godzilla, but I'm actually kind of the lighter stuff is where my heart is. It's just the stories I've told so far have been kind of more on the darker side of Godzilla, but um yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um that's yeah, I I can understand that. I think before you get out of the sandbox, though, you should make your version of like all monsters attack like a super lighthearted uh completely opposite of of how you've been doing it. No, but um that um yeah, yeah, I think that that's really interesting too from the horror perspective there. So with your original or originals, you know, coming in the future, are you gonna stick with horror? Is that kind of like your gonna be your foundation?
SPEAKER_01I think horror will definitely always be around because that's probably I feel like it's the one I'm most comfortable kind of falling back into, I guess. Um, but I do also I'm really looking to kind of uh challenge myself. Like I have a drama script I really want to get made. Um I've never I've weirdly been in the mood to try romance. I've never tried a romance film before, but I'm like, you know what, let's I don't know. I'm just kind of interested in really experimenting and uh yeah, I don't know, just kind of playing with like a range of genres. I've kind of I don't like to be in one thing for too long, so I I try to mix it up if I can.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, for sure. And uh when you say romance, like how do you envision a romance? Because there's different layers to that. So like you you write a romance, what would be a movie you would compare it to, I guess?
SPEAKER_01Hmm. That's a good question. I mean, if I if I were to go, it would probably be something a little more um like have you seen have you seen Submarine? Have you seen that movie? Yeah, yep. Okay, yeah. I I love stuff like like it'd probably be just kind of like a like a little cute indie, you know, like just that kind of little I love that type of um stuff, but I don't know, it would be fun to just go hardcore into just like something really dramatic, like I don't know, something gothic. Like I don't know what I compare it to. I guess Worthing Heights, that's probably the most recent thing. But uh yeah, I don't know. It it uh it'd just be fun to experiment.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, absolutely. Um I think playing around with a bunch of different genres in general is a practice that I think probably most filmmakers should do. Um even if they're not gonna make something immediately with it, just as a writing practice, it's it's it's great. For sure. You said that you've worked on sets before on things that aren't your own projects. Yeah, what um what kind of sets were those? I'd love to know a little bit more about that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I'd say mainly uh short films like fellow filmmakers. Um I helped on one indie horror film before. That was like 10 years ago. Um yeah, I I love set life, honestly. Like I no matter what I don't know, it's just there's just an energy when you're making movies that like I I love to be in it, and I feel sad when I'm not in it, you know. It's it's uh and I'm like an introvert, so I feel like it's kind of my only I reserve filming for like my that's my social time. Like that's that's where I save my social battery for. Um so yeah, I I it's it's just fun. I love it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I love that. Um yeah, it's one of those things where it's like whether you're just like a PA or or helping with camera or anything, um, I think when the when the vibes are good, it's great.
SPEAKER_01Um this is very true. Yeah, when the vibes are not good, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Then it's just like why are we here? Um, but no, that that's super cool. Do you do you still help out or um you don't have as many local filmmakers around you?
SPEAKER_01Um I'm trying, I'm making a goal for myself to to try and I mean that's kind of a thing that sucks too with being like a specialist filmmaker, is a lot of times when people do want to collaborate, it's just visual effect stuff. Um, so it's still kind of keys to buying the computer, but it's like, hey guys, I can I'm down to carry stuff. I'm down to you know, I'm down to help you. Um but I do have some shoots I'm helping out later this summer that I'm hoping kind of gets me in motion. I'm just like hanging out on some sets more because yeah, I've I've been behind the computer too much. I need to I need to get back out there.
SPEAKER_00Touch grass, right?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_00Oh, that's awesome. Um so I guess you know you you can include film stuff too, but just in general, where do you see yourself in five years?
SPEAKER_01That's uh that's a tough one. Um I'd like to be sold doing videos work in some fashion. Um because just recently in the last year I transitioned transitioned to freelance editing. Um that's been fun trying to learn the ups and downs of freelancing. Um, so I'd hope in five years I maybe get that figured out. And uh I'd say probably five years have the Godzilla series wrapped up for sure. And uh I'd say in five years I would like to at least be writing a feature. It doesn't have to be done, but I would like to at least be writing one.
SPEAKER_00And do you think that feature would be probably um horror?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I'd probably probably something like a horror sci-fi. Yeah, I'd probably I I've written some features, but I haven't like gone like fully created one. Um so I probably would do something a little in my sandbox for that first one just uh I guess just have that a little bit of that confidence that I can I know what I'm getting myself into, you know.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, absolutely. Um what um do you have a camera currently? Yeah. What kind of camera is it?
SPEAKER_01Right now it is the Black Magic 6K.
SPEAKER_00Oh nice. I've got a buddy who's been filming his um feature with that.
SPEAKER_01Oh sweet. Yeah, yeah, I love it. Yeah, it's very it's very just like filmmaker intuitive, like they kind of they know what you're looking for on like a display screen. Like, yeah, I love it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's yeah, that that's really dope. And then the picture I'm I'm pretty sure looks really good with that too. Um the thing about nowadays. With technology, though, like you there's so many options for you to get that cinematic look. Um, and there's so many good cameras, and the good thing about black magic is they're like they're not super expensive to get to, um, right, which makes it like amazing uh because you're not shelling out like six thousand dollars to get a camera. Um but I I was talking to someone the other day and they filmed their short on their iPhone, and that's something you see a lot, right? Like the 28 Years Later movie, you got except with 28 years later, I'm not gonna say they shot it on an iPhone, like they technically did, but it was like a bunch of souped up iPhones, like it's not conventional.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I don't I don't count those.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it probably cost thousands of dollars to create all those riggs, you know what I mean?
SPEAKER_01Right, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um no, that's super that's super dope. Yeah, black magic seems super reliable.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, I love that. I was I'm trying to get out and film with it more because yeah, it's it's a lot of fun.
SPEAKER_00Did you um the the live action stuff for Sub Zero? Was that did you film it or did you there were people that filmed it and sent you the footage?
SPEAKER_01Uh there is a mix, so I filmed the stuff with like the main characters, the scientists. Um, I filmed that. Um, but then the stuff where it was like the soldiers in the snow and whatnot. Um that was actually a crew that lives two hours away. Um, they knew the guy who helped me produce the video, and so they helped out and just went out in the winter for like two hours and just grabbed some footage. And I was like, Oh yeah, I'll definitely make something out of this.
SPEAKER_00So yeah, that's super awesome. I I love that. The collaborative, you know, the collaborative process for filmmaking is just always so incredible, you know. Yeah, for sure. Um, but awesome, man. Yeah, I uh I really appreciate you coming and talking with me. Um, I had a great time. We got to bring up the good old little lobster boy, um, Ebrah. And um, yeah, I love hearing about your work. You uh you've been making some really fascinating things, and I can't wait to see what you continue to do.
SPEAKER_01Thank you so much, and thank you for having me on. It was an honor.