Eorzea's Next Top Model Cycle 4 - Round 2

[Tyriont]

Alright everyone, it's time to get the contest going properly now! Due to three dropouts in the first round, we won't have QUITE the bloodbath I anticipated. But this round, we will be losing THREE models! Then losing two more per round until we reach the final three. So, let the voting commence!

The theme this week was the return of the most popular round from Cycle 3, the cosplay round! One of the major additions to A Realm Reborn was the glamour system, something that has been hugely popular and saved me from having to tank dressed as a giant tin can. So, in celebration of that I brought back the cosplay round for a second go!

Voting is the same as before: please arrange the models in the order you liked them the most!

I do want to address something - I know it's hard to put someone in last place. But I promise you, getting no votes hurts just as badly, if not worse! Trust me, I know all too well how hard it is - my Cycle 3 judges HATED having to assign a 1 score every week! At least this way it's extremely unlikely someone will get no votes whatsoever and I doubt -everyone- will place the same person last, so at least people can go "Well, x y and z liked me!"

Anyway, on with the round! The shots are below and this week, HAVE been randomized (through use of the shuffle function in the lodash library, if anyone was curious).

LET THE VOTING COMMENCE!

ENTM Cycle 4 Round 2 - Cosplay!

[Terrini]

First off, I have to say voter familiarity with the source material will make or break some of these cosplays... These shots humble me and I greatly fear for my chances in the youtube cycle because of them... I'm taking into account both image composition AND connections to the source material. I'm going to offer some commentary because I really want to look into these to offer a FAIR assessment and not just a fan assessment... Overall I will say my key factor is: Did I feel a connection to who that character should be? But I really would love to tie up a lot of you >_<


#1 Brun Hilda I love Breath of Fire III... Even though I could never beat it because my disc was damaged *shakes fist at Playstation* Everything about this shot just seems to scream "Teepo" to me. The composition is great, and I love the positioning of your enemies and the battle ready effect. The fact that Teepo's colors are Purple and everything around you is green is a lovely contrast as well.
#2 Nozomi Kei I am not familiar with the FF7 spinoffs, but the pose and background and color is pretty epic on it's own. For this picture, the lighting and the foggyness make that background awesome and your colors really stand out... a quick google makes the pose and everything seem to work well and the lighting suits a quick search. I just feel awed by this picture, and have a really good sense of this character from this shot.
#3 Sunny Day The outfit is perfect and I love the spell effect you used. It really seems to make the setting seem like the World, it even has a bit of design that seems pixelated and it does seem otherworldly. Your framing is wonderful! And the choice of Ul'Dah seems very fitting. I think the colors and image composition are perfect, I really can't complain about a thing.
#4 Tinsley Tru'hart Everything about this picture is awesome. You really nailed your character and concept and the setting is perfect. This picture was designed to perfection right down to the last color. A part of me does want a little more expression from you... even just a little smile or something... your expression could go either way in being gently amused or I'm going to kill that rat...
#5 Katarh Mest I actually love this outfit and matching with the minion xD It's really well done and I like your scenery, with the cat and the fish. It's well co-ordinated.
#6 Aeon Rakshasa The outfit is great, the effect and expression are great, the background requires a little imagination though... I would guess it's an elegy for Anna and the love they shared, so that would explain the chapel and the rain.
#7 Alexion Skylark I love that you have your own Cersei. The look is just spot on for Jaime and I even like the cloudy sky setting the mood. Composition wise it's good and well thought out, but I feel it could have had a stronger background...
#8 Hopelle Losstoam The effect on this is gorgeous! The water rising around you and the outfit and aesthetition choices make it clear who you are! I'm not sure that dawn/dusk is the sky coloring I would have picked, though.
#9 Stephen Fairbrook Oh man, this is just hilarious! I love this as much as I loved the Lala Yda with the Papalymo minion (I think that was a rejected concept from Iris in a previous cycle). Unbelievably cute, and at the scene of one of their cases no less. There's a lot of negative space in the picture with that big uncluttered sky which turns me off a little on the image composition, but I think getting all those little nightmares in was worth the perspective.
#10 Epsil Ion Gorgeous lighting as always Epsil, I think your outfit choice is great, the entire image is gorgeous, but I don't really feel like it takes me back into Tactics instead of Eorzea.
#11 Arrelaine Fashonti Oh great, did someone else find out that she has a part time job at a maid cafe? Really cute, and being a Miqo'te can even just be considered a gimmick of the cosplay. I do wish you were closer to the action in the background because there are these interesting things going on back there and this vast empty space right up front next to you... it doesn't really come across as a cozy cafe when you have all this empty floor space.
#12 Kaya Solimar I think this is really cute! Your chosen colors work well, but the centered aspect to the picture doesn't add anything... the lighting at the time of day is perfect for the character and source material I think, but I find myself wishing for something more to tie it together... being able to see the moon or having something else to tie it all to the source material...

