More Than The Costume

[Dark.Alcyone]

Hey, a lurker!  GET 'ER!

Hi, all:  some of you may know me as one of the KH2 Riku's  (Sora with awesome wig was my buddeh) from last year's con, and what a great con that was!  Whoo! 

However, I found that with the lack of sleep and the sheer adrenalin rush that came with waking up each day to the events of Kcon, I was hardly able to stay in character.   I don't know about anyone else, but when I dress up in costume I tend to assume the temperament of the character I'm trying to emulate, or at least that's how I get the most enjoyment out of a costume I've made. 

Take, for example, Seifer from KH2 or Final Fantasy VIII.  Normally no one in their right mind would condone the actions of such an a-hole, but in a con setting it just makes for some serious semi-LARP fun.  Especially if you add on something non sequitur like a freaking Pepsi.  You remember the Seifer cosser that tried to take over KCon with just his Hyperion and a can of soda?  xD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSRmlYm-VQE  <--- for your viewing and informational pleasure.

The same applies to characters of all different temperaments and moods.

What I'm getting at here is that I simply want to know everyone's opinion on this practice of acting in a character's role, and how often do you really put effort into maintaining that facade?  What's behind your guys' costumes this year?

[nikkiolie]

I am going to have a hard time getting into character for Albel Nox. Temari wont be hard because I am naturally a independent strong woman, but being a cold, friendless, mean, egotistical, semi-feminine man is going to be much harder. I need to nail the personality down at this con so come Sakuracon time when I am with my Star Ocean group I will fit in and not just be someone wearing a costume.

I think the personality plays a huge part in cosplay. You need to be the character. I am going to start practicing in my room at night and during small meet ups to try to get it nailed.

[Dark.Alcyone]

I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one that spends hours on end in my room practicing a demeanor.  (Though the going gets tough when you force your voice to go much lower than its natural range for that long.)

[Hazuza]

Practicing in a room won't do me any good xD I'm usually really quiet at home, but as soon as I get together with my con friends, MADNESS ENSUES.

My character for monday is really angsty, modest, and hates crowds. Definitely gonna be hard to pull off for someone as hyper as me |D;; At the last meetup I cosplayed as him, I was pretty much the complete opposite, and acted rather like the other main character of my series. (shouting IM HUNGRY every other second ouo)

Hopefully though... by monday I'll be tired enough to act like him. If I have a headache (as he gets in crowds) it'll be easy enough |D; *bangs head on the wall a few times on saturday*

At least not so many people know this character, so it won't matter for most of the places I'm in ouo

[Dark.Alcyone]

-strokes chin-  And who might this character be?

[Darknight2433]

^ lawl I know! ^^

And for me, the characters I like most do -not- fit my personality at many conventions, so this year I chose a secret one that's pretty popular but still way fun to be as.  I'll have a lot of fun doing it while still being in costume!

[veraca]

Agreed, madness ensues once I join my costume friends.

Thankfully, I'm cosplaying a MMORPG character for one of my costumes which generally she has no personality. The plot hasn't revealed her to be over hyper or anything, just sort of a "Diva" as her name implies.... More of a nice one it appears though.

However, I'm not sure how I'd do with Yuna considering she's quiet and unsure sometimes and other times she's headstrong.

*shrug* If I could just get my Roxas cosplay complete I'd be a perfect him. Right height, build, and even natural attitude: quiet, stubborn, "dont touch me axel" rule, and somewhat sarcastic XD; That's me to a pin.

[Dark.Alcyone]

-thirds madness motion-

[BlackjackGabbiani]

Hmm. I'm usually pretty in character as JP given that I'm a lot like him anyway.

Quina is tough given that it takes a *lot* of thought to talk like it does, and also I can't eat in that costume.

Oikawa...yeah I'm not doing that to myself. THE AAAAAAANNNNGGST!

Kaede should be interesting. I'll have to publically rant about how flowers should vanish from the world.

[tofutakeout]

oh I definitely try to act like the character I'm going as. usually I try to pick a character I already do sort of act like so I won't go ooc too much or none at all.

