Photograph Assassin's Creed: Part 3 Bad Lighting

So like many people, I'm just beginning to learn and practice photography. And as I learn, I make mistakes. These photos I ended up with bad lighting because I didn't know how to operate the settings on my camera.

But why not make it look as if it was purposeful?  Promoting the photos as a dark mood style, these became some of my more popular photos of my series.

Cosplay Week Sakura 2011 #1 - Final Fantasy Lightning XIII-2

Another Cosplay Week, each of these costumes were made for SakuraCon 2011.

So this week I wanted to do something special in each post instead of just showing off a picture.  We'll cover topics like how to glam up your cosplay, Photo manipulation project, and how to make your cosplaying experiance more fun.

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I'll be a hypocrite for today's post though Showing the results of the Final Fantasy XIII-2 Lighting outfit I've been working on for several months.  I'm very curious to see what the game is going to look like.

There was a freak snow storm into spring this year in Seattle so I ran out quickly to get some fun shots.  Unfortunatly the shadows on the snow match closely with the grey on my gunblade and armour that my character doesn't stand out well.  Lesson learned

If you are new to this blog, I covered the process of making this cosplay throughout the months.  Refreshers of how to make the components

Cosplay Progress - Final Fantasy XIII-2 Lightning 0.1

Cosplay Progress - Final Fantasy XIII-2 Lightning Belt 0.2

Cosplay Progress - Final Fantasy XIII-2 Lightning Wing 0.3

Cosplay Progress - Final Fantasy XIII-2 Lightning Armour 0.4

Cosplay Progress - Final Fantasy XIII-2 Lightning Sleeves 0.5

Cosplay Progress - Final Fantasy XIII-2 Lightning GunBlade and Shield 0.6

Cosplay Progress - Final Fantasy XIII-2 Lightning Leggings 0.7

Cosplay Progress - Final Fantasy XIII-2 Lightning Leggings 0.7

Yay we've gotten to the last tutorial before having a completed Final Fantasy XIII-2 Cosplay

I found these giant rolls of Craft foam YAY. 

I wrapped cylinders around my thighs to get the right size, than trimed out the shape.

Than got the rough estimate around my caves and used elastics (used for waistbands) to hold it closed for my ankle area.  THis way you can strech it wide to put your legs without any ripping ations.  I was stupid and glued the elastic to the outside so here I'm flipping the foam.

Yay,I used a separate join for the middle to let the piece piviot.  It's connected to the thigh piece in the front, and connected to the bottom piece on the back.  Because the foam is flexible it allows you to bend at your knees.  And it's also costume accurate!

Closer picture after it's been painted.

Making some of the gold embellisments for her leggins

several photo series to hopefully visually explain as to how they get put on

Oh she's got this medallion thing on her legs.  So i just took a scrapbook chip art to use, you wont see the palm tree after it's been painted.

Ok i'll admit i didn't do the best job with the feet, but i tried.

I started by making a cover for my foot.  Two angled pieces on er. . . . I'm going to stop here with this one cause the foot wasn't well done, so let's not bother teaching you how to make the unsuccessful piece.

Here's a final picture of the legs.  You can bend and run and do all sorts of things with it.  Although warning, dont go climbing rocks with it.  THe foam isn't that strong so it will rip easily.  More layering or coating of a good sealent or a backing of packaging tape could reinforce it it you desire.

Till next time, when you get to see the compete outfit.

Tutorial - How to Make a Foam Cutting Table

Why use a foam cutter?  Well let's look at this picture below.  The piece on the left was broken naturally while the piece on the right uses the cutter.  Now do you want your sword to look all bumpy?  That's going to slice up a body really cleanly.

But playing with foam is stil great for cosplay so over the past 4 years I have purchased two foam cutters (between $10 - $25).

So you can start off with a foam cutting knife and slice through your foam with a cutting drawn on.  But many time after i do it, and i flip the piece to the other side, I realized that I had not been holding the knife exactly straight.  So all my sizes on the drawn side is pretty, but but all the work on the backside is all misproportioned.  Looks quite bad.

hard to tell in the photo, but in real life the two sides aren't even . . . .

I used a foam cutting table (like a band saw table but with a hot wire) back in high school.  It was pretty fun to play with, but why would you pay that much for something that would just take up space and you would rarely use?  So let's make our own

I used a small bed side dresser to tape the foam cutter and let it stick up straight past the end of this computer desk.

Be careful you dont hit the knife on the table.  I accidently melted a line on the table molding (my boyfriend wasn't very happy to see that damage on his desk).

So just like using a bandsaw, you start sliding your piece against the knife and push it naturally to let it cut. 

It's also awesome on holes because you slide the piece onto the knife.

Here's my cut piece.  Lines are smooth as much as my hand can glide (if you are more picky you can you a straight edge to act as a guide if that's what your piece calls for). 

Cosplay Progress - Final Fantasy XIII-2 Lightning GunBlade and Shield 0.6

Shield

It wasn't easy to get the design for this shield since there are no straight on shots but instead these angled shots and near the end you can see glances of it between swinging arms.  Making this on the other hand was very easy. 

Cut the shapes out of cardboard for the base, than using foam and paint to add the details.

As for the handle you'll need to use something sturdy or else the shield will just flip flop around. I picked up a $2 dresser handle from the hardware section.  Using hot glue I attached it to the cardboard.  Tip:  I put the screws into the handle for two reasons 1) to extend the handle from the back of the shield for more room for the fingers.  2) the grooves in the screw will help grip the hot glue instead of the slick metal that will easy come off after some use.

