City & Tourism
Bright copper-gold gears, pipes and fly-through views reimagine Longgang's landmarks, connecting the city and its industries into a mechanical city imagined with AI.
01 / Background
This creative city short had to make landmarks recognizable, cover the district's industries and deliver a steampunk mechanical fantasy. The look had to be sunny, without smoke or haze, and the content runs from stadiums and plazas to tech parks, corporate campuses and low-carbon sites. However fantastical the look, it is there to promote the city.
The film opens with an “ALL IN AI” relief carving, then strings the Universiade Center, Longcheng Square, the Galaxy Twin Towers and industrial sites into one continuous route. Every building is reworked with copper-gold gears and pipes, while blue skies and greenery keep the surroundings bright. The camera pulls back, pushes in and flies through tunnels, so watching the buildings feels less like flipping through pictures and more like traveling among them.
02 / Creative Highlights
The opening wood-grain relief reads “ALL IN AI”; it slides sideways to reveal a ring-shaped stadium fitted with gears. The slogan and the reveal happen in the same opening, linking the AI theme straight to a city landmark so viewers immediately understand: this is Longgang reimagined creatively.
No smoke in the frame: just sunshine, blue sky and white clouds. In the film, copper-gold gears turn in bright daylight, with green trees and water setting off the metal. The mechanical details bring the fantasy, while the clean, bright surroundings keep the positive mood a city promo needs.
The ring-shaped stadium, the Longcheng Square sculpture and the Twin Towers first let viewers recognize Longgang, followed by Tian An Cloud Park, Huawei's Shenzhen Bantian headquarters, Baolong Science and Technology City and more. Each scene carries its place name in gold, and together with mechanical buildings of different sizes, viewers know where they are no matter how fast the cuts come.
The camera closes in on the gears, then follows a track through a circular tunnel into a new district; in the second half it moves from wind turbines and a lake into the Low Carbon City, then to a mechanical emblem. The constant forward direction, recurring circular structures and rotating motion keep the momentum flowing between scenes, so viewers always feel they're exploring onward.
03 / Scene Breakdown
The film opens on a wood carving engraved with the city skyline and “ALL IN AI”; as the board slides away, the Universiade Center becomes a ring of turning brass gears. The camera then passes through a gateway, and the golden dragon statue of Longcheng Square rises under a blue sky.
An orange-red wood carving shows high-rises and the Twin Towers, with the large words “ALL IN AI” below, and the board immediately slides to the side.
A red running track circles a huge ring-shaped gear building that rotates as a whole, with “Shenzhen Universiade Center” in the lower right corner.
The camera pushes toward a gate that swings open on both sides, revealing a golden dragon statue made of gears in the middle of the plaza, captioned “Longcheng Square.”
The camera dives into a set of turning golden gears and comes out facing two towers wrapped in gears and pipes: the Galaxy Twin Towers. Then it races through the district and stops in front of Tian An Cloud Park.
In close-up, rings of golden gears mesh and turn; the camera passes through them to reveal two silver towers hung with gears, captioned “Galaxy Twin Towers.”
With motion blur, the shot speeds through a mechanical district and stops in front of a silver-gray campus building fitted with a large gear, with “Tian An Cloud Park” on the roof.
The camera rises into the air, over hills and trees, flying past Huawei's Shenzhen Bantian headquarters, Banxuegang Science and Technology City, Baolong Science and Technology City and the BYD Global R&D Center in turn, before passing through a golden pipe into the Shenzhen International Low Carbon City.
Flying over green hills and forest, a giant golden wall made of gears stands in the middle of the campus, captioned “Huawei Shenzhen Bantian Headquarters.”
A row of brass mechanical towers lines a boulevard as small airships float overhead, captioned “Banxuegang Science and Technology City.”
Several domed, geared towers stand before distant mountains as an airship glides past, captioned “Baolong Science and Technology City.”
Between a lake and windmills, a ring of golden gears encircles a domed building, captioned “BYD Global R&D Center.”
The camera dives into a curving golden pipe and emerges at a gear tower among windmills, greenhouses and solar panels, captioned “Shenzhen International Low Carbon City.”
Finally, a golden gear emblem engraved with the Longgang logo spins in the light, followed by the gear-built title “GAME of LONGGANG” and the line “The Future Is In LONGGANG.”
A round golden emblem engraved with “LONGGANG Shenzhen · Longgang,” its outer ring of gears turning slowly, with points of light glittering around it.
Copper gears hold up the title “GAME of LONGGANG,” with a mechanical dragon in the upper left; then the large golden word “LONGGANG” appears with “The Future Is In.”
04 / Storyboards & Final Frames
In the film's order: each shot first notes what it shows, then shows the final image used in the film.
Shot 1.1
An orange-red wood carving engraved with the Longgang skyline and “ALL IN AI.”
Shot 1.2
The Universiade Center stadium becomes a ring of brass gears set on a red running track.
Shot 1.3
The golden dragon statue at the center of the plaza is made of gears, surrounded by several mechanical stone beasts.
Shot 2.1
A close-up of golden gears, used to pass through to the next scene.
Shot 2.2
Two tall towers wrapped in gears and silver pipes, with a mechanical bridge stretched in front.
