The Birth of Godzilla

ゴジラの誕生
The Birth of Godzilla

ゴジラの造形は特殊美術を担当する渡辺明が「LIFE」誌などに掲載された古代生物を参考にしてデザイン、そのイメージを基に渡辺と彫刻家の利光貞三が粘土原型を作成して細部を決め込んでいくという手順であった。ゴジラの皮膚の表現については最後まで議論され、海底で生存していたという設定からウロコという案や、怖さを出したイボ状などが検討されたが、最終的にはワニのような皮膚の表現が採用されることになった。デザインが決まりスーツの製作が開始される。利光が粘土で頭部の原型を作り、ベニヤ板にスーツの完成の絵を1分の1で描く。それに合わせ、体の各部分はパーツごとに針金と竹で形を作って金網を被せて芯を組んでいき、その芯に和紙や布を貼ったという。そして、その表面にゴムを盛り付けていった。このゴムは新規に開発されたもので、粘土状のゴムの塊を特殊な液体と混ぜ合わせてゲル状にして芯に盛り付けていき、まず赤外線ランプで乾かす。ある程度固まったところで中の針金と竹を壊して抜いて、それを赤外線ランプと電熱器を仕込んだ大きなブリキの箱に入れる。テストのうえで焼き時間を決め、乾いたらまたゴムを盛り、それを繰り返しておよそ半日焼いたといわれている。このゴムの色は白で焼いても白かったので、油性塗料でくすんだ茶色っぽいグレーの色を塗り、照明の反射を考慮してその上に同色の水性塗料を塗った。なお、歯と目は木のパーツで、目は手動で視線が変えられる仕様であった。現在のように質のいい化学ゴムやプラスティック製品のない時代、ゴジラスーツは試行錯誤の繰り返しの末生まれたのだ。

Akira Watanabe, who is in charge of special art, designed Godzilla with reference to ancient creatures published in “LIFE” magazine, etc. Based on that image, Watanabe and sculptor Teizo Toshimitsu created a clay prototype and detailed It was a procedure to decide. The expression of Godzilla’s skin was discussed until the end, and from the setting that it lived on the seabed, the idea of ​​scales and the wart-like appearance that exuded fear were considered, but in the end it was decided that the skin should be like a crocodile. An expression was adopted. Once the design is finalized, production of the suit begins. Toshimitsu made a prototype of the head out of clay and drew a 1:1 picture of the completed suit on a plywood board. According to that, each part of the body was made with wire and bamboo, covered with wire netting and assembled into a core, and washi paper and cloth were pasted on the core. Then, he covered the surface with rubber. This rubber is a newly developed product. A mass of clay-like rubber is mixed with a special liquid to form a gel, which is applied to the core and dried with an infrared lamp. When it has hardened to some extent, the wire and bamboo inside are broken and pulled out, and it is placed in a large tin box with an infrared lamp and an electric heater. It is said that after testing, the baking time was decided, and when it was dry, it was covered with rubber again, and it was baked for about half a day. Since the color of this rubber was white, it was white even when baked, so I painted it with oil-based paint in a dull brownish gray color, and then painted the same color water-based paint on top of it, considering the reflection of the lighting. In addition, the teeth and eyes were wooden parts, and the eyes were designed to manually change the line of sight. In an era when there were no high-quality chemical rubber or plastic products like today, the Godzilla suit was born after repeated trial and error.

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