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Kalm festival

Starling

Pro Adventurer
I'm pretty sure this has been mentioned somewhere but I don't see a dedicated thread, nor can I find where it may have been mentioned.
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I'm getting the impression the culture featured here somehow relates to northern European countries but I'm not sufficiently knowledgeable in the distinct cultures of the region to be sure, so I was hoping someone who knew more on the subject could help with that. If that's proven true, it'd go well with the medieval Europe look the cobblestone streets and stone walls give the town.
 

Tennyo

Higher Further Faster
I had always assumed it was northern European in inspiration. A lot of locales in FFVII seem to be. Nibelheim, for example.
 

Jason Tandro

Banned
AKA
Jason Tandro, Doc Brown, Santa Christ, FearAddict, Thibault Stormrunner, RN: Micah Rodney
With names like Midgar, Nibelheim and Kalm I was thinking German / Swedish. Course there's a plethora. Costa Del Sol, clearly tropical / carribean and Gongaga is very Central American.
 

Starling

Pro Adventurer
Nibelheim and Midgar definitely have names relating to Norse mythology but Nibelheim seems to have some of Texas thrown in there, if Tifa's cowgirl outfit along iwth that Texas sign in the Seventh Heaven bar is any indication. It makes me wonder what kind of accent CC had in mind when it brought up Nibelheim having a particular one that disappeared with no explanation, as a hint of some of the flaws in Shinra's coverup. Midgar's original culture is pretty much gone by the OG so we can't really say for sure what it used to be. Nibelheim I haven't gotten around to culturally analyzing to see how much relates to northern europe, especially since we only really have the OG and CC's versions to go on. CC's version of Nibelheim was kinda bland and we don't really get any cultural events like a festival to help figure out anything the buildings can't tell us. Cloud's mom seems to wear a similar dress though so there's that.

Gongaga, Mideel and Banora all seem to have tropical flora, if the palm trees are any indication. If I'm going to get into stuff for other towns, I'll need some time to round up relevant images I have, since I just spent the past hour trying to find a dance that compares to the one in the images.
 

Flintlock

Pro Adventurer
A similar style of housing, with exposed wooden beams, was once common in England. The town I grew up in still has a couple of buildings like that, in fact. Here's one of them. Despite that, I get more of a central European, maybe southern German vibe from the pictures.
 
Kalm itself looks European, and so do their "traditional outfits", but surely the other trappings of the festival are universal? Balloons, marquees, souvenir stalls, bunting, garlands, parades and dancing....

The outfits worn by the dancers definitely look generically European - and a lot like what irish dancers wear. I guess the bunting is pretty European? The cobbled streets look like lots of streets in town centres all over Europe. The half-timbered houses look English, German, Alsatian.

Weobley in Herefordshire:

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Strasbourg in Alsace, France

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Stein Am Rhein, Switzerland

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Alex Strife

Ex-SOLDIER
Kalm is meant to make one think of Saxon/Germanic culture. Both the houses and dresses are what one would expect to see in the German part of Switzerland or in Austria. Or, of course, in Germany.
 

Octo

KULT OF KERMITU
AKA
Octo, Octorawk, Clarky Cat, Kissmammal2000
Yeah, it just seems to be a mishmash oldy worldy Europeanessnessness. And what Lic said, cobbles and what the English call 'tudor/mock tudor' is common in a lot of European countries. There are buildings like that in nearly every county in England. And a lot of places keep hold of the cobbled streets even though they're an utter bastard to walk on in high heels when I've had a skinful
 

Pixel

The Pixie King
Yeah, it just seems to be a mishmash oldy worldy Europeanessnessness. And what Lic said, cobbles and what the English call 'tudor/mock tudor' is common in a lot of European countries. There are buildings like that in nearly every county in England. And a lot of places keep hold of the cobbled streets even though they're an utter bastard to walk on in high heels when I've had a skinful

But great for riding a bike on. Am I right, ladies? :shifty:
 

Octo

KULT OF KERMITU
AKA
Octo, Octorawk, Clarky Cat, Kissmammal2000
Two nuns are riding their bikes to church.

