Anything and everything involved in Cosplay.
"Cosplay" is short for Costume Play, meaning people go around dressed as their favorite characters from TV Shows and having fun doing it.
A lot of cosplayers, nowadays, have cosplay pages to manage their progress, costumes, and the like, whether it be on Facebook, DeviantART, or somewhere else. It also serves as a communication bridge between other cosplayers. How does one go about managing a page?
1. Make a page
Just start an account somewhere. If you have a Facebook account, it's simple to make a cosplay page. Start by going to https://www.facebook.com/pages/create/. Here, you will choose a category and name for your page. From there, you follow the simple instructions to help you get set up. Another way is to create an account on DeviantART. A lot of the cosplayers I know have one. Great place to display your artwork and communicate with others of the same interest, especially by joining groups.
2. Adding content
Now that your page/account has been created, it's time to add stuff to it. Put up future cosplay plans to keep an organized idea of which characters you'd like to bring to life. Keep Work-in-Progress photos in albums to let yourself and others know how you are keeping track of the construction of your costumes. Another thing is to put up photo shoot pictures of your cosplays, an important part to show your ability to portray a certain character. There are a lot of photographers out there, willing to help you do so. Some will charge, some will not. It all depends. Also, be sure to share tutorials or tips to help other cosplayers should they have any trouble on how to make particular parts of their costumes. Lots of prop and makeup tutorials are available as well.
3. Keeping it updated
Keep your page updated every so often, if not every day. Reason being is you will lose audience members if there is a lack of information, whatever that may be according to the person managing the page. Post memes, tutorials, tips, progress photos, etc. in order to keep your audience interested and engaged.
Sunday Alas, all good things must come to an end, but first... Let's cover the WORLD COSPLAY SUMMIT! A competition where cosplayers, in teams of two, compete for a chance to be the best in the world all while building community, breaking barriers, and making new friends. All of the teams that participated in the Qualifiers were simply amazing. Everyone had to operate their own props with no outside help, so you can only imagine how tough it can be if things don't go right the first time around. Reason why? It's because you only have one shot to make it. These cosplayers spent months upon months getting ready to compete. The lucky winning team from the US competition gets to go to Japan and compete against the rest of the world. The Qualifiers and Finals skits were just spectacular. It's one of those events where it's just better to see it in person because of all the technicality that goes into each performance. Here is the winning team and representing Team USA, Cupcake Cosplay!
I wish them both the best of luck in this year's competition, and may they make friendships that will last a lifetime. That's it for Anime Matsuri 2013! See you next time for more cosplay insight! =D
Craziest day out of ANY convention weekend. Lots of people everywhere, things to do, panels to see, and stuff to shop for. For me, it was a big day because I was entering my Rapidash cosplay into the AM Cosplay Contest later that evening. However, panic ensued when a friend of mine took my badge instead of her own. Luckily, another friend let me borrow his badge, so I can gain entrance into the hotel and make it on time to my pre-judging appointment. He sacrificed a panel that he really wanted to go to for me to have a chance to compete. ;w; To this day, I really appreciate what he did for me.
My day was spent on my Rapidash cosplay, pretty much. Did my craftsmanship pre-judging first thing in the morning. The judges, especially Catherine Jones, had a fun time analyzing my costume. XD They were all up in it, looking very closely at the tiny details. Why were they doing this? I had told them my costume was, completely, sewn by hand. Just needle and thread. No machine. Everything you see in the photo above, taken by Ger Tysk, was all done by hand. After the judging was complete and I got my original badge back, I just wandered around the con, for the most part. Had somewhat of a late lunch, but I was able to eat it and make it to my photo shoot with Ger.
I had a great time working with Ger. She's traveling across the country going to conventions while working on her book, Breaking All the Rules: Cosplay and the Art of Self-Expression. Through Southern Cospitality, it allowed me to get the chance to work with an amazing photographer such as herself. She's also a cosplayer at heart, and her costumes are great. Very sweet person and very passionate about photography. So passionate that I started talking photography stuff with her. =P
Immediately, I headed straight for the dressing room next to the Main Events hall to make the call time. Had I not, I'd have been cut from the contest. Snuck my friend, Alethea, in with me as my "helper." She had so much fun seeing the many contestants and their awesome costumes. This is the worst part of it all, having to wait for hours backstage while things are being set up on the main stage. As with every convention, everything starts late. With AM, it's about the technical aspect, like getting the sound system to work, livestream, and such. Not only that the SyFy network was there to film the entire contest for a show, airing in the summer. No pressure, right?
