Cosplay Contest Competeing and Judging Thread

>Yuna or Vanilla from FF in competition
>Wins something every time

>>9388560
>How important is theme to you?

Characters with different themes from the convention don't belong in contests, let alone winning them. Period.

>>9388568
>>9388560
Theme doesn't mean shit. The national circuit over here is featured in the following conventions.

Anime
Pop Culture
Anime and Manga
Anime and Video Games

And then the finals is just straight up anime festival.

>>9388560
Theme doesn't matter as long as the costume is related to some sort of pop culture (anime, comics, video games, etc.). If you think otherwise your opinion is stupid and elitist.

Most important factor is construction. Nothing else comes close. The exception being a heavily makeup/prosthetic reliant character, like Darth Maul or any character with unnaturally colored skin.

Kinda story: I've had really good experiences with con volunteers helping me out with my giant costumes. Leading me up stairs by my holding onto me, making sure I don't trip while walking across the stage, etc. Curious to hear other people's experiences with that, maybe even from a mech suiter.

>What do you feel should be the morst important factors in judging? (Construction, Modeling, Wig Styling, ect.)

Construction and difficulty level are heads and shoulders above everything else for me. "Difficulty" is pretty broad though - that could be through expertise at multiple things (great sewing plus great armor plus a great wig), lots of super clean details or lots of work, or making a piece that's just plain hard to construct. It really grinds my gears when awards get given to whatever looks biggest or most visually impressive even if the construction is mediocre.

I've also given judge's awards to novice cosplayers who are on the right track or putting the right thought process into their outfits, even if the construction isn't quite there yet. My fellow judges have even awarded big prizes almost solely for this kind of thinking, like a group who explained to us that they picked a certain type of fabric because it's more historically accurate. Personally though I don't subscribe to that.

The most important factors in judging should be Construction, mixed with wig and how accurate or unique it is, ontop of just how they presented their costumes. (for me a A++ sewing work might not matter if the wig they're wearing is a ratted mess)

Theme is moderately important? its kind of annoying to see homestuck or something win an award at an anime con, i'm glad most cons are being specific with what is and isn't allowed to enter.

Anyone have any tips on figuring out ideas for a masquerade? me and two other friends are planning to enter Anime Expo this year and can't seem to land on an idea. For me i'd like to just be excited about whatever we make.

>>9388583
i had someone carry my centaur butt over stage because a drunk idiot decided it was a good place to mount my costume. Really like volunteers on almost all conventions, they're really friendly.

I think the biggest factor in a costume should be the amount of techniques used, how complicated they are, and how well they are executed, in addition to how close you are to the reference (hence i look down on original designs in contests).
Excel at all techniques and you deserve to win. Such as resin casting, worbla/foam crafting, leds and electronics, elaborate wigs or own wig making, make-up, sewing.

i see a lot of people winning because they excel in one technique they maybe did for 10 years, which I think is a shame (see leather space marine that won blizzcon, isnt even close to the reference material). Cosplay crafting is a big platform for tons of techniques to try out and master that would suit the reference the best.

For me, theme is irrelevant if your con's masqurade is struggling to get people to sign up. When a con can bring in a lot of cosplayers that want to compete then you can get picky

>tfw sitting at the judging table and staring the ripples in your water cup, which are being caused by the stomps of two obese girls doing an Inuyasha yaoi skit that you're having an incredibly hard time not laughing at.

I don't miss judging.

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>>9388583
Some cons do make a distinction though. I think any con with "anime" in the title puts it in the rules that only Japanese-sourced costumes are accepted. Though I think some have taken steps to make different categories like Anime, Game, Cartoon, Other.

If a judge is worth their salt they love creativity. Examples from my own work:

-Hidden pockets

-I can't wear contacts so I always rig clips into my masks so they just clip on top of my glasses

-I have a hard time keeping zori sandals on my feet since they're so slippery against socks so I added an elastic strap to the back that matched my socks

-A large plushie prop who's mouth unzipped to store my things

-Embroidered some kanji on a jacket and for the hell of it I made sure I embroidered it on in the proper stroke order. I ended up with two Asian girls as my judges who loved this.