[Eldaena]

I tried to vote based off of 3 things. 1. If I recognize the cosplay at first sight. (Even if I don't know the source material necessarily, I'll usually recognize things to some extent.) 2. Accuracy of the character (Gear, Appearance, Environment) 3. Overall picture composition.

1.Sunny Day
2.Tinsley Tr'uhart
3.Epsil Ion
4.Stephen Fairbrook
5.Hopelle Losstoam
6.Brun Hilda
7.Nozomi Kei
8.Aeon Rashasa
9.Alexion Skylark
10.Kaya Solimar
11.Katarh Mest
12.Arrelaine Fashonti

[Oce]

Tinsley Tr'uhart // Gosh, I hate assigning first to the same person twice in a row, but this is my favourite shot of the bunch again. The mouse, angle, and cosplay are all perfect. I almost would have gone with a different hairstyle, since she doesn't actually have her hair tied BACK but that's really just nitpicking the details. Great shot again!
Sunny Day // Recognizeable! Good job! I haven't even played .Hack and I could see who it was when I clicked past. Great background, as well, what even is that? Ul'Dah with some effect? Lovely! It definitely screams .Hack to me.
Hopelle Losstoam // A good concept and a recognizable character! (also one of my favourite sailor scouts hehe) The water was a great choice, but I'm not sure about the time of day. A little bit earlier, when the sun is a bright orange and the sunbeams are coming out, would have been nicer I think.
Bruhn Hilda // I'm not all that familiar with BoF3 but after looking the character up, I had to put you higher. The composition is great, and the cosplay is on point. I like the effect you used, but I feel like if you were going to use something that obscured your face like that you would have benefited from zooming in a bit more (though, that would have ruined the composition, so there's that!). Good cosplay though, and the little fence in the background works great to mimic the sort of isometric feel of the BoF games somehow.
Aeon Rakshasa // A great job with what you had! Again, I'm just not sure on the time of day. Could you imagine if you had gotten "tension" as a weather pattern for this shot, given FFIV? Waaah~ As is though, really great and a good use of the bardsong effect!
Nozomi Kei // I'm personally not against back shots, but I feel like, for this round and for this particular cosplay, a more 3/4 view, maybe looking over your shoulder towards the sunset, would have been better. As it stands, the only part of the cosplay we can see is the back of your jacket and one glove, and I feel that makes it look cheap. That said, I love the background you chose, and the shot does have a good feeling of Genesis, so I'm gonna put you somewhere in the middle.
Alexion Skylark // I like it, I haven't read the books but you do look like a nice mix of the art I've seen of the Jaime from the books and the costume design of the Jaime from the show. and I like that you got a friend to come be your sisterlover. The composition, though, is lacking I think.
Stephen Fairbrook // I love your shot and I love the use of minions, the cosplay is spot on, but I feel like cosplaying a character from the game is a bit too "easy" since he's designed with items that are already in the game :< The shot itself is lovely, though.
Epsil Ion // Ramzaaa~ I really wanted to score you higher, I did, I adore Ramza and I've tried to put together a cosplay of him myself, but I feel like there were things that could have been done so much better here. If you were going for early ramza, you would have benefited from a pony-tail and black pants. If you were going for squire ramza, the Odin chest (or even a black chest-piece in general) and silver sabatons would have looked so much better. The location is nice, but the cosplay itself isn't as recognizable as it could have been ;_; sorry.
Katarh Mest // Cosplaying as a minion seems a bit tricky, and I'm just not sure how I feel about this. On one hand you manage to hit the colours decently enough, you're recognizable next to the fat cat minion itself, but I don't feel like you'd be recognizable without it.
Arrelaine Fashonti // Cosplaying as someone dressed up as a maid seems a bit off, but I can't fault you too terribly. The location is nice, the pose is nice, but the shot itself seems really bland. Better lighting, a better angle, maybe even from below so you've got that frightened look to your eyes with the whites showing?
Kaya Solimar // I'm so sorry, I'm just not feeling this cosplay or shot. These last few have been really hard to place but I had to double check google a few times for yours. I like your background, and your pose, but a centered front-on view just isn't doing it for me. I feel like, if you had taken it from above, it would have helped a lot to give that "short" feel for chibi moon. So sorry ;_;

