The Art of set Making

Godzilla Sets 

There is a true art to making giant monster's look big when in reality they are just men in rubber suits. And i think a lot of this has to do with the design of the sets and making them believable. Eiji Tsuburaya, special effects master at Toho Cinema Japan, did this with a style that no one else could match. Tsuburaya is the mastermind behind the special effects in all the original Godzilla films, and making believable miniature sets for the monster to actually destroy, creating a sense of realism which really drives the film to be such a masterpiece. 

Making these large scale sets saved costs for the studio as they couldnt use stop motion. Therefore it made sense to make these sets so that the film looked good. because of the dark tone of the movie, and a somewhat realistic feel they were going for, the sets had to be top notch in order for the movie's message to come across without being cheesy. And it carries this out spectacularly. Tsuburaya was famous in Toho Studios because of his work on Tora! Tora! Tora!, a film depicting the events of pearl harbour. this film also used sets, which were so believable, that the American Government asked for the film to be destroyed, thinking it was real footage of the event. 

Even in the 1998 butchering of the Godzilla franchise, used some miniature sets becuase they can be made cheaper than an all cgi set, and it always looks bette when something is actually infront of the camera, because of the lighting and the general feel of the sets.