Other random tips:

-If the focal point on your costume is armor then take some time to make sure sewn parts like capes have some thought put into them. I saw a really great Judge Galbranth costume lose mostly because his cape was a big piece of fraying quilt cotton.

-Don't ever talk about how something could have been done better or point out any mistakes you made. You will only point out things that they might not notice anyway.

-It helps to show off a ton of techniques and you'll be tempted to make your costume have ALL THE THINGS but I've seen simple costumes that had really top notch craftsmanship with the clothes and wigs beat out subpar costumes with the whole gambit

-If you use safety pins they WILL find them and it will detract from your score.

More than anything make something you love. Winning contests is hard and not usually worth the prize. Don't get stuck with a costume you don't love just because you thought it would win you something.

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Just pick something weird, give it some gimmicks and you'll win a fuckton of local cons. I watched as this asymmetrical thing appeared all over NorCal for a couple years.

I've competed in a variety of contests ranging from small local ones to ECoC so I'll throw in my input here.

The most well run contest I ever participated in was the ECoC at NYCC last year. The categories were separated into different specialties and were Needlework, SFX, Armor, and Larger Than Life. This is probably the best way to categorize things that I've seen as it puts everyone with different skillsets in categories that can be accurately judged. Sakizou cosplays in Needlework, Larger Than Life being cosplays like Warhammer 40k and anything really big. The SFX category is probably the hardest though as it not only combines engineering and technical expertise, but also things like latex and body altering for costumes. Each category had 3 winners and then out of the whole shebang there were 3 best in show. As far as judging goes, it was fair and each winner was well deserved. Each person in the judging room could have easily won a best in show at any of the regular cons down here in Florida, so all in all it was just a really good competition. I had fun and I made a lot of friends and learned a lot from everyone in the contest.

>>9389170
On the completely other spectrum, when it comes to showcases and cosplay competitions that include skits, it's really a luck of the draw. I ended up winning a Best Drama one year as Youngster Joey and my skit was just me telling the pokemon trainer on the end of the phone that their soul belonged to me. It was a small convention and I entered on a whim, but as far as creativity goes when coming up with showcases as long as it's original content, clever, and well executed, it usually does well. Of course, if it's a copy performance from a show or movie (ex: Hellfire from Hunchback), and its performed really well, that usually does well too. More often than not if a showcase has good choreography and good music it'll do well.

Though on a personal note, even if it's a construction based contest, I think that personification of the character is a very important thing. If a person were to enter with a top notch cosplay, but didn't sell me on the character (Unless it was design based and didn't have a personality), then I would give it points for being nice, but I wouldn't pin them as convincing. But that's just me.

Contests are a good way to learn from people around you and get inspiration for future cosplays, so I like them. Competing is a good time.

I cosplayed for about 5 years before entering my first contest. It was the first time I completely made a costume myself. One of the bigger controversies at a larger con near me is if using a model is "fair" for a contest. I've heard complaints when a girl who isn't pretty wins (she had a great costume but wasn't a looker) and complaints when a very simple costume worn by a pretty girl won.

As far as what judges should be looking for, I feel accurate portrayal of the character should be the number one thing. I can't stand a decent looking costume with a flat in-styled wig. OCs and AUs have no place in contests.

>My first cosplay contest as small local con
>End up getting second place
>Friends tell me I got robbed, should have been first
>Think they're just being nice
>See people say the same thing on con forum after con
>Girl who won is friends with all the judges on twitter and facebook
I realize in a small community it's not uncommon for all the more serious cosplayers to know each other and I really didn't think too much about it until other people complained on the forum.

>At an anime con
>Winner of contest is western video game character
>Compared picture of winner to reference photo
>Details are wrong all over the place
>Base body suit isn't even the right material or color.
Seriously why does this happen?

>>9389376
>Seriously why does this happen?

Let friends win to develop their epeen.
Let shit quality win to make winning the championship easier for you or your friends.
Let higher quality place high but never first to reduce chance of rigging being discovered.

