========Thursday========
I arrived on Thursday and after getting settled in, headed down to the lobby to talk to people. Eventually snuck around to where the dealers were setting up. Watched a few early deals happen, set my eyes on a couple things.. both of which sold before the dealer's room opened to the public... and then I got a message from someone I follow on Tumblr (MayorofDinosaurs) that he was in the Visibility bar, so i headed over there for a couple drinks. We eventually made our way over to pre-registration, and while completely engrossed in the program trying to plan out the weekend Bin Furuya came up to us and said hi. Then Akira Takarada came by and said hi and shook our hands. It was pretty surreal since we were just hanging out in a relatively empty lobby. Then they disappeared into the night.
Eventually abandoned my plan to see Green Slime at the Pickwick and hung out more with Mayor. There was also a pampered Chef national convention going on next door, so quite a few middle age women were there to offset the younger male G-FEST crowd. It may actually be impossible to talk to someone from PC without them giving you since information on how to buy stuff from them.
========Friday========
I tailgated the dealer's room again this year. Only to learn there were no exclusives and that the people i normally buy reasonably priced Sofubis from weren't going to be there. I overspent on an Amapro Kamakuras, and got average prices on a Marmit Parababy Fake Godzilla 74, and Marmit Monster Heaven Final Wars Ebirah. I later learned that there actually was a G-Fest exclusive, a 2 piece set of Marmit Monster Heaven G'62 and APES "Gorilla". It felt a bit overpriced, but there were only 10 sets made. Here's shots of the Bluefin exclusive Desugoji
The number one thing people were looking for was the new Bandai Shin Godzilla figure.. and the dealers made out well because of it. A figure you could have gotten shipped for $12 was selling in mass at $40 a pop.
After the signature line died down I got my Criterion bluray of Godzilla signed by Akira Takarada, and a Mechanikong stand signed by Linda Miller ::swoon::
The Opening Ceremony was fun, lots of laughs and a good sign of things to come.
Met up with a friend to get a ride to the Pickwick for King Kong Escapes. Typical fun seeing a classic on the big screen. Managed to find another friend i met back in 2012 and talk with every year to get a ride back.
========Saturday========
First up was Akira Takarada. Some of the stories I had heard before, but a couple new ones stood out.
- When they shot the Godzilla appearance (this was early in SFX history) they weren't sure where to look since he was going to be added in later. Honda told them to look at a cloud that was right above the mountainside. But clouds move... so their point of focus did as well as the cloud moved across the skyline. Lesson learned.
- Despite all the "colorized" G'54 figures that have been released the actual suit they used for shooting was grey. There was a brown painted prop that was used for promotion, but i find it fascinating that despite people's attempt at colorizing Godzilla, he was pretty close to what was seen on screen.
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Someone asked him about getting cut from G'14. His answer was classy, and i feel like it cleared the air a bit. First he let out a hearty laugh and said "I was sad" with a chuckle. Then he talked about how much respect he was given being brought to the production and treated like a star. He also received 3 seperate apologies for being cut. He made reference to a discussion/letter with Edwards that indicated studio pressure in cutting a number of scenes. (This really makes me want a director's cut that much more). Apparently the first cut of the film was about 4 hours long. Takarada also said he jokingly recommended cutting Ken Watanabe's scenes instead of his.
- Someone stole the original G'54 suit. They put out a notice, please return it and we wont involve the police. It arrived in a box with no return address.
Bin Furuya was interviewed by August Ragone, so the plus side is that August delivers a lot of commentary during the time translation is occurring, which is usually wasted/quiet time. The negative side was that there was very little time for Q&A. Again a couple highlights.
- Bin Furuya played 5 roles in Ghidrah the 3 headed Monster.
- The discussion of playing Ragon, a female kaiju, was amusing.
- Furuya is a huge fan of movies, his favorite star is James Dean.
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He had taken Karate growing up, but if you look at Ultraman's stance, it isnt based in Karate... he actually based the stance off James Dean's knife fight scene in 'Rebel Without a Cause' (i can't unsee this now. Such a cool piece of trivia)- Ultraman's special moves were coordinated with Tsuburaya, Furuya, Camera man (and one other person) - the camera man was involved so they would have a good idea if how it best be filmed.
