Masquerade - Placeholder

[Freyarule]

Yes, a small question, my Freya I am planning to enter in the masquerade, and I am planning to only store-buy the jacket and jeans, but I plan to modify them by various means like ripping, patching, stitching patterns etc etc.
Would that then count as a modified outfit? Sorry if you have to repeat yourself, just double checking before I start buying them.

[Granny Gertrude]

How modified is modified enough is not really a question we can answer at this early juncture.

This thread (as discussed at the top) is for very general questions at the moment- the exact shape of the event is not known before consultation etc. There are just too many unknown variables for us to be certain. For example, if the main event organisers were to say 'double the size of the Masquerade' (unlikely, but they are advertising it as the largest in the UK which was not true in 2008 so maybe they are planning for a change in 2009?) that would change an awful lot.

Thanks for your understanding and patience.

[Yamidragon]

i know this is the wrong place to post this but i don't think you have an appropriate thread-
can someobdy please change this website's clock to the right time? It is an hour too fast and its driving me nuts! XDDD

[Granny Gertrude]

Uh... will post in the secret bas... admin forum. I'm not sure where to put that either!

[temari_of_the_sand]

can i suggest something?
if you have enterants a month before hand, it shouldnt be 1st come 1st served, how about they attach a photograph of them in their cosplay as well as the referance picture, and a description on the skit or solo.
this way you could say quicker 'these where brought, these where made' and even select the best (you could do this with a group of admins or ask someone completely away from the mcm expo) and pick out those who will be entered for the masquerade.

the kissing skit: its boring now, its ok the 1st... 2 or 3 times.. but its just a cheep fangirl sqweel.

ive had a solo skit planed for about 2 years and had one planned out with xxkyrosxx as sarah and jareth, baised on the ballroom scene but a 'cut down' version, we know people can be easily bored if its the same thing continuously happening or not enough action (the 'sperm hellsing' group here had a catchy song with an amusing skit so it kept everyone entertained.. having 4 girls dancing the same dance that everyones seen dozens of times, even if they dance it perfectly, its now boring as we know what happens)

i think the masquerade is still brilliant, you guys do an awesome job!

[Granny Gertrude]

The issue with forcing people to send photos was discussed when we considered making progress photos mandatory - not everyone owns a digital camera or scanner. Some people argue that most places going in advance disadvantages those without the internet- this would be more extreme than that. The cosplayers survey last year indicated that forcing peole to send in photographs was too harsh- their decision, not ours (but I must admit I agreed with it).

People have enough difficulties just sending a bloomin' reference picture in as well. If we took places away from people who failed to send in pictures in a timely fashion it would work, but I'd imagine we'd be decapitated at the event o_O
Seriously - most people completely fail to send references or music / requests in a timely fashion, and a significant proportion send nothing (or nothing useful at any rate). I suppose that would sort out the oversubscribed element to the event!

I can put it into the survey, however given the strong opposition to 'elitism' in the UK cosplay scene I suspect I know what the result will be.

[SephNoir]

I really don't think it'd be fair to try and judge if a costume was bought or made based on one photo considering how high the level of costuming is getting now. I know some people judge the way the seams are finished as few people have the ability to overlock the seams but some of us actually own one.
In all honesty, I think the idea of picking the "best" costumes just comes off as being pretty elitist even if done by the judges beforehand. People improve over time and getting shot down at the beginning when their costumes maybe aren't the best compared to others doesn't really give you a great deal of confidence to continue. Chances are we'd probably end up with majoritally the same people each time and no one new would be able to enter because they lacked the experience.

While the progress images are a good idea, Joe is definitely right about trying to get everyone to send them in or bring them on the day. I know I barely take any progress photos even now cosplay island encourages people to do so, when you're trying to get something done and are running short on time I know taking photos certainly don't even cross my mind.

[Yatak]

Bah, sucks for people with artistic talent like mine but it just makes me more eager to learn to make my own costumes.

Seems ill be busy sewing after may .


But i do understand why you do it, i would certainly agree that hand made costumes are amazing and should be the ones to show off .



(The ones from october were insane! :O)

[Regasssa]

I don't know about the threat of elitism. It was my first expo in October, so there you go...but the thing is...the Masquerade is a competition - the best entrants win prizes. There have to be entry rules in a competition. If you entered a Blue Peter competition with a picture you'd stolen off the Internet, you'd deserve to be disqualified. I think if people are genuinely interested in winning the prize, they make an effort to be original - and that means not kissing. And the people who just want to get on stage and have a laugh...well...it's a different thing, really. The fact is that the judges are going to have a hard time deciding even when there's only a handful of costumes in a whole bunch that really have the chance -to- win.

If there is the threat of not having enough entrants...wow. I saw so many awesome handmade costumes, it's hard to believe, but I can see why. And if it's the threat of losing interest from non-cosplayers who go to watch the comedy. Well yeah, there's that involved too. It's a whole barrel of worms.

