Photonovel pt, 13 (Crafts for the Photonovel)

Using the same method as the Necronomicon, a home made paper clay was used to make a cave, and it was painted.

At first I intended to use the lens and position the protagonist in a way whereby I will get the appeal that the cave is larger as compared to The Mad Arab. However, I had issues whereby the lens was not focusing on both. So I decided to do it via photoshop afterall.

I also needed a dark cloth that will cover my entire body to make a female character in the story. The dress was meant to be a Niqab so that I can hide my facial features without having to shave and so on while also working in favor of the story which occurs in an Arabic environment.

Since I didn't have any black shirt that could look as a niqab I should have bought one, but I decided to go by making it myself which will turn out cheaper.

Yet another issue on the horizon, since when I bought the cloth I did had the appropriate size nor the time to go buy a new one.

So I did the craziest thing possible. I cut the cloth exact to my body size, so accurately that I couldn't stitch it else I wouldn't be able to get in myself xD

So after measuring and cutting the cloth and pinned it over me, in a safe manner of course. There were many holes through the costume but using the camera and the proper gesture I was able to hide these mistakes.

I also did a cut effect or sfx as they call it on my wrist for a scene where the Mad Arab cut himself for a ritual. I used my dear old friend flour and made a paste which I placed over my wrist and made the cut.

For the blood I actually used a weird cheap Vanilla extract that I bought that was very thick and dark which fits the profile of bloooood....

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I had 3 version of Abdul Alhazred (aka. The Mad Arab), one with his face and body entirely covered with the largest clothe I could find to hide my facial features, body and height to make him appeal as a kid.

The other was somehow the adolescent Abdul, who had dark cheeks and dark eyes but not quite evil yet.

Finally the philosopher, or mature MAD Arab, who has darker eyes, dark lips and fingernail. He was meant to depict how insane he went after reading the Necronomicon.

I actually used soft pastel to darken the shape of my face and blended it with my hands itself.

However for the eyes I use Khol, if I'm not mistaken... It's basically an eyeliner that Arab and Indian uses. It's powdery and it gave me the effect I was looking for.

And for the fingernails I used acrylic paint.

Yes... I did a light make-up for the female character. I really enjoy using makeup for arts so I found no issue in buying them cuz I will use it in the future for sure. I did a simple foundation and used the khol to make a slight eye liner to try and give myself a feminine look.

As for the scene where the female character is standing, I was quite lucky that my makeshift cloth worked out and allowed me to hide the fact that I'm a man when I was wearing it and posing.

For the king I used a fake beard and I made sure to attach the turban in a different way... something that looks a bit more authoritative somehow.

I actually did some research on how Arabian soldier looked like back then. They're very similar to what I did here except maybe for the hat and they also had some metal piece, not too much metal pieces compared to the Romans and so on but a bit indeed. As for the hat I used it for the only reason that I didn't had any other turban and I've been using it for 2 characters already.

I had some help for some shot whereby I needed a specific angle. However, I shot at least half of the novel myself.

Some scene I used my beloved mop to adjust the focus.. I had the auto focus on but it was messed up at times to I had to sort of give it a starting point before putting it back on the auto focus mode. I also adjusted the ISO, Aperture, shutter and zoom accordingly. Then I used the timer to get it done.

For the shots whereby I needed help, I first shot my brother, and adjusted everything the way I needed it and then I went to pose. He also had a reference on the way to take the pic the way I wanted it.