Skydiving and Judging!

Did y'all ever see my skydiving video? No, of course not! So here it is! Squee! Whopee!



Notes: Yes, that is me laughing about 1 minute in. Adrenaline and the litany of other hormones eff people up. And yes, I did risk breaking my leg at the end...You're supposed to land on your booty, but the circulation in my legs was cut off or something and I couldn't keep them lifted up. Yes, I fail. Really, though, it would be nice if the instructor told you it was going to be a butt-first landing earlier than 2 minutes before we landed.
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Annnnd, here's the judging (my critiques for last week's pictures!). Because I wouldn't just put "Skydiving and Judging" for the sole reason that it sorta/kinda/maybe rhymes.

Jono: The contemplative expression says FolkPop and I actually think you did well at scoping out the Jono niche within that genre. But I agree that just looking at the stylistic and background choices, I might say it's more like "insert-3rd-world-country-here's ritual". If you really would have popped out a pose here, it would have made the wildness even more apparent, so the controlled expression and pose are what make the shot fit the brief. I would give this a B, but what doesn't make it an A is so inscrutable that you'd have to start all over just to find out.

Avess: I think by now, piercing eyes are the Avess paradigm and signature; you choose to work them whenever it fits the brief, and it does here, but you’ve got to show more variation despite the fact that “intense” and “action” apply to almost all of INTM’s shoots. But judging just this shot itself, one really gets drawn into it and it’s very powerful and scintillating, yet there’s almost too much directness and clarity (like you’re about to antler-butt someone!). The color palette, the mask and antlers – to me, they were very African desert and smart choices. But you did make a choice that wasn’t yours to make, and that’s stepping out of your boundaries as a model, stylist, and set designer: pulling strings (haha, get it?) off of yourself that were originally there.

Cozy: I actually really prefer your avatar to this shot, what with the ingenious head-cocked and Marti Gras Queen cake (King cake, Queen cake…*teehee*) look! This type of shoot was perfect for you and your personality, to just put on a wild masquerade and exude Cozy-ness and vibrance and eclecticism, and I don’t think this shot really conveys that. I agree with Leigh, that maybe this falls short because we’re always expecting that “theatrical-Cozy” (sorry for stealing all the other judges’ material…>.>) and here it’s demure – still glittering, but it just sort of drags the viewer in, without really wrenching them in, and you’ve wrenched us all in so many times before! I’d maybe call it a Cozy caricature.

Connan: There is some positively alien-esque glowing going on here, composition at its finest! I don’t know enough about Lady Gaga to make allusions about your “Poker Face” or whatever, but I think you combined the brief with a strong knowledge of the industry and aesthetics to make this shot stand out. However, I do agree with Leigh that you need to make sure every element is in place, even a little strand of hair, because once you’ve got it down pat as well as you do now, the judges will start noticing the little things that make a photo in the 7-9 range instead of a 10.

Jared: I agree with Mikiel’s confessional that a hint of cropping might have put the right angle on this shot, and then all the complaints about composition (the light on you vs. no light on the wall, I’m guessing? Because you definitely found the light for yourself here.) would have gone away. That said, your hair, mask, and expres​sion(especially the dagger eyes!) are all close to perfect, and I think if you were transposed onto a more jungle-y environment, this would have been a shot to write home about. The whole “be the ball” – be the brief, be the shoot – mentality is what you need to take things to the final level.

Oregon: I think you definitely furthered the “beauty” aspect of the shoot further than the “criminal” one, and this has both good and bad aspects. I don’t know about the whole Hamburglar thing, but what this frame does do for me is tell a story behind your eyes – you don’t look like a hardened criminal, more like a nervous (as Leigh said, “sneaking away”) guy trying to make a few bucks and hoping there’s no confrontation with anyone. But the pose is too rigid and you could have contorted and contused your expression/pose on this shot, Hamburglar or no. Also, the background is a bit too strong, so I think some creative contrast on this photo would have done it a lot of good.

Jonny: I think maybe a bit of the fact that this absolutely screams Italian may come because of your natural advantage of looking Italian or at least European. But I think you’ve produced something great here, something to put in the front page of your portfolio and put little heart stickers around. I do kind of see what Nigel is saying, that all controlled-abandon outdoorsy shots can look Italian, but the fact that you made those stylistic choices and pulled this off with effortless verve says a lot. It’s very hot. xD (Rhymes are not.)

Mikiel: I’m kind of confused on the whole reason why you and Connan were the only ones “handicapping” one of you model resources (the smize!) but both of you pulled it off anyway. I like the sort of disoriented feel here with the slightly lopsided camera; it feels like the shot sort of fell into place and it’s pretty cool. All the elements are nicely tied (chain-linked?) together, and while it’s not traditionally emo and I would have also loved to see a repeat of the Katarzyna shot, this is a nice new spin of the wheel and it still looks like a music album cover of some sort (Mikiel Braille? xD). I also liked your extra frames!

