BoM/TWS Message Forum

Really? What did you expect of Joe?

Maybe I should caution that the reference photos for Frank and Joe, like for 90% of the photos I pick out or create, are meant to capture the character foremost (as they exist in my imagination), and the physique only secondarily. The photo of Joe is not really accurate in many physical details. The hair is far too dark, for instance, the nose too large, the eyes lack the full life I imagine him having. It's his smile that the photo captures -- the glad, "we're here to have fun aren't we?" excitement of it -- that makes it "look" like him.

Same thing with Frank:

[Image removed]

The physique is probably close to Frank's physique: He is far stronger than he looks, though he looks strong. But the face isn't as strong as it should be, and the eyes are too soft.

But it is that air of inner preoccupation the photo conveys that makes him "Frank" to me.

By contrast, this photo:

[Image removed]

except for being several years too old for a high schooler, is much closer to my idea for the shape of his face: strong bones and nose, firm mouth, deep set eyes, and darkly handsome. It would also be him when he is "off duty": a kind of "resting bitch face" that conveys strength but not the inner thought and preoccupation that to me mark his character. This is what he looks like when he speculating about whether to break the vampire's neck,or bend it double and force it to drink it's own blood from its own crotch. But it's not a look he often THAT often.

I've tried blending the two with a face morph, but the result loses what I like in each and retains what I don't like.