The concept of the Coverdoll shoot last month arose from the possibilities opened by DS with the development of the DS Lite. After a successful trip to London with Thera https://dollforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=932478#p932478 it was apparent that it wasn't just Chloé in the South of France https://dollforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=143&t=53784 who could start to find a life beyond the confines of the house.
Living over 30 miles out of London any such trip was going to be a challenge and inevitably involve public transport. This conjured up a fantasy in my mind to get a shot of a doll as a living person on the escalator of a London Underground station.
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But this would be impossible with a 30kg doll, quite unweildy and dangerous.
Even so, getting such a shot wouldn't be something I could do myself by myself and the opportunity had to rely on a team to come together infected by the same enthusiasm. Earlier this year two student from London University of the Arts were asking on the UK forum for anyone who might like to collaborate on a doll photography project and this seemed the opportunity necessary for the shoot to happen.
They really wanted to get a shoot of a human-doll romance of a rather stereotypical Lars and the Real Girl nature. However my focus has always been a study of the doll as a human person, so coming to life, and so they agreed to the theme of "A Chinese Tourist's Guide to London" and upon which all three of us would take different perspectives upon the same series of events portrayed.
The silicone doll is more refined and in particular allows posing of hands better, of fingers and of eyes. So we decided to work over two days for the shoot, the students bringing a selection of clothes for our Chinese tourist and trying them on, with a "dummy run" in the afternoon with the foam doll in preparation for the big day following. Working with the foam doll made it easy for familiarisation of working with a doll
in public, on location and with adequate swiftness to succeed in catching the photo
She'd been put to the intellectual challenge of those machines
to buy her ticket
and the poor girl was really
quite exhausted being so unused to such outings.
"I hope you're not going to expect me to walk up many more such flights of stairs?!"
She was rewarded with a seat at the top
and on the train
somewhat curious about fellow passengers.
She soon settled down
THE REST OF THIS BLOG WILL BE ADDED TOMORROW
for a comfortable ride
checking her emails
and looking at the landscape
On arrival
working out the Underground map
she accomplished with ease and a modus operandi was achieved
to avoid her legs getting too tired.
The escalator
provided practice
for staging the shot in the crowded rush-hour tube station and carrying her through the ticket barriers.
She thought she might do some modelling for a chain of shops
but we told her that we needed to move on.
However, she saw a news-stand
where she insisted
with catching up on the latest goings on in the world.
Down in the underground things got busier and started to need that professionalism for which we'd practised earlier
Lighting on the escalator down there wasn't so good
and we had just 40 seconds from top to bottom to capture the shot
After a shot establishing her favourite city
a train arrived, and she seemed to know where she was going more than we
as if she did the journey every day of her life.
But wherever she goes, she can't resist reading the newspaper
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Next month we'll start to see her adventures in London and where she decided to go.
Comments
Very impressive these
Very impressive these pictures in public.
Good job
Thanks
Thanks
I hope it might be inspiration to other dolls to come alive beyond the home!
Best wishes
Harem