Nigel Dreiner is a name you may have seen floating around in the kaiju community. Perhaps best known for his short films that play before the highlight movies at G-FEST, such as Kong Kong Fantasia and Attack of the Cinemasaurs. Nigel likes to make edits showcasing the best of the musical scores of a franchise and how they perfectly encapsulate the best moments in their cinematic histories. On top of all of that, Nigel works for the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum, and demonstrates amazing archivist work on his channel. Nigel is very much into the preservation of film, and that is something I am deeply passionate about as well. I am a huge fan of his work, and got to sit down briefly with Nigel and ask him about how his videos came to be, share our unwavering love of cinema together, and get an insight into his thought process.
Please enjoy this brief interview below. Attached are hyperlinks representing examples regarding each question and/or answer.
Jacob, interviewer – Bold
Nigel, interviewee – Italics
We’re both cinema lovers. What brought you into the world of movies?
Funny enough, I believe it was the fact that I didn’t have cable growing up – so I would rent free movies from the library or Blockbuster (yes, they had free rentals sometimes). I grew up in an entirely different media landscape than most kids my age. My interest was always seeing what the oldest movies I could find were – even going into George Milies stuff. I’d check out books on movie history and carry them around in my backpack all year. Of course, now it’s so easy with YouTube to find almost anything, but I think the hunt to discover old movies on VHS made them so much more enjoyable when I was finally able to see them.
GODZILLA vs KONG | Battle in Hong Kong! (…but it’s 1963 Music and Sound Effects)
What about the archivist role you have taken on with your YouTube channel?
I work closely with the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum, most of the archivist material I’ve worked on is on their channel – like the reconstruction of the 8mm cut down version of NOSFERATU called “The Terror of Dracula” and a piece about the discovery of a lost Mabel Normand film from 1912!
TERROR OF DRACULA | Rare 8mm Version of Nosferatu (with Alternate Ending)
My channel is a hodgepodge of material – as far as “archive” material, I think the videos I’m most proud of are the ones showcasing how classic films like PSYCHO, KING KONG and DRACULA were edited over the years to appease censorship codes. A few years back Universal released the “uncut” version of PSYCHO, but didn’t include any bonus material to explain what exactly was different, so I took up the challenge!
The History of DRACULA & FRANKENSTEIN Censored Scenes | A Mini-Documentary by Nigel Dreiner
As far as kaiju material – I have edited visuals to original radio ads from the 1960’s for films like KING KONG vs GODZILLA and GODZILLA vs THE THING as well as an incredibly rare ad for KING KONG 1933 running almost 8 minutes long. Most of the audio I had for decades, but I figured it would be more enjoyable to hear with visuals included!
King Kong vs Godzilla | 1963 US Drive-In Ad
Walk us through the process of creating one of your edits. How do you choose scenes for your “Fantasia” videos? Is it the best choice for impact to the orchestral scores? Memorable moments?
The FANTASIA pieces are both a thrill and a headache to create – but it’s always worth it! A few years ago, DC released a 75th Anniversary of SUPERMAN montage that highlighted all the eras, animation styles and musical motifs from his entire history – that really inspired me and I thought I could do something similar with other material.
Usually, I get an idea for a film series, character or genre that I think could work well with my style. I usually check YouTube first to make sure something similar hasn’t already been done, or if it has, if I could do it better. Then, I start working on a small piece of it – usually I have the ending first and work back from there. It’s like a big puzzle. What footage matches the music best and gives the overall mood I’m trying to convey.
Cinema’s Century of Halloween Horrors (1896 – 2021)
The most time consuming part is assembling all the footage I want to include – and making sure the quality is consistent. From there, depending on the project, I try to sit down and think about what the most memorable pieces of music for the series are and do my best to incorporate that in a way that blends seamlessly. If you’ve ever heard The Beatles LOVE album, it’s essentially all the songs you know but mashed up in a way that sounds familiar and new all at the same time! At the same time, I try to make it entertaining for people who may have never seen these films either – so there is always a balance.
SPIDER-MAN FANTASIA – A 60th Anniversary Symphonic Celebration (Across The Spider-Verse)
Your edits have been playing in theatrical screenings at events like G-FEST. Was the translation from web to big screen paved with any challenges?
Honestly, I always created these edits with the BIG SCREEN in mind, so it was a natural transition and so much more exciting then just watching them on YouTube. Nothing makes me happier than seeing an audience react and cheer to their favorite characters or scenes. The biggest challenge is usually making sure there are no hiccups before the whole thing starts. I remember being really into the montages for the end of THE GREAT MOVIE RIDE at Disney and the Alfred Hitchcock attraction at Universal, even if I didn’t know what many of the film clips were. The audience reactions to certain clips made me feel like I needed to know what it was too!
ATTACK OF THE CINEMA-SAURUS Theater Reaction (G-FEST XXVIII) 2023
I would like to thank JD and Payton Lees for their help in this aspect too – it couldn’t have happened without them. The staff at Pickwick Theatre are also amazing and always make sure my projects look great on that giant screen!
What does Godzilla and/or kaiju mean to you? How has your relationship evolved over the years?
What’s great about Godzilla is that he is like Batman or The Beatles. There are so many interpretations and eras – and they’re all valid. Feeling dark and moody? ‘54 or Shin. Need a lighthearted romp? Megalon or All Monsters Attack. Need something to keep that LSD kick going? Final Wars and Hedorah have you covered! Kaiju movies in general are all about escapism and in today’s world, people are looking to get as far away from reality as possible and that’s what Godzilla represents to me. The collecting aspect is also a big part of it – my favorite thing to collect are the Bandai figures and original US posters!
Godzilla vs the Thing – 1964 US Radio Ad Trailer (Visuals added)
Have you been recognized for your edit work? You’ve co-moderated Linda Miller’s panel at G-FEST, and had short edits screened there. Were you approached because of them?
For sure! Linda is one of the most amazing people I’ve ever had the fortune to meet. I interviewed her a few years back in Hollywood and since then we have worked on projects together. If you know about Linda’s experience in KING KONG ESCAPES, you’ll know that her voice was dubbed over in both versions of the film. When I did KING KONG FANTASIA, I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to use her real voice in a Kong project, which she graciously agreed to. For me, it was awesome to hear Linda saying dialogue from the recent GODZILLA vs KONG film – hopefully someone has the sense to give her a cameo in the upcoming movie (just like Takarada had in 2014, which was foolishly cut for some reason). It was also a thrill to get James Rolfe (The Angry Video Game Nerd) to film a scene for the project as well!
We’ve covered your journey into film, but what are your biggest film inspirations or favorites to go back to?
PSYCHO, NOSFERATU and KONG ‘33 for sure. Many of Chaplin’s greatest works like CITY LIGHTS and THE KID (although I like them all, even the earliest Keystone films are great). For editing inspiration, I go back to the montage at the end of Disney’s GREAT MOVIE RIDE, FANTASMIC or those great pieces they would do at the beginning of the AFI 100 Years specials. Recently, I ran across an old ad for MGM Home Video from 1982 that I remember seeing that I loved, even if I didn’t know what half the movies were at the time.
PSYCHO | 60th Anniversary Tribute (1960 – 2020)
Thanks again, Nigel, for sitting down with us!
About Nigel
Nigel Dreiner is an editor, writer and performer. He works closely with the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum in Fremont, CA and Universal Studios in Orlando. Nigel has been a kaiju fan since getting KING KONG VS GODZILLA on VHS from his Grandma at 8 years old.
