Godzilla fans love to create fan films and with cameras, editing software, and 3D animation programs being so easily accessible, there really is no reason for creative fans NOT to make their own projects inspired by the Big G’s movies. Recently, there’s been a big uptick in fans using the latter-mentioned 3D
programs like Blender to create Godzilla fan films, more specifically ones that fall into the category of found footage and analog horror. One prominent example is Tarrell Christie, or as he’s more commonly known on YouTube as Lost Utopia Films. Tarrell is the creative mind behind the Project Monster series which include films, The Gryphon (Found Footage) and Living With Monsters (Found Footage). Along with his other kaiju 3D animations, his films have amassed more than 2 million combined views on YouTube and have gotten him some serious attention from the Godzilla community. Kaiju United recently got a chance to sit down and talk to him about his filmmaking journey and the creative process behind his viral 3D animations.
Interview
Nick Crispino – Hello Kaiju United! Nick Crispino here. Today I am sitting down with Tarrell Christie. He is an award winning independent filmmaker, YouTuber, and creator of The Gryphon (Found Footage) and Living With Monsters (Found Footage), two viral videos which have really taken the Godzilla community by storm. So, Tarrell, how are you?
Tarrell Christie – I’m doing good, thank you for having me on.
NC – Of course. Let’s just jump right into it and start with your story. Can you tell
me a little bit about how you got into filmmaking and your journey leading up to
where you are now?
TC – Yeah, so it starts off already monster-related with Peter Jackson’s King Kong. That was the movie that really got me into filmmaking… specifically because they put out these bonus feature DVDs, and it was just 4 hours of him basically going through every process of making the movie. And that’s kind of when I realized this is something you could actually do. Before that, I just kind of wanted to draw Godzilla comics, but once I saw that, I was like, “I’d love to make movies!” That was way back when I was 11, so ever since then I’ve just been making movies. First with the kids in my neighborhood, and then eventually
kind of getting more people that are interested in acting. Slowly, it’s been built to where I’m finally making some monster stuff.
NC – So you’ve always been into Kaiju?
TC – Yeah. Before I was even into filmmaking, I was always into Godzilla and Kong.
NC – What was what was your first exposure to Godzilla?
TC – I think it was King Kong vs. Godzilla. I have a memory of my dad bringing me a bunch of VHS tapes, which was most of the Showa series. But I remember specifically that King Kong vs. Godzilla was the one that I’d watch the most.
NC – I got into it in a very similar way. My grandmother worked at the library and would always bring me dinosaur and Godzilla movies. Anyway, your films have always been made the traditional way with live-action, but recently you have made a shift into full-on 3D animation. What led you to lean more into that?
TC – I think part of it was during the pandemic, I just had a lot of free time to kind of try and figure out 3D. It’s something I’ve always been interested in but never really pursued. I’ve always been one of those filmmakers that wears probably too many hats, so I was like, “Alright, let’s figure out animation.” And so far they’ve been pretty 3D heavy but I think people would be pretty surprised with the series I’m making, how much live action will actually come through in future ones. Right now it’s more so scheduling, so I’ve kind of had to go just full 3D. But yeah, it’s been really fun kind of making a hybrid between the two.
NC – Were you familiar with 3D animation at all or was it just, “It’s the pandemic, I’ve
got a lot of free time. Why not start learning a new version of the craft?”
TC – Pretty much. I’ve played with stop motion as a kid, and it kind of has similar
principles. But I never fully dived into 3D until that time.
NC – What were some of the challenges you faced and how did you stay motivated to continue learning?
TC – It definitely has quite the learning curve when you first hop into it. I think it was just a lot of putting time in. And then especially with the Godzilla stuff, I started uploading some test animations I did to TikTok just to see if anyone would be interested in them. They actually started to pick up so I was like, “Okay, maybe this is something I should actually keep learning and try to pursue.” So that’s what created the snowball effect for me.
NC – A lot of creators in a Godzilla community have jumped on the trend of analog horror and found footage with their fan films but your videos in the Project Monster series really seem to stand out among the rest. Can you tell us a little bit about the the filmmaking process of The Gryphon and Living with Monsters?
