Do Asian cosplayers care more about storytelling in their pictures

I think both have their good and bad points. I love the way the photos tell a story, but if I see that an outfit has way more detail and things going on I want to see the full outfit as well!

>>9469981
I like a mix of three styles, implicit photos where actually you might see very little of the cosplayer but there might be a location or object that tells you something about the origin/series.

Story telling photos, these might be anime screencap remakes or manga scene remakes or implied scenes like the reality vs expectation.

Then more full body but still themed photos and I feel the style of the picture says a lot in these. Like Ghibli or shoujo cosplay photos in light, pastel or blurred out, smooth or rich (not saturated) colours. Or more dark, edgy, in the woods for warrior or traveler types.

I like also when a cosplayer will do studio shots of the costume just to show the details and work that went into it as well as a progress album.

I think that's getting the most out of this hobby.

>>9469981

Short answer, no.

>>9469993
>I like a mix of three styles, implicit photos where actually you might see very little of the cosplayer but there might be a location or object that tells you something about the origin/series.

I would factor that as storytelling

>>9469996
Then how come when its a non Asian photo we get a glamor shot and when when we do get storytelling photos its mostly of Asian origin?

>>9469981
Because Asian cosplayers tend to buy all their costume materials while American cosplayers tend to make all of theirs. This doesn't mean Americans > Asians considering most American cosplayers suck ass at crafting, but I feel like there's more of a "make it yourself or you suck" culture in American cosplay that doesn't exist in Asian cosplay.

As someone that's cosplayed in both Japan and America, I think it has to do with the different cultures surrounding photoshoots and conventions. In Japan, you can't wear your costume outside of the convention center and the designated cosplay area of the con is generally crowded and not very photogenic. So you're not really going to get people doing photoshoots at conventions. Because of this, photography studios specifically for cosplayers have opened with really amazing backdrops, props, ect. Doing a cosplay photoshoot is an occasion, you go specifically for the photos, you bring friends. You have great locations readily available. Basically, because you can't go the easy route and just get a photoshoot at the con, more effort gets put into the shoots and it's more likely you'll have all the elements for a great storytelling shoot. Doesn't hurt that you usually reserve the photo studios for blocks of three hours, so there's more time to put care into your shoots.
Meanwhile American cosplay shoots, unless you're really into it and are getting up and out for on-location shoots, are mostly done at cons where people make the best of usually shitty locations and shoots done in half an hour to an hour. I try to do storytelling shoots when I cosplay and I've found that if I do it at a con, it often looks mediocre because of the location, but it's very hard to get people to do cosplay shoots outside of a con since technically we don't have to.

>tl;dr Japanese cosplayers have more resources to do storytelling shoots because they can't really shoot at cons.

>>9470032
So Americans are lazy?

>>9470039
I would say it's more that creativity is borne out of necessity, western cosplayers don't have the same restrictions on them.

>>9470015
How does that factor in with the lack of storytelling photos from America?

>>9470056
Probably because if you made your costume you're more likely to want glamour shots that show it off?? I don't see why you can't just take multiple pictures though, some that show off the costume and some that tell a story.

>>9470069
> I don't see why you can't just take multiple pictures though, some that show off the costume and some that tell a story.

In the US the high profile famous cosplayers (Nigiri and Yaya for example) are famous of thier looks and personality. When fans donata to see Nigiri they want to see more of her as opposed to her costumes and craft and they care more about how Nigiri expresses herself using the images and looks of the characters as opposed to capturing the feel and the spirit of the original series

america and japanese just have different taste in things.(wow, big surprise huh?)
Pretty sure the average american wont really give a shit if a cosplay photo tells a story.
they just want a glamour shot that showcases the model and the craftsmanship of the cosplay.

>>9470032
If you don't mind the question, how is it outside of cosplay studios for the japanese? I'm asking out of curiosity because in my country there's no such thing and we also don't usually do photoshoots at the cons, instead we just organize private photoshoots on public locations and such (or private with authorization). Is that sort if thing uncommon or seen badly? Japan has such gorgeous locations.