Eventually, it got to be my turn on stage. I didn't practice any poses or anything, and I was nervous, being the first time I'm actually competing for something. What else to do than to improvise? XD
Afterwards, I was interviewed by Becky Young to talk about my character a little bit. Boy, did I let my mind go. I had no idea what I was talking about! LOL
Went to go have a seat near the back of the hall but ound Alethea by the wall close to the exit, so I stood with her, instead, and watched the rest of the cosplayers strut their stuff and perform their skits from there. Great job to all! (For the other cosplay videos from the contest, just follow the link and search up "ACParadise.") Found Alethea by the wall close to the exit and stood with her. Halftime show consisted of Waveya, a Korean dance team, doing a few dances while in cosplay. Alethea and I were dancing T-ara's Roly-Poly with them in the back while sitting down.
Wait time is over, and the judges came back with the results. First, they did the People's Choice Award, with their live voting system, and the Bioshock team won. So many talented cosplayers won various awards, including me. ^^ I got the Judge's Award from Catherine for my Rapidash, since she was so amazed at the work I put in to it. My very first cosplay award EVER! Thank you so much, Catherine! =D
So that was it for my Saturday. Nothing but cosplay contest stuff. XD Sunday will be pretty short but still eventful. Why, you ask? I'm covering the World Cosplay Summit next! Stay tuned!
Overall, I had fun throughout the convention this past weekend. I cosplayed to my heart's content, was filmed and interviewed for a TV show premiering in the summer, bumped into friends, and much more. Let's get down to the details, shall we?
Friday
Work hard, play harder. That was my whole day, pretty much. First thing in the morning, there was class time. Working on assignments and learning new material was what needed to be done before having fun. Class was soon let out, and I went to my room to finish packing and prepping for an awesome weekend.
First cosplay of the weekend was Reisi Munakata from K. With the amount of people there (about 10,000 people or so), it wasn't too much fun walking around in layers because of all that generated body heat. Enough about my cosplay, let's move on to the con. Got to the Hyatt Regency around 3:00PM. To me, it's fairly late since everything, including panels and Dealers Room, started around 12:00PM. I, personally, did not attend too many panels, but I did have fun looking around the Dealers Room, preparing to shop on Sunday. For once, I caught the Opening Ceremonies. Many of the special guests, in addition to the con chairs, introduced themselves and told the audience of their hopes of the convention; Janet Varney (voice of Korra), Matthew Mercer, Erin Fitzgerald, Carli Mosier (UH graduate), and many more.
As a cosplayer, I had a couple of photo shoots, working with a photographer to bring my character to life. So much fun being able to use my sword and be captain-y during that time. There were parts where I pretended I was on the hunt for the criminal and was able to chase him down. XD Later that night, I attended the formal dance. In my opinion, I have more fun at that than Club AM. Classy dancing, like the waltz and swing, can be seen here. My friends and I had a blast, dancing and listening to the music. While listening to the music, we would try to guess where the song came from, be it from a video game, anime, or movie. Here's a picture of me, doing a jig and having a good old time. :)
It's typical to see girls dressed as girls and guys dressed as guys. What if girls were to dress as guys and vice versa? Let's get into the topic of Cross-Play!
