Callidus

Greetings friends. I haven’t had much time to post recently on account of not wanting to pull myself away from work on the new video manip that is in-progress at the moment. I don’t want to tease too much, too soon, so I’ll refrain from saying more; other than I’m very pleased with how it’s turning out.

For tonight though, I was just browsing through a large dump-folder of potential manip material and clearing out some unneeded pic sets when I came across a small series I’d forgotten I had. The lovely brunette in the above pic is Sophie Howard, who did a delicious photo series for Bizarre magazine a few years ago that focused on hypnosis as a sexual fetish. thrall has one of the images in the sidebar of her blog that you can check out if the idea of a topless Ms Howard wielding a pocket watch appeals to you at all (and if it doesn’t you must surely be lost on this site).

The reason I saved this image originally and that I’m studying it a little tonight, is the unique combination of Sophie’s pose, the glass window she’s pressed up against, and her reflection in said glass. When I saw this pic, I immediately landed on the idea of someone she cares about on the other side of the glass…being brainwashed. Ms Howard is helpless to do anything but watch as her friend is totally reshaped into a mindless drone.

Well, maybe not helpless to do anything. As is often the case, I’m forced to use the raw material I have and find a way to incorporate it into the story. The fact that she’s managed to get her top unbuttoned will have to be explained by how terribly turned on she’s getting watching her friend’s enslavement. I also have another pic from the series with her head tilted forward slightly, eyes staring intently ahead. I think that will give a more pronounced ‘lustful’ expression once I layer it in.

Of course, doing any sort of composting where reflections are involved is a bit tricky; but I’m sure I’ll manage that. What I’m more concerned about is that I’m planning on replacing pretty much everything else in the picture. The scenario I have in mind takes place in a laboratory or similar setting and for that, I’m going to have to replace almost every part of the background. Fortunately, the lighting is soft and relatively even so I think the image will pass for “indoors” without much difficulty.

I’ll keep the white framing on either side of the window and Ms Howard (and her reflection) but everything else must go. Behind her, I think I’ve got just enough space to show off a little equipment to help set the scene. I will have to get rid of the reflected trees…again tricky.

The real work though will happen in the foreground, frame-left. That pane of glass reflecting the table and chairs is prime real estate and will be the audience’s window into the actual brainwashing chamber where the hotness is occurring. Of course, that means I have to find some imagery to create the chamber, to say nothing of the mind-bending equipment or woman its being employed against.

It will take time to find all the assets I need in the sizes and perspectives required by the image. The last time I had to find images to match an existing picture it turned into quite the odyssey, hopefully this will be a more relaxed job owing to the more forgiving angle of this image.

Whatever, I end up doing will have to wait a bit as I’m currently engaged on two very ambitious projects, have a commitment to work with thrall on a couple things, have several requests in the queue, etc, etc. Maybe between now and then, I’ll happen across just the right images to go along with this one.

Anyway, this entry is another attempt to keep myself writing between new material and to talk a little about my process as I do get mail from time to time where people ask me about how I approach things. I hope you enjoyed it and do keep checking back for further updates.