>>9389004
This is actually super helpful, thanks anon

Out of curiosity, what if anything are prizes usually like at the average convention masquerade? Just the ribbon/bragging rights, maybe a pass to next year's con, or?
I've heard stories of cons awarding bigger prize packs, con passes or gift certificates but at the same time the big anime con here is literally advertising the fact that the Master category winner gets $20 and a quarter of a sheet of Thibra...is that actually a big deal?

>>9392092
Yeah it's all over the place. Once upon a time I would say it depends on the size of the con. However I've gotten $100 gift cards to Joanns for 1st place at a small con and then a bag of old Otakon merch as a 1st place prize at Otakon. And then that same con that gave out the gift card gave a Mario plushie as a prize for the next year, so you can't even really guarantee the same con gives the same stuff year to year.

Other prizes I've heard of
>Grab bag of anime DVDs and manga of random volume numbers
>Grab bag of random figures and dealers room leftovers
>A replica gunblade (that was award to a group of 5)
>Gift cards to various sponsors like Krylon and Arda
>Just a certificate or trophy

>>9392092
It is all over the place and generally depends on sponsorship. Prizes I've seen at cons I've been to:
>Blizzcon gives away thousands of dollars ($3500 for first in 2014).
>smaller con offered up to $500 dollars cash
>Large regional con gave away a $1500 sewing machine
>A VIP tier badge (worth $500) for next year
>GoH at next year's con, which included a table in AA for selling prints and a comped suite.
>An interview with a voice acting agent

Opinions on a Disney costume winning an event like the masquerade at MCM?
She made the costume herself, but there was nothing that impressive about it aside from LEDs badly wired into the plait.
There were much more 'impressive' cosplays like Mr Freeze, Ana, Batgirl etc

>>9393275
If you're talking about the one at the weekend then you need to understand every single component was done perfectly. Just because someone has something big and flashy doesn't mean it's done well. Something simple and perfectly executed can do well. Also performance does matter.

>>9393315
I never had a close up look at it, from where i was sat is just looked like any standard costume of the character. I'm poking more onto the fact that its a comic convention and it was a disney costume. The same with the performance that also won. The walk-on costume that won did just that, walk on, pose and that's it, the only 'performance' aspect was when the lights dimmed.

>>9393275
>>9393744

MCM stands for 'movie comic media' so there's no issue for a Disney costume to win and/or place at one of their events

What might look impressive on the stage might not look as good when under close scrutiny and vice-versa.

>>9393744
I spoke to her afterwards about the details on her costume. There was a lot of hand embroidery, all of her flowers were hand painted and everything was finished really well. I had a bit of a 'bigger' costume than hers and felt a bit jealous, but after talking to her she definitely deserved it.

>>9393275
She didn't win, she was a runner up.

Also reminder that winners depend on the rules, as in 'at least 80% handmade' etc. And not all entrants are judged, mcm allowed unjudged people to go on stage for fun.

So honestly unless your behind the scenes/in the know you'll never know why the people won did.

But for record saw the mr freeze up close, nice work but missing bits and unfinished in several places. Didn't catch the others though.

The last local con I went to did not have one cosplay judge that actually made their own things. They had a craftsmanship award. I just cannot even comprehend.

What is the point of cosplay judges if they just buy all their shit? I understand not knowing how to sew but understanding props or something but these people did not a single element of any of their cosplays.

>>9393794
It's a toss up sometimes but in general anime cons tend to want actual cosplayers to judge and inspect for quality. Anything Comic related seems to have people just walking onstage to strike a pose and then the judges have to pick based on that. At one comic con the judges were facing the audience from the back of the stage so the contestants were actually facing AWAY from the judges. From where we were backstage we couldn't even tell so by the time we left the stage we realized the judges were behind us and if we had known we would have taken a moment to pose for them as well.