We'll focus on the process girls have to go through when they want to cosplay as male characters. I might go into how guys cross-play, but I'm not sure how that will work from my perspective. ^^; 1. Chest binding
As girls, it's not exactly easy to go from girl to guy unless you're naturally flat-chested. This is why we bind our chests to be as flat as possible to pull off the guy's body type. Although not recommended due to health reasons (namely breathing problems), using an sports bandage to wrap around the chest or duct tape to lift the breasts to the sides are two ways to go about making the chest flatter. This is the cheaper way. If you're willing to invest some money, there are good-quality chest binders that one can buy online or wherever they are sold, and those are actually better for you. They look like tank tops, essentially, but there is a material that will compress the breasts to give the look of a flat chest. 2. Make-up Make-up can do wondrous transformations when done correctly. I don't know much since I hardly use anything but the general foundation, light blush, eye liner, and mascara, but there are tutorials everywhere to help you get the right look. Still don't know what to do? Go ask a friend with experience to help, even if he or she is not a cosplayer. The most important part is to make your cheeks more defined. The way to go about it is to use a bronzer to outline the cheek bones of the face to create depth. How defined the cheeks need to be depends on the character you are dressing as. 3. Posture This depends on the characters themselves. If the character has one of those chill, laid-back personalities, you would probably slouch more. A character of high stature, royalty, or authority of any type would call for straight backs like a proper gentleman. These are just a couple of ideas to keep in mind. There you have it, "how to make a man out of you" ... literally. Click here to view SaucyNoodleCosplay's crossplay video, and you can learn the basic tips of cross-play through a parody of Mulan's "I'll Make a Man Out of You." Get a good laugh out of it, too. :P
Big news! Anime Matsuri 2013 is THIS WEEKEND! Expect a convention review next time! =D
Conventions are always just around the corner. Cosplayers would have projects where they realize they only have a short amount of time left to complete them if they want to wear them at a certain one. Like a lot of people, we tend to wait until the last minute to get everything put together... even if we do start ahead of time.
These are the typical phases we go through. It's pretty similar to what everyone does, in general. Start months ahead of time. Forget for a while. Work on putting the project together. Forget about it again. A few weeks before a convention rolls around, everyone is in full-on attack mode in trying to get their cosplays and props done on time for said convention.
Of course, the same can be applied to students in school. :P Thank you for tuning for this week's little tidbit. I apologize for there not being much. ^^;
Ever thought about what goes on through a cosplayer's mind? Here's a sneak peek at mine in just a few short and easy steps. Step 1: Get to know and choose your character(s) In order to start cosplaying, you have to get to know the characters before you can choose one that you like. Some people go by personality traits in a character. Some prefer character design. I am a little bit of both. It Step 2: Choose and draft a design After you have chosen your character, pick an outfit that your character wears. Analyze the details as closely as you can. Then, grab a pencil and paper and start sketching out your plans. Step 3: Construction Time to gather your material and start putting your cosplay together. You want to be as accurate as you can to your character. This process can only get better with more and more practice and is the most time-consuming.
Voila! The project is now complete! Now go out there and wear your cosplay, proudly. Become the character you have chosen. =) Until next time!
While cosplay may be a lot of fun and all, there is another side to it, a darker one.
Believe it or not, cosplay has its fair share in drama. Not that I have been through too much of it, but it is definitely around. Here are a few issues that float around the cosplay community. Not the Right Body Type People sometimes choose characters according to their body types. What if someone who is pretty big wants to cosplay some character from one of Clamp's series, i.e. CardCaptor Sakura, xxxHolic, Code Geass, etc.? Clamp's character designs tend are very skinny. Some think they shouldn't cosplay a character they like just because they don't look like them. That's not true. It is very stereotypical to do such a thing. People should just enjoy cosplay as as it was meant to be, and that is to just have fun with it. It makes me upset to think that you are not able to cosplay who you like just because of what you look like, in general. Reality check? As close as a person can get to a character, you're still not that character. Competition Another thing that gets me is people think too highly of themselves. I know this is not the case with a number of people, but it does get to the point where someone thinks they are so much better than another. There are situations where people would sabotage another person's costume and/or costume pieces in order to get on top. Now, mind you this does not happen too often, but it is very possible. The number of awards someone gets does not make you "super special awesome" and think you can say that you're the best in the world. It just boosts your ego further to where you start to believe and take on that egotistical attitude. Friendly competition, however, is a little better in the sense where someone who may not have won an award of some sort that said person can ask another for advice on how to become better at the craft. I'm okay with that, but, if you start acting all snob-like, then why are you cosplaying in the first place? Society and Cultural Norms Then, we have the norms of society and culture of the public. Why can't everyone be equal? What cosplayers do is not just fun and games. They put so much hard work, effort, and time into making their costumes, and yet we get ridiculed. Something happened at a recent con where a cosplayer's costume was, literally, ripped right off that person's body by little kids. What is it that makes them think they could do that so openly as to humiliate him or her? It's possible that it may be a culture thing, but it is still improper to do such a thing after the cosplayer has worked so hard to put the costume together. Another thing is the typical person would think this is nothing but a waste of precious time. In our minds, we think of it as a way to express our creativity. Cosplay is an art form just like any other artist out there, past, present, and future. The only difference is, unless you're marketing yourself, you're not earning a single penny. That's how much dedication people put into their costumes. They don't expect anything except for appreciation from a passerby or a fan of the series the costume is from. Now, I know not everything is true, but this is from my point of view. It's how I think things are being perceived. This is also just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the dark side of cosplay. Like everything else in the world, there are bound to be pros and cons. Definitely going to cover a lighter subject next time, so stay tuned!
