2015-07-24 - Photoshoot!

Leah had called. Set up the appointment. Prayed that Kara was free, because you know she's likely to get called away at any moment. And she got the photographer, got her costumes, and showed up at the shoot location. Now, she's in a dressing robe and sitting with a guy in an office waiting, and chatting with him about lighting and learning from the pros.

"I get that the latex might be an issue. I usually work in simpler fabrics, but if you need me to change I also brought Rogue." She seems a bit worried, her hands shaking, but she's smiling. It's excitement.

"No, that's fine. I have filters for that and photoshop fixes nearly all sins after the fact." He seems a decent guy, mid-thirties and dressed casual. "I do need to get us started soon though. The outside lighting isn't controllable. Thinks she'll show?" He sips his tea, glancing at the door. Supergirl should be here soon, they're both hoping for her arrival.

Kara Zor-El knocks on the window curiously, floating outside of the photoshoot location. "Leah?" she says, opening the window a bit. "You told me to come in my costume, right? Sorry it took so long. There was this explorator sub that got stuck in the Mariana Trench and this giant monster thing that attacked and you know..." she asks as she flies in and lands lightly. She looks over at the photographer. "Hey..."

Leah says, "This is Ejen Chuang," with a bit of a lilt to her voice. She coughs, then indicates the photographer who nods politely. The fact that this is not the first floor window that Kara's at made him jump a bit, though Leah's kind of used to it.

"You're right on time, Supergirl," Ejen says as he rises from his seat. "If you could come in, we'll go to the shoot location and get on makeup." He frowns, then says, "Or...we could meet you down there?" as he tries to figure a polite way to tell her to come in through the window.

Leah grins, thumbing at the door. "No harm no foul, Kara. We're going to shoot in a metal shop!"

Kara Zor-El tilts her head. "Oh um... sure! Okay. Nice to meet you Mr. Chuang? And... Whichever is okay with me. Where's this metal shop anyway?"

The photographer indicates the way to go, and he and Leah meet Kara down there. Which is out back of the office building. It's a shop for welding and working metal, lots of equipment and dark corners. Very steampunkish. The concrete floor and metal walls give it a very 'hard' feeling. There's also a small place where a girl waits with a big supply of makeup. Led that way first, Ejen lets the makeup girl work while he adjusts the lighting.

Leah says, "You made it, you totally made it. Love you so much, Kara." She's almost emitting emoticons of smileyfaces here. Except she's watching the girl work on Kara's face. "Bet you didn't expect to be needing makeup though."

Kara Zor-El seems unused to getting the makeup put on her. Mainly because she rarely uses anything beyond maybe a little lipstick, sometimes nail polish, and occasionally eyeliner. Part of the Kryptonian genetics is having pretty perfect skin. Kara's makeup drawer is pretty sparse at home. "Yeah ... sort of a new thing for me." she says. "So... what sort of costume are you going to be wearing for this?" she asks. She didnt bother using X-ray vision.

The makeup girl says, "This is mostly to keep your skin from reflecting light, Miss Supergirl," as she applies cover to her cheeks and forehead. "You have wonderful skin."

Leah smiles, taking her turn when the girl is done. She didn't really need to do much for Kara's face. "Oh, I ...hang on hon. I gotta show this off proper." She stands up a moment, then opens the robe. Underneath she's got on a shiny black latex swimsuit with a golden lightning bolt, a red sash around her waist, and black latex gloves. "Ms Marvel."

She hands the makeup girl her mask so she knows what to work around, as the photographer makes an adjustment in the background, then calls out. "When you have a moment Supergirl?"

Kara Zor-El smiles at the makeup girl. "Thanks. And you can call me Kara." After the makeup is done, Kara looks over at Leah again. "Hey! I think I met her once. She's in the Avengers."

Kara then heads over to the photographer with Leah. "So um... what do I do? Usually when I'm getting photographed, I'm not exactly paying attention to the people snapping the pictures becuase there's usually ... well...stuff happening." Leah sits back down to let the makeup girl tsk over her pores and get back to work. "Be right behind you!"