Chantal: I adore your composition this week and I like how you moved the mask further in front of your face to create an almost optical illusion of a shot here (as Bree said, “pop art”). I can’t quite decide if the background works here or not; maybe it would have been better to get the headboard without the window? However, again, what I most admire here is how you turned the brief into a very European art and fashion statement, and I think your expression complements it. The only other real critique I have is that, like Leigh said, the picture quality isn’t perfect.

OMG I would never go sky diving even if someone paid me! And I would likely be terrified the whole way down that the parachute would eff up.

Haha, I was actually more afraid of the landing (not even being worried about the parachute not opening, for some reason), and that's where I got hurt - on the only part where the mistake could be my own fault. Of course...xP But the instructor spent a long time explaining just how strong and flexible the ropes were and how many backup parachutes existed (Iike the computer-automated one, which opens if none of the other ones do at a certain "emergency" height). So I felt pretty good. This is where being the type of person who isn't careful to consider the risks of things comes in handy, I guess. Sort of. Heh.

And I remember you! <3 Hi!!!

Kazara wrote:However, I do agree with Leigh that you need to make sure every element is in place, even a little strand of hair, because once you’ve got it down pat as well as you do now, the judges will start noticing the little things that make a photo in the 7-9 range instead of a 10.

That' exactly how I took that criticism haha. Although I must say the, "strand of hair, comment seems to foreshadow my elimination this week lol Although I don't feel any pressure to achieve perfection, I wouldn't be surprised if my unruly hair decides on self-sabotage.

BTW, I want to skydive now lol

The strand of hair will be your demise! It will devour your head like a flesh-eating bacteria! xP Really, though, don't let it psyche you out. The judges have to sometimes fish for a couple things that were imperfect in order to make the critique constructive, but that wouldn't necessarily matter for all shoots. It's hard to always remember to judge the model, not the photo. Or are you supposed to judge the photo, not the model? x(

Re-reading my critique, I don't think it shows the actual level of enthusiasm I had towards the shot. So I'll add a belated "Fieee-ahce masqueradeeee!!!"

You should do it!

awww, Kazara, i want you on judging panel!!!

what's your callout order?

Thanks! :DD I think I'm on board for future judgings - not entirely sure, since I never confirmed it with Leigh even though he already offered.

Okay...Uhm.

The first name I'm going to call is...

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Oops...Wait...(Anybody remember when I made that fake judging panel way back in Cycle 1 when we were all waiting anxiously, and it was bashing Avess and stuff? Bwahahaha.)

The first name I'm going to call is...

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Okay, it's really...

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The next name I'm going to call is...

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Kazara, Ive opened the Judges Lounge for you, let me know if you can see it or not!!

Im so excited to have you back, although Im not sure I like the idea of having a judge whos comments are longer than mine hehe

*runs around in circles* I feel so special. Really, thanks so much for giving me another chance to be a good father and not walk out on you and the kids again to show that this whole thing has a very special place in my heart and I want to participate even if it hasn't seemed that way for the last year.

Baha. I always write way too much for stuff. It's my nature. I remember two years ago when we were asked a puzzle math problem about people's places in a line (Martin in front of Jessica, Bob 5th in line, etc.) and we had to explain how we arrived at the answer...Mine took up 2 pages and it looked like an incoherent blueprint - basically got me alienated for the rest of the year by some people. >.> Haha.

kazara! that video was pretty incredible. it's interesting to see you in motion, and laughing. and flying, no less. and getting injured. i feel like i've known you for an age.

and i'm glad you're becoming a judge! your comments are lovely and expansive

Thanks so much! That really means a lot to me, as one of my goals in life is trying to be more three-dimensional and enigmatic and...real, I guess? A lot of times, I feel like I'm faking emotion. Modeling is sort of like acting, a retreat where you can "practice" at identities. But I guess there's no way to fake the emotion of falling 10,000 feet. xD LIFESOBSTORY

So am I! Gracias again - I do try to really hit the nail on people's heads of what I think they should be doing, but a lot of times it's undefinable to me. Nobody says to an artist, "Change the placement of this line and this circle, bish!" out of fear that it's their own wrong interpretation that's putting the problems in the art. But nobody really thinks about it with modeling. I dunno. We're here to judge, and we'll judge our darn tootin' tootin-est.

Kazara wrote:Modeling is sort of like acting, a retreat where you can "practice" at identities.

I completely agree. When's the nerd shoot? I perfected that identity

If there's a nerd shoot, I'll totally have to do it along with you guys. xP

Maybe we should make it like a sequel of the criminal one!

I just had an infarction. GENIUS!!!

Thanks! Sadly, I had to Wiki what that means. xD

Leigh: "In this week's shoot, you must all portray socially awkward intellectuals who landed themselves in jail!

Connan, as leader of your roleplaying guild, you were ensconced in finding ancient relics when you realized, looking over at the clock for a brief moment, that the Academic Bowl was in 10 minutes! You took your self-made electric scooter and headed off, but you were running out of time! You put the scooter in turbo (after all, the scooter is totally pimped and souped up!), but were promptly pulled over for not only passing the speed limit, but breaking the sound barrier in addition to the law. Hopefully you do a 'scooterrific' job on this!"