Ultraman Rising: VFX Supervisor Hayden Jones Talks Toho-scope And Authenticity. [INTERVIEW]

Ultraman: Rising is one of the best new additions to Tsuburaya Productions’ Ultraman franchise. Seriously, when this animated film made its global debut on June 14, 2024; it wowed critics and audiences alike, earning 83% over 43 critical reviews and 92% over 250+ ratings from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. A large part of the reason why is due to the amazing animation and visual effects. All of which is thanks to the VFX supervisor of that film: Hayden Jones.

Thus, you can understand just why it was that we here at That Hashtag Show had to get an interview with Hayden Jones. All so that we can get a deeper dive into the inner workings of Ultraman: Rising, and just why it’s so good. Don’t believe me? Well, then let’s explore that interview together then, shall we?

Ultraman Rising: VFX Supervisor Hayden Jones Interview | THS: Details

That Hashtag Show is proud to present an exclusive interview with Hayden Jones: VFX supervisor for Ultraman: Rising on YouTube. During that interview, Jones talked about various points of the film, including the marvelous use of Tohoscope. Here’s the summary for each of those points:

Emi Animation Details

If you have watched Ultraman: Rising, then you might’ve noticed Emi: who is an integral part of the story. Not least of which is due to how well-animated she is. Seriously, for a building-sized baby kaiju, she moved exactly as though she was a toddler, complete with the occasional crawling on all fours and the unsteady gait. All of which contributed to us as the audience seeing Emi as though she was a human toddler.

As it turns out: there’s a reason for this. Many reasons, actually. You know how in the credits to every film, there’s usually a bit dedicated to all the production babies born during the film’s production? Well, according to Hayden Jones: “Never before have the production babies earned their credits like they have on Ultraman: Rising“. Those production babies were integral to animating Emi, making her move as fluidly and realistically as a human toddler would. In fact, stories of those babies allowed the animators to form a “library” of baby actions to better animate Emi, including all of the silly and “ridiculous” things they would do. As a result of which: Emi became this “hybrid” of all the production babies and their stories.

Those babies have definitely earned their place in the credits for that.

Baseball Authenticity Details

Baseball is definitely a central aspect of Ultraman: Rising. Seriously, Kenji “Ken” Sato’s occupation when he’s not Ultraman is a professional baseball player, and you can see it in his animation. All of his baseball swinging, his moves, everything about how he plays baseball in the film feels so authentically realistic, as if you were watching an actual baseball game in real life.

Alas, not all of the VFX team were into baseball. Some were diehard fans of the sport. Others, including Hayden Jones himself, who admitted that during the interview, were not that into baseball…at all. Fortunately, one of the team who goes by the name of Tony Fucile was and continues to be an avid baseball fan. He held an animation master class for the entire team just dedicated entirely to animating baseball players in a realistic way, using things like slow motion clips of baseball players to get a better feel for how they move, how they hold the bat, how the ball arcs through the air, etc.. Fucile’s passion for the sport was what allowed the team to animate Ken as well as they did, and it shows in how hardcore baseball fans can appreciate the realism of that animated baseball.

TohoScope Details

A little history lesson for you all: TohoScope is an anamorphic lens system that Toho Studios developed in the late 1950s in response to the popularity of 20th Century Fox’s CinemaScope. The lens produced some gorgeous ultra-widescreen shots that gave Japanese films in the 1950s their iconic look. Fans of the original Godzilla and Ultraman films would recognize that look very well.

Thus, it’s no wonder that Hayden Jones would use TohoScope very well for Ultraman: Rising. The way the entire film looks is essentially a homage to all those older Japanese films, with Jones making absolutely certain of that through some research. Actually: a whole bunch of research. He admits to just working through an entire stack of Ultraman DVDs, just watching them all one by one to get that look just right. This resulted in him gaining a newfound appreciation of the cinematography and lensing, since he didn’t watch those movies growing up. Jones and his team even went so far as to find a TohoScope rental agency to look through those lenses. All just to get that TohoScope look just right for the film. Now that’s dedication.

True, Ultraman: Rising doesn’t quite match the TohoScope classic look at times. This is entirely intentional. Hayden Jones mentions that he didn’t want the film to be “100% realistic” like with TohoScope films. However, he didn’t want the film to be “100% stylized” like Akira animation either. This resulted in the hybrid look we see in the film, producing a unique look that’s gorgeous eye candy.

Favorite Sequence for Ultraman: Rising Details

It’s really no contest. Hayden Jones’ favorite moment of Ultraman: Rising was the scene of Emi climbing Tokyo Tower. The way the scene starts off playful and mischievous only to turn into heart-breaking tragedy when Emi’s arm breaks when Ken catches her from a high fall apparently hit Jones just as hard as us audience members. All due to this moment being when Ken/Ultraman steps up as the protector and parent, finally becoming an adult in the process. Even turning to the camera and glaring into the spotlight in a moment of protective rage.

The entire scene is gorgeous and beautiful to Hayden Jones, and thus explains why he enjoyed bringing that sequence to life. As someone who has watched Ultraman: Rising more than once and loved every minute of it, I couldn’t agree more.