For people having trouble scoring everyone, I usually just go from top down. I do one I love the most and then I find another I love the most of the remaining. In no time flat, I'm at the end with only one picture remaining.

I scored mine based on how recognizable, unique, and accurate the cosplay was, with extra attention paid to how the overall screenshot looked. To me, the cosplay was a theme, but it's still a screenshot contest.

[AskaRay]

Thanks everyone
I do read all feedback even if I don't post. I really appreciate it!

Could you imagine if you had gotten "tension" as a weather pattern for this shot, given FFIV?

I wish I could just summon tension. Or if there was like, a Tension Weather Day.

[Psychosamm]

being able to see the moon

I tried doing this, but for some reason everywhere i went the moon was directly above my character, so i couldn't get it in the shot without having a serious panty view. Oh well :P

[boredomisboring]

First and foremost: terrific job, each and every one of you. This was really tough for me. If this is any indicator, I think we're all in for a brilliant competition. For those of you on the bottom, don't feel badly--you're all wonderful and the competition is fierce. My ranking, this time, is as follows:

1. Tinsley Tr'uhart
2. Sunny Day
3. Brun Hilda
4. Hopelle Losstoam
5. Alexion Skylark
6. Aeon Rakshasa
7. Stephen Fairbrook
8. Katarh Mest
9. Nozomi Kei
10. Epsil Ion
11. Arrelaine Fashonti
12. Kaya Solimar

[AlexionSkylark]

For this round, I really wanted to send a big big BIG "thank you" to my IRL Girlfriend (and soon-to-be in-game bride), the beautiful Bellatrix Skylark who played Cersei in my shot, accompaning me in the personal hell it was to position everything in the scene You're the best, hun. You really are <3 Love you deeply.

Also, a big hug to the "Envoys of Valhalla" FC on Behemoth, who endured 19 runs of T1 and T4 to farm the armor pieces for the cosplay. I couldn't ask for better friends in this game. Kudos to you all

As for the feedbacks, yeah. Choosing a setting was the biggest challenge here. I did some shots in Ul'Dah that came out nice, but I feared it lacked contrast (the main negative feedback I got from last round) so I looked for a more colorful place. But there's still room to improve... Promise to do better next round, if I'm still around

[Sunyku]

Suppose I should comment as well then -

Gotta throw out a huge thank you to my great friend Mini Ninja for helping me with lighting and angles, and to my boyfriend Ranulf Squires for being our Sacred Soil mule and putting up with this flappy, over-thinking cat. I'm really impressed with all the other entries (and also incredibly intimidated by them). I knew I was going up against some really talented people but wow. /tugscollar This round was really difficult for me to decide on a subject and I spent longer than I want to admit trying different locations and variations of the outfit.

Also, I just want to thank everyone in advance for voting at all. I think I can speak for all of us involved when I say it really means a lot to have your support and hear your opinions about our shots. This is a really fun and I'm enjoying getting to participate. Hopefully if I make it past this round I'll be able to move on and really impress you all. ^^b

[Ganglyzilla]

I reeeealllllly liked them all T.T Here goes:
1. Stephen Fairbrook
2. Sunny Day
3. Epsil Ion
4. Tinsley Tr'uhart
5. Hopelle Losstoam
6. Nozomi Kei
7. Brun Hilda
8. Aeon Rakshasa
9. Katarh Mest
10. Arrelaine Fashonti
11. Alexion Skylark
12. Kaya Solimar