The first nun says 'I've never come this way before'

And the second nun says 'Yes, it must be the cobbles'
 

Starling

Pro Adventurer
The northern European countries all seem to have similarly styles dresses, with the variation mostly coming from patterns and colors. I can't really do justice to the variety of clothing found in a particular country but the examples should hopefully be good enough. I've also included examples from northern countries that are geographically considered to be outside of northern europe, such as Poland and Germany, which are in central europe.

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They seriously blandified Cloud's mom's design in CC. It doesn't really match up as well with the above examples as he original dress does, though the simplicity of the design makes me wonder how detailed it'll look in the remake. I can't read the Japanese text on her artwork by I recall mention of her surname having been Strauss at some point, which is most definitely of Germanic origin.

As for architecture, the British Isles seem to be considered part of northern Europe. Denmark seems to have that kind of house as well. The church
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seems to be of Gothic design, which was common throughout a lot of Europe. Gothic is actually a term associated with Germanic people.

Other things to take not of in the Kalm images is that in the first, you see people wearing small headbands, some of which have leaves sticking up, which is better seen on one of the passersby in the third image. Next to that person is someone wearing a wreath of leaves, similarly to the necklaces made of the same. I also spot what appear to be wooden beer kegs next to a bunch of metal pots and colored bottles. Also, considering the particular pattern of Kalm's cobblestone, it might be possible to trace that pattern back to a particular country.

While stuff like the balloons is somewhat generic and only really gives us an indication of what they're celebrating, the dancing and accompanying music are distinct. The music features violins and accordions, both of which are often used in folk music. The dancing involves a lot of leg movements, especially at the part not long before the change to an overhead view of the dancers.

Regarding the walls, there seem to be a lot of walled cities all over Europe. Not all of them have the kind of architecture that does that blocky thing with the upper edges. I'd need time to figure out which countries have the ones that fit best. The thing is, Germanic cultural influences doesn't automatically mean Germany or Austria is the main influence. Northern Europe is primarily Germanic in heritage, while central has a lot of Slavic as well. I'm aware it's probably impossible to pin down a specific country but it's fun to see how much we can narrow it down.
 

Octo

KULT OF KERMITU
AKA
Octo, Octorawk, Clarky Cat, Kissmammal2000
I think this is one of those things where the fans are putting more thought into this than SE ever did.

I can't believe how bland they made Cloud's mum.
 

Flare

Pro Adventurer
AKA
Flare
I always felt that Kalm gave off a German vibe, due to the house designs. I always liked that design, btw.

The Planet seems to be small, and yet still has a wide variety of location differences, at least in how they look.

Anyway, as far as Midgar goes, the church in the slums seems to be old, so I've always assumed it's been there before the plates rose up.
This is the church in AC complete

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Here's its design in the og
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I can't find good pics of it in CC. But it looks different from the style of the church in Kalm. Anyone have an idea of what the architecture style is close to?
 

Pixel

The Pixie King
None of those are good examples of everyday clothing though... I mean not just in modern society, I mean ever. They're either ceremonial, or reproducions of what people thought people dressed like. Nothing like that would ever really look right.

Even in DoC, the clothing worn in the parade is ceremonial costume.
 

Starling

Pro Adventurer
I think this is one of those things where the fans are putting more thought into this than SE ever did.

I can't believe how bland they made Cloud's mum.

Putting a lot of thought into this kind of thing is fun. Fiction tends to use aspects of real life as inspiration so it tends to be loaded with references just waiting to be found. The blandness of Cloud's mom's CC design is why I specifically mentioned it as something I was hoping would be done well in the remake.

I always felt that Kalm gave off a German vibe, due to the house designs. I always liked that design, btw.

The Planet seems to be small, and yet still has a wide variety of location differences, at least in how they look.

Anyway, as far as Midgar goes, the church in the slums seems to be old, so I've always assumed it's been there before the plates rose up.
This is the church in AC complete

FFVIIACC_Sector_5_Church.png


Here's its design in the og
FFVII_Sector_5_Church_outside.jpg

FFVII-Sector5_Church.jpg

I can't find good pics of it in CC. But it looks different from the style of the church in Kalm. Anyone have an idea of what the architecture style is close to?

