WHAT CAN YOU SEE WHILE YOU ARE IN GODZILLA’S SUIT?
This is difficult question to answer. Right after putting on the heavy-suit, you can see outside VAGUELY through small 12 holes on the throat part of Godzilla. These holes called ‘Inochi-ana (life holes)’. However you will soon lose visual contact due to sweat dripping down your forehead. And Godzilla is not always on ground. Many of you can remember his figure walking from the ocean toward the land. In this case you must be into pool in the studio, and you will put on a goggle. You can get the sight of outside for only few minutes. The goggle will cloud up by your breath and heated air with humidity.
HOW HARD IS WALKING WITH GODZILLA’S COSTUME?
The prologue of ‘ゴジラのなかみ(Inside Godzilla)’, the memoir of a Godzilla’s suit actor describes well what the situation is.
-quote-
‘Camera! Light! Ready? Rehearsal!’ shouted the director. Rehearsal again… We can’t go real-part filming. I hope the director would say this time ‘OK 本番！(Okay Get filming started!)’ Telling truth I’m about to faint. I am breathing unsteadily and feeling excessive heartbeats and dizziness. The weight of the costume is 110kg (244lb). Sweat dripping down from my forehead is puddling under my feet. Only five minutes haven’t passed since putting on the costume. I’ve been training hard but only walking is such a heavy work for me. The costume has tiny hole at the tips of fingers to drain sweat. Sweat began to drop through the holes. ‘Damn it! I’m Hayato Satsuma! I won’t get defeated!’ But it doesn’t take long before the pressure of this heavy costume removes my guts away. I’m getting to lose my senses thanks to this overwhelming stuff.
NOBODY CAN BE IN THE SUIT FOR MORE THAN 10 MINUTES!!
It’s not exaggeration. Only 10 minutes is the limit for a suit actor to be inside Godzilla.
HOW DO YOU COMMUNICATE WITH PEOPLE AROUND YOU?
It is difficult to make yourself heard from inside the costume over noise of the studio. So they usually communicate with so-called ‘Godzilla Language.’ This is a kind of signal language.
- Raising your right hand quickly with your palm facing outward and holding the pose for several seconds means “OK”
- After making “OK” gesture, waving palm right and left means “NO”
- Raising your elbows up to your shoulders with your palm facing downward and laying the right hand on the left one means “I CAN NOT SEE OUTSIDE”
- Poking throat with your index finger means “GET OXYGEN IN”
- Raising your left hand upward and waving it up-down “LET ME GET OUT OF THE COSTUME”
According to Kenpachirou Satsuma, he sometimes uses this signal language without knowing it even when he is NOT inside Godzilla.