I love Godzilla. So naturally, I’m hype for the new 4K rerelease of Shin Godzilla, and my butt will be in a seat soon to watch it on the big screen.When that wonderful, big lizard boy first stomped onto screens in 1954, audiences heard something they'd never experienced before. He had an ear-splitting roar that seemed to come from the depths of the earth. The iconic sound didn't emerge from an existing recording. Instead, it was born from the creative genius of composer Akira Ifukube.This video from Firewood Media explores the origins of the iconic sound effect. - YouTube youtube.com Most monster movies of the era took shortcuts with sound design. King Kong's vocalizations were actually recorded from real lions and bears, then manipulated in post. Ifukube sought a sound that had never been heard before, one that would match Godzilla's unique place as both destroyer and symbol of nuclear anxiety.Ifukube took a leather glove and coated it with pine tar resin. Then, working with a double bass, he slowly dragged the glove along the instrument's strings. The result was a deep, resonant, otherworldly sound.He took that already haunting bass sound and slowed it down further, then layered in additional effects to give it even more weight and presence.This attention to sonic detail paid off in ways that still resonate today. Godzilla's roar became as recognizable as any movie sound effect in history, joining the ranks of lightsaber buzzes and Tarzan cries.For the 2014 Legendary Pictures reboot, sound designers Erik...
Published By: NoFilmSchool - Yesterday