Gothic architecture can vary a fair but. The narrow roofs, use of stained glass and stone work are pretty important aspects of it. Both the Kalm church and the ACC version of Aerith's church qualify as Gothic, though neither are as elaborate as the style can allow. There are some pretty beautiful cathedrals out there. One thing I find odd about Aerith's church is that in ACC, it seems to have 2 pillars, which would make it a cathedral rather than a church. The OG version's exterios doesn't seem to fall under Gothic architecture, while the inside looks like what you'd expect from Gothic architecture. It's probably meant to be Gothic though. I forgot to bring this up in the previous post but in Vincent's flashbacks of Nibelheim, you can see a church in the distance. The church looks more like the kind you find in the US though.

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None of those are good examples of everyday clothing though... I mean not just in modern society, I mean ever. They're either ceremonial, or reproducions of what people thought people dressed like. Nothing like that would ever really look right.

Even in DoC, the clothing worn in the parade is ceremonial costume.
I know reproductions aren't necessarily 100% faithful but those are all still clothing relating to the cultural heritage of the people wearing them and is something they wear during festivities to celebrate that culture. I'm also trying to find the best match for what culture's being referenced so all the little things add up. Not all European countries have ceremonial attire like the one we see.
 

Pixel

The Pixie King
If you look at what Belle wears in Beauty and the Beast. That's the kind of thing the OG was going for. Kind of non-specific time period european village.

The dresses the dancers wear look Bavarian. I think the people in Kalm in the opening FMV are wearing stuff they would only wear at a renaissance fair, like the hats or garlands around their necks. They're just stuff for the ceremony over their normal clothes.

Irish dancer dresses arent really that traditional. I think girls only started wearing them in the 70s. These days its become like those pageants with fake tan and caked on makeup.
 

Ite

Save your valediction (she/her)
AKA
Ite
This thread has further worried me about Squeenix's ability to capture what the original FF7 was going for.
 

Starling

Pro Adventurer
Beauty and the Beast was a French fairy tale, as Belle's name should indicate. They also had chamber pots, indicating it's set before the invention of indoor plumbing. Mr Ite, can you elaborate?
 

Pixel

The Pixie King
Beauty and the Beast was a French fairy tale, as Belle's name should indicate. They also had chamber pots, indicating it's set before the invention of indoor plumbing. Mr Ite, can you elaborate?

lol dont get snarky. I'm talking about the style of dress, not the time period, or where people shit. :P
 

Strangelove

AI Researcher
AKA
hitoshura
They seriously blandified Cloud's mom's design in CC. It doesn't really match up as well with the above examples as he original dress does, though the simplicity of the design makes me wonder how detailed it'll look in the remake. I can't read the Japanese text on her artwork by I recall mention of her surname having been Strauss at some point, which is most definitely of Germanic origin.
it gives her the name 'claudia strauss' (i guess because 'claudia [kuraudia]' looks a lot like 'cloud [kuraudo]')

is that cc character definitely cloud's mum, or it it just something that people assume?
 

Starling

Pro Adventurer
Beauty and the Beast was a French fairy tale, as Belle's name should indicate. They also had chamber pots, indicating it's set before the invention of indoor plumbing. Mr Ite, can you elaborate?

lol dont get snarky. I'm talking about the style of dress, not the time period, or where people shit. :P

But you said:
If you look at what Belle wears in Beauty and the Beast. That's the kind of thing the OG was going for. Kind of non-specific time period european village.
I remember seeing a timeline of what era and location various Disney movies happen in so it's not that unspecific.
 
I don't think that's a church, Starling; I think it's meant to be the back of the Shinra mansion. Or something. The landscape looks nothing like the landscape round Nibelheim in either the OG or Crisis Core, and I don't just mean because it's so verdant. SE just doesn't care very much about consistency; they care more about atmosphere. So, for example, they don't care that Aerith's house in Midgar is somehow next to a waterfall (how does that even work?) and they don't care that it somehow rains under the plate when Zack dies, or in Modeoheim when Angeal dies, despite the fact that it's so cold in Modeoheim that even an enhanced SOLDIER like Zack has to keep doing squats or freeze to death. It's about what these things symbolize, not realism.
 

Starling

Pro Adventurer
Are you sure it's the mansion? I don't think it's ever been depicted a white with a prominent tower. That scene could be in the plains area on some side of the town with more space before the mountains. If we go with at least one side of Nibelheim not being right up to the mountains, that scene could work.

I agree that the compilation has consistency issues. don't forget that it rained in sector 7 in Tifa's flashback about finding Cloud. I'm hoping the remake's going to fix those consistency issues.
 
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