Post HobbyCon 2012

Just came back from Kota Kinabalu today. I was there over the weekend for HobbyCon, was invited there together with Kitska to help judge for their cosplay competitions. (So for those of you who were at EOY and L2P and wondering where I was, there you have your answer.)

The event was rather small, compared to what we are used to over here in Singapore, but it was fun and passionate all the same. Julian and his team put in an impressive amount of effort to pull this event together year after year, and I really have to salute them for the work and dedication that they show. Granted, neither Kitska and I were proposed to this time, and nobody were sending us off at the airport with teary eyes (that's a story for another day), but the event was fun all the same, (Got flowers though, from a couple of guys, and little swoons and sighs from the girls. ^_^)

We were hoping for more entries for the competition though, but nevertheless, the standard was reasonably high. Kits and I did have some problems deciding on the winners and given that we didn't have the chance to give our comments on the second day, for the group competition, we received some feedback that there were some who were rather puzzled by the decision we made. I don't pretend to be an expert, and I won't speak for Kits or Jna either. But I suppose my decision-making process is heavily influenced by my experience, both in cosplay and in theatre. 11 years of cosplaying, visiting different cosplay events both locally and internationally (Asia and Europe), and taking part in WCS selections…. I'm hoping that does count for something.

Anyway- in my opinion, cosplay competitions come down to three basic things, even if the exact formula may change year after year (especially for high profile competitions like WCS, the standard just increases exponentially with each year):


1. Choose the right character

I'm not even referring to the potential anthill here about how POC shouldn't cosplay, etc etc etc. No, I think there's something even more fundamental than that: age, personality and interest. There's seriously nothing that makes me feel dirtier than seeing a twelve year old girl cosplay say, Panty. (No, that didn't happen at HobbyCon, THANK GOD.) When you cosplay, you are inviting others to imagine you as the character you are cosplaying as. But when you are obviously underage, with all the awkwardness of a child who have not grown into your features, it's really pretty disturbing to see you cosplay someone that is iconic for their sex appeal.

(It's like seeing a fifteen year old girl cosplay from Bible Black. What are you even doing KNOWING the series?!)

Of course, personality is important too. The camera doesn't lie, and when you are uncomfortable with your character's personality, it's glaringly obvious.


2. Know the limits of your costume (and know what to flaunt too.)

None of us have a perfect body shape, and not everything we wear is going to be flattering on us. So know what the limitations of your costume are and HIDE THEM. For example, I really won't want to see someone in a skin-tight body suit thrusting his crotch in my face. No, just NO.

Likewise, if your construction is so good that it actually overcomes the limitations, then flaunt it! Let me give you an example: most of us assume while armor cosplays look good, they trade off flexibility and personality. (How do you even show personality when your face is covered, if you think about it?) But if you manage to overcome there, then show that you can use your body language to communicate the personality of your character, and show that you can dance the Gangham style in full armor. If you can do that, then you have won everybody's respect.


3. Know your audience (and keep them entertained)

When you take part in a competition, you are taking your cosplay to another level. You cannot just get away with looking good on photos. You have to look good on stage too. And the problem with stage is that you are performing for a live audience - an audience who will cheer (or jeer), an audience who can get bored and WILL walk away if you can't entertain them. And audience gets bored when any of the following things happen:

- no idea what the hell is happening on stage (this usually happens when your audio track is not clear. stop blaming the PA system, especially when nobody else seems to have that problem. this also happens if you assume that your audience has as much knowledge as you do about your characters.)
- you take too long to set up (if you can't set up your stage in half a minute, you are taking too long.)
- your performance is predictable (why do I want to waste my time watching something that I already know the ending of? something needs to be happening on stage all the time. give me something to go 'wow' about every half a minute.)

Generally, if you don't hear your audience cheering for you (and no, I'm not talking about the friends you plant in the audience) mid-performance, you know you are done for.


There are probably more points to take note of, but these are my knee-jerk responses whenever anybody ask me about cosplaying. In any case, Comic Fiesta is coming up!! Who's going?