Kumoricon Cosplay Competition
Our Cosplay Competition a Hybrid Presentation/Construction contest that is loosely based on Sakura Con’s competition in 2001-2002.
Judging
We maintain two judging panels. One panel has great expertise in costuming and will only be judging hand made costumes created by the wearer, someone in attendance that made the costume for the wearer, or in the case of a group, the group member that made the costumes for the group. Though sometimes purchased costume parts are unavoidable (shoes as an example), the vast majority of the costume must be hand made. Purchased costume pieces that have been significantly altered may be allowed into the costume portion of the judging on a case-by-case basis, but the standard for this will be high. Reference material must be provided! Not all of the judges know whom you are portraying. A picture of your character in the outfit you are wearing is fine.
If you just wish to enter Costume Judging and not do a skit, you may do a walk on performance. Model your costume for the audience and then you will be escorted to the costume judging area. Music is highly suggested for this.
The second judging panel will be looking at the presentations for entertainment value. Skits must be anime/Japanese video game/Japanese Culture Based. We don’t care where your costume came from, as long as your entry form accurately discloses if your costume is handmade, purchased, borrowed, rented, found or any combination there of. (We draw the line at stolen!). In the case of a tie or close competition, Costume Construction will be used as a tiebreaker. Also, as long as your skit follows the Anime Based rule, if you have a good reason to have a “non-anime” character be a part of your skit, this is allowed. Please keep in mind, if you make the decision to use “non-anime” characters in your skit, please pay EXTRA attention to the skit being anime/Japanese video game/Japanese Culture Based. We think when used creatively, this can make the contest even more entertaining, but (as an example) if “Sponge Bob, Square Pants” shows up in a skit, he needs to be doing something very Japanese. This rule will continue to be evaluated each year. (Non-Anime or Japanese based costumes are not eligible for costume awards).
Registration:
Cosplay Registration forms will be available at the Information Desk. A sign with the exact time the forms will be available will be posted during registration. There will be two pre-meetings with rehearsal time. Your pre-meeting time will be listed on the top of your form and you will have your choice of time as long as spots for that time are available. There will only be as many forms as there are performance spots, so once you have your form, you have a spot! Since your spot is guaranteed, please take the time to write neatly so the information can be easily entered into a computer with correct spelling! But, PLEASE return the form to information desk as soon as you are done so the volunteers have as much time as possible to enter the data.
Pre-Show, Performance, and After Performance
There will be an announced set time and meeting place for all of us to get together before the contest. At this time the presentation order will be announced and any last minute questions can be answered. It is our goal for all of the contestants to have seating to watch the performances. A volunteer will bring the group that is next to perform to the waiting area next to the stage, and after you perform another volunteer will bring you to the next phase of the competition. Note: You will be exiting from the opposite side of the stage! For some people, this will mean going back to a seat. For Best Costume competitors, this will mean being escorted to the Costume Judging Area. After your costume is judged, please return and sit with your group.
Intermission
We have special entertainment for intermission. Baka Zoku, the Award Winning Cosplay entertainment group from the Seattle Area will be performing. After this, there will be an opportunity for some lucky competitors and staff to take place in additional entertainment for the crowd.
Results
As sometimes it seems to take a long time for the judges to come back with the many decisions that need to be made, Certificates for the winning Cosplayers will not be printed until after the awards are announced. This will avoid spelling errors and should cut down on some of the wait time.
Details
30 entrants/groups only. If there are a lot of walk on entries, we might be able to add additional participants, but there are no guarantees. Group limit, up to 10 people.
We ask that you aim for a two to three minute time limit. This seems to be the optimal time for judge and audience attention, and you don’t want the judges getting bored, do you? At 3:30 minutes, you will be given a signal warning you to wrap up the performance within 30 seconds; the performance will be ended for you at the 4-minute mark. We feel this gives the group a chance to not just get cut off and to logically end the skit.
Volunteers may compete. Staff members may get together and do a non-competitive staff skit. Staff will also find that there will be some opportunity for participation during intermission.
We don’t have a place to plug your costume in! If you need power, think self-contained battery packs.
Got a bunch of props? Make sure your group can set them up on their own in a reasonable amount of time and that they fit through average sized doors. We cannot provide storage for props unless advance arrangements have been made.
Weapons. No Live Steal, no projectiles. And don’t point that thing at me! Or anyone else not in your skit for that matter. Weapons must be peace bonded in advance and shown to the Cosplay Director at the pre meeting.
Music. Music and sound effects are cool. They can really add to your performance. Please do us a favor and if you are going to be giving us a CD, please place it in an inexpensive CD case that we can write on (or put a sticker on). That way we can put your group number on it and there is a much better chance we won’t mess up and you’ll get your stuff back. Also, if it’s in a case, we won’t scratch it up. Please make sure we know which track to use. We can only start a CD at the beginning of a track and we can’t pause it once it is started. If you need to start in the middle of a song, I suggest the free program, Audacity. It’s not that hard edit out the beginning of a song and insert silence. Write to me IN ADVANCE of the convention for help.
There will be microphones available. It’s best to do your dialogue right into them. Maybe you feel it would be more natural if you turned your back to the audience to talk to the guy behind you, but really, the audience wants to hear you.
Very, very minimal lighting effects will be allowed. (Nothing more complicated then dimming or raising the lights at times.)
Oh, I hate to do this, but for insurance and safety, no jumping. The stage just isn’t made for that and though Backflipping Lupin III was one of the highlights of last year, it’s just too much of a liability. (Gomen!) This includes on the floor near the stage as well.
No yucky stuff that could get stuck on the stage or make it slippery. Water, confetti, peanut butter… none of that.
If it’s covered by a non-thong bathing suit, make sure it’s covered on stage. And by covered, that does not include see through netting. Covered means covered by something that one can’t see through. All entrants must be in costume. An exception can be made if someone’s character is an “Uber Anime Fan,” but let’s not have too many of those.
One Skit or Walk on per person. NO EXCEPTIONS. Each person may only be part of one act.
Beth
aka Sailor Naboo
2001 Sakura Con Best Costume ('Knights in White Satin'' - all 9 costumes!)
2002 Sakura Con Cosplay Judge
2003 Baka Zoku 2003 (Judges Choice Award)
2003 Kumori Con Cosplay Director
2004 Sakura Con Anime Improv 404s with the Voice Actors
2004 Kumori Con Cosplay Director
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