TC – I’ve always been a huge found footage fan, Cloverfield especially. When I saw that, it had a huge impact on me, plus I’ve always wanted to do a mix of that with Godzilla. I just never really knew how until I started diving deep into the found footage stuff and those were kind of what those tests that I would put on TikTok were. Found footage was something that hasn’t really been tapped in to so I started with shorts and then those eventually morphed into a full story. That’s how The Gryphon came to be; Living With Monsters too. It originally started as some shots I thought were cool, and then I built a story around it, which is a very backwards way of filmmaking. Usually, you want to start with the script and have it all planned out and then execute it, but I kind of did the reverse with the series.
NC – With The Gryphon, was that all you making it on your computer alone, or did you have people helping you out with it?
TC – Yeah, just me. It would have been easier with other people, I just know how much time goes into that stuff and generally not having a lot of money I’m just like, “I gotta carry this weight myself.”
NC – How, how long did it take for you to get the whole thing done from start to finish?
TC – I think The Gryphon was about four or five months, if I remember that right.
NC – Ok, now let’s talk Living With Monsters. The idea is so unique and original — taking the vibe of a 1950s documentary alongside the mix of live action and 3D animation was just such a clever idea. What was the process behind that film? Did you guys film on a soundstage?
TC – I do video production for my normal everyday job and we have a little green screen studio which we were allowed to use during off hours, but it didn’t initially start out to be as big as it was. Originally, I just wanted to do my own version of the opening credits to Godzilla 2014 where you just kind of see him
and then there’s the nuke and all that type of stuff. I’ve always been a huge fan of old media like 1950s stuff and in the found footage/analog horror realm it’s always 80s and 90s. You never really see it go back further than that. So I wanted to see what that type of style but in the 1950s would look like and it slowly morphed into what is now Living With Monsters.
NC – When did you realize that you wanted to make that shift from an animation inspired by the opening of Godzilla 2014 to what it eventually became?
TC – I think the moment I wanted to add King Kong into it was when I really was like, “I might as well just build a whole world with this story.” So I approached my actor friend Sean, who I’ve known for a few years, I talked to him about playing the role and I sent him the script and at first he was a little dumbfounded because the script was only 15 pages and he thought I was going to be really
short but I was like, “Nah, man. You’ve always been hitting me up about acting and stuff, this is your big chance.” and he killed it, I absolutely love his performance in it. So I’d say a mix of adding King Kong and then also just realizing that a host would kind of help bridge everything together.
NC – You’ve posted kaiju animations on your Twitter, TikTok and Instagram using monsters like Gamera, the Cloverfield monster fighting Godzilla; are there any plans to bring those like little test animations into larger projects like Project Monster or their own separate stand-alone things?
TC – Yeah, definitely. Especially the one with the Kamacuras attack on Paris, that’s definitely one I’d love to dive deeper into. Those things will definitely make a return. Maybe not like the Godzilla, Cloverfield one with the MUTOs intermixed, I don’t know if it would be exactly that scenario, but I definitely plan on bringing those into the the bigger story as well.
NC – Your 3D work has allowed you the opportunity to create promos for Titanic Creations’ Gorgo and Yongary figures. How did that opportunity come about?
TC – That was around the time I was posting test animations. I was looking for 3D models for monsters and I came across the original creations they do. And so I was talking to them about possibly doing some animations, but there were some issues with the model files they had and it kind of stopped for a bit. Then, when the Gorgo stuff came around, they’re like, “Hey, are you interested in this one?” and I was like, “Heck yeah I wanna do Gorgo, absolutely!” So I just started from there and those guys have been great. It’s been awesome collaborating with them and just insane seeing how well those toy sales do.
NC – Figure collection is huge with kaiju fans; what’s it feel like that knowing that you contributed to such a large part of the community?
TC – It’s completely surreal, you know, and especially because I think that animation for Gorgo I did was the first official appearance he’s made since the original film. So to be part of bringing that back was a childhood dream fulfilled for sure.
NC – Who/what have been your biggest influences? You already mentioned King Kong, but have there been any other significant influences that played a part in your filmmaking journey?