Shot 2.3
A silver-gray campus building with a large gear on its side, keeping the words “Tian An Cloud Park” on the roof.
Shot 3.1
A golden gear wall stands in the middle of a campus surrounded by green trees.
Shot 3.2
A row of brass mechanical towers lines a boulevard, with small airships in the sky.
Shot 3.3
The towers of a biomedical park are turned into domed, geared mechanical towers, with distant mountains behind.
Shot 3.4
Between a lake and windmills, a ring of gears encircles a golden domed building.
Shot 3.5
A gear tower stands among windmills, greenhouses and solar panels, with green points of light representing clean energy.
Shot 4.1
A golden gear emblem engraved with Longgang's new logo, surrounded by spinning gears and points of light.
05 / Results
The final film is a roughly 40-second, 16:9 steampunk city short.
Case Study
The Universiade Center becomes a ring of turning gears, Longcheng Square's golden dragon is built from gears, and the Galaxy Twin Towers are wrapped in copper pipes.
This is Longgang “rebuilt” in steampunk style. Starting from a sample in July 2025, the film went through three rounds of changes: adding industries, removing smoke and changing the color palette.
This is our work for the Publicity Department of the CPC Longgang District Committee, Shenzhen: the ninth film in the Longgang series, 39 seconds flying past 9 Longgang landmarks and industrial parks.
01
Steampunk visuals grab attention; the hard part is making people recognize Longgang. Our approach: find real photos of every landmark first, follow each building's shape, height and placement, and only swap the facade for brass gears, pipes and dials.
The film's route borrows from the opening titles of fantasy series: the camera seems to fly over a mechanical sand table, diving into gears, passing through tunnels and flying from one landmark to the next. At each stop, a gold caption names the place, so viewers know where they are no matter how fast the cuts.
Right after a close-up of golden gears, the gear-wrapped Galaxy Twin Towers appear.
02
The first sample focused on landmarks. The client wanted more shots related to Longgang's industries, since the district's industries are highly developed and including them would suit the city better.
Based on Longgang's three core industries of “IT + BT + low carbon”, we added shots: Banxuegang Science and Technology City and Huawei's Bantian headquarters for IT, the biomedical park at Baolong Science and Technology City for BT, the Shenzhen International Low Carbon City and BYD Global R&D Center for low carbon, with Tian An Cloud Park following the Twin Towers. The opening wood carving originally read “IT+BT+Low Carbon”; at the final stage, at the client's request, it was changed to the more direct “ALL IN AI.”
Banxuegang Science and Technology City, Baolong Science and Technology City and the BYD Global R&D Center appear in turn, each with its name on screen.
03
Steampunk usually comes with thick smoke and murky yellow skies, which feel oppressive in a city promo. The client pointed out that there was too much smoke and haze, so we removed the smoke from every image and replaced it with blue sky and white clouds.
Another round followed in November 2025: the whole film was regenerated in a brighter, more upbeat palette, the buildings changed from dark brownish copper to brighter gold and silver, the music was replaced with a licensed upbeat track cut to the beat, and the runtime was trimmed to just over 30 seconds.
04
Stylized visuals are the most likely to end up “pretty but unrecognizable.” This film builds on real photos and labels each place with captions, so the Universiade Center, the Twin Towers and Tian An Cloud Park are still recognizable at a glance in the world of gears.
More importantly, it brings the industries into the story: in 39 seconds, IT, biomedicine and low-carbon parks appear one after another, so viewers remember a city that is up and running, not just a few good-looking buildings.
FAQ
Find real photos of every landmark first, keep each building's shape, height and position, and only swap the facade for gears, pipes and dials; then, at each stop in the film, name the place with a gold caption. That's why the Universiade Center, the Galaxy Twin Towers and Tian An Cloud Park remain recognizable to local viewers even in their gear versions.
Early versions of this film had a lot of smoke, so we removed the smoke and haze from every image and replaced them with blue sky and white clouds. Later we brightened the overall palette, changing the buildings from dark brownish copper to brighter gold and silver, so the whole film looks clean and sunny.
Choose parks based on the area's leading industries. Following Longgang's three core industries of “IT + BT + low carbon,” this film selected Banxuegang Science and Technology City, Huawei's Bantian headquarters, Baolong Science and Technology City, the Shenzhen International Low Carbon City and the BYD Global R&D Center, placing them on the same flight path as landmarks like the Universiade Center and the Twin Towers.
Approach
The storyboard broke the stadium rotating, the plaza gates opening, the gear tunnel, the city pull-back and the buildings turning into separate shots. The opening wood carving is engraved directly with “ALL IN AI,” so the AI theme is visible at a glance.
Stylistically, there's no smoke, only blue sky and white clouds; copper-gold gears, metal pipes, dials and tracks appear on every building, so the stadium, towers, parks and low-carbon sites all share the same fantasy style.
The film is divided into sections by gear close-ups, tunnel entrances and exits, and fast pull-backs to city panoramas. Building names tell viewers where they are, nonstop rotation and forward motion drive the rhythm, and it ends on the metal Longgang logo and the presenting organization's end-card logo.
More Work
Ideal for brand launches · public-sector communications · cultural-tourism campaigns · IP transformation · event openers · earnings visualization · social campaigns · AI workflow development