GunBlade

Embellishment made out of foam and paint.

I used styrofoam for the blade because it's light, keeps its shape well, and easy to cut (if you know the tricks). Starting with a sketch on the foam. 

Using a Foam Cutter I cut out the shape. 

Tomorrow I will be doing a product review on foam cutters and a tutorial on how to make a foam cutting table (think band saw table).

Vola!, you can do so much details using a foam cutter, it cuts like butter (not kidding).  It gives smoother surfaces. 

Warning:  Do not use spray paint on your foam, it will melt it.  ~cries~ I had to start over because of this.  There are suppose to be specialized spray paint for foam, but I'm sticking to acrylic craft paint from now on.

Instead of adding the details with paint I rather use foam.  The colour looks nicer than the paint on the foam, you can cut out the details very well with a box cutter, and the thickness gives depth to the piece.

Another lesson to learn.  I avoided using hot glue to attach the handle because hot glue would melt the foam.  Well E-6000 melts it even more!  ~cries~ more ruined pieces.  In the end I found that packing tape was extremely durable and as long as the two joining pieces are flat; you can use pressure to keep the pieces stable with the tape.  Just make sure any segment that uses tape will have something to cover it.  Luckily this joint has an embellishment that goes right over the tape.

I tried all these different glues on my project, here's a list of the bads and goods

1) E-6000, melts foam

2) rubber cement, makes foam curl thus hard to stick together when it's curling away from one another during the drying process

3) Spray adhesive, I dunno the stuff works well on paper, but it just didn't give a strong hold on foam

4) white glue,  . . . .i dont know why it's in the picture I didn't even use it

5) packing tape.  great for securing pieces togehter IF visual appeal wasn't not a high priority.

~sigh~ this project really killed me. 

Oh well I came out with a real cool looking GunBlade.  I might have left out a ton of details on the handle, but I rather continue focusing on working on other pieces from here.

Don't forget to stay tuned for the Foam Cutter Tips and Tricks and How to make a Foam Cutting Table

Cosplay Progress - Final Fantasy XIII-2 Lightning Sleeves 0.5

Time to make the gloves and arm amour.  Ok for warning, this pieces isn't as accurate as the original but I didn't discover a lot of my flaws until I was complete.  sorry didn't feel like going back to fix it

So let’s start with a pair of long black gloves purchased at a costume store (no I am not sewing my own gloves, I’ve tried it and will avoid it if possible).  These spikes on the back of her hand are inspired by the original Lightning costume. 

So I made them like I had for a previous Lightning outfit.  <insert mistake face> Although inspired they aren’t completely the same, which was my mistake.  The gold spikes have been moved on top her knuckles now and should be 4 of them.  Eh whatever.

Anyways I made these out of foam and am attacking them with safety pins.  The picture shows double sided tape, but that ended up being a not as useful with the material of my gloves.

So I replicated what I see on the backside of the armor with foam, nothing special.

Keep in mind that the left arm and the right arm don't look the same.  I had to do some adjustments since I didn't realize this until I was done.

The armor attachment should probably be made out of leather of vinyl, but I made it out of foam (because it was sitting there in front of me and I didn’t feel like going out and spending more money on vinyl).  I made the pattern as I saw on her pictures.  But while wearing it, it would shift because it is slippery and large (due to it having to be able to fit around my wrist). 

So I made Bumpers!  LOL This is the weirdest idea used for this cosplay.  Surprisingly works very well, doesn’t shift because it’s pressed up against your skin.  Because the bumpers are malleable it conforms to your shape, yet soft and comfortable.  

Cosplay Progress - Final Fantasy XIII-2 Lightning Armour 0.4

Because these tutorial is already so long I’m skipping the details of obvious steps.

Painting with two colours of metallic grey will give it depth.  Just layer it on top of each other.

I made the basic shape of the front my guessing.  Added the gold embellishments

The collar.  I thought this was going to be hard, to by surprise it’s much easier than real sewing.  I started with a single sheet of foam and cut an ovalish shape out of the center.  Here I’m testing it’s fit.  Similar to a pencil skirt, don’t make the hole as big as you will assume you will need.  Because the material is malleable you can wiggle your way in.  A smaller hole will make it look more fitted.

Started to attach my front and back pieces to my collar base (which will later be painted).  I also made a neck collar which I wrapped around the opening.

I forgot to mention, those studs are just scrapbooking pearls.  I used all weird wild colours, but one spray paint makes them look like rivets.   BoYa!

 Time to attach the shoulder pads.  I use more foam to anchor the armor and the shoulder pads together.  It’s strong enough that it won’t fall apart, soft enough that the ‘heavier’ piece will weigh it down lay and move naturally with your shoulders. 

Ok now to attach this bottom piece (I don’t know what to call these random sections).  When you look at Lightning’s outfit closely you can see that these bars are actually separate pieces.   I wanted to keep that look so I used hot glue (solid and clear) to give structure to it on the backside.  Also notice that (in the picture below) that the foam I used was a lot thicker, also for structural integrity.

Here’s the finished piece.  The red pieces won’t be noticeable because those will be facing my skin.  Although I will need to go through the edges with a silver pen because it’s still weird to have random colours outlining your outfit like a cartoon character (which even Lightning is not).