 The previous
time this author went to a costumers' panel, the people on hand spoke about
the best way to make an accurate and convincing outfit. In Nashville, the
talk was abut what to do with the costume after it's finished. Dressed
as Gateau from Sorcerer Hunters, costumer Dan T. said that costumes have
to be properly presented when it's time to go on stage for a costume contest.
Each anime convention has its own limits on what entrants can do and not
do on stage, but Dan said it's possible to live within those limits and
make sure that you costume gets a good showing during the contest. |
 The most common
rule in costume contests is a time limit for a stage presentation, usually
intended to make sure that skits don't drag on and bore the audience (or
embarrass the costumer). Dan agrees with the idea of time limits, imposing
them in the contests he runs, and he says cosplayers have to cut down the
size of their skits to make sure they fit within a time limit. He remembered
the time that he was given a two-page script for a skit that had to last
one minute, and had to advise that costumer to edit their work. On the
other hand, it's possible for a costumer to not spend enough time on stage.
Walk-on entries should use all of the times available to make sure that
the judges and audience get a good look at their outfit, but they tend
to rush on and off the stage - often before the contest judges have gotten
a chance to see what the entrant is wearing. |
 For those
who present skits during contests, Dan can't over-emphasize the need to
rehearse the skit so that everyone knows what they will do on stage. Contest
winners get their awards because of effective stagecraft, and that means
getting the presentation right before they go on stage. And part of the
preparation means knowing what music you want played during a skit, and
having that music ready in a fashion that a convention tech crew can use.
Dan recalls the horror story of a recent convention where the entrants
were confused over which music to use. That confusion got so bad that there
was an on-stage argument between the cosplayers and the head of the costume
contest. |
