For this photoshoot of Chii from Chobits, we put a lot of thought into setting up the scene and ambient mood to recreate that specific sci-fi tech feel.
In the original design, the main body of Chii's costume is this massive white tulle dress with a strong sense of volume. Once actually putting it on, multiple layers of lightweight sheer fabric stack together, making me feel almost wrapped in a bundle of clouds. When sitting or curling up, the skirt hem spreads out naturally, which not only looks weightless but also fits the character's intrinsic sense of purity perfectly.
The studio set on-site was an electronic workshop full of aged character, packed with old-fashioned CRT monitors, vintage white telephones, mixing consoles, and all kinds of intricate, tangled cables. Unlike modern equipment, those old devices exuded a clumsy mechanical feel, especially those few bulky monitors lighting up to create a retro blue screen atmosphere; the moment they powered on, the visual vibe was instantly dragged back to an era full of sci-fi settings. Since the space was relatively narrow during the shoot, the photographer and I had to move very carefully to avoid getting tangled in the cables behind us, which perfectly matches our approach to retro server room photography.
Regarding the lighting, we chose a high-intensity single light source to create a strong contrast between light and dark, which, along with the tall and short metal stands on set, pulled out an intensely hard light at specific angles. Heavy smoke was also released in some scenes, giving the light beams a physical presence. Under this interplay of light and shadow, the white tulle dress appeared exceptionally translucent, while the blue screen light serving as the ambient background color brought a cool-toned tech atmosphere to the overall frame.
As a coser, portraying the character in such a chaotic yet orderly retro environment allows one to focus more on the character's quiet, slightly fragile, yet icy and pure traits. We didn't do too much color intervention in post-processing, retaining the raw cold light sources and shadows of the original photos, hoping to convey this unique atmosphere in a way that stays closest to the scene for this piece of Cyber cosplay.