New World Notes: Ophelia's Gaze: Being Lady Hamlet

Friday, May 25, 2007

Ophelia's Gaze: Being Lady Hamlet

Exclusive to NWN, Iris Ophelia's ongoing showcase of all things stylish in SL

Idle pixels are the Devil's playground, and with the second issue of CO•MA waiting for a final contribution, I had a creative itch to scratch. It's hard to be an English student like myself without being familiar with Hamlet, and while it's not my favourite play by the Bard, it has a lot of images that made a great impression on me. My last name is no coincidence, after all. Neither is Mr. Au's first name, so who better to share it with? Since the play's been done to death, I decided to switch up the genders and the costumes to make it a little more interesting (including neko Ophelia and Laertes).

More glimpses of our gender-bent version of Hamlet to gaze upon after the cut.

"In the same figure, like the king that's dead." from Act 1 Scene 1.

Haver Cole (above) is someone who really puts her all into a project, even if it's not her own. Landlord, shape designer, developer, and Lacoste model, I asked her to be my Ghost (Hamlet's dead father) and admittedly gave her pretty vague directions. She showed up with brilliantly unconventional armour, a fantastically morbid combination of a Gala Halloween skin and pink-eye infected peepers from Celestial Studios, and a sinister syringe stuck in her arm (full of poison most foul, no doubt.)

Haver looked so perfect I didn't have to do much once I took the picture. I fiddled with colour balance and luminosity, then when to town with the Dodge tool in Photoshop to add a little more shimmer and shine. I also smudged the corners of her mouth down for a more disapproving trout-pout.

"Call me what instrument you will, though you can fret me, yet you cannot play upon me." from Act 3, Scene 2.

Moppie Kipling and Devo Whippet are neighbours of mine in Imogen, and are usually both recognizable for their blonde hair and gutterglamourous style. A perfect casting for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two of my favourite characters. "Dress similar, but not the same" was what I directed them to do. For this shot I once again tampered a little with colour and luminosity (as one of the themes I was pursuing with these shots is light versus dark), and added a darkened park fading up from the bottom to contrast the brilliance of the spotlights on the stage. This was shot in a club in Shimokitazawa, and the location completely makes the picture.

"Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know not how oft." from Act 5, Scene 1.

I took several shots solo, handling the famous image associated with this play; Hamlet and the skull of Yorick the clown. This skull was made by Siyu Suen, a friend who never ceases to amaze me with her stunning primwork for her shop, Illusions, which specializes in hats, veils, accessories, and masks that are beyond compare. But enough shameless plugging... More heavy, hazy luminosity increases with this shot. I also used the Nikon Color Efex filter "Monday Morning Violet" to add a little more pink and a little more light.

"Heaven make thee free of it! I follow thee." from Act 5, Scene 2.

Hamlet stabbed Laertes-- right through the glowstick in his front pocket. Much more blinding lighting here, as I loom over my good friend Aemilia Case, Haver Cole's shape making partner under their brand, Lemon. This shot has my typical overzealous fiddling with layer blending options and colour levels, but was also greatly assisted by that newfangled and fabulous Render Glow option, which can be found by going into your Client Menu, then Debug Settings, then Render Glow set True. The problem with Render Glow however is that when taking a high resolution snapshot, it likes to criss-cross lines over the shot. My solution is to take a high res shot without renderglow, then take a normal res shot with Render Glow, and overlap them with an appropriate layer blending option, like Darken. That takes care of most of the lines, and the clone stamp takes care of the rest.

If you're interested in seeing all 16 shots, feel free to check them out on Flickr !

Iris Ophelia covers and creates metaverse style for New World Notes. Visit her blog for a view at the source; and in-world, visit her pose store, Orchidee-- direct teleport at this link.