I personally love the idea of CGI, to be able to take something you create and turn it into a moveable model. As for it being used to supply the audience, that is where it loses art. Being an artist myself, I have always tried going for realism in everything I do. I try to find out new techniques for my drawings to have a correct 3D shapes, how to cast shadows correctly, where is it more exposed more, etc. I prefer to draw realistically, but I don’t think that demeans from my creativity.
Yes CGI is forced onto artists, in the film industry, but I do not think that CGI itself is the problem, but as you say, is used used so much that any artistic meaning with it is nullified. Then again, I know a lot of these movies are loved, but later Showa Era movies, not specifically Godzilla, (after the first three movies) This is when tokusatsu started to make a lot of money, more movies were made with less budgets to gain money for the company.
We do not receive this today, so we know actually appreciate the art for what is was. But I think art is hard for Industry to handle. Industries will always go for money, even if it means sacrificing the integrity of the art they produce.
I’m not trying to demean Tokusatsu in any way, but saying that history repeats itself. One thing I find, especially in later films, is the lack of staging. Scenes in visual art, have to be staged for the eye to easily detect emotion through color, or positions of characters, and also to help guide the eye to look at the right things. Yes there are instances of staging in a lot of Tokusatsu, which could be considered part of the art, but that is what is commonly part of Abstract Art, which is hard and frustrating to look at and understand, (at least for me.)
Using these things, I will explain how I think Modern Tokusatsu would work. First, yes Godzilla would be portrayed in a city with miniatures. My camera angles would be different, instead of the action head one, I would try to make it more immersive, like in G 2014, where the camera angles would come from the people’s perspective. I would use debris to guide people’s eyes at the right characters, and use red and blue lights to create a clashing looking environment, like fire and Godzilla’s atomic breath. Now second, I would incorporate CGI. I would accurate render and cast light from certain parts of the scene, such as, one thing I don’t see much, Godzilla’s dorsal fins actually illuminating buildings around them, with blue. I would also add effects to make the suit look more life like, with blinking eyes, and subtle breathing effects.
That’s how I would do Tokusatsu.
