‘Godzilla Minus One’ Director Takashi Yamazaki; ‘Here’ VFX Pros Weigh In on AI at VES Awards

variety.com:

Carolyn Giardina Takashi Yamazaki, the Oscar-winning writer, director and VFX supervisor of “Godzilla Minus One,” was among the honorees who shared their views on AI at the Visual Effects Society Awards on Tuesday.

The filmmaker – who accepted the Society’s Visionary Award – also confirmed that he’s currently working on the screenplay and storyboards for the new Godzilla movie.

Last year’s VFX Oscar winner “Godzilla Minus One” was made for under $15 million, and he added that he expects to have “more” budget this time around from Toho, though he didn’t have an exact figure.

Speaking with a translator, he was one of several honorees who talked about the potential of AI at the event. “It’s a very capable assistant or tool, as it stands right now, but it is not at the point where it can kind of take center stage and generate what humans can,” he said. “Right now, it’s not in any of our pipelines because of that reason, but the speed at which AI evolves is just so immense that where it goes from here remains to be seen.” The filmmaker predicts that he will be a late adopter of the tech. “Until recently, I’ve been still shooting on film and I like to use miniatures,” he noted. “So I know that someday we’re going to have to embrace and kind of work with AI, but I’m probably going to be one of the later ones because I do like working with older technology and techniques.” There were numerous notable uses of AI this year in the visual effects world.