Eorzea's Next Top Model Cycle 4 - FINAL ROUND!

Welcome to the final round of Eorzea's Next Top Model: Cycle 4!

We've seen what I honestly feel is some of the strongest work to come out of any of these contests yet and I am honestly proud of each and every contestant who has taken part. With that said, there can only be one Top Model! And this Cycle is a first for many ways - not only do we have a male Elezen -and- a male Miqo'te in the final round for the first time ever, we also have an all-male finale! A completely new result in ENTM history!

For the final round, the models were challenged to take a shot featuring a FATE. That will be the first shot you see - for each model however, judging this time will be on their -entire- portfolio, as we've done in previous Cycles.

So, take a look over the work we've seen from Nozomi, Stephen and Sunny and please place them in ranked order!

Voting will, as always, end at 11:59pm EST on Tuesday, with our final winner being announced the next day.

Nozomi Kei

Stephen Fairbrook

Sunny Day

Best of luck, you three!

Stephen Fairbrook
Nozomi Kei
Sunny Day

I went through and ranked all of the pictures against each other and tallied up the totals. So this would be my final ranking.
1) Nozomi Kei
2) Stephen Fairbrook
3) Sunny Day

1) Sunny Day
2) Stephen Faibrook
3) Nozomi Kei

That being said, all 3 did a fantastic job! It was so hard to put them in an order...

1. Nozomi Kei
2. Stephen Fairbrook
3. Sunny Day

Hard choices. =(

I have no critiques today models! (rejoice then! LMAO... XD ) instead I just want to Carbunclegulate you all to making it to the top 3! You did, you are here! I've absolutely loved this cycle, and have enjoyed the journey you three have taken through out the weeks to get here! I've been so impressed with each of your growths and strides, your mishaps and correction of said mishaps! You all have grown so much, and all deserve praise for each of your works. So bravo! /clap /cheer /yay!

So as for my order and list, it is based on all the criteria I normally base my votes on (Framing, lighting, technical aspect, concept, etc.) and how each of your shots held up as a whole and by themselves. And this is my order:

1. Stephen Fairbrook
2. Nozomi Kei
3. Sunny Day

Again Good Luck to each of you, and I can't wait to see who is crowned Eorzea's Next Top Model!!!

It was tough because everyone did an amazing job! But here goes:

1. Sunny Day
1. Stephen Fairbrook
1. Nozomi Kei

<.<.....>.>.....<.<......I think that's fair right?

EDIT: ok ok...but it is in order lol

1. Sunny Day
2. Stephen Fairbrook
3. Nozomi Kei

1. Stephen Fairbrook
Man I'm not even a Lala fan, but his ideas and composure of his shots are just so inventive and amazing, I had to give it to him!
2. Nozomi Kei
Each piece tells a story I can engross myself in! Plus he's great at clothing coordination ;)
3. Sunny Day
I love his pieces as well! He managed some really good shots with neat looking effects and dynamic poses. Plus he's such a qt catboy~

Stephen Fairbrook
Nozomi Kei
Sunny Day

Hmm. It's so difficult to choose the top.
Can't I choose 2 for the first place?v ;w;

Anyways.
1. Nozomi Kei/Stephen
2. Sunny Day


And if I realllllllly have to choose.
Prolly Nozomi as 1
and Stephen as 2.
I really like that Nozomi's tells a story with the image.
But I also really enjoy the screenshot from Stephen. It's dynamic.
Sunny's is really neat at capturing the fight.

