Ghost in the Shell, cut no. 477

This is one of my favorite pieces of all the backgrounds I had the pleasure to work with so far.
I love the color and the idea that the cityscape is somehow excavated from blurbs of blue.

Ghost in the Shell, cut no. 477
Final production background, book
Art director: Hiromasa Ogura
Three layers, poster colour on paper and cels

I took this video while the piece is still mounted on the mat. Previously it had been presented in several exhibitions.

Exhibition view of the framed artwork at “Anime Architecture”, Tchoban Foundation, Berlin, 2016.

The composition is based on a layout by Takashi Watabe. Three layers are superimposed onto each other and moved very slowly at different speeds during the animation process. The background plane, painted on paper, is pulled leftwards in front of the camera. Book 1 and book 2 are shifted to the right at different speeds, the top layer faster than the middle layer.

Although the perspective of the building itself does not change the animation of the layers creates an effect of spatial depth, as if the camera moves in space. This pseudo movement creates a sensation completely different from live-action or 3D CGI animation. The expression of this specific sense of movement is unique to cel animation.

Top layer, “book 2” of Takashi Watabe’s layout.

The layout “book”.

Darren Wall used this artwork forthe cover design of Volume’s “Anime Architecture” special edition.
The book’s cover mimics the stacked cels of the original art.