The first time I went to this convention was for one day in 2010 when it was at the Woodlands, a little north of Houston. It originally started in 2007. A fairly young con, compared to most, but it does pack a punch. They've had big-name guests, like Japanese bands FLOW and Back-On. Matt Mercer, gracious host and awesome voice actor, There's even a major car show, known as Import Reactor, where people submit their custom-built cars to put on display. This year, it's going to get crazy. First off, it's going to be in the heart of Downtown Houston. Second, Marvel Entertainment and the World Cosplay Summit are coming, so expect a large amount of super awesome cosplayers. Finally, all of the awesome shopping you can do in the Dealers Room with about 50 vendors! Make sure to prep and save up money because this is one convention you don't want to miss. Don't believe me? Watch the promo.
Talk about lucky. I was overseas, visiting family on the week this convention happened to be going on. ACGHK stands for Animation-Comic-Game Hong Kong. This is my first, and probably only, convention OUTSIDE of the US. Unlike the conventions held here in the states, their con floor's setup is completely different. Instead of having rooms and panels with guests from the industry and voice actors, the convention is divided into three different areas of one GIANT convention center: Cosplay/Photographer section, Dealers/Artist Alley, and the main stage. Also, be prepared to feel like a sardine in a can because, for this five-day event, it's going to be like that every day. Held during the last week of July, this is THE most crowded convention I have ever been to. It's more of an exhibition than a convention, really. Conventions tend to imply panels, which is not present at ACGHK. Either way, attending ACGHK is an experience. It's a whole other world compared to the US. If you happen to get the chance, stop by and see what it's all about. That's about it for this time. Stay tuned!
Yup! Time to talk about conventions! Lots and lots of them happen all over the world at any time of the year! =D How about I cover a couple of the ones I've gone to right now? A-Kon - Dallas, Tx
The longest-running anime convention in North America, A-Kon has been going and going since 1990. It is also the largest in Texas. Did you know it started out with merely 380 attendees way back when? Look at the size of it now! Over 20,000 attendees! It's gotten so big to the point where a new location has been appointed for this year, the Hilton Anatole. Lots of voice actors, and music and industry guests, along with many artists, come to gather at this magnificent convention. Did I mention that A-Kon is also one of the top ten largest anime conventions in North America for 2012? According to AnimeCons.com, A-Kon is number 6 with 21,982 participants. You're talking about super cramped space if the numbers keep growing, and it stayed at the Sheraton in Downtown Dallas. ^^; For more information about A-Kon, visit www.a-kon.com.
Originating in Houston back in 2004, this is one of the smaller conventions here in Texas, with its first year having about 3,000 attendees. The numbers have been growing slightly as each year passes, up to about 7,000 or so attendees as of 2011. Mind you, these numbers are a very rough estimate. Oni-Con was the very first convention I ever attended in my life back when it was at the George R. Brown Convention Center. The year, 2007, to be exact. Boy, was I mind-blown. I've met so many awesome guests and artists here that it has driven me to keep going to more and more conventions afterwards. Now, it's moved to beachy Galveston at the San Luis Convention Center, and it's gorgeous out there! XD The point is Oni-Con is still a convention I recommend going to if it's your first time. Start out small and work up to the bigger ones, like A-Kon. I promise you'll have a lot of fun. For more information, please go to www.oni-con.net. As of now, their website has not been updated with the latest information, but it will be as it gets closer to the dates of the event.