Ejen smiles, then says, "It would help if I knew how much rigging you'll need. I also need to tell you the things I've been covering with Leah, assuming you're new at this. Is this your first cosplay shoot?" He indicates some ropes and harnesses that are hanging from the ceiling that seem a bit out of place here.

Kara Zor-El looks utterly bewildered, then looks at Leah, then looks back at Ejen. Then up at the harnesses and ropes, then back at Ejen. "I don't understand what you mean..." She pauses and thinks. "Yeah, I'm definitely new to this."

Leah's still going to be a moment, apparently. Ejen nods, then says, "I probably shouldn't have scheduled action shots for two beginners, but you're both pretty tough cookies I hear." He nods again, thoughtfully, and indicates the ropes by fingering them and pulling them down on their pulleys.

"Both your characters can fly. I figured we set you two against each other in the photographs, tell a bit of a story instead of just static shots. So I needed to be able to position you both in the air the way I want you. Tell me now if you have a problem with any of this, and you can stop me at any point if you feel uncomfortable."

"The rigging is to let you both not only fly, but hold very still in exactly the same position for as long as it takes without tiring you out. Unless you can...well, hover. In really awkward positions." He doesn't seem to be kidding, OR making a sexual innuendo.

Kara Zor-El nods a little slowly. "I can just stay in place. That shouldnt be a problem." She looks at Leah again with confusion. She really thought taking pictures was just... taking pictures. "I don't really get tired out, though. I mean not since I came to this planet, at least." She then puts a finger to her chin. "Although there wa this time where I was lifting a building on this high gravity planet and honestly it felt like they must have made their building material out of some sort of weird ultra-dense dark matter because that did tire me out a little. But I'm pretty sure we arent doing that for a photoshoot." She then pauses, looking unsure. "Right?"

"Dang well hope not for my sake!" Leah calls over, still well within earshot. The makeup girl laughs a bit, then tells her to hold still for the eye work. Mask on now, they're doing detail work.

"Heh. No, no actual lifting today. Unless we get creative and have you smash a car over Ms Marvel's head. Which would just be a shot of you holding the car looking like you're going to do something with it. No actual smashing, it's all about what you want to make the viewer think is going to happen. Speaking of which.."

The photographer slaps his knees, then stands up straight and says, "I'd like to get an intro shot of you on your own first. We're setting Ms Marvel as kind of the villain here, so we want a shot of Supergirl entering the scene. Can I get you over here, at the entrance? I'll be on camera, we'll get you entering a few times, maybe try some different emotions." He picks up his camera and removes the lens.

Kara Zor-El rubs her head a little. "Is Carol ... I mean is Miss Marvel okay with that?" she asks. She only met Carol Danvers once, but she seemed like a nice woman. Then again, Kara had already fought other heroes like She-Hulk twice, Iron Man once, Wonder Woman twice, Power Girl twice, Superboy once, the entire Justice League once, and her own cousin like... three times at least. So.... not like it wouldnt be unheard of, right Kara?

And whoops on the name slip. At least Ms Marvel's alternate identity was public knowledge. Kara walks over to where the photographer directs her, then says, pointing to Leah, "You know she's not actually Ms. Marvel right? I wouldnt smash a car on Leah's head." she says as she walks over to the entrance.

Ejen starts snapping shots. "Turn your head more toward the light, always keep the light in your view or I can't see your face in the shot. Nobody's actually going to get hit with anything, Kara. Relax your shoulders. Okay, turn and come in again. This time eyes forward, don't look at me. Shorter steps, keep ...that's good. And again."

Leah gets freed to join the group finally, as the photographer has Kara try entering the metal shop with the door slightly open, trying for different types of lighting. She says, "I wouldn't want to hurt Ms Marvel's reputation. I think we're just going to have me being a bit more aggressive, that's all. Right Ejen?" The rigging guy comes over and starts putting harnesses on Leah, getting her ready for her first shot as she's strapped and set up. Which does not look comfy.

Ejen says, "You're both heroes, but we need a simple, easy to understand reason for you to be at odds. The simplest is just because one of you wants to fight. The other one is protecting herself. No real villain, it was a poor choice of words. Set Leah up at about two feet off the ground, Rudy. We're done on this shot, thanks Kara."