I tell you what; I watched some awesome impromptu 'skits' over the weekend that weren't done on stage but outside. I know that the organisers can't arrange that kind of thing - health and safety and stuff - but someone organising a place and time to do 'comedy' and 'drama' stuff somewhere else and off the expo planning, like the way the photoshoots are organised, might be healthier in the long run. It might sift off some of that excess, and give oppurtunities to the people who are i.e. Organisation XIII or Akatsuki and have all bought costumes to do silly things and get whoops and cheers for gay kisses. For some reason, I seriously want to see a Final Fantasy style battle played out in the area outside >.>

And that's weird that people don't get their music/photos in. Even if you hadn't finished your costume by that point... I'd be so afraid of losing my place that I'd have them in before the end of the week, lol

[Mio_Mio_Chocobo]

I agree with the above, sending in a photo of your costume (not reference) when you apply for the masquerade is a rubbish seeing as most people havent finished their costume by then!

Well maybe thats just me when i have my costume sprawled in pieces all over the floor haha.

But with the elitism, perhaps gradually over time expo could follow the same regime that most of the american cons do? Having novice, intermediate and higher catergories? That way people who are quite new to the cosplay scene can get a fair reward and people who veterans in it also get recognition. Cause I know what its like to have your confidence left in tatters when you see what your up against in a masquerade and know you have no chance. Just an idea ^-^

[Heimdall]

I agree with the above, sending in a photo of your costume (not reference) when you apply for the masquerade is a rubbish seeing as most people havent finished their costume by then!

QFT, some costumes take a while to do. I know I finished my Crown Clown Omega two days before the Expo so it would be unfair to choose people solely on the fact that you had finished before someone else.

I personally think that the way it was handled this year was perfect, first come first served. And also the fact that they only let made costumes in, although I have to say that I did question some of the entries as self made.

[Granny Gertrude]

Re the 'american way'

This crops up annually and its EXACTLY what I was skirting round when mentioning UK cosplay community's resistance to 'elitism' - can I ask NOW that people don't start flaming here about the idea (as there is nowt wrong with it as an idea and is something we should regularly re-examine), I've seen the discussions before so please assume I'm aware of them and keep it civil here ^^;

The american cosplay scene and the number of events that they have are a completely different order of magnitude to the UK scene- if we were to introduce such a system we would have to hope that enough of the right people entered on the right day to have a category- a premier league made of previous winners (for example) would have very few entries present generally.

Then there's the matter of sponsors for the prizes- 'Sponsor of the Mediocre Category' doesn't sound great.

As ever, I'm happy to include the possibility in consultation, however experience tells me cosplayers like the friendly British scene rather than the often unpleasant, elitist, tiered US system, so regardless of the practicalities I can't imagine it being voted in. Indeed, I can think of a goodly number of people who would boycott the event if we did introduce that system.

As I've stated previously when this kind of matter crops up- I honestly believe that if you're entering to compete rather than to enjoy yourself, then you are doing yourself and the hobby a disservice. We should revel in our enjoyment of the hobby and the company of other cosplayers. Winning is when someone wants your photograph, wants to know how you made your costume, excitedly squeals that your cosplaying their favourite character... and if I could get rid of the official winning I would. Not everyone's view I know, and I'm not going to enforce my opinion on the Masquerade, but I thought I'd say my piece.

Will add it to the list, and if its what people want, so be it.

[temari_of_the_sand]

sorry guys i didnt mean it thad badly or elitist,
i appreciate that people dont have cameras and scanners and arnt finnished (i tend to make mine in the month leading up to the expo too) im just trying to think of ways to have less of the turning away entrants on the day for having brought costumes and more spaces for those who make their cosplays.
im sorry!

i enjoy cosplaying itself much more then the going on stage, being able to go around as the character, meeting people who you have never met before and learning soo many new things over the 2 days.
im sorry again >.< T-T

[Fullmetal_Dani]

"YAAAY I WON A PRIZE IN THE RUBBISH COSTUME CATEGORY!" xD That would be so bad!

Meeehhh just keep the masq how it is xD

[Granny Gertrude]

Hey temari (and all!) - no need for sorries! Apologies if I came across a little harshly everyone- its a bit hard to adopt a casual conversational style on the forums... or hard for me at least ^_^;

The Masq ain't perfect. It probably won't ever BE perfect because too many people have different things they want from it (I can't imagine the free hug on stage kiss crowd ever perfectly reconciling with some of the other people on this thread for example) and the politics and complications as well as the style of event that Expo is means a number of good ideas get nobbled.

