[Gongsun Li Cosplay] Honor of Kings Lihenyan: The Faithless Deserve Death

This time cosplaying Gongsun Li's Lihenyan, the early preparation work was much more complex than expected. The overall design of the Lihenyan skin leans towards a Chinese style and ink-wash feel, so in the selection of clothing materials, we tried our best to restore that lightweight and ethereal texture. For example, the skirt hem uses multi-layered chiffon stacked together, which not only gives a great drape in front of the lens but also captures that smoke-like and mist-like lightness when walking or posing. For the wig, to create the hair texture on top of the head, a lot of time was spent on styling and setting, and the blue gradient was adjusted through several versions before being satisfied. The golden rings and red beads on the hair accessories also needed their center of gravity found precisely when wearing them, otherwise they would easily skew mid-shoot.

The shooting location was chosen on an antique solid wood long couch, with paper lanterns and red flowers and leaves matched in the background. To fit the cool, resolute temperament of "the faithless deserve death," we adopted some warm tones in the lighting, but retained a cool white light on the character's face, creating a contrast. This lighting method has extremely high requirements for the skin tone's translucency, so plenty of effort was put into base makeup and setting to ensure a delicate texture remains under high-definition lenses.

For the hand posture of holding the guqin, to avoid making the movements look stiff, I watched reference videos of musical instrument performances beforehand to make the strength of the fingertips look natural. The weight of the guqin body also needed to be controlled—neither looking too strenuous nor too floaty. In terms of gaze, Gongsun Li is naturally an agile character, but this skin carries a bit more melancholy, so when facing the lens, I put away the usual accustomed smile and communicated more with a gaze carrying a sense of distance.

Details of the barefoot styling and leg sleeves also required special attention in front of the lens; the angle of straightened insteps and the placement of ankles needed to be adjusted over and over again to capture slender and beautiful lines. Especially for those shots lying on the long couch, core strength had to be tightened, and legs suspended while maintaining an elegant posture was actually very physically demanding. The guqin prop and the flower branches in the background also needed to be balanced in the composition without overshadowing the main subject.

Shooting this set of photos happened during a time of high indoor temperature. Wearing multi-layered gauze skirts while wearing a heavy wig was truly a significant challenge. To maintain the integrity of the makeup, the frequency of touch-ups midway was extremely high. In terms of action design, we tried a variety of different lying and leaning postures. For example, the supine angle holding the guqin required straightening the back and using waist strength to support the upper body, lifting the legs to form a visual extension so that the composition would have tension. When leaning on the edge of the couch, the shift of center of gravity and the position of hand support both required delicate adjustments. The leg sleeves and bare feet on the lower body were also a major highlight; how to use leg lines to guide the line of sight was repeatedly tested at different angles on-site. Actions like plucking the strings with fingers or pinching a flower needed to coordinate with the flowing of the gaze without appearing rigid.

During post-processing color grading, to highlight the ink-wash texture and skin translucency, heavy filters were not used, preserving the wood grain and clothing folds. The overall tone leaned towards a contrast between blue-white and warm wood, making the visual focus concentrate more on the subject. The entire creative process is a secondary understanding of the character; from wearing the costume to entering the emotional state, every shutter press is a dialogue with the character. Seeing the final photos, I felt that the early contemplation and on-site sweat were all worth it, and I am also grateful for the photographer's patient guidance in capturing many satisfactory moments. In this set of static images, I hope to convey the character's inner persistence and aloofness. Completing this set of pictures has greatly improved my emotional expression and camera presence.