Chapter 307 - The Chronos Squad's Endorsement Of Shoe Brand (7)

Before the atmosphere around them turned awkward, the man extended his right hand to Sofia and gave her a friendly smile. "I'm Emerson, the photographer for the endorsement project. It's nice to meet... all of you!"

"It's our pleasure, Emerson. I'm Sofia," she quickly replied, and the two exchanged a formal handshake. 

They were quick to switch their tones and sounded professional.

Emerson faced the other Chronos members. He felt a sense of casualness after seeing them just sitting in their chairs comfortably as if the place was their home. His smile widened as he extended his hand and offered them a proper handshake too.

Claire smiled back at him but hesitated for a minute. She immediately glanced at Sofia as if she was asking for her go signal.

When she saw Sofia nod her head, she followed the handshake. "I'm Claire."

Joey grinned at the man and gripped his hand with confidence. "Hello, I'm Joey! Please take care of us." 

Stephen also casually introduced his name while shaking his hands. "Stephen."

Clark remained polite. "I'm Clark."

"So... Ehem!" the man paused and brushed his bangs. He then stood straight and continued, "Before we proceed to the dressing room to change your outfits, let's have a quick meeting here. Manager Lan had already instructed me to have a brief conversation with you. It's about what you want to do during the shooting and all the stuff that we need to execute in the set," Emerson started and grabbed the vacant chair next to Clark.

Sofia attentively listened to him. But, when her eyes darted on each side of the table she noticed that her companions were leaning sluggishly on it.

"Don't slouch," Sofia murmured and the four members of the Chronos squad quickly fixed their sitting position and sat properly. 

Their hands were placed on the table in uniform order. Even Emerson who had just taken a sit also straightened his back after hearing Sofia's words without realizing it.

"Emerson, to set your expectation, we are still green in this field," Sofia started with a modest expression on her face. She was direct and honest. "This is our first endorsement together. But, we've done some research on how to properly project in the camera and act appropriately during the set."

The man took her response into consideration. He then took something from his pocket which appeared to be a small pamphlets and put it on the table.

"Manager Lan did mention that to me. She said... you are still students and can be considered as beginners to this endorsement project. However, she told me that it was you who came up with the idea of the theme. Breaking the comfort zone. I'm very impressed when I heard this theme. Here are some poses that I want you to do. I have labeled this into 25 letters, from letter A to letter Y."

Emerson distributed a small pamphlet to each of them.

Sofia opened the paper and saw five poses with labeled letters A, B, C, D, E in the upper center of each photo. 

All of it consist of different hand gestures. She then carefully studied each photo.

In the picture labeled with the letter A, the pose is shown as a thumbs-up of the left hand. While the right hand was placed on the waist.

Sofia smiled while staring at the paper and thought, 'It's easier than what I've seen on the internet. Maybe, this photographer is considerate because of our lack of experience? How thoughtful of him!'

Sofia continued to look at the next picture in the pamphlet. In letter B, it was a peace sign of the right hand while the left hand was positioned on the side.

'Such a common pose? Even ordinary people like us can make it in the modeling industry if this is the standard,' she mentally commented before flipping the next page of the pamphlet.

For letter C, it was an ok sign which could also resemble a money sign where the index finger and the thumb were pressed in a circle while the three other fingers were spread out.

This time, Sofia stopped scrutinizing the pamphlet and looked up. She faced Emerson with a curious gaze. "These are the poses that I will do?" she asked.

"Exactly! Each one of you has different poses. Please check their labels," Emerson responded and looked at the other Chronos members. He gestured them to open the pamphlets that they were holding too.

"I have the letters F, G, H, I, J," Joey announced.

"The labels here are... U, V, W, X, Y," Claire stated after looking at the content of her pamphlet. "What's your's, Clark?"

"Mine are labeled with letters K, L, M, N, O," Clark quickly answered and smiled at her.

"Is that difficult?" Claire leaned closer to Clark and took a peek at his poses. Then, she showed her the poses of her pamphlets too.

"P, Q, R, S, T," Stephen just simply read his while casually flipping the pamphlet.

