Tokyo City Symphony

Hi everyone,

My post today is based around a fantastic video I came across recently whilst browsing cgarchitect.com.

Image courtesy of Google Images

The video in question was created as a ten year celebration theme for Roppongi Hills in Japan. The animation takes a 1:1000 scale model of the cityscape and breathes life into it through the use of 3D projection. There is a link below to the featured article and full video.

Click here for the CGarchitect feature on Tokyo City Symphony

To begin with, the actual scale model they have created is amazing. The level of detail and attention to small imperfections really adds to the overall depth of the model. Also the use of the popular tilt-shift effect (photography technique) does a great job of focusing your attention on specific details.

Image courtesy of Google Images

When I first watched this video I hadn't read the description which explains how it was achieved.When watching it I was trying to work out whether they had used CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) or an actual model to represent the city. After taking a step back for a moment I realised that this is something that I find I do all the time in everyday life. Because CGI is improving in quality so quickly and becoming such an integral part of the media industry, it is more and more difficult to separate what is CGI and what is real.

Image courtesy of Google Images

It is very interesting to see how many people, even those in industry, are now not sure about the origin of what they are seeing. The fact that people debate and have to think about whether what they are looking at has been created virtually is a direct result of how we are exposed to so much that isn't real. As time goes on the line between the virtual and the real will get more and more blurred and it will get even more difficult to tell.

Image courtesy of Google Images

When that time comes, will we even be trying to work out whether everything we see actually exists? At the moment we are not sure what is CGI, but it is scary to think of a time when everything is virtual and we are not sure what is real.

I hope you enjoy the animation. Philosophy aside, it is a very well executed and exciting animation which shows good use of some modern cinematography techniques.

Thanks for reading.


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