>>9393744
>comic convention
>MCM
I get the feeling you missed the 50 shades of grey adverts a while back and all their other sponsors

>>9393801
NEVER TURN TO THE JUDGES IF THEY'RE ON STAGE IT'S PANDERING AND BAD STAGE WORK IT'S A TEST DON'T DO IT

>>9393830
I understand this, but also how the hell are the judges supposed to judge if they can't actually see the entire costume properly? Isn't the front part kind of important to be able to see? Just seems like a terrible way to set things up

>>9393794
Most cons have a clause that if you want to compete in the costume contest, you can't be part of staff and most cons like to keep their judges as either staff or GoH. This is coming from a person who quit staffing at a con so I could enter the costume contest (I wasn't a judge). Just because the judges are wearing bough cosplays doesn't mean they've never made anything on their own. Why put the time and effort in if you aren't competing? There's a saying, why would I buy a cosplay for $300 when I could spend 100 hours and $900 to make my own?

>>9393801
At the only con I've been to that did this, the judges already saw all the costumes up close and personal at pre-judging. During the stage performances they were more interested in crowd reaction rather than the performances.

>>9393784
Ah, I can understand that then, embroidery is fucking tedious
>>9393787
Yeah I thought his was pretty nice, wasn't present for the ones before the Ana and the girl who danced before her so I think I mostly saw the performances
>>9393814
it was my first Liverpool con, I've only been to Manchester con twice, never paid attention to the adverts before

>>9394030
>the judges already saw all the costumes up close and personal at pre-judging
oh true, hadn't thought of this, that makes sense

i think craftsmanship and styling are important, you better have a well made costume and you better have your shit together, make up and wig wise.

I do think that anime conventions need to loosen up theme a little, these days western cosplays are just a prevalent as anime cosplays. Tho that could be my bias since most of my cosplays are western based. I've wanted to enter at several cons but i couldn't since they barred anything not eastern.

For that reason, i've only entered in one bigger costest and it was a lot of fun. Judging was great, the judges knew their stuff, and since it was my first time they were able to kind help push me along in explaining my costume and pieces to them since i was nervous as hell and kept forgettting about parts that were behind me and i couldn't see.

ended up with winning master craftsmanship for it which felt pretty good

At what point do you count wins as wins when it comes to smaller cons? Like once I entered a contest where only five people entered and I took best over all but it didn't truly feel like a win and I dont count it towards my win count when entering other contests. Or, a different example, I entered the contest at a local comicon and took best advanced but once I looked around I realized I was competing with a bunch of young teenagers who didn't even know what they were doing. Yes, I won awards at both of those conventions but even the thought of adding those "wins" to my total # seems dirty and wrong. Thoughts?

> local video game conv
> guy who is organizing the cosplay contest ask me to be part of the judging panel because he knows me
> fucking good Jack Sparrow cosplayer having the most votes among the judges
> I vote against him winning because it's not video game or anime related

I was a fucking young elitist and I regret it. I wish I could go back in time and give this dude his price.

>>9394677
He was in KH2 so he was video game related anyway. Dude got straight robbed.

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>>9394680
OMG. Really? I feel even worst now. Why nobody told me this back then?
Well, I guess I wasn't the only stupid one in this judge panel.

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>>9394682
>Why nobody told me this back then?

Possible reasons include: no one there actually plays videogames, they didn't want to make you feel like an idiot / fake geek girl or this was before 2005.

>>9394689
It was in 2013 so I guess nobody knew what they were doing or was way too sweet with me.

>>9394656
The only thing "wins" counts towards is some cons say you have to enter certain divisions of Novice, Journeyman, Mater or some other equivalent based on your win count. Even then this is a bad metric because I cosplayed for 6 years before I entered a contest and my skills were basically Journeyman by hte time I started. Also the Novice division is usually packed so you might actually have a better shot by going up. No one actually checks your win count.

If you just want to put that win on that costume's page go ahead, no one cares. If you're trying to build an online reputation you just post saying you're thankful for the award then move on.

>>9389376
Interested as to why you think OC's shouldn't be allowed in contests. I think it depends on the scale of the competition. If it's one where accuracy is a big part, then sure, as they could have just altered their references to match what they made perfectly. But if it's a contest where it's more about craftsmanship and technique, then why not allow OC's?

