I'm a fan of the show Vikings, and of the actress playing Lagertha, my favourite character on the show. It was promo shots for, I think, season 4 that prompted me to do a Demon shoot of the character - it seemed like something that would lend itself really well to what I do.
I knew it was impossible for me to accurately copy the costume, so I decided right away that I'd slightly simplify it to better suit my abilities, time and what I could afford. It's not intended as an accurate cosplay of the character, but my Demon interpretation.
I decided to keep the makeup somewhat simple. I didn't want a massive face piece or anything, so I ended up with a forehead with horns and a pair of ears. Since there was some blue in the costume I went with yellow/orange for the overall colouring.
It took just as much time to get Ancelene in to the costume as it did to do the makeup I think. Once she was in, there was no easy way to get out until we were done, I literally had to cut her out of part of it.
I'm really happy with how the sword and shield turned out, they were the first pieces I worked on for this. The sword is a balsa wood sheet, with styrofoam covered in Worbla. The shield is pretty much the same material - both were really lightweight so Ancelene could wander around with them without worrying about tiring her arms out in the slightest.
We lucked out with an overcast day, so the overall lighting wasn't too high contrast. It was a little dark by times and didn't work in our favour when it came to trying some "action" shots, but that wasn't that big a deal in the end.
And that's it for the shoot.
