SHINJI HIGUCHI SPECIAL EFFECT'S FIELD NOTES: VISUAL PLANS AND SKETCHES -- New Shin Godzilla and Shin Ultraman Artbook Coming in October

Godzilla crawls through Kamata in production art for SHIN Godzilla, drawn by the film's co-director, Shinji Higuchi. TM & ©TOHO CO., LTD.

Film and special effects director Shinji Higuchi’s mind revealed over more than 600 pages!
Source: PIE International press release

PIE International has announced the publication of Shinji Higuchi Special Effect's Field Notes: Visual Plans and Sketches, an art book by the popular film director and special effects director, Born on September 22, 1965, Higuchi made his movie industry debut working on the 1984 film THE RETURN OF GODZILLA (ゴジラ, Gojira). In 1995, he worked as a special effects director on GAMERA THE GUARDIAN OF THE UNIVERSE (ガメラ大怪獣空中決戦, Gamera: Daikaijū Kūchū Kessen), for which he won the Japan Academy Awards Special Award. In addition, Higuchi has worked on many hit movies, including the Evangelion series, creating storyboards and image boards. His major directing works include LORELEI (ローレライ, Rōrerai, 2005), JAPAN SINKS (日本沈没, Nihon Chinbotsu, 2006), THE FLOATING CASTLE (のぼうの城, Nobō no Shiro, 2012), and the ATTACK ON TITAN (進撃の巨人, Shingeki no Kyojin, 2012) movies.

The book will be available worldwide on October 3, 2023 and can now be pre-ordered from Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org. Additional bookstore locations in North America, Asia, and Europe can also be found here.

Shinji Higuchi Special Effect's Field Notes: Visual Plans and Sketches

This is a collection of Shinji Higuchi's concept sketches for special effects appearing in movies such as SHIN ULTRAMAN (シン・ウルトラマン, Shin Urutoraman, 2022), SHIN GODZILLA (シン・ゴジラ, Shin Gojira, 2016), GIANT GOD WARRIOR APPEARS IN TOKYO (巨神兵東京に現わる, Kyoshinhei Tōkyō ni Arawaru, 2012) and more, in a single book. The ideas for filming sketched in these kokuyo sketchbooks, handy notebooks beloved in Japan for their portability, were sometimes filmed as is, while others were abandoned. Commentary (in Japanese) on the value of these notes and sketches in communicating ideas to production staff, along with an extensive interview with Shinji Higuchi, are also included. The interview part has also been translated into English, making this a must for overseas readers and especially special effects fans.

When Higuchi creates his works, he makes detailed simulations to work out how surrounding objects move when Godzilla moves, or how the monster gets blown away when Ultraman shoots his Ultra Beam, and so on. Comparing storyboards, it’s fun to see which were adopted for the movies and which were rejected!
This book takes readers behind the scenes during the making of global hits like SHIN ULTRAMAN and SHIN GODZILLA, making this book a must-have not only for fans of these movies, but for all film creators.

Author: Shinji Higuchi
Publisher: PIE International
ISBN: 978-4-7562-5523-5
Hardcover: 640 Pages (Full Color)
Product Size: 7.7 × 4.4" / 195 × 112 mm
Language: Japanese, some English
Release Date: October 3, 2023
Price: $69.00 (US)

The juvenile Godzilla pushes boats inland as he comes ashore. TM & ©TOHO CO., LTD.

About PIE International

“PIE,” which stands for Pretty, Impressive, Entertaining, was launched by Shingo Miyoshi, Chairman, as his own publishing brand specializing in visual books in 1985. Before he started PIE, Miyoshi was active as a graphic designer, and, through his work, had gathered together various graphic works such as advertisements from around the world to use as reference materials for his own designs. Looking over these materials one day, he thought, “These materials look too good to be used just for my own reference; it seems a shame that other graphic designers don’t have access to this collection, too. I should find a way to share them. If I were to edit and publish these graphic works as a book, the book would definitely help more graphic designers in their own design assignments.” It was based on this initial idea that Miyoshi started his publishing business.

Essential to this idea is the fact that commercial graphic works are ephemeral, usually only being displayed for a short period of time to a limited number of people. But published in book form, these works could be shared with more people; they would not be lost or go to waste, which would allow more people to discover the creators as well as their works. This basic idea, the desire to support creators and share their works, is still the fundamental motivation of PIE to continue publishing books.