Posing – Be prepared

We all enjoy the characters we Cosplay and roleplaying as someone else. The emphasis on being your character and knowing the character needs to start with the Cosplayer. (This is more Single person shoot, but all this applies to Duo/Groups as well)

In some cases, you have been building/dreaming of the character for the last year. So you should be able to have at least 3 poses in mind, especially for the convention floor as you walk around. If it’s for a photo shoot, I would suggest having at least 5-8 starting poses. Of course, you can always communicate your ideas with the photographer (me) and/or the support team ( Makeup, hair, Stylist, etc…). On the Con-Floor, I may not be able to recognise the character, even though I have Geek-Cred as a skill, it’s only at 45% with a skill emphasis on Retro cartoons and toys. But if you can give a few-word summary such as (Heroic Stoic Superhero, Half-Elven Wounded Bard, Rookie Mecha Pilot, or Powerful Singer Idol) it would help to get some poses together quickly.

During a Photoshoot, pre-vis with a storyboard and/or mood board is very helpful. But do talk about why you have chosen the images for the mood board. If you choose the mood image cos “of the colour treatment” but I see it as a posing guide then there’s a disconnect.

Things you can talk about are the Poses, the Colour, the Lighting, the Movement, the Draping, the Retouch, The Building, the Background, the Wind, and the Sun. This can also be a conversation to discuss the mood board and what we can achieve. in a storyboard, images do not need to be work-of-art, just simple poses with a few words. This helps when we’ve shot the 3 poses you usually do on the Con-Floor, we can take these as inspiration to create more poses, rather than thinking of something on the spot to grab the phone in the middle of the photoshoot.

Do not beholden to your starting poses

Important to note these are your starting poses. Be ready to adapt and change as you work through your photoshoot. Also, have your starting poses be different enough so they spark off other poses. Take reference from your research when you build your cosplay. You may be able to use some of these as your starting pose.

Here’s a list of possible starting points for your research:
– Comic book panels, splash pages
– Statues, minis and models
– Movie posters and still frames
– Fashion magazine and webpages
– Dance and Martial Arts stances and moves
– Computer, tabletop games
– CCG cards, specifically case/rare cards

Possible starting poses:
– Idol stage Opening
– Ready-Fighter Stance
– Using a Prop
– Do you cast a spell