This has been a very short, but sweet Cycle. We have seen a lot of new faces and old. And while I am sad my prediction did not come true, you three have all done great work. You 3 finalists have shown amazing growth and each of you was placed nr 1 or 2 at least once in my critiques. Here is my appraisal of your final submissions:

1) Nozomi Kei – This is something I have come accustomed to expect in ENTM. A picture that tells a story, in this case even without the blurb. It’s framed nicely with this over the shoulder view from the Roegadyn, though – and I hate to sound like our favourite Lala – I wish you were not centered. A bit further to the right maybe, because even though you are an Elezen you feel much dwarfed. Still, this is a great picture and my favourite of the Final Round.
2) Sunny Day – This reminds me a bit of Epsil’s shot from Round 1. Some improvement in the lighting and if we could see a bit more of your face and it’d be perfect. As it is still one hell of a picture. The downside however, while it is a great action shot… I cannot make out enough to really identify anything that makes this a fate and not a simple battle shot.
3) Stephen Fairbrook - Aww. You have done great shots, but this isn’t one of them. The framing is nice enough but it’s really just you next to a Kedtrap. It feels non interactive, a very simple posing shot. Compared to Nozomi and Sunny where they have either a story or some action, this is a bit of a let-down.

Now, since I need to give a final answer based on the entire portfolio, I decided to stay true to my decisions of past rounds because that always was written after careful deliberation and I will use those as measurements. I wrote myself a list where I wrote down your rankings per round and assigned 3, 2 or 1 points depending on who placed above the other two, in the middle and last.
I got the following results after tallying up 5 rounds:
Stephen Fairbrook 11
Sunny Day 8
Nozomi Kei 11
Really close there! :o With the Final Round added, my final ranking of you is thusly:

3rd Place: Sunny Day with 10 points
2nd Place: Stephen Fairbrook with 12 points
1st Place: Nozomi Kei with 14 points

As many have commented, you three were incredibly well matched and it was a close race. You all deserve praise! You came up with great ideas and compositions and I really only chose this system to determine my winner because I would not know how to otherwise. That’s how close this call is.
Nozomi, I hope you win, you deserve it. My favourite picture in your portfolio is still the Cosplay one. The beauty in its simplicity still blows me away. I hope you choose that one as your “Winner’s Picture” to be displayed if you win. :3

Stephen.
Nozomi.
Sunny.

Congratulations to our Top 3!
You should all be very proud of yourselves.
You took out 4 past cycle models, the creator himself, and, as its been said, are the first Top 3 to be all males.

It is going to be super difficult to rank you guys...but i'll give it a shot!

3rd Place: Sunny. You are the only one in the top 3 to have scored 1st place in previous rounds, true...But looking at past rankings, you've been hit or miss. The hits were amazing, no doubt, and props for shooting up from 7th to 2nd in the Second Round. After that, you struggled in the middle before finally hitting first. Polarizing is great, and its earned you a spot in the top 3. :cool:

2nd Place: Stephen. This is the hardest choice. You and Nozomi both have grown so much! But you stumbled the greatest at the very beginning of the competition, which is why I am ranking you second. After an initial 5th place ranking, you fell 3 ranks to 8th. From then on you were Top 3 every round, and it was very much deserved! I think many of us were very shocked to see you not place first in Round 5. Your portfolio is very strong, and I wont be disappointed if you are crowned ENTM. Rankings are the name of the game though, so please accept this 2nd Place Ranking and an apology. ^^;;;;;

1st Place: Nozomi. I went back and forth on this decision for a while, but looking at your history through the cycle, I think you are most deserving of Top Model. You started in 8th, then rose to 5th, and finished out the rest of the cycle in Top 3. That is some MAJOR growth, and I am so proud of you! You fell just one rank, from second to third, in Round 5, which is why I am ranking you First. Your growth has been exciting to watch, and I would be happy to see you crowned the winner.

No matter who wins, we are all winners for simply having the guts to participate in this competition. I hope you've all made some friends this Cycle, and continue to be a part of the ENTM Community in some way.

Don't forget! The winner of this Cycle will join the ENTM Youtube Edition Opening Sequence starting in Episode 2. :cool:

And to make things easier on Tyriont:
1. Nozomi
2. Stephen
3. Sunny

/Gulp. /Deepbreath...

