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Entertainment

Split Screen Video Asks If London Looks Better Today, Or In 1927?

A shot-by-shot comparison, 86 years apart

Did London look better in the age of Mrs. Dalloway and Sir William Bradshaw? Or is the city in its aesthetic glory days now--a salient metropolis, polished for the recent Olympic Games? British director, Simon Smith, has provided the web a comparison template with London in 1927 & 2013.

In the 20s, camera technician and cinematographer, Claude Friese-Greene filmed UK locales, yielding the now-famous film collection The Open Road. Greene's footage, known for being some of the first to be treated with additive film color, was preserved by the British Film Academy and restored in 2005, prompting Smith to respond with a "personal study"--a shot-by-shot remake of the original. The effect is a stunning visual time machine that would give anyone who's spent a minute in the city a pang of British pride.

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While Smith states that his project "has revealed how little London has changed," there are a few noticeable differences--mostly the Barclay's Bikes that crowd a couple of the shots. See for yourself below and get sucked into a British time warp.

Hat tip to This Is Colossal!

@zachsokol