First off, thanx Randall, for letting us know not to worry. Good luck on your other deadlines.
Now. On to business:
Extra point for holiday season goes to each entrant right off the bat. I knew you could do it, you contest entrants, you.
–For those tuning in late, I’m all about ‘misusing’ items from the vast clip art treasure trove. That’s a one for findable with or without prompting / questioning. That’s at least a two for “abuse,” or leaving category in an emphatic manner. That’s a three for incorporating / manipulating in a way that makes it less obvious but still present and belonging to the pic.
Concision of design isn’t something I normally mention here, but C got all three items in the FACE OF ONE CHARACTER. I have no score bonus for that, and I’m beginning to wonder if that is an oversight on my part. A good design does tend to be concise, efficient.
Anyway, C’s items all left category behind and looked good. The Braided Beard item looked slightly less like it belonged to me. Maybe the coloring just struck me as wrong? A sparkle might’ve made it up, but I’m not sure. (Somebody posted a tutorial for those, gotta give him a plug for the new girl.)
K’s items? The mask was a mask, and it began to tell me something. If you’d had a backstory posted to ‘explain it to us westerners,’ that would’ve surged up. The BB was still hair, but topped the head and became part of the posing, enough to tie C for that item. The scarf was still clothes, but seamlessly became a different garment. Not as easy as it looks—your thread has examples of you doing that stuff.
Then there’s the general contribution category. The emotional content was noticeably different, but the item’s contributions to it were about the same. C pushed every button. K could’ve added a big performance smile to the skater or cheering arms to the crowd (or something else) for more emotional effect. Maybe an announcer looking impressed or flabbergasted at the ‘Triple-Axle-Tree-Trimming-Contest’ Champion?
Bells here means presence by virtue of item or holistic effect contributed. Pivotal, both of you. Nothing extraneous about the three items themselves.
Whistles is about minor pieces or features like placement, posing, shading, highlighting, etc. C did some great shading and placement. K did great posing, down to the hair. I wish I’d seen some ice fragments spraying up or the skater’s shadow or something. K would’ve tied her here, except for a sleeve problem.
Finally there are background and story. C managed to push every button again. If anything, a fewmore subtly-placed but specific details might’ve made that a 5. If there is anything there that shouldn’t be, it’s the Santa’s sleigh and reindeer. I hope you use it somewhere else. It took away from an otherwise perfect background somehow—didn’t belong. If it had been on a neighboring house or something . . . no worries, your point is safe. You seamlessly got there with the backstory.
K had no backstory. The minimalist background WORKS, though, for this. Did she win the T-A-T-T-C? I actually want to know.
C has a clear victory here. CHRISTIE S! Pick three items and post a deadline! You are the winner and so now judge of the next OPMC!
(Breakdown below)
Backstory score: ………………..C4……K0
Bkgd score:………..……………C3.5…..K3.5
Scarf:……………….…………….C4.…….K3.5
Braided Beard: ………………….C3.5……K3.5
Mask: …………….………….…C4….….K3
Bells: …………………….…….C4…..….K4
Whistles: ………………….…….C4………K3.5
Items-story:………………..……C5……..K4.5
Emotional:……………….……..C5…..….K4
Seasonal theme ….…………..C1……….K1
………………………………………C38…..K30.5
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