[Arcana cosplay] Reverse: 1999 Attending a coronation in Paradise Lost

Shooting this Paradise Lost coronation theme of Arcana from Reverse: 1999 took nearly a month from preparation to final photos. The core visual point of this styling is the combination of patent leather material and Gothic style. The moment I got the costume, I found that the ultra-high reflectivity of the patent leather is extremely demanding on the shooting environment. The wig was trimmed into neat-bangs long straight hair. To restore the stern feeling in the original artwork, the hair color underwent a black-to-gray gradient treatment. The horn-like props on top of the head were made by combining EVA foam with resin casting, with the outer layer painted with flesh-colored and dark red textures, interspersed with metal spike accessories. To secure these props, a hidden steel wire frame was constructed inside the wig, while hair spray was used to blend the hair strands with the edges of the props. The fake sharp fingernails were cast by myself; after putting them on, I basically couldn't hold anything, and couldn't even swipe a phone screen. The makeup heavily emphasized the red eyes and pale skin tone. The black lines under the eyes were delicately outlined with eyeshadow cream, and the eyebrows were deliberately drawn quite light to reflect that non-human texture. During the shoot, to highlight the cutout deep-V design on the chest, I continuously maintained a straightened back and tucked-in shoulders, using the boundary between light and shadow to outline the collarbone and shoulder-neck lines. But because the outfit is made of patent leather, any slight wrinkle would be infinitely magnified under strong light, so every time I changed a pose, the assistant had to run up to help me tidy up the smoothness of the garment's surface. The overall lighting was dominated by purple cool tones, with the main light source placed diagonally to the side and backlighting outlining the edges. The background was a ruined Gothic church, decorated with black gauze and white flowers. A large amount of smoke was released on-site, creating a hazy atmosphere when the light hit it. There are a few photos of me sitting on a white sofa; that sofa has a pure white velvet surface, forming a very strong textural contrast with the black glossy patent leather. To ensure the character's aura, the photographer mostly used medium and full shots to capture the scenes, while I needed to constantly adjust the angles of my neck and hands, because the long nails and wide sleeve hems easily appeared bulky in the composition, requiring joint angles to break through the lines. This costume has extreme visual impact, but it also means a great sense of restriction. To present the most perfect state in front of the lens, I would immediately loosen the overly tight waist area during shooting breaks. Although the process was tiring, the moment I saw the finished photos, all fatigue vanished completely. Especially the luster refracted by the purple light and shadow hitting the patent leather, as well as the sharpness of the headpiece, made me feel all the hard work was completely worth it. For the mastery of Dark Gothic and patent leather materials, I have also gained new experience accumulation this time, and can try more levels of light and shadow changes next time. Don't ask how tiring the shoot was; as long as the photos turn out cool enough, it's all worth it.