[Vertin and Bkornblume Cosplay] Reverse: 1999 - Freezing a Winter Red Curtain Moment

This photography sharing captures the essence of Reverse: 1999 through our Vertin cosplay and Bkornblume cosplay presentation; we specially chose an indoor real-scene studio with dark red velvet curtains for our creation. Selecting this scene was mainly to match the retro, cool, yet restrained winter tone from the original setting. The styling and costumes for this shoot are rich in texture; the white faux fur collar and deep blue scarf occupy a large proportion visually. The tying method and tightness of the scarf have a massive impact on the overall temperament. To find the optimal drape, I repeatedly adjusted it many times. To guarantee the precision of the costumes, makeup, and props, we spent a considerable amount of time before the shoot organizing the hair flow texture of the wigs. Especially for my partner's long, straight silver-gray hair, it had to maintain its volume while allowing the headphones to stay securely in place without messing up. My own fur-collared coat and hat also underwent detailed styling treatments to prevent deformation during movement. My partner's Vertin cosplay look is also full of details; the black over-ear headphones paired with the silver-gray hair color stand out intensely against the dark red background.

The interaction during shooting became the core that dominated the photo's atmosphere. In the cover photo, I lean over to look down at her, and she smoothly leans back onto the leather sofa to look back. The moment our gazes intersect, the atmosphere flows out naturally. The low-profile gloss of the leather sofa, the dark red velvet of the background, and the blurring of the golden picture frame in the foreground—this interleaving of materials and cooperation of light and shadow focused our post-processing ideas mainly on the sense of color unity and brightening the highlight contours, recreating that dreaminess and precipitation of Berlin's winter fog.

In the entire photo set, we actually tried numerous action combinations, but the final two selected did not deliberately pose in exaggerated postures, but chose the most natural leaning and gazing. This still-life-like slice-of-life narrative sense instead makes the characters' personalities more three-dimensional. Looking back at this set of works, compared to pursuing complex action scenes, this framing built upon quiet dialogue and delicate physical contact can better deliver the characters' unique sense of story. Every adjustment of the gaze direction, every lifting and lowering of the head, was capturing those subtle temperatures within the character relationship. Sorting out costumes and checking the hair strand directions—these seemingly trivial early investments are ultimately frozen in the frames, becoming a part of this cosplay work.