It helps us to go through the various 'what if' scenarios such as forcing construction photos, vetting skits, tiered skill level categories for several reasons:

- Things change. What doesn't work or isn't popular one year may be popular or practical next year, for any number of reasons.
- Just because we couldn't work out a solution previously doesn't mean some bright spark won't come up with something in the future.
- Cosplayers get a better idea and level of expectation about what goes into the events and the kind of factors that get juggled.

So its always valuable to have these discussions. Its also interesting to note that cosplayers don't always realise eg how disorganised the average masquerade entrant is >.< or how people fall into the trap of thinking they are speaking a universal truth on behalf of all Cosplay-kind as opposed to merely their own opinion - something I'm please to say doesn't seem to be happening as much here these days...

[Regasssa]

or how people fall into the trap of thinking they are speaking a universal truth on behalf of all Cosplay-kind as opposed to merely their own opinion - something I'm please to say doesn't seem to be happening as much here these days...

Lol - I was just reading a thread elsewhere on the Internet that was talking about how the best way to get a reaction from the crowd was kissing, and everyone seemed to agree. If everyone thought the same way about stuff, we wouldn't be a community, we'd be a movement. So when it comes to debate, there's always going to be more than just one - and often more than just two opinions.

As for reconciling...well, a lot of people I know are the kiss on stage kind of people. I eat out with them, go to the cinema with them, enjoy yaoi with them. Just because they'd love a chance to go up in front of other people and make out doesn't disqualify them as enjoyable people to spend time around

Edit: Rather than post again below, I thought in regard to the post below mine that I'd warn you that mine's going to be huge too, and if I get it to work the way I want it to, I'm going to need deck hands to fold the wings back up again. But that all depends on it working properly, and since I haven't started yet, who knows.

[Ikkaku_Madarame]

A different direction to the topic but aimed at anyone who can answer.... in future... (oct09 i hope) is their any possibility of the stage door being expanded somewhat (in both directions) because the costume i wish to enter is a little bit big :\
( http://www.cosplayisland.com/costume/view/5761 ) i know this is somewhat off topic but i wanted to know because i need to change my plans if problems arise.. if this is too far off topic please let me know and i shall punch myself in the groin accordingly

-Wayne

[Yatak]

A different direction to the topic but aimed at anyone who can answer.... in future... (oct09 i hope) is their any possibility of the stage door being expanded somewhat (in both directions) because the costume i wish to enter is a little bit big :\
( http://www.cosplayisland.com/costume/view/5761 ) i know this is somewhat off topic but i wanted to know because i need to change my plans if problems arise.. if this is too far off topic please let me know and i shall punch myself in the groin accordingly

-Wayne

That costume oozes awesome.

[Ikkaku_Madarame]

LOL thanks yatak ^^ , my preliminary designs for DOG are around 5foot wide and 7/8foot tall..

[RanmaSyaoranSaotome]

I'll have the same problem if I do a Tachikoma in October (If everything goes to plan) I'll need a VERY large space to get on the stage >_>

[hakuloveszabuza]

I know that your guys are limited to what you can do but another idea (depending on what costumes are entered for the masquerade and on what day) which might be helpful is trying to have a holding area for people with big costumes. Maybe those people could warn you when signing up and you could put them all together and have one of the cosplay helpers get them when it is nearly time to do on stage? Or place these people towards the back of the queue and have them all on at the end...just an idea but I know I will have a large weapon and bulky costume for May and apart from getting it damaged I would also hate to damage someone elses costume or block up the queue ^^

[Reser]

I know that your guys are limited to what you can do but another idea (depending on what costumes are entered for the masquerade and on what day) which might be helpful is trying to have a holding area for people with big costumes. Maybe those people could warn you when signing up and you could put them all together and have one of the cosplay helpers get them when it is nearly time to do on stage? Or place these people towards the back of the queue and have them all on at the end...just an idea but I know I will have a large weapon and bulky costume for May and apart from getting it damaged I would also hate to damage someone elses costume or block up the queue ^^

surely the people with big costumes should go on first? I have always thought this, like the catbus, it must have been mega hot in there, and if they have to stand for an 1-2 hours in that costume it would be terrible..

[Ikkaku_Madarame]

i concur with Reser, larger costumes that are specified as being uncomfortable to be in for long periods of time should be allocated further foreward in the que to make sure the cosplayer in question is fatigued or anything right before their performance.
and reguarding the 'holding area' hakuloveszabuza is implying, when i made Ikkaku's Bankai in oct2007 i was allowed to store it backstage before the masquerade but was only given barely enough time (2places infront of me if i recall) to re-assemble my mess and get it all on in time .. an area that the people can be with their costume backstage if they need to be out of it would be a great option to some, and could mean maybe adding just a curtain over the other enterance to the stage so people cant see back there...

[Yamidragon]

again, I know this is a little off topic, just to show how widely known the caramelldansen is now- I was sitting in burger king today, and they played it 0_o but yes i do agree that skits involving the "same old" are never gonna be too popular- clever writing all the way