[Shion Sonozaki cosplay] Battle-damaged school style attempt at the IDO Anime Convention convention photos

This Shion Sonozaki uniform styling had been prepared for a long time before the anime convention. The original design clothing looks simple, but the cut of the white short-sleeved shirt and blue-and-white striped bowtie is actually quite picky about body shape. To better fit the character's temperament, I specially chose a shirt with a slightly stiffer cut, and the fabric was as breathable as possible, since I had to stay in the exhibition hall for most of the day in July. In terms of wigs, the original design's bright green long straight hair has very high requirements for hair quality; I trimmed the bangs in advance and did a simple straightening treatment to make the hair drop stronger, trying to avoid reflection or frizziness.

Makeup started a bit past 7 o'clock on the morning of the day. What took the most time was facial makeup, especially the special effects of bloodstains scattered on the cheeks and neck. Painting this kind of battle-damaged makeup cannot blindly pile up colors; you must first use dark red eyeshadow to base around the eyes, creating a slightly exhausted and dangerous atmosphere, and then mix special fake blood and lip glaze, dotting it on the face little by little. If painted too thickly, it would look like ketchup; if painted too thinly, it would be swallowed by the on-site light. Those marks on the neck were actually dotted along the body structure, which would look more natural.

Arriving at the site of the IDO Anime Convention, the pedestrian flow was larger than expected. Although there was air conditioning indoors, wearing a shirt and a heavy wig, plus having to carry the skirt hem to find a location, I worked up a sweat after just a few steps. Although the white shirt and pleated skirt are classic, they are easily ignored in the noisy convention environment. Fortunately, the cooperating photographer Qingfeng Photography V is very experienced; we avoided the crowded main road and found a location in a corner where the background was almost completely black. The ambient light in that area was very dim, and we decided to use the only available light source on site, cooperating with a prop light for fill light. Facts proved that this decision was very correct; the dark background was like a black curtain, making the bright green hair and the starry bloodstains on the face contrast very vividly.

To match the atmosphere of the photos, we put some thought into action design. In the first group of pictures, I touched my neck with my hand, which was actually an attempt to express the character's superficial quietness and inner tension. The force control of the hand needed to be very steady—not too forceful to look exaggerated, nor too relaxed to look weak. The action in the second group of pictures was lifting one side of the long hair with one hand, which was mainly to show the length of the wig and the layering of the hair strands in static photos, while utilizing the curved angle of the arm to break the stiffness of the frame. The framing gesture with both hands in front of the eyes in the third group of pictures was a temporary idea added by the photographer and me; it was originally intended to liven up the atmosphere, but looking through that square frame at the lens, the expression naturally cooled down, creating an illusion of staring into the eyes of someone outside the lens.

The high temperature of the convention and wearing the wig for a long time indeed consumed some physical energy, but in front of the lens, actions and expressions had to remain highly concentrated. Most of the time, the output of cosplay is not just putting on a suit of clothes, but lies in the release of emotion in those few seconds in front of the lens. In the post-processing of this set of pictures, Qingfeng Photography V, Shanshan, and I made quite a few adjustments. We unanimously agreed that the light source of the raw photos was already enough to express the atmosphere, so post-processing mainly focused on strengthening the color. The saturation of green was slightly lowered, while the brightness of the clothes was increased, and the redness of the blood color was specifically adjusted to avoid making it look black. Skin texture was also preserved to some extent without excessive skin smoothing, because if the texture of battle-damaged makeup is smoothed out, it loses its meaning.

After shooting this set of pictures, I gained new insights into the performance of school-style characters. The more everyday the clothing is, the more it is necessary to convey the settings through makeup details and body language. Wig styling, bloodstain position design, and even the crease direction of the shirt will all affect the final photo output effect. This attempt in a dark-toned environment also gave me more insights into how to use light and shadow to amplify the character's color elements. If I encounter characters with similar settings in the future, I will pay more attention to the polishing of these details.