What's in store next? Conventions part 2! More conventions that I've been to... Which there aren't that many. Well, stay tuned in! Until next time! =D
So you want to get into Cosplay? Here are few ways (that I know of) to get you started. :D
Start From Scratch!
What do I mean by that? You're starting from nothing and bringing that something to existence. Every great project starts with a little planning. After the planning is done, time to go shopping for materials! Fabric, embellishments, wood, PVC, duct tape, glue, thread... I can just keep going and going like the Energizer bunny because the various types of materials that people use are endless. From there, all you need is the motivation to drive your creative spirit to putting that project into the works. *cough* Deadlines for conventions *cough cough*
Do you have minimal skills when it comes to putting a costume together? Why not thrift it? In other words, go shopping for pieces of clothing to modify and put together. A good place to go for thrifting is a second-hand store (also known as a thrift store), which is where a lot of people go to in order to find those unique pieces that could work out for them. Definitely a cheaper way to go if you don't have the funds or a lot of time on your hands.
navy tie - ebay (I modified it with glued red and white ribbons);
school patch - ebay
Buy It Online!
No skills or time whatsoever but have the money? By all means, buy it pre-made or ask someone to commission a cosplay for you. It is perfectly fine to buy your costumes. Sure, there are people who will look down those who do, but don't let that stop you from cosplaying. If you're like me, you cosplay for the fun of it, and it doesn't matter what others think. A lot of people go to Ebay because it's fairly cheap compared to other websites, but there may be just a few that happen to be cheaper. When it comes to buying, look for good quality and accuracy at the lowest price possible. It's what I do. =P
So... What to cover next... Guess you'll just have to stay tuned in until next time. :)
What's the difference between Halloween and Cosplay? Cosplay is all year round!
Where to Go? Conventions: The place to be if you want to see some awesome costumes that people put so much hard work and time into building. Whether they're simple or highly detailed, cosplayers would wear and show off their masterpieces at conventions, like Comic Con, Anime Expo, A-Kon, and lots more. They would even enter them into contests to win awards. However, all in all, a convention is the most common location where you will be able to see such awesomeness. =D
Like many social clubs everywhere, cosplay has meet-ups, too! In fact, I just went to one this past weekend. XD Basically, cosplayers would come to a meeting spot to just chill and have fun. With these kinds of events, it would much be preferred to wear very simple or casual costumes rather than the elaborate and ornate costumes, like those involving armor or large props. Something that would be fairly comfortable to the wearer. Of course, it's up to the cosplayer to choose what costume to wear at whatever time and place, so no judging here.
That's right. Your school and school clubs are bound to have a couple of cosplayers here and there. I'm definitely one of many, here at the University of Houston. *plug for the anime club* Anime no Kai is one organization where you can find such people, especially at their Halloween or End of Semester Party. =P
If you're lucky to get the chance to go overseas to another country, you'll definitely find even more cosplayers there. That is for sure. There's always a chance to bump into one, no matter where you go. You just got to know where to look. ;)
That's all I have for now. I know there are many more events and locations, but these are the three types of locations that I know of so far. XD
I shall talk about the different ways to construct your cosplay next time. Until then, see you later! ^v^
What is cosplay? Cosplay is a combination of the words, "costume" and "play." People of all demographics from all around the world, known as "cosplayers", dress up as their favorite characters from anime, manga, TV series, video games, comic books, and much, much more. To make it fun, they would bring the character to life by acting as them while in costume, also known as role play.
What is so neat about cosplay? Anyone can do it! There are various ways to get started. Lots of people build or make their costumes from scratch. They start by drafting a pattern, then find the necessary materials, and start their projects. Of course, there are other options when it comes to putting a cosplay together. I know there are quite a few creative people who go out and thrift-shop for their costumes at second-hand stores. They would obtain and modify the pieces to how they see fit for the particular outfit they are trying to replicate. If you don't know how to sew or where to start, you can always buy your costumes pre-made. A rather more expensive route, but it's a starting point. After all, everyone has got to start somewhere. =) Want to know more? Stay tuned to find out what sort of interesting stuff I can bring to you. ^v^
