Yamazaki's Invisible VFX Roots Run Through Always: Sunset on Third Street
The effects work the article identifies as the origin of Yamazaki's method is the opposite of the destruction spectacle Godzilla Minus One is known for: invisible compositing and miniature-and-CG hybrids built to disappear into a period drama.
Reporting from 1 source: Cinema Today.
Cinema Today notes that Always: Sunset on Third Street, airing on Nippon TV's Friday Roadshow, carried VFX by Shirogumi, the studio behind Godzilla Minus One. The film has no monster action; its effects are the CG Tokyo Tower assembled across the story, vanished cityscapes like Ueno Station and Nihonbashi, and digital control of sunset light, sky, and locomotive steam, mixed with physical miniatures of Showa-era cars and trams.
The film's largest effects job is Tokyo Tower, assembled in CG across the story from design drawings and period photographs. Around it, Shirogumi rebuilt streets that no longer exist: Ueno Station, Nihonbashi, and the city seen from above Third Street.
The candy shop and Suzuki Auto were built as open sets, with the spreading mid-Showa 30s cityscape composited behind them. For cars and trams the team shot physical miniatures and fused them with CG backgrounds, an approach the article credits with avoiding the sterile look of full CG.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.
Sources
- Cinema Today 『ゴジラ-1.0』山崎貴の原点！『ALWAYS 三丁目の夕日』に隠された“見えないVFX”とは