In the home of Godzilla
Published: ASIA
Few names in Japanese cinema resonate as loudly as Toho Studios, the home of the Seven Samurai and Godzilla. Barney Jameson tours its new post-production complex
Should anyone forget the significance of Tokyo’s Toho Studios, there are two unmissable reminders outside of the main entrance. The first is a man-sized statue of a roaring Godzilla, the giant lizard who has at turns terrorised and saved the world for decades in movies originating from this sprawling complex. Adorning a wall to the statue’s right, meanwhile, is an enormous still from the Akira Kurosawa classic Seven Samurai, widely considered one of the most influential films of all time. It was made here, and Kurosawa’s name is etched into the history of the buildings.
There are in fact very few places in the world that cinema fans might consider hallowed ground, but Toho Studios is certainly among them. Back in the studio’s golden era of the 1950s, the facility created so many influential movies that its logo has become almost as famous as the films themselves. Entire websites are devoted to following and honouring the studio’s creations, while it’s biggest star – that giant lizard – is currently setting the internet alight once again as preparations are made alongside Warner Bros for a new Godzilla film in 2012.
Yet even the most historic of organisations is subject to market pressures, and in recent years Toho has found itself confronted with a surge in digital technology that has left it having to reconsider its own workflows. It’s solution to the problem – an entirely new post-production complex designed to rival any in the world – is on a scale that Godzilla himself might appreciate.
Simply named Post-Production Center 1, the new complex is in fact the first such facility in Japan to be designed from the ground up with a digital workflow in mind. Waiting inside is a wealth of cutting-edge technology selected in tandem with Warner Bros as part of an increasingly close relationship between the two studios, housed in a 100-seat viewing theatre, four sound editing rooms, an enormous dubbing stage, foley and ADR suites and three sound design rooms. Networked using a fibre-optic infrastructure, the centre is intended to create cinema digitally from start to finish and, crucially, to ensure that any required surround sound format is catered for.
A number of systems have been specified to meet that all-important requirement, all installed by Tokyo-based systems integrator Hoei Sangyo, whose Hiroshi Matsuda proudly tours the complex in the company of Pro Audio Asia and Toho’s director in charge of post-production services Masashi Tara.
Arguably the space that the team is most proud of is the Theatre, which along with the Dubbing Stage boasts an acoustic design by Charles M Salter Associates. Inside, a THX-approved Electro Voice surround system has been installed based on 12 custom-designed 15-inch two-way enclosures based on the EV SL Series. The system is completed with Three Variplex II EX cabinets and three TL880D dual 18-inch subs, all creating a satisfying rumble as the Toho team demonstrate the system with clips from recent Hollywood blockbusters.
Benefiting from a similar installation meanwhile is the large Dubbing Stage within which technicians work at an AMS Neve DFC Gemini console, listening to a surround sound EV system comprising 12 custom-designed boxes developed jointly by Toho and EV and powered by six Crown CTS4200 amplifiers. Variplex II EX boxes are also installed in an L-C-R configuration at the front of the room, powered six CTS3000 amps, while low end is supplied by three EV TL880D subs powered by three further CTS3000 amps.
While these two spaces are the most visually striking, however, it is within the complex’s smaller rooms that much of the work of Toho takes place, and nowhere is this more true than within the four ITU-standardised sound design rooms.
Waiting inside each is a Pro Tools 8 HD3 system operated via a D-Command console. Each Pro Tools set-up is tied into a central server so that users can in theory switch rooms as required but continue working on the same project. However, with surround sound mixing having become a key priority for the studio, it is crucial that the 6.1 monitoring systems in all three rooms perform with absolute consistency. In order to achieve that level of flexibility the studio has opted for Genelec 8250A monitors.
‘The main use of the monitoring systems is dialogue production and the studio’s aim was not to change the character of the dialogue,’ explains Masashi Tara. ‘That was very important – it had to be clear and natural. The reason Genelec is excellent for this is that the DSP allows the monitors to be adjusted. This means the rooms all have the same characteristics, which is a big benefit. Even if an engineer uses a different room then the monitors mean the conditions have already been adjusted to be the same.’
The key use of the 8250A monitors is not lost on Genelec itself, either, as international sales manager Lars-Olof Janflod confirms. ‘It’s always important to have your products in a prime premises and Toho studio is for sure one of the most important ones in Japan when it comes to film.’ he reasons. ‘But it’s also nice also to see that a customer has understood fully how to use our DSP products.
‘This is the reason we have designed these systems this way. They have the AutoCal feature, which means that you can calibrate the speakers in the room so they will be flat and the subwoofer will be in phase. Toho is an ITU standard set-up so the speakers should be at the same distance to listening position, but if they were not then the system would still take care of the time difference.’ The sound design rooms are also future-proofed, with Toho planning to meet future surround sound demands by simply purchasing more 8250A enclosures to add to their existing design.
Elsewhere in the facility are four sound editing rooms designed not for surround sound but less critical stereo mixing, using Blue Sky Sat 6.5 monitors plus Pro Tools 8 HD2 systems run through MC Control surfaces. Other installed systems include Pyramix DAWs and Vcubes from Merging Technologies within the Dubbing Stage, the ADR suite and the Preview Room.
The combined effect is a post-production facility worthy of continuing the Toho Studios tradition as it moves into a new era of cooperation with Warner Bros and the return of its greatest creation to cinemas around the world. Having officially opened with a special ceremony on September 29th, the facility is already buzzing with talent and ideas.
‘Toho planned the layout of this studio seven years ago,’ explains Hoei Sangyo’s Hiroshi Matsuda, while Masashi Tara adds that detailed plans for the new post-production centre were laid out two years ago. With those plans now finally having come to fruition and the studio moving into a new era, its millions of fans around the world are likely to have far more to talk about than just its illustrious past.