"Do you think that the poses are difficult? I've tried to make it as easier as possible. But, if there is something that you are not comfortable to pose, we can also revise it," Emerson asked them.

"I'm confused. Here are the hand gestures. But we are endorsing shoes, right? Shouldn't we put emphasis on the products?" Sofia directly asked.

"Haha, Miss Sofia is really worthy of being the leader of the group! Thank you for that question. About the product, we will use chairs and other props later. For now, just focus on the poses that I've provided," Emerson immediately explained.

"Hmmn... I see. As for my poses... these are okay. I can do it," Sofia answered. And her members were quick to agree with her too.

"That's great!" Emerson clapped his hand in excitement. "Now, what will happen is... during the shooting, I will announce and shout these letters. And then, you will make the pose that corresponds to it. Right now, I have to ask you to memorize the pose in the pamphlets that I provided. You have five minutes," Emerson explained further.

"This arrangement is indeed very convenient. Thank you, Emerson!" Sofia expressed after realizing that the pamphlets given to them were like a cheat in a game to make their quest easier.

"You're welcome, Sofia! This is the most fitting arrangement that I have thought of. I'm glad that you like it," Emerson sighed in satisfaction. Then he continued, "So, I need every one of you to cooperate with me and do your best! Don't be nervous in front of the camera. You must smile when I say smile. Make it look natural, okay?" Emerson enthusiastically encouraged them.

"Okay!" the group replied in synchrony.

Five minutes later, Emerson guided them to their dressing room. Cathy and Chel were already there when they entered. They waved their hands in a casual greeting.

"Miss Sofia, it will just be us and Emerson. The assigned producer of this project is caught in the middle of a family lunch. So, he can't come here," Cathy informed them.

"No problem," Sofia simply said.

"Here are the outfits that we prepared. All of it is tailored with golden color in consideration of your squad's logo. And the shoes are on the side," Chel stated and pointed at the sofa where boxes of shoes were piled up.

Claire and Clark examined the outfits right away. Meanwhile, Stephen and Joey went to the shoeboxes and opened them. Only Sofia remained standing in her spot.

"I'll go to the next room and will set up my equipment," Emerson excused himself and exited the dressing room.

"There are only two fitting areas here. That one is on that corner. And this area," Cathy stated and eyed the areas with black curtains. "As for the outfit, you may choose it according to your style. You may express your creativity however you like."

"Ohh... wow! Then, I'll take this," Claire said and held a black crop top with long sleeves and gray jogger pants with 3 golden stripes on each side.

Sofia smiled at her and gave her an approving look. Soon after, the others quickly choose their outfits and went to the fitting area.

"How did you manage to find a suitable fit for our shoes, Ms. Cathy?" Sofia suddenly inquired. She did not remember someone asking them for their sizes. Yet, when she wore the sneaker, it perfectly fit.

"About the sizes, we pretty much make our guesses and assumed it based on your body proportions. And if it does not fit, we have backups in the storage area," Cathy casually answered.

Sofia then realized that these two may not just be simple staff of manager Lan. "The two of you... Are you both stylists in this company? Or do you work for the shoe company?"

In Sofia's mind, there were only two possibilities for a person to be able to accurately guess the sizes of someone correctly. First, this person must be close and familiar with one another. Or, the other reason was that the person is extremely experienced that just by looking at someone, it was enough for them to visually measure and guess their sizes.

"Miss Sofia has good eyes. Sometimes, we are indeed assigned as stylists. But, currently, we are on this endorsement project as assistants," Chel replied before Cathy could speak a word.

"Why?" Sofia urged them. It was such a waste of their talents to be just the assistants!

"U-uhmm... The last artist that was assigned to us is on hiatus. And there are a lot of competent stylists here," Cathy answered with a melancholic look on her face. 

Sofia nodded her head and quickly understood their situation. There was no doubt that the two have the skills. But, in the entertainment industry, the competition of being a stylist was probably high too.

"Do you want to be the stylist of our squad?" Sofia thoughtfully offered.