(no subject)

[camwyn]

I don't like using famous people for PBs for characters I play who didn't come from a visual medium. I've never really been all that comfortable with Getty Images or other big image archives either, for some reason. I'm not sure why. Given the choice, though, I'll generally go to college or university web sites and pull images of random people from the pages on the sports teams or the faculty. Then I alter the photographs a few times so that they match the image I have of the character, or at least come closer to it.

Last night I did this with a picture of one of the Classics professors from my own university. I sort of wonder what Prof. Helzle would think if he were ever tootling through Livejournal and found out I'd made him into an Anglican priest. Or what Dr. Epp would think if he saw I'd made him play the part of a Ministry of Defense official in the British government. Only sort of, though. I don't know that I'd be able to explain without either snickering or melting into the floor in embarrassment.

Comments

[mhw.livejournal.com]

I don't know that I'd be able to explain without either snickering or melting into the floor in embarrassment.

When I'm writing any kind of fiction, I need faces to help me think about the characters. I don't think I'd have any problem explaining that to anyone whose face I'd used for inspiration: "I'm writing about a character who, to me, looks somewhat like you, so I'm using variations on your face to help me think better about the character."

[ahmeemee.livejournal.com]

How do you get enough pictures for them? That's always been my problem. I know a lot of people I'd like to use as PBs, but finding enough iconable pics is a bitch.

[camwyn]

Well, that's one of the reasons I use university sports teams more than faculty members. A school with any significant Web presence for their athletic department is probably going to have multiple pictures of their players, so that usually suffices.

[zou.livejournal.com]

I still feel weird about using actors for character models. I would hate to have to explain it to them. Puddle of embarrassment on the floor, definitely.

[daniidebrabant.livejournal.com]

I use an Argentinian polo player for one of my characters. It's a bitch finding pictures of him, but he works perfectly. Usually my criteria for a PB is just looking until I find the face that screams "CHARACTERNAME".

...it does, however, crack me up that Thomas' PB has the nickname of "Nacho".

[parke-matru.livejournal.com]

I've found mixed success with model sites . . . the drawback being that the poses are often very odd.

[lwood.livejournal.com]

Yaaay, Professor Helzle!

I think of him whenever I hold forth on Greek topics, especially when I have to explain English vs German transliteration styles, otherwise known as, "No, that's a hard C."

It might go over better, in a lot of cases, if I finish that sentence with, "like in Elvish, remember Celeborn?", but I persevere. 8-)

-- Lorrie

[camwyn]

Considering the number of people who insist on it being Sellaborn anyway despite it being the first pronunciation note in the Appendices... ah, well. Yeah, I can imagine.

This is the icon I made from his picture. The character's an NPC, so I really only needed the one.

[lwood.livejournal.com]

Considering the number of people who insist on it being Sellaborn anyway despite it being the first pronunciation note in the Appendices... ah, well. Yeah, I can imagine.

Heh--it also points up that my genial mob is more familiar with LotR than with Hellenic transliteration styles. This is okay, because the real challenge words in these parts are words like "Hlithskjalf" and "Hvergelmir". ;)

This is the icon I made from his picture. The character's an NPC, so I really only needed the one.

*looks, reads caption, finds translation of caption*

I like it!

Also, the caption entirely fits me, and I approve.

-- Lorrie