This time choosing to cosplay Honkai Impact 3rd's Vill-V V2V styling, the overall workload of the costume was larger than expected. When I first got this outfit, seeing those complex plaid patchworks, leather straps, and metal accessories, I knew it would take a lot of thought to restore. Because it's the V2V setting, the overall style has a bit of a Steampunk flavor, such as those gear accessories, mechanical claw props, and the golden spiderweb patterns on the edge of the clothes. Every detail had to be personally confirmed for position before I dared to put it on. The metal gear props couldn't be too heavy, otherwise the hat would easily become unstable, so I added fixing clips to the lining, and the golden binding at the edge of the brim also needed to fit flatly; a slight curl would affect the overall texture.
The wig styling and makeup were also adjusted for a long time. Vill-V's light gray-gold hair has a very strong layering sense. To achieve that natural yet slightly messy effect, hair wax and hairspray were used a lot. In terms of makeup, to get close to the character's slightly mysterious and confident feeling, the eye makeup specially deepened the contours, and the eyelashes at the outer corners of the eyes were glued thicker than usual. Paired with light-colored contact lenses, the overall temperament came out. Because the wig's bangs are relatively long, it was necessary to occasionally adjust the angle shielding the eyes, which can both retain a bit of mystery and make the gaze more focused in front of the lens. This degree is actually quite hard to grasp.
The shooting day was actually completed inside a car. Originally thought that the narrow space inside the car would limit performance, but actual shooting revealed that the leather seats inside the car and the natural light filtering through the window actually set off the texture of this costume very well. Especially when the light hit the metal gears and mechanical claws, that warm-and-cool contrast photographed extremely well. To ensure the cleanliness of the frame, I tried to avoid letting the edges of the car enter the frame, and matching with a slightly downward-looking camera angle, concentrated the visual focus on the details of the face and upper body. The window light was relatively hard, so during the shoot I slightly adjusted my sitting posture, letting the face face the light without overexposure, while utilizing shadows to increase the facial three-dimensionality. The seatbelt strap occasionally entered the frame, and I had to intentionally avoid it when posing.
When posing, because the mechanical claw props in my hands were relatively heavy and the joint structures were also very complex, I needed to constantly pay attention to the finger postures, which needed to showcase the mechanical sense of the props without looking stiff. The slight hand-raising action in the second photo was actually to showcase the claw-like structure on the gloves, while adjusting facial expressions, hoping to reflect Vill-V's effortless feeling. And the gaze in the first photo looks slightly downward, carrying a bit of indifference and mystery. The angles and emotional expressions of the two photos are quite different, representing two different states of the character. Wearing and operating such hand accessories indeed requires adaptation; the metal pieces of the mechanical claws easily snagged on the clothes, so I had to be extra careful when adjusting poses, otherwise it was very easy to pull threads.
The leather straps and dark red stripe patchworks on the costume had very clear textures and grains under the lighting, and the hollowed-out design on the chest was also to fit the original character's clothing characteristics. Although wearing this whole outfit took a lot of time, and the space in the car made it somewhat hard to stretch out, seeing the images in the camera made me feel all the efforts were worth it. Every time cosplaying such detail-heavy characters, I gain a deeper understanding of the character during the process of organizing props and costumes. This shooting experience was very interesting, and also gave me more insights into Steampunk style costumes. If there's an opportunity later, I might try location shoots in more complex scenes.