[nikkiolie]

I need to get a voice recorder and listen to the different ways to get my voice the best way possible.....maybe I'll just call my cell and leave a message XD

[oslapedo]

I fit into all the characters I'm going as! I'm all over the place

[nikkiolie]

his personality matches mine inner personality so i just have to bring that out, the hardest part will be his voice XD

[oslapedo]

Well at least voice doesn't translate into photos 

[nikkiolie]

yeah that is true. I think I can pull off the Albel look really well ^_^

[oslapedo]

I look forward to seeing it! I think I pull off Kyonko pretty well, and I love wearing the MoHS uniform 

[EveofAbyss]

I have no problem whatsoever being in character for both of my costumes. Barret Wallace is a tough and stern, doesn't speak much but when he does it is usually something gruff, lol. That is already me, before I even cosplayed as him I was already Barret, lol.

The same goes for Azul. He is a man of few words, and usually lets his size and sheer intimidation speak for him. I can't say I ever intend to act that way, but that is more often than not the end result when people first see me: intimidated, heh.

But I really do like to go all out as far as staying in character goes. I am those people for those three days or so. If I'm wearing the costume, I am that person. That's all there is to it.

[misamisa]

Oh, I practice in the mirror, LOL.  If you know the character Takano, she has some pretty distinct facial expressions.  So I do creepy things with my eyes, practice her laugh and try to find a voice that matches the character.  She has a lot of different facets to her personality, so it's been pretty fun.
For Tohma, he's closer to my regular personality.  It's easy being pimp.  XD  Speaking in a more masculine demeanor may be strange for me though.  Luckily they do give him a female voice actor in the japanese anime, lol.  I kind of sound like that.
Kyoko I'm not practicing anything for.  I guess I did do a few sweet, wistful smiles.  No wait, I posed with the broom a lot.

[LtCommanderRichie]

The one thing I find myself to be good at in this field is voice impressions. So yeah, even if I don't act much like the character I'll at least sound like them. And I don't do it just for one little bit, if I'm wearing a costume I'll be talking like that character until I take the darn thing off.

I suppose though, with Yuffie I'll be pretty good at just what the heck it is I'll be acting like. Happy, sneaky, conneiving little booger with lots of materia!

As Demyx, though, I dunno if I'll be able to act like him. The guy's freaking bi-polar. I swear to you, it's true.

But voices are fun. Deeeeefinitely fun.

[Nekochi]

I'm always in character for pictures (unless I'm doing something purposefully out of character like posing as Sailor Moon while wearing my Princess Mars costume) and I might be in character part of the rest of the time, but honestly, I'm mostly just myself. I'm there to have fun and sometimes acting in character isn't fun. Case in point... Last year I cosplayed as Chika-kun from Ouran, but I didn't let that stop me from indulging my sweet tooth at the Host Club tea party. I wouldn't have had very much fun acting in character the whole time I was there because that would have meant that I'd be forced to watch others eat sweets while I was left out. There was also the fact that by that point I had lost my glasses with the nonprescription lenses and to stay in character would have meant borrowing a friend's glasses. As I have 20/20 vision, wearing someone else's glasses would have meant that I wouldn't be able to see and would have soon gotten a headache.

[nikkiolie]

I still need to work on my voice....I have been putting that off for a while.....>_>

[majinekochan]

I second Nekochi's opinion about the pictures, but when I'm just hanging I tend not to care about character. Although I do tend to be aloof like Olivia, but that's because I'm naturally introverted and shy in big groups.

[misamisa]

There was also the fact that by that point I had lost my glasses with the nonprescription lenses and to stay in character would have meant borrowing a friend's glasses. As I have 20/20 vision, wearing someone else's glasses would have meant that I wouldn't be able to see and would have soon gotten a headache.

But...if they'd really been prescription lenses and you didn't need them, then you REALLY REALLY would've been in character!! XD
Yes, but that is a terrrrrible idea.  If I even just try on prescription glasses temporarily sometimes when I take them off, my eyesight's messed up for a few seconds.  And I worry it won't go back to normal, but it does!

[TomtheFanboy]

I am so out of character that sometimes I forget I'm in costume. Usually I'm too busy to be in character all the time. I think it's great when people walk around in character all the time, like when Sasuke was following me at the Earlycon and when I ran into Kenton he just brooded in the background.

It's also funny when someone goes completely AGAINST character. Like when the same sasuke was singing "PEGASI!" in a high pitched voice. Or when the little girl from the RING danced down the hallway to the DDR mix of Butterfly.

[nikkiolie]

I could easily be in character for Albel. All I would have to do is put myself in a bad mood before I left the house