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>>9470003
>Then how come when its a non Asian photo we get a glamor shot and when when we do get storytelling photos its mostly of Asian origin?
Because you have yellowfever, I mean, just look at the huge amount of gravure cosplayers in JP compared to the US and don't get me started about all the nudity at Comiket.

>>9470223
> and don't get me started about all the nudity at Comiket.

Oh my god, this, I went to Comiket winter and froze my ass off standing next to all these girls wearing nothing but heat packs. Japanese Love Live cosplayers, man...

>posting 9gag links

Fuck off

>>9470223
When it comes to sex appeal both US and JP have cosplayers that do this.

When it comes to storytelling I still think Asia places a larger emphasis. The "expectation vs reality" meme is of Asian origin and a large amount of its participants that were saved and passed along were Asian.

Then you got the fact that in asia you have entire companies who's purpose is to rent out studio space and sections of land just for cosplayers and you got yourself a culture that does a little bit more with its photos than just "look pretty"

>>9470154
I'm not Japanese and didn't live there very long so I'm not entirely sure. I know it's completely taboo to wear your costume in public outside of designated areas, but I see photos taken outside coming out of Japan so they must be taking them somewhere. There's one company I follow on Twitter that posts a lot of outdoor locations, my Japanese isn't good enough to know exactly what they do but I think they rent out spaces for cosplayers so they can shoot outdoors??

Can we skip the yellow fever and get some cool visual storytelling photoshoots dump? I really like the concept but I'm having trouble finding pictures that aren't glamour shots or Emo art school projects.

Where would you reccomend someone even starting? Trying to recreate comic panels? Paintings? How can you get that narrative element?

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>>9471025
>Where would you reccomend someone even starting? Trying to recreate comic panels? Paintings? How can you get that narrative element?

For me its use of lighting, proper staging and a specificity of the pose/face. With glamour shots the pose and facial expressions are very arbitrary. While we can easily identify what they are we can't discern why. Good storytelling photos show the why or at least give you a reason to why a character is posing in a certain way

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>>9471025

>>9471562
This is the best. Can we just turn this into a story telling/in character cosplay pics thread?

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>>9471611
Got a western example.

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>>9471620

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>>9471645

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>>9471647

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>>9471650

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>>9471653

>>9470618
I see. That is pretty interesting, I wasn't aware of it being so taboo. I mean, I figured it would be seen pretty oddly and probably not very nicely but not to that extent. Thanks for the info!

With Japanese cosplayers we only see the best/most notable because most people who frequent this board are not on Japanese social media every day. So we do get a smaller amount of exposure. People won't usually repost mediocre photos to English boards.

Setting up narrative photos takes more staging, time, and effort. If someone is getting their shots at a convention, it's probably not with a photographer they're on personal terms with and they only have them for an hour or so. Most cosplayers tend to get their photos that way, honestly.

Narrative staging is better done outside of convention time, but the US is fucking huge and some people travel pretty far to cons. Unless you know a lot of people locally, its pretty hard to set up big photo sessions. Japan has the benefit of being a relatively small country. I imagine it's much easier to commute to meet up.

>>9471955
>With Japanese cosplayers we only see the best/most notable because most people who frequent this board are not on Japanese social media every day. So we do get a smaller amount of exposure. People won't usually repost mediocre photos to English boards.


I agree but among the high level stuff we see very little narrative photos. What gets promoted at cons, and circulated around social media are glamour shots. When you get to the higher Yaya/Nigiri level then narrative pictures are non existent. You said it yourself that most cosplayers get their photos simply at con in super short photo sessions. Japan doesn't have such easy access and as a result need to try harder to even find a spot to take pictures.

>>9471955
People who donate to famous cosplayers don't want narrative photos, they want more pictures of the sexy cosplayer

>>9472119
It isn't really acceptable in Japan to cosplay in public, so they can't just go to a location for a shoot as it'll be frowned upon. This means they generally take their pics in a cosplay photo studio- The sets there (school classroom, japanese tea room etc.) lend themselves to the idea of a photo with a 'story' behind it much better, so that also contributes.