Not having recently posted to the blog is bugging me. And I don't really have time to post tonight, so I'm posting this video instead from the second Ghost in the Shell movie. None of the follow-ups to the first movie even come close to matching the brilliance of the first. However, the lighting in this video is dramatic and brilliant, and I want to share it here.
I love how Japanese animators often mimic photo-realistic lighting and effects in their works. I remember the first time I saw a Japanese Anime that incorporated depth of field into the animation, as though you were really watching a film and not an animation. I was blown away; these aren't the cartoons I remember as a kid.
Around 2:14 when the poem continues "...flowers in bloom..." I love how the light begins to wash over the temple. The dynamic range is awesome. The light is bright enough that there are "blown" washed-out highlights everywhere. At the same time, while you have deep, deep shadows of pure black, there are enough midtones that light feels right. If you somehow saw this during a parade, it would be a very special moment, and that feeling comes across in the animation.
Last but not least, the imagery is pretty cool. I like the idea of gods who descend to Earth, forgetting their godhood while they go about leading their lives -- though I might be reading a whole lot of optimism into a rather depressing song:
Through day and night, the moon not coming,
In grief, Nue will sing.
When I look back,
flowers will fall away.
The heart of solace, having withered.
In a new world, Gods will descend,
the dawn will break, and Nue will sing
Flowers in bloom, pray to Gods.
Lamenting over their being in this world of life,
their dreams having faded away, flowers grieve and fall.
Never mind that though. I love the music. I love the lighting. And I sometimes listen to it more than once.
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