[NieR: Automata] Black and White Twins in the Ruins: The Collision of Blades and Tulle Skirts

This time, we chose an abandoned industrial ventilation room as the shooting location. The cool blue walls and huge exhaust fans give a strong post-apocalyptic wasteland feeling, perfectly matching the desolate yet refined tone of NieR: Automata. During the early location scouting, we caught sight of several broken concrete blocks, whose natural fractured texture perfectly complements the elegance of the black and white gowns.

For the costumes, the black one features a large amount of lace and translucent tulle, paired with garter stockings and black high heels. Combined with the iconic white short hair and lace blindfold, the overall look leans toward a dark gothic style, with the skirt flowing beautifully during movement. The white one consists of layers of ruffled tulle, with meticulously crafted veil and corset details, creating a strong visual contrast with the black. The two katana props were custom-made, with their weight and balance closely replicating the in-game feel, so swinging them doesn't feel flimsy at all.

During the shoot, we set up a strong light coming from the upper side, which, combined with the smoke cakes on site, created a Tyndall effect as sunlight pierced through the dust. For character positioning, I tried staggered heights and mutually relying compositions. For instance, in the photo, the black character sits holding the sword, while the white character stands looking down, and in post-processing, the two together unleash a long sword-qi light effect (although it's a static photo, the posture anticipates the movement). This photo set isn't just about simple standing poses; we wanted to convey the atmosphere of the characters fighting and protecting amidst the ruins through light, shadow, and body language.

The contrast of black and white is also a metaphor for the sense of destiny in the game. Therefore, during the shoot, we purposely kept our gazes detached, not looking directly at the camera, pretending to focus on a battlefield further away. The metallic texture of the prop swords reflects a silvery-white luster under the cool light, which, combined with the gauze texture in the highlight areas, brings out the texture to its maximum. The post-processing only slightly adjusted the color temperature and contrast to preserve the crisp, cool industrial blues of the scene as much as possible. From the makeup and styling to the lighting and action guidance, we hoped to present the essence of the original game through Anime-style photography.