5 posing and 5 photography tips and tricks for Cosplay!

Hey peanut butterflies! We are back this saturday, the first in a while sadly, but back non the less. This week we are in great spirits due to our brand spanking new camera! Whooo hooo! New camera!!! So I decided that i'd be fun to educate ourselves on camera men ship.... ya lets just get to it....

After gathering from various sources, here are the best posing tips for Cosplayers that any of us here at Cosplay confessions can hope to give. Don't worry, there will more to come.

1. Know the angles of your face. 
2. Know the angles of your face
3. Watch America's next top model if you don't get what your angles are.
4. Did I mention know your face? 
5. Know your posing limits

Now growing up with ANTM posing and knowing your face have always been a thing for me. What it means is very simply know your face. Know what angles your face looks best and worst in. Do you need to open your eyes more? Relax your face? Is it better to get the glare going on with your eyes to make them pop? Double chin a problem? Big ears? Big nose? So how do all of these imperfections work together?Practice in a mirror or with photobooth or a regular webcam to test everything out. Put it on continuous shots and see what worked and what didn't. 

As for posing limits, I mean know how flexible you are and can be. If you know you can't climb up a hill or balance on a log to get a good picture then that's ok. Know how much you can do before you hurt yourself or your costume or both. We all have limits to posing and that's normal, in that case talk to the photographer. This also applies to weather, if the weather is extreme talk to your photographer about discomforts because it might be time to call it quits before you get seriously hurt. 

Now on the photographer end of stuff. 

1. Cosplay photographers, don't be afraid to be back seat drivers here. Cosplayers depend on you to tell them if something looks good or bad. Keep them informed if their outfits are disheveled, fix wigs, get feed back from them about poses they want to do or don't want to do. Give them options. GET INVOLVED.
2. Just as cosplayers need to know their face and body you need to be on your toes. You need to find the most flattering angles to get them from or ask them to change slightly. Find what looks really good don't be afraid to move them if it looks bad. 
3. Photographers, I don't know who first said it but, Cosplaying is a work out. Not just for cosplayers but for you as well. If you aren't causing traffic jams at conventions or breaking a sweat then you need to get in motion. Moving around will get you those great flattering shots. 
4. Know your rule of thirds. This is the idea of mentally griding off a picture to be three by three squares. Cosplay photography is about big hits and huge focal points, the rule of thirds can help you do this. Mastering this can really get you those golden shots! Read up on it here!

1. Get rid of negative space! Whenever I'm creating something I like to stop and ask "do you really need it", ask yourself this when it comes to empty space. Does it help create a dramatic picture? If not you are probably losing an opportunity to get up close and personal with the cosplayer. Along with that you may be losing important details from the costume from really far way. Please..... don't lose that opportunity.... 

So that was about 5 and 5, next week we will get more in depth with some of this stuff! Be prepared! 

~Lulu

My new makeup tutorial! Asami video finally done!

This has been in the works for a while and now its finally done!

DIY fake cigarettes using......STRAWS

This is R.B. again. Today we will be discussing those tiny details that can sometimes pull a concept together nicely, or atleast cut off the dead ends of music video prop making

Now that sounds pretentious BUT I do take pride in this one creation.

FAKE CIGARETTES. -sorry no pictures of the final product as that was two months ago-

(I lulu kept one) 

BUT I have no common sense and I consider this idiot proof.

Materials:
-plastic straws, opaque white ones w/ or w/o fun stripes but mainly opaque white is recommended
-white acrylic paint, rec craft as it is very opaque
-goldish orange paint ^ same brand^
-toilet paper
-pencil
-scissors
-water
-dark brown paint, any kind will actually but for quick dry time do acrylic
-small paint brush I prefer flat brushes close to a perfect square

Step one.

Cut your straws into smaller pieces. I chose straws because they're easy to get and are very close in diameter to a real cigarette. If you're making many and used ones get a variety of sizes. For used ones try and cut at an angle to get those burned edges. You can gestimate on sizes really because some brands can be very long while others are much shorter.

Step two.

Get your plastic straws and paint them white. You might have to layer the paint to get the most opaque solid color but be patient. It shouldn't take more than 10-15 mins really unless that's a life time for you. Do at least two layers for each cigarette

Step three. (If you are going filterless skip this step)

Once they are completely dry paint one end of each with your goldish orange paint. Try to make it opaque again by layering it twice. Get the lines straight showing where the filter ends and the actual paper starts. But still don't get anal if you want to get a variety of sizes. For the butts you still have to show a filter because, for all the non smokers confused, you put your mouth on the filter and it doesn't get burned off when left behind. If you're trying to make a new pack it's time to develop OCD. Let the paint dry and move on

Step four.

This I think is the fun part, filling them up so no light can show through. because face it if you are making lots you are probably not going to get super solid painting. It also gives them some weight to get a better feel for your nicotine addicted character. AND when you turn it the camera won't see a gaping hole through it showing it's a painted straw. And you won't be called a poser smoker.

So get your pencil and a toilet paper. Take off some SMALL strands of teepee AT A TIME. Roll them up pretty small and just stuff them through the straws entirely. Don't get super tight in them, it's better to actually spread the tp out thinly through out the tube so you can spare using an entire roll of angel soft charmin. Because that will not be fun when you get yelled at about it by room mates on wasting tp.

It is important to fill the whole tube though as a cigarette is filled all the way for extra lung cancer. You'll want a bit of tuff filling out of the non filtered end to look like the rolled tobacco.

Step five.

Last step is to get your brown paint and water it down slightly. Just dab both ends till no white of the tp is visible. You'll want the paint to be kind of thick so it will clump the tp into a rough bump texture. Don't be afraid to get some of the ends a bit splattered. As we should all know cigarettes are filthy.

And there you have it. This is not a strict tutorial, just my own method made at 1 am. Be prepared to experiment for your own desired result. And if you want to reject this reality please substitute it for your own!

-I will update with pictures when we make some more- 

I got ya covered RB! ~ Lulu

GOOD LUCK CANCER MEN WOMEN AND CHILDREN

~ RB Simms