TC – Yeah, there’s definitely movies every few years that kind of hit those milestones.
Kong is one, Cloverfield is one, 2014 Godzilla had a massive impact. I think Gareth Edwards is probably the one filmmaker I “rip off” the most, I absolutely love how he frames his stuff. But then there’s other directors that you wouldn’t necessarily see the influence translate, but I’m always inspired by them. Like
Tarantino, obviously Kubrick, all those big guys, I love them. Spielberg especially is, to me, a filmmaking god. He’s the one where I watch his stuff and I feel like I’m just watching raw cinema, you know? So he’s always a huge inspiration for me.
NC – From your first video uploaded 15 years ago to Living with Monsters uploaded just a month ago at the time of this interview being conducted, there has been like a very impressive evolution in the quality of your films. What drives you to consistently hone your craft?
TC – For me, filmmaking or any type of creativity is really therapeutic honestly, especially post-pandemic it’s been a really good way to kind of cope with stuff, just making films. I always try and say that if I’m going into a film and I’m not really feeling scared or anything, it’s probably because I’m not challenging
myself in some way. And I find that when I do challenge myself is usually when I grow the most. So that’s always kind of been a principle of mine when approaching filmmaking. And it’s just been a very slow process, I don’t think my movies were re-watchable until maybe like five years ago.
NC – I mentioned in the intro that you are an award winning filmmaker, that being for
your film Flava. Can you talk to me about that?
TC – Yeah, so that was an independent study during my senior year in college, but I basically treated it like it was my senior video project. That was my first attempt at trying to dive into the cyberpunk genre, which I’ve always been interested in, and also weave in some political elements. That one, if I remember right, we shot pretty fast, like a majority of the time on that was spent on editing. I took it to a lot of film festivals, met a lot of people, and got a lot of connections just off that short film. It’s still one of my favorites.
NC – Are there any plans to submit your Godzilla 3D animations to film festivals at all?
TC – I’d love to, and I’m trying to look into it. Film festivals get really weird with copyrighted stuff, so I think I’ll try to find some comic cons to submit to, those are usually more open with their film festivals. I think G-FEST still does their film festival, so yeah, I definitely hope to find the right things that will take them.
NC – Are you going to G-FEST this year?
TC – No, but G-FEST is one of those bucket list things. I’ve never made it out yet, and I really don’t have an excuse because I’m in a neighboring state, so I’m really close to it. But someday I hope to make it out there.
NC – Talk to me about your long-term goals as a filmmaker. If you were given the
chance to make your dream movie, what would that look like? Would it involve
kaiju or would it be more horror?
TC – Yeah, I think it definitely would probably be in that realm of genres, like a sci-fi/horror, possibly. My goal eventually is to do like that one big feature, you know, and try and break into film directing full time. Possibly would be giant monsters but I’m kind of getting my fix with the Godzilla series I’m doing now so by the time I get to the feature length film it’d probably be something else. But yeah, I’d say probably horror/sci-fi is what it would be.
NC – Are plans for you to shift back to live-action filmmaking?
TC – Yeah. Right now the plan is Project Monster. I’m going to be working on it on and off over the course of probably about three or four more years. And that’s going to be in the background in between other original projects because I do love the Godzilla stuff, but it has been a bit since I’ve got back into doing just some original live action stuff. So my hope, if time allows, is to try and balance both, but we’ll see how that goes.
NC – Cool. So to bring it back to your 3-D animations, The Gryphon is your most
successful video yet, getting over a million views. And personally, I think I it’s because you brought an unmade character, The Gryphon, to life which is something a lot of Godzilla fans have always wanted to see. Was it a no brainer for you to put that in your first project?
TC – Yeah, it originally started because the guy who made the model is this dude in
Japan named Byneet. Crazy talented, and he gives all these super high quality Godzilla models away for like $3. He dropped the Gryphon model and I was always a fan of the Gryphon but having not actually seen it in motion, I wasn’t always super giant about it. I started making test shots and I was like, “You
know, this monster is pretty cool.” Originally it was just going to be the 98 Godzilla and the Gryphon fighting and then I got the idea of like, “Well, how cool would it be if, like the two American Godzilla’s fought the big never before seen American monster?” So I kind of started from that and I don’t think it was until I was towards the end of The Gryphon that I even realized I wanted to make this a
series. It was going to kind of going to be a one off but then in the process of making it, I just really had a lot of fun with the world and knew I wanted to go back to it. And so that’s why Living With Monsters is kind of like the the prequel origin movie to that one.