1. Stephen
2. Nozomi
3. Sunny

You're all winners in my eyes! <333

I love all of you. Just the bare bones voting this time, taking into account the entire portfolios. Gorgeous work as always. :>

Stephen Fairbrook
Sunny Day
Nozomi Kei

Will not stay on page 3!
~Bump~

Omg page 3 again!
What? No more votes for the final round?!

C'mon! These beautiful people need to be seen! ^^

It's already the end?! It came so fast :O Congratulations to the remaining models for making it into the top three!

1. Nozomi Kei
2. Stephen Fairbrook
3. Sunny Day

1. Stephen Fairbrook
2. Nozomi Kei
3. Sunny Day

Good luck!

1. Sunny Day
2. Nozomi Kei
3. Stephen Fairbrook

1. Sunny Day
2. Nozomi Kei
3. Stephen Fairbrook
I tried to base it on the entire season, instead of just this shoot. Best of luck, everyone :)

1. Nozomi
2. Stephen
3. Sunny

Now that YT2 has started off the Finals should not be drowned out!
*bumpity bump!*

1. Nozomi
2. Stephen
3. Sunny

Way to end this with a bang! Each and every one of you is a screenshotting delight and this is how I feel about this epic finale:

http://i.imgur.com/puOa2sH.gif

As far as voting goes:

1. Stephen Fairbrook: Your compositions are positively enchanting. I love the color, the close-ups, lighting and angles that really make your character shots look they each belong on a movie poster.
2. Sunny Day: So much dramatic lighting in your portfolio! Smart use of spell effects combined with contrasting dark and light scenes make all your shots a scrumptious visual treat.
3. Nozomi Kei: You sir have Eorzean fashion down to an art. Each costume blends seamlessly into your shots to create fantastical stories that it’s hard to get enough of.


I debated not voting this round as all the way up to pressing that post button, I was going back and forth on which contestant to choose. All three of you are talented and gorgeous and have improved the visual landscape of these forums immensely with your creativity.

1. Nozomi Kei
2. Stephen Fairbrook
3. Sunny Day

So difficult to choose D:

1. Sunny Day
2. Stephen Fairbrook
3. Nozomi Kei

; w ; All the pics were so good though.

1) Sunny Day
2) Stephen Fairbrook
3) Nozomi Kei

1. Sunny Day
2. Stephen Fairbrook
3. Nozomi Kei

1. Sunny Day
2. Nozomi Kei
3. Stephen Fairbrook

Good Luck To All Three Of You! <3

I wasn't going to vote cause i <3 all three of you and it's hard to put you all in order but ... here goes. you are all winners to me :)

1. Nozomi
2. Sunny
3. Stephen

Not feeling my best, so I won't do the in-depth feedback I originally wanted. However, I just can't simply post and say nothing! So, starting from last to first:

3rd place: Nozomi Kei. This hasn't been a very long Cycle, but during it I've had time to see a lot of growth in your screenshot-taking, from mostly portrait or scenic to playing with angles and perspective. I can tell you come away from this a lot richer in knowledge (and inspiration too, I hope!). You may not always have ended up at the top half in my rankings when compared to your co-contestants, but keep in mind what company you've been in! There's a definite personal style to your shots that shines through as yours. Be proud of what you've accomplished.

2nd place: Sunny Day. You've had a lot of strong shots throughout the competition - the cosplay one actually got a fangirl squee from me because it was absolutely spot on. The final round's picture is probably your weakest in my eyes, since it's lacking the crisp clarity, and vividness of colour or contrast, that you had in your previous ones. You'd still have ranked first for me if only there'd also been more visual storytelling, rather than seemingly posing for beauty-shots, in the rest of your portfolio. I think anyone who's read my feedback so far know I value such things very highly :p

1st place: Stephen Fairbrook. You started off as somewhat weak to me, though I really appreciated your humour, but then wham you delivered that shot in the Imperial round! Almost every picture you've entered has been rich in emotion, and technically you've showed growth as well. All of those things combined make you my pick for winner.

