[Sayaka Miki cosplay] Depressing genre Magical Girl under Cold Blue Night Portrait

When deciding to shoot this concept, the cold blue tone of late night was the first thing that popped into my mind. To match this atmosphere with a sense of fragmentation and depressing genre vibe, we specially scheduled the shooting time at night and chose outdoor architecture with modern wavy line feelings as the background.

The layering of the costume is very rich. The inner wear is a white high-neck top, covered outside with a dark corset with a metallic gloss texture, and the skirt hem is a dark pleated short skirt. To increase the overall neatness, the legs are matched with black straps and Stockings, and a pair of black short boots on the feet. The cape is the soul of the overall styling; the white satin material will emit a reflection similar to water ripples under the cold light illumination of the night. The trimming of the wig is also a major difficulty; to keep the thick blunt bangs and shoulder-length short hair from looking messy during intense movements, a large amount of hairspray was used for styling before the shoot.

The props prepared this time are also quite thoughtful. That silver long sword is not light in weight. In the process of swinging the sword and turning around, it is necessary to rely on the strength of the waist to drive the arm so that the action looks both lightweight and powerful, while also taking care of the arc of the cape flying up. Another set of props is the violin; the posture of setting up the violin and holding the bow needs to be repeatedly adjusted to ensure it looks elegant enough in front of the lens. The most time-consuming part is actually that huge blue glowing prop, which was manually pinched bit by bit using sequins, metallic wire, and iron wire frames. Under the faint light of night and specific angles of fill light, the fine light spots it refracts are very eye-catching, but because of its huge volume, it requires core strength to maintain absolute stability when held high.

Outdoor shooting at night puts a great test on physical strength and light control. Photography @Linyuan is amazing in light and shadow design; strong light hits from the ground or lower-side, making the character wearing a white cape cast an extremely stretched black shadow on the ground. This high-contrast picture tension happens to match that suffocating feeling of sinking to the bottom of the water. To capture these pictures, we tried top-down shooting, flat shooting, and various large dynamic snap-shots, and logistics @Button kept helping to tidy up the positions of the skirt hem and cape on the side.

Throughout the shooting process, I have been looking for that cold yet slightly obsessed state. Without too many complex expressions, just leaning against the railing looking up into the distance, or lowering the head to play the violin, that suppressed emotion can be transmitted through the lens. Shooting this set of official photos is a very satisfying experience, fusing costumes, props, lighting, and a specific night scene environment together, ultimately presenting this depressing genre atmosphere like water disappearing into water, and all the preparations and staying up late are totally worth it.