>>9395536
Because you don't know the source material they'e trying to mimic.What one might perceive as a fuckup could be intentional and it's not worth going down that road.

>>9395545
I see your point, but there's no guarantee judges are familiar with the costume or source material of non original characters either though

>>9395549
Some contests have an original category. And most major contests require that you bring reference pictures. A lot of people miss that this is listed in the rules on the con website and judges get annoyed when they have to pull up stuff on their phone.

>>9395536
This is where we talk about the difference between cosplay and costuming. It's much harder to replicate an existing design than make a costume because if a certain detail just isn't working out you can simply change or remove it. The attention to detail that some cosplayers put into their costumes deserves recognition while an OC or AU just alters the things they don't feel like doing.

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>>9395883
Serious business costume contests like Costume Con are primarily made of 'OC' costumes and have very different rules than anime conventions. Look through all their competitions for some variations, but this one actually has a separate competition for designing the costumes and then costumers choose and build from the finalist designs

http://www.costumecon34.com/competitions/future-fashion-folio-and-show/

>>9395886
This doesn't disagree with anything I said. Costumecon is a costuming convention. OCs are costuming, not cosplay. This is very different from fandom conventions, where we expect to see cosplays that fit the theme of the convention.

I have judged a lot of cosplay contests and one of the main things that influence my choices is interesting use of materials, or creative solutions to problems. An example off the top of my head, is a sailor moon cosplayer who made her crystal brooch out of clear coffee stir sticks and an led. It sounds crappy, but seeing it in person, and how well it was made really improved her overall score. Not enough to win anything big, but I did give her a judges award for creative use of materials.

sexier is better, duh

Tips on how to make a performance accessible to people who are unfamiliar with the character? What do I put focus on; introducing the character to the majority of people who are probably unfamiliar with them, or establishing them and build on them for the minority? Is it even worth it to make a "plot"? Should I just make a monologue?

Used to judge a lot and eventually ran masquerades. Don't really judge much anymore since I took a long break from cosplay. Wouldn't mind doing it again.

>most important factors in judging?
Depends on the skill level. Construction always is the biggest consideration when it comes to any major awards. When it comes to smaller awards and judges awards, we'd give them out for things we really liked, such as a great wig or great prop but their overall construction or presentation didn't beat out the top winners.

We scored on craftsmanship, accuracy, presentation, and some other areas that I forgot. It was a 1-5 scale, at the end it was tallied up and the people with the highest average scores per division would win the major prizes and we'd debate on the others. Awards were given out based on the size of the show and the number of applicants. A small show of 20 people might have 5 awards while my largest of about 100 or so would get maybe 15-20. Usually in the ballpark of 20-25% going home with a certificate and then good prizes for those who placed 1st in their division. Oh and kids always got something, like certificates or dollar store toys.

>How important is theme to you?
When I originally started judging this wasn't something that was even brought up because it didn't happen much. But then Avatar became a thing and there was a lot of debate about that. After it started getting more popular, we'd make a western division just for non-east-asian media. If I got back into running cosplays at anime cons, I'd probably continue with that.


>Have any fun stories to tell about competing/judging larger regional or smaller local cons?
Lots. I'll post more in other replies.

>>9403724
This really depends on the character. Solo skits are tough

>>9403753
Okay so story time.

Had this dude in a joker costume who just spent his entire judging block doing stupid gag jokes like shaking rubber chickens and flowers that squirted water. We'd ask him questions and he'd keep going about everything but his costume.

People with rank af BO. Like you don't want to get near them and examine seams.

'So tell us about how you made your costume" I bought a shirt from the thrift store and drew on it with a sharpie, bought some pants...
Later... I'm pulling the staff aside, heeey please direct people who didn't make their costumes to just do non-competition walk ons please so people who actually made their costumes can get a judging appointment.

Girl comes into judging, Gives all the judges candy that's in the pocket of her costume. One judge starts eating. Girl informs us that she's worn this costume about 20 times and has never washed it.

Guy falls off stage during his skit. Breaks his leg. Comes back later that night and goes to rave with crutches.