Nozomi
Sunny
Stephen

1. Nozomi (Go Nozomi, gooooo! <3)
2. Stephen
3. Sunny

Nazomi Kei
Stephen Fairbrook
Sunny Day

Nozomi Kei
Stephen Fairbrook
Sunny Day

1) Nozomi Kei
2) Stephen Fairbrook
3) Sunny Day

Stephen
Nozomi
Sunny

Judge Feedback and Rankings:

Adam's Feedback and Rankings:



Sunny Day
Final Shot:
This shot is amazing! What I like the best about this shot is the fact that the effects are prevalent, yet you still manage to take focus without the effects overpowering yourself. You can hardly see the background, but it's still there. Great work making sure there isn't much negative space! Costume, and pose are both spot on, and props to you for managing to coordinate with the NPC! However, I would have liked to see the NPC a little better. The effects drown it out! Overall, a great piece as your final shot!

Overall Portfolio:
I do have to admit; I was absolutely sure that you would make it to the final three - and here you are! Your shots have been consistently great throughout and improves on it as you went along! Though, you did have the tendancy to take shots in the dark.. Still, you have yet to fail to impress me and I'm glad you haven't. Here's wishing you good luck!


Nozomi Kei
Final Shot:
This shot is a little bland in comparison to the other two, but I think it's mostly because of how the picture was framed. The NPCs do kind of look stoic - like statues, but I have to give props to you for trying! Costume, pose, and expression are great and definitely fits what you were aiming for! Just one piece of advice; when working with NPCs, try to time their movements as well! On the plus side, this shot is great!

Overall Portfolio:
When the first round started, I kind of went off about your costume choices and your pose/expression. I do apologize for that if it came out wrong. With that out of the way, the shots you presented at the start was pretty weak. I honestly didn't think you would have gotten far at first glance! But, you proved me wrong from the then and beyond! Your shots improved drastically as the weeks went by. Personally, I am very impressed by the improvement! It is to say that you are a tough competitior and you deserved to be in the finals. Wishing you all the best with the final round!


Stephen Fairbrook
Final Shot:
This is a great action shot! The pose, expression, costume were all amazingly well-done! Your coordination with the NPC was phenomenal, plus the background and framing were wonderfully done to boot. There is some negative space to the top left, but it's just a small detail. Nonetheless, you manage to pull focus onto yourself; which is a big plus! Good job!

Overall Portfolio:
Now here's where it gets a little bit iffy for me. The shots you presented early on were a tad bit too bland and didn't pop out as much. Still, they were great shots and were well-done! There does seem to be a pattern of negative space in your shots. Even so, as you went on, you get better and better with your shots (as evident with your final shot)! You showed that you can take amazing shots, and I kind of wished you would have showed that in the previous rounds as well. So, here's the best of luck to ye!


Adeline's Feedback and Rankings:



Nozomi – You’ve been a favorite of mine this whole cycle, and tbh your shots have always stood out to me among the other contestants, considering you’re a complete newbie as well. You’ve also shown a lot of growth this whole time, and have taken many risks! Your final shot is great as well, and my favorite compared to your competitors. I love your use of npcs here, and how everything is framed. A very clean shot! Nozomi, I vote you ENTM’s top model! Join me in my ranks! :D

Sunny Day –Tbh, your first shot kind of threw me for a loop. I wasn’t impressed with it, and I felt really bad because you were also a new person. Your pictures afterward though (especially your cosplay) have been some of my favorite ever, and you’ve show a lot of growth and put a lot of personality in your pics! I found your final shot to be really cool, but weakest out of the bunch framing wise. I put your 2nd mainly because of your whole portfolio. Great job this cycle, I wish you luck in the future, and I hope to see more of you round these parts!

Stephen – Stephen, you’ve also shown so much growth, and I’m so proud that you made it this far. Your initial free style shot was among my fav, and you’ve steadily been in the top-mid tier for awhile. Your final shot is pretty neat, but I found the framing of the mob a bit odd…I think it facing your back would of worked tons in adding that feel of a mob after you. I hope to also see more of you within the community!



