The 1995 anime film Ghost in the Shell is still widely heralded as a modern sci-fi classic, helping define the look, feel and themes of the cyberpunk movement. But few fans are as devoted as the group of artists behind Project 2501, a 4K, live-action recreation of 39 still frames from Ghost in the Shell's title sequence that was released this week.

The resulting series of still images took over a year to produce and involved the talents of over 30 artists, according to the creator of the project, Hollywood graphic designer Ash Thorp (The Amazing Spiderman 2, X-Men: First Class, Person of Interest). "It was really tricky to find an indoor heated pool that would allow photography and nudity," Thorp tells us.

Thorp and his colleagues also released a short film that tracks some of the effort involved in their labor of love, but stress the still images are the main focus of the project. "I originally wanted this to be just a fun side project to create with some friends on my free time over a time span of a month, if that," he says. "But as we opened up the opportunities it got bigger and more complicated as the team grew." The designer says he's not involved in the upcoming Dreamworks remake of Ghost in the Shell that was first reported on earlier this year, but if that film is anything like Project 2501, it should be worth watching.

The following gallery contains mild nudity.