Kara Zor-El takes direction on the poses fairly well, and it does help that she's one of those superheroes that seems to be naturally photogenic, though she does seem to relax more when the talk about Ms. Marvel being 'the villain' is nixed. "Oh okay... yeah I find up accidentally fighting other superheroes more often than I'd like to admit. Usually it doesnt get too far before we realize the mistake. Like this one time..." she says as she takes another pose that Ejen tells her to take, "the first time I met She-Hulk was when she punched me in the face, and I sort of wound up punching her through two buildings. She thought I was a ghost and I thought she was some sort of robot. Long confusing story..."

Leah is strung up and the pulleys are used to lift her a bit off the ground, as the photographer stops shooting Kara. He's got the shots, apparently, and the lighting is changing as the sun moves in the sky. "We have to be fairly brisk about our tries at this," he explains. "The sun is a big factor, and in a set like this it moves surprisingly fast." He gives Kara a grin, then turns immediately to Leah.

"These shots, with humans, we also have to rush. Because you can lose circulation and do real damage to your model. Lift her up, Rudy. Leah, arms out spread and try to have your feet dangling, like you're arrogant and invincible. You want a fight."

Leah says, "I hope she doesn't hate you for it, Kara. I can see that being a bit of a harsh first impression." She spreads her arms, palms up, and tries her best to look imposing.

Kara Zor-El smiles a bit looking at Leah acting 'imposing.' Then says, "Oh... no, we're both good now. She took me out to this tattoo place, but .... you know... both of us have invulnerable skin so we got henna tattoos instead and it was pretty fun. It was a while ago though. I havent really talked to her in a while now." She then looks over at Ejen. "Should I get in the air too or stay here on the ground?"

As Leah gets her head and legs adjusted, Ejen says, "I'll get you in the foreground, Kara. Leah is going to be looking down on you as you turn and realize that she's there, hovering over you and looking menacing. So...forgive me, I'll need to touch you a bit to adjust your position."

Ejen offers a hand, to help Kara get where she's needed. Which is, assuming she lets him, actually VERY complicated. She's needed to be slightly lowered on her legs, with the feet still close together. Butt sticking out, torso turned to let the boobs stick out, and the head turned to let the light hit it so she's recognizable. And really kind of a strange way to be standing.

Leah's not much better, having to arch her back and twist her butt, and they keep telling her to lift her head and not move her eyes.

Kara Zor-El nods a little. "Um sure, that's fine?" she says. At least the guy's not skeevy or anything. When she's in the new position, she feels fortunate that she doesnt get tired from awkward positions, because this would have been really uncomfortable for most people. Honestly it was sort of uncomfortable for her as well, but at least she didnt get in pain or tired out from it. It just felt weird. "I don't think I've ever stood like this before really, Ejen." But hey - he's the photographer. He doesnt tell her how to fight nuclear-powered monster robots or alien battle soldiers or psychotic metahumans. She wouldnt tell him how to set up a photography pose.

Leah says, from her perch, "I seriously doubt I'd be flying like this, but I can tell already that this is making my boobs look a size or two bigger." She gets an evil smirk on her face for just a second, and Ejah snaps that shot with a whoop!

"Nice look, nice look!" He quickly takes a couple more, then says, "Okay, let her down. Relax, Kara. We got about fifteen good ones, I'll keep the best. You're right, though. Nobody here thinks these are realistic, but they'll look stellar. And you," he says pointing to Leah, "have a natural sense for this. So, Kara...what do we do next?"

As Leah's being lowered to the ground, Ejah grins and leans on a rack of some sort. "We've established that you two are going to fight, and Leah's probably going to attack first. What's a good starting move? I can make just about anything look good, but you've got the experience. What would she do from there to get in a nice, dramatic hit? I really want your opinions on this."

Kara Zor-El shrugs. "Um... I don't know... I mean... Ms. Marvel has superstrength, durability, um... flight, and this energy blast... thingy... Oh and I think I read in the Oracle Files 2.0 that she can absorb or redirect energy or something?" She shrugs. "I guess a punch? Maybe?" she asks unsuredly.