Flare's Feedback and Rankings:


Stephen - Overall your portfolio has wowed me the most! You've taken simple and subtle pictures and made them shine. You brought a sense of humor that some of the other pictures didn't have but kept true to your concepts. Your beastmen picture was brilliant, a great use of the area and overall awesome story telling. Your Empire shot was by far my favorite from you. Not only from that gorgeous background, but the picture as a whole told a very powerful story. Great work this whole cycle!

Sunny - Another one that wowed me! You took some risks that paid off in the end. You took some of the prettiest photos that kept me coming back for more. Your cosplay was one of the most original I have seen in the contest, while your Mor Dhona shot was so stunning to look at. Another great model who we will see great things from in the future.

Nozomi - First time in Top model history to have an all male model final. And you deserve to be here! I think you grew the most this cycle and it definitely showed! My favorite picture from you was the beastmen shot, it was one of the best for me that showed what you were capable of. While your empire shot had a really nice glamour. Here's hoping we won't see the last of you either. Good job well done!


Sakuraya's Feedback and Rankings:



I tried to be as fair about this as possible by doing it mathematically where I ranked you through the whole cycle. I did this because honestly - all three of you are amazing and I was having a hard time deciding!

All of you should be super proud - to make it this far, and to have such an awesome portfolio! All of you are winners in my book. That said -

Nozomi Kei -

It is beautiful to look back at your portfolio and see where you started, and then ended. It seemed - to me - that you took a lot of the feedback to heart and made beautiful, amazing images that you can honestly be proud of! I will be honest - at first I wasn't sure based off the initial image, but you kept proving how good you were by bring out great pieces that I really loved! Two that stand out to me the most - Cosplay, your Genesis was amazing and I still find it to be my favorite still! Also your Castrum, playing the part of the bad guy never looked so good~! As for your last image -

I don't even have to read your little dialogue to understand this. Obveiously you're standing between the Bugaal Ja and this Roe, something has happened and you're trying to make it right. The lighting is lovely, and no matter where I look something interesting is going on with this image. I'm proud of you, and this is my top image for the week - and you are my top pick for Eorzea's Next Top Model!


Stephen Fairbrook -

Right off the bat I was impressed with you. Your first shot was lovely, and I could see you knew how to play with light. It was one of my favorites and I expected awesome things from you, and you didn't let me down. You know how to tell a story with your images and that's awesome! Two that really stood out to me the most - one was your Beastmen tribe. I love everything about this picture, and it told a story without words needed. Also your Castrum shot, I love this and felt it was very well composed with little dead space. and a very clear story!

As for your final shot, I like it and I think you did a great job - the lighting is very nice and you pop in it. But I'm not sure if it really tells a story, and I feel the little blurb is needed to see what you were going for. While I don't mind the little blurb, I also feel the image should tell that story on its own. But honestly - you and Nozomi were SO CLOSE I felt bad putting either of you second. You're amazing Step!

Sunny Day -

I had a feeling you would make it far based off that first image you put out, and I'm not surprised you got to the final three. You have a lovely way of mixing yourself in with a good eye for scenery! I was impressed with some of the ideas that you came up with! Two of my favorites that stand out - Cosplay, your Kite was amazing, and how you had the effect going on in the background, making it look almost futuristic/digital was amazing! Also your Mor Dhona, sinister never looked so good - the darkness in this shot really fit the mood of what you were going for and I am a fan!

As for your final shot... The lighting looks good, and I can totally see what you were going for with making it a battle shot; but the effects really cover everything up. Also I wish that you were turned more towards the camera so we could see your face more. If the effects had been there, but you were popping and in full view it could have been amazing. But even though I put you in third, please know that your photos are great and you deserve to be here in the final three!


Congrats to call three of you - and no matter who wins, all if you serve it and you have made this cycle amazing!!

_______________________________________

FINAL SCORES:

300 Nozomi Kei
255 Sunny Day
249 Stephen Fairbrook