-The AC did not work in the Ultraseven car. It was very hot and they often had a crew man on the floor fanning them with a hand held fan out of the shot.
-The Kemur Man head weighed 8 kilograms which made the running scene tricky (and iconic in the process)
Linda Miller ::SwoonS::
- Once appeared on the cover an Accordian (the musical instrument) magazine in a swimsuit holding an accordion.
- When transitioning from print to video, wasn't sure when the camera was on her she would just smile constantly in case
- Felt like she had the "right look at the right time" and talent for acting wasn't considered in her hiring
- "On a daily basis for the first two weeks i thought i was going to be fired"
- Afraid of heights, so the scenes in Kongs hand (which were done with a crane) were nerve wracking (so no acting required to look panicked)
- Was absolutely mortified by the english dub. So much so that she wouldnt tell people she did the film
- JD explained that KKE had one of the better dubs of the era
- Hideyo Amamoto was a real character. Would wear and toss his cape around even when they werent shooting
- Thought she would continue acting when she came back to the US, but found the US industry very predatory compared to Japan
- Got emotional out the outpouring of love for the film the crowd had, to the point of tearing up
- Likely holds the G-FEST records for the most time in a panel someone has referred to Toho actors as dreamy/handsome/cute
Hiroshi Sagae:
i love Sagae. So many never before seen pictures of miniatures and props from his personal collection (he took them while working on various films)
- Got a reputation for being able to work fast and cheap, which got him the door
- Focused on destructible miniatures, which also got him in many doors since many miniature makers dont like having their work destroyed. This opened a lot of opportunities and is how he started working regularly with Wakasa
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In passing said that one the maquette and suit builders worked on "Gamera 1,2, and 3, Gamera the Brave... and is now working on the new Gamera" This was followed by a statement that even if there isnt a suit, the work off maquettes for the design.- This revelation was just completely blown past by Stan Hyde and Robert Scott Field who were more interested in Higuchi's appearance in the picture. So there was no follow up info about a new Gamera film
Sagae also did a panel on a creator owned kaiju project "Hometown Monsters" or Gotouchi Kaiju
- They are making a kaiju for each of Japan's 47 prefectures
- In talks with TBS about a feature length film
- They have partnerships with several groups and making toys, books, etc
- They are also working with J-Pop band that does modernized covers of tokusatsu and kaiju related music
- They would like to bring the band over for a concert at G-FEST.
I got a lot of promotional material from this including music and videos, not sure what i can upload or not so i may update this later or give it its own thread.
The charity auction saw a gigantic plush Godzilla figure sell for $1000 and a number of other donations sold for large prices as well
The costume parade was fun. A large number of M-11s and Ultraman/Sevens this year. They also need to ban the store bought inflatable G'14 from the parade. The parade took way too long, it started as a very crowded standing room only, and ended with the room at 30% of the seats empty. People were so ready to leave that the final costume was only halfway through its walk when the mass exodus started. I was on the far side blocked in by the Gamera so i didnt get out until later. At that point most people I would have gotten rides from had already left and i was a bit tired, so i crashed the Kaijucast listener party for a bit.
Wandered my way to a room with Jaramillo and the Kaiju Kingdom guys and about 6 other guys. Saw some really interesting footage from some really interesting things and heard some fascinating stories regarding Sompote Sands including what happened to the book from a couple years ago. Kind of felt like i found the G-FEST underground. Also talked with Mark a lot about Raiga/Wolfman/etc.
Also caught a number of film festival shorts.. namely a subtitle Gemu, which was great.
========Sunday========
After not nearly enough sleep, packed up my stuff and made one last run at artist alley before heading to the airport only to find my flight delayed.
Already looking forward to next year and was really happy to meet a lot of new people this year.
I have a TON more pictures, and a TON of video. I'll put a lot of it on my tumblr (klen7.tumblr.com) to keep from spanning the forum.
Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2015 9:54 pm