Leah starts to rub her chin, then gets her hand pulled away by the makeup girl who gives her a finger-waggle and a short lecture on makeup and no-touchie. Then she's quickly given a touch-up as Ejah starts setting up the next shot.

"Okay," he says, visualizing. "We'll have Ms Marvel do a flying punch into Kara, which would have her suspended again, horizontally, slight downward angle. We can have Kara look amazing as she pulls herself out of the wall next shot, there's a damaged section by the metal bin we can use for that one." He grins, starting to get everyone into position.

And again, it takes far longer to set up than it does to actually start shooting, but Kara is put in the odd position of having a MUCH weaker person be photographed hitting her hard enough to have an effect. Which totally wouldn't happen.

Kara Zor-El nods a little. "So um... I should lie against the metal bin right?" She flies over to the metal bin and leans against her. She doesnt say anything about how when She-Hulk hit her, it hurt Jennifer's hand. But she does press herself against the metal a bit to mold it to her contours to get a better adjustment of the metal as it creaks a bit. "How's this?" she asks, as she tries a good 'surprised' look.

Leah coughs as Kara bends the walls a bit, and the photographer and rigging guy and makeup girl all kind of stare. Then Ejah grins and gets into the swing of it, saying, "Can you maybe have your feet up off the ground? And stick your left arm through the wall a little more...have the wall buckle around you a bit, you can bend this back easy right? I normally can't work with actually warping reality to make the shot more awesome."

He lets the rigging guy get Leah's punch into place, and gives Leah some tips on looking vicious and mid-attack and all that. She doesn't really do 'angry' very well, but eventually she's looking quite upset indeed. As she's punching Kara through a wall.

Kara Zor-El nods a little at the photographer's direction. She puts he hand through the wall, being careful not to collapse the entire thing, and puts one of her legs up. "Oh yeah sorry. It was just more comfortable this way. I can bend it back to the way it was afterwards. Sorry...." She also takes her finger and sort of .... digs out a little bit of a hole in the brick wall like it was made of sand, and neatly rests her head partially into it. "Like this?" she asks.

"Expert mode engaged," says the photographer, and the shoot goes on.

There's a shot of Kara holding an entire giant metal boiler over Leah's head, ready to smash it down on top of her. Another shot of Leah grappling Kara from behind, in a full nelson hold (shows off her boobs). And finally a shot of Kara and Leah together grinning at the camera, obviously good friends. Just to make sure that the viewers know that it's all just a play, and the heroes are not actually enemies.

And, at the end, Ejah says, "That's a wrap, folks. Hand for the models, everyone! F*cking troopers, both of you. Get some rest, you earned it."

Kara Zor-El gives Leah a kiss on the cheek and puts her arm around her. "This was actually pretty fun. Most fun I've ever had being almost fake-beaten up by another hero."

Leah whews, taking her gloves off and looking at her hands. Which are turning red from the heat in the latex, like she's got a rash from it. "I would hope so. Do you get fake beaten up often?" She grins at Kara, leaning into her, and says, "I need a shower in the worst possible way. And parts of this outfit are into places not mentionable."

She gives Rudy the rigging guy a high five in passing, telling him that he was awesome, though she just wants to fall down. "We can talk details when the shots come in, right everyone?" Getting nods, she sighs gratefully. Done. "It...was fun. But exhausting."

Kara Zor-El smiles at Leah. "Yeah.. you... REALLY didn't look comfortable in in those poses. I sooo sympathize with you." She thinks. "Actually most of the fights I've been in are definitely not fake. And the ones where I've actually gotten beaten up are definitely not fun." She looks back at Ejah. "Thanks again!" She pauses. "One second.." Then heads over to the 'dumpster.' "Okay.. how did this look before... hmmm..." Then testingly bends the metal back into its original shape, pretty close to how it was before she 'molded it' with her body. Then looks back at Leah. "So.... if you ever gain superpowers for real, going to go with a skirt instead of a leotard or bodysuit, huh?"

Leah laughs! She turns, taking a moment to ..um...adjust...things, and as she's doing so, she makes a decision. One that'll probably never happen, but a girl's got to have priorities.

"Hon, if I ever...get powers...people are going to have to deal with pants." "PANTS!"