***1080p enabled***

Watch this first: youtube.com/watch?v=wYVbQ-GQTxQ

I first watched Manga's cult classic "Ghost in the Shell" when I was a teen but only recently realised that the film's city background is actually based on Hong Kong - my current place of residence.

When it was made in 1995, it depicted a grimy, futuristic city. Now, 16 years later, it's interesting to see how Hong Kong has physically changed. So I set out to try and recreate particular scenes from the film. The biggest differences between the film and now is that Hong Kong no longer has those awesome low-flying airplanes (airport moved in 1998) nor do we have canals and river boats - though we do have tramcar systems which is the obvious influence for Masamune. Not every shot could be faithfully recreated. Simply because it was an animation! But when you do a comparison there are the obvious locations: vimeo.com/33731256

I left the scenes with Motoko Kusanagi for narrative reasons (and I couldn't be arsed looking for an actress!). Another note is the first two shots of the planes, they were ripped and up-rezzed from a YouTube video by airboyd. There is no way I could have recreated those scenes yet I wanted to show people just how crazily low they flew.

This was shot with Sony NEX5-N in 1080p/50fps with 30mm squarefront and 50mm roundfront Lomo anamorphic lenses.

Special thanks to Pete Furkidsinhk and his "fur kid" Cream.

Original Ghost in the Shell montage: youtube.com/watch?v=wYVbQ-GQTxQ

"Planes Over Hong Kong (1998)": youtube.com/watch?v=UyU9OLqQ8XA

Side by side comparison: vimeo.com/33731256

More info:
lomoanamorphicuser.com/2011/12/14/recreating-ghost-in-the-shell-in-hong-kong/