NC – So you said you never saw The Gryphon in motion. I’m no 3D animator, but I
assume having a reference makes it easier to animate things, especially kaiju. Would you say having never seen it move before, did that make things more challenging or did you see it as creative freedom? Like you could put your own interpretation on how the Gryphon moves.
TC – Yeah that one I definitely, in hindsight, would have gone deeper into references. That was something during Living with Monsters were I was like, “Okay, references are a MUST with motion.” Especially with wings because it was my first time ever dealing with a winged creature and as far as figuring out the
motion, I knew I wanted a little bit of King Ghidorah in there and that’s basically how I approached the whole thing, like King Ghidorah with arms. And then also just knowing what the story of the monster is and that it has all these different creatures genetically combined within it that made me think of lions, bats and other kinds of creatures and how they would act.
NC – Would you say it was the hardest creature you had to animate?
TC – Probably the two toughest I’ve done so far are Kamacuras, just because he has
so many limbs that I had to move independently. And then I’d say Manda in Living With Monsters, just trying to get the snake slithering effect. That one was a little harder than I imagined it would be so I would say those are probably the two toughest so far.
NC – And speaking of Manda, I loved the creative decision to use the Spinosaurus
roar from Jurassic Park 3 for him in Living With Monsters.
TC – The Spinosaurus was always my favorite. I love the T-Rex obviously, but that Spinosaurus was just so cool as a kid and I always loved it’s roar. I also like how movies from the 1950s were always reusing stock roars and whatnot. So I thought that idea would be fun with Manda.
NC – Your work is incredible and it’s being received extremely well by the fandom. They’ve been calling for more. Can we expect more in the Project Monster installments? And if so, can you give us a little bit of insight on what you’ve got planned?
TC – Yeah, I’m actually juggling the next two right now, they’re going to come out closer to each other and they’re going to be, I’d say, maybe more on the length of The Gryphon than Living With Monsters. One is set in the 80s and actually features a monster from Godzilla: The Series, Skeetera, who’s like this mutated mosquito. That one causes some some damage in Florida and results in a whole new abomination being created. Then the second one is called Sub-Zero Terror and that one deals with UNGCC researchers going to the North Pole to investigate a strange signal and that’s all all I’ll say on that one. But they’ve been really fun, I’m really excited for people to see them especially because there’s
some really cool reveals that people have been asking me about and I’m really excited to finally give them a definitive answer.
NC – Can you tell us if they’re going to be mostly 3D animation or are you going to go
the Living With Monsters route where you mix live action and 3D?
TC – I call the first one Tape 3, I think that’ll probably be majority 3D and then Sub-Zero Terror is going to actually be a segment within another Living With Monsters episode. So the host is coming back and there’s going to be some other live action parts too.
NC – That sounds awesome. Let’s end with this, who’s your favorite kaiju of all time?
TC – I’ll take Godzilla out of it, because he’s always gonna be number one for me. I’d say it’s a toss up between Gigan and Hedorah. Hedorah especially I just rewatched that movie a couple of nights ago and I love it so much. It’s so dark, weird, and cool.
NC – I mean, you don’t have to say if it’s going to reveal too much but…Project
Monsters Hedorah?
TC – Yes, Hedorah does make an appearance and does a crazy amount of damage. I definitely plan on making him a world ending threat.
NC – Well, you heard it here first on KaijuUnited.com, look out for Hedorah in future Lost Utopia Films videos. Alright, well that’s all we have. Terrell, where can people find your stuff?
TC – You can find my short films at Lost Utopia Films on YouTube and I’m also
pretty active on Twitter @IAmTarrell. I’ll usually just be on there geeking out about something Godzilla-related, so go check it out!
