Historic Intramuros was the setting for a unique photoshoot by a fascinating group of Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan) cosplayers from SNK Scouting Pigeon along with a cadre of formidable photographers. The staff of arkadymac.com was thrilled to be invited to cover this event. It was a great opportunity for everyone involved to do a shoot of this scale, with as many as 30 people involved in this endeavor. The mossy and weathered walls and floors coupled with rustic cannons (or replicas of them) lent a touch of authenticity to the scenes the to be portrayed. Walls are important elements in the world of the Shingeki no Kyojin, so what better setting to have than the grandest walls in Manila.
If cosplaying is so much fun, then group cosplays are infinitely more so. Not only do you get to have an entire bunch of folks with the same (or even higher) level of fanaticism as you, you also get the chance to act out an entire episode or chapter by yourselves, among all the other infinite possibilities for craziness you can think of.
Members of the SNK Scouting Pigeon group have been planning and preparing for this shoot for weeks on end and with only a few problems, the shoot went on as planned. Some have been up and traveling as early as sunrise just to make it on time for the shoot. An amazing group of invited photographers were there as well, already prepared with their equipment, eager to snap away with this great opportunity.
While waiting for the others to arrive, some already have taken the opportunity to take pictures of and with each other, and in between tried to catch up on the latest on the series. Some of them struggled with the many details of their costumes, from the prop swords and 3DMGs, to the wigs and contacts, down to the straps and belts. They all want to look their best for the shoot, of course, as they wouldn’t know if there would be another one, if there would be another, so they had to make this count. Not all of the cosplayers and photographers present knew each other beforehand, so they exchanged pleasantries and not long afterwards some were already great buddies as they share the same fascination for the series.
Solo and group shots were taken. Snippets for a video were taken intermittently. It was a race against time, as all knew it all had to end at some point, but there always seemed to have time and opportunity for fun and goofing off. Laughter was heard all along the walls, shrieks and groans from time to time, and just when you thought everybody was serious for a scene, one of them would break out into song in Latin, Japanese, or Martian.
The shoot went on throughout the afternoon, switching locations all through the many scenic locations the historic walls had to offer. People were running on walls and roofs, singing while running on walls and roofs, jumping off walls and roofs, playing dead on walls and roofs. Even as the time for the shoot according to the permit expired, they just moved on to a final location to have some final shots before the sun would have set.
It was an experience everyone involved would not soon forget, with everyone eager and looking forward to another one in the future, as do we. They plan on doing another in the future, so please do watch out for them again soon. Our thanks to the SNK Scouting Pigeon group for inviting us to cover the event. Many thanks as well to the utterly amazing and friendly photographers we met that day.
Thank you for dropping by, and please do visit again soon for more fun cosplay features here at arkadymac.com.
Please click on an image to view slideshow.
About The Author
