Miniature Mayhem: Continuing Tokusatsu’s Tradition

Last week I had the distinct pleasure of sitting down with Lobsterdance Production’s very own Jared P. Foust. If in case you’re not familiar with Lobsterdance, remember some time ago there was a series by the name of “Ultraman Sorta“, a tongue in cheek comedy about the misadventures inspired by the high intensity episodic battle series known as Ultraman? I know that was long winded, but it’s hard not to get excited about tokusatsu. Jared is not only a fan of tokusatsu, but carries the torch of practical film effects and film scale models to bring fantasy to life on film. Over the years he’s gone above and beyond sharpening his skills in all things miniature cinematography. As part of this project to promote independent film for The Texas Toku Taisen, I thought it would be awesome to pick the mind of an independent film maker pursuing this tradition to see what he and his production team have learned over the years. Through solid advice about production basics, Jared provides insight about how you can go forth and make your very own movies! Here are some commonly asked questions to help get you started:

A few notes about the audio segment of this article: The “Giant God Warrior Appears in Tokyo” by director Higuchi Shinji (Shinji Higuchi as referenced in the audio), produced by Hideaki Anno, and distributed by Studio Ghibli was part of an art exhibition where a supplemental guide provided the exhibitors inside information about the production. As of recently, there are no known copies floating around Japan’s Ebay or Amazon; however, please inform us if any copies do appear. In the “Lenses” section of the audio, Jared mentions Toho‘s production of “Geharha: The Dark and Long-Haired Monster” making of documentary titled “The People Who Made Geharha” located on the Geharha blu-ray. For information pertaining to Lobsterdance’s latest builds and productions, check out their Tumblr as well as their Patreon  (https://www.patreon.com/lobsterdance) filled with up to date information on their latest productions. Here are some of their most recent miniature creations:

Check out some of the amazing miniatures inside Jared’s Workshop

The best part of this interview was not only seeing the workshop, but also seeing the source of some of Jared’s amazing miniature work. After his trip to Los Angeles to participate in the Stan Winston School of Character Arts workshop on the production of “Kaiju Fury” (unfortunately I could only locate the Oculus Rift trailer) , Jared was able to create some stupendous effects shots with the assistance of great lighting from his gaffer Jordan. For a sample of Jared’s most recent effects, check out his demo reel brimming with some all too familiar angles we’ve come to know and love from tokusatsu.

Jared P. Foust – Miniature Effects Reel from Lobsterdance Productions on Vimeo.

Lobsterdance exists because tokusatsu fans, many of them henshin hero fans from this very site, working together to accomplish some amazing things. Henshin Justice and Mecha Gorilla believe that each and everyone of you are capable of making the next kaiju big battle movie or an awesome space cop mech drama. A hearty henshin roll call to everyone at Lobsterdance Productions, I personally can’t thank Jared and the crew for continuing this proud tradition.