Mr. Tines wrote:I've not gone back to watch this whole scene to compare and contrast; but here's the one screenshot I have to hand. Where is Anno-san's shadow?
Later:
No shadow while climbing the stairs, but there on the platform. Shadow would be to the left on the ascent, as there's a U-turn to go down the stairs on the far side
3 things, first you can see a shadow on Anno's right foot that's stepping on the stair. It's not exactly strong, but there is a shadow you can spot in your 2nd image.
Secondly(this is why I used those specific comparison images), Shinji's shadow noticably stays with him the whole time, including the beach-Instrumentality sequence where things are sketched and erased. It seems they went out of their way to show Shinji's shadow the whole time - why wouldn't they include it now? (Note that the use of a shadow here can have strong implications) (2nd note, during the beach-Instrumentality Scene mentioned, Shinji's footsteps disappear, but his shadow is still drawn attached to him, again drawing attention to it's importance)
Third, there is absolutely no shadow of them as they run up the stairs. IMO it really doesn't make sense for there not to be a shadow at all, considering the light, and even with your image. However, even if you argue that the softness of the light is sufficient to hide shadows, you'll also note that there is absolutely no shade or shadowing whatsoever.
ElMariachi wrote:SPOILER: ShowMr. Tines#937975 wrote:I've not gone back to watch this whole scene to compare and contrast; but here's the one screenshot I have to hand. Where is Anno-san's shadow?
Later:
No shadow while climbing the stairs, but there on the platform. Shadow would be to the left on the ascent, as there's a U-turn to go down the stairs on the far side
While a humorous answer, that makes me wonder if the shot of Mari and Shinji running up the stairs wasn't made by motion capture (since we're IRL at this point), hence the "lack" of shadow simply because there wasn't one under the actors.
But if I had to guess unitM's point (correct me if I'm wrong), it's that the train station is not "real" (as in, still in the anti-universe), using the lack of shadow as a proof of it. If that's your point, then I disagree with it, at least the point about the shadows, since as you show in your screenshots, Shinji did had a visible shadow while seated, and both he and Mari have one when they're out of the station.
My larger point that I was going to make a separate post for, was that some weird stuff happens with the sun and shadows. I'm not trying to lead to a conclusion at all, although I do hold my own theories for what happened.
The sun is only shown twice when Shinji and Gendo start fighting in the Anti Universe: 1. Before they start combat and Unit 13 is sitting on a Neo Nerv tower and 2. at the end after Unit 13 throws Unit 01 over the floating tower.
Then Mari says that Gendo is aiming for Instrumentality of the body and the mind, and the Sun travels up and behind the Moon that overlaps. After Mari watches the Sun and the Moon line up, they both are seen inside Instrumentality scenes more frequently and directly. Prior to this, you could see sky, light, clouds, light come from curtains, etc. but only twice was the actual sun object visible, those 2 times I listed above.
The Sun and Moon never meet in EoE. Granted EoE was only 3rd Impact but there are similarities to what happens here. The Moon in EoE is similar to what we see in this movie, except the Sun and the Moon never meet. By the way, Yui at the end of EoE said "as long as the Sun, Moon, and Earth are here, things will be OK."
Well here's the thing, after we see Mari watch the Sun and the Moon meet up, we seldom see the sun "outside of Instrumentality." The sun is not shown among the stars or anything. The next time we see the Sun(as an object) is when it's rising out of the clouds after Eva Infinity blows up. And when it rises out of the clouds, all the black-and-white people are painted colors.
But this still begs the question: Where is this happening? Where is the sun? Where are these clouds and people falling? From what direction is the sun rising? It seems interesting how it's been left out of the frame of action and events and how it shows up as Shinji narrates. The rest of the scenes that follow show sunlight, blue skies, shining rivers, etc. but we don't actually see the Sun object anymore.
All that said, I feel the Sun is suspicious and could be explored.
And further to that, the way the lighting and shadows are done in the last Train Station scene - they're almost entirely wrong. Look where the sun is positioned, relative to Shinji and Mari, and the shadows it's supposed to cast. Why does Mari's head not cast a shadow over Shinji? Why not Shinji? Why is there a shadow on the DSS choker when Mari removes it, but not her hand? Why is it that when Shinji removes Mari glasses, there is no shadow on his hand? From the direction of the Sun, there should be an indication of a shadow being cast, but the shadows are done almost entirely wrong in that scene.
I can see the Sun direction being debated, but I've looked at it a number of times and determined that there should absolutely be shadows, when there are none.
And even further to that, let's not forget - the Train Station numbers change colors when the perspective switches. Previous to the Train Station, the Sun rising from the clouds also colored in all the people falling from the sky.