Cosplaycontest For F.A.C.T.S. 2006

[St@rla]

Now, I'm not going to dig up old questions but I can't catch anything about a cosplaycontest. I want to wake up some people THAT THERE ARE ALOT OF COSPLAYERS ON FACTS. So, where is the cosplaycontest??? Normally on japanese conventions they have a (WHOLE) page dedicated to the cosplaycontest? Where is our page???
My favorite cosplayer is BARBIE TUKINO and last year she was in a cosplaycontest. I put up some pictures to give examples of a coplaycontest.


The place where they held the contest


Each participant got a special pass.


Participants are comming.


Participants posing together.


Preparing the show.


Putting everything ready on stage.


Participants repeating their acts.


Photoshoot with the organisator

THE SHOW BEGINS!!!


SEE THE JURY ON THE BACKGROUND


Barbie (on the right) preparing herself for the show.


Barbie performs her act.


Barbie and her friend saluting the audience.


The BIG moment - And the winner is...


This lady is very lucky because she is the winner of the World Cosplay Summit 2005

[Barney]

There's always two contests on FACTS: one each day and they pretty much conclude both days.

A separate cosplay-section on this forum has been requested several times over, but the FACTS-gods don't seem to notice it?
As for the site, there's pictures of the contests in the gallery, but they're probably mixed in with other costumed visitors and they don't show every contestant.

FACTS is a buy-sell convention in the first place. Cosplay is an extra, but not the main goal, even though the organisers welcome as much cosplayers as they can with open arms. Having cosplayed on FACTS for several years in a row, I can only say that cosplay definately is booming.
But that brings problems to the cosplay contest as well: organising a contest such as the one you're giving as example, is way beyond what FACTS can offer. On such occasions, each contestant prepares an act, which easily takes up five minutes. Doing that on a convention such as FACTS is totally impossible, for the reason stated earlier: the majority visitors come to sniff through stuff they can buy, looking for a rare item to add to their collection or a bargain. Guest stars, cosplayers, acts... all are extras to make that experience more enjoyable.
Those on the forum who participated in the contest last year can testify that there were lots of candidates, who only were on stage for a minute or so. Even then, it took awfully long, especially on Saturday.

Nevertheless, the way the contest was handled last year wasn't good. It had been improved upon on Sunday, but there's more room to make it better. The main reason was that FACTS was organised differently last year and the people who took over jobs from the actual FACTS-organisers were inexperienced in some fields.
I was among them and had planned to pound on improving the cosplay contest this year. I've already received several suggestions, but more are always welcome. The group hasn't met yet, but when we do, I'll most surely bring the contest up, with ways to improve it and we'll see where it leads.

[St@rla]

Oh Serge I didn't want to attack you but I was on the forums of Cosplay.com and a "foreing" cosplayer said that we Belgians didn't even know the meaning of COS-PLAY! That really set me up because I'm a great cosplayer and my costumes are made with the bestest care. So, I thought maybe we have the chance to show the world that also WE BELGIANS ARE PROFESSIONAL COSPLAYERS! So, that's why I gave these examples.
By the way,... if you need ideas and support for cosplay I'M YOUR MAN!

[Barney]

Don't worry, I didn't feel attacked. I was only trying to point out that a cosplay contest of that magnitude is not suitable for FACTS.

To give you an idea: the '2004' gallery on the FACTS website has some photos of that year's contest on the second page. Unfortunately, there are none of the 2005 edition. Last year, the contest's number was far greater than the year before.

Ignore foreigners who point fingers at Belgian cosplayers, for ignorance is their bliss. From where I am sitting, we cosplay the Belgian way: bringing quality over quantity. Maybe we don't have these big cosplay events, but that means nothing more than just that.
(At least, not to my knowledge. Maybe for anime/manga-cosplay, but that's not my area).
Next week, Friday the 28th, our club will handle the animation on the "Winkelnacht" in my hometown Roeselare. The theme those organisers chose this year is film, so we're bringing a mix of different movies. All costumes there are high quality and I'm sure it'll be quite an impressive sight. I dare any foreigner to come to this event, a similar one or FACTS, find me, then point out to me why we "don't know the meaning of the word cosplay". It wouldn't be the first time I have to grind idiotic remarks like that into pulp.

[Fenicia]

With alot of luck Fanclub Sakura will do the registration for this years cosplaycontest , as last year the people who dit it, didn't know alot except for Star Trek . They put animé-games by the category "others", as they didn't know it was animé, so the category "Animé & Manga" was very small, and the category "others" was too large.

[St@rla]

It is too sad you know!
F.A.C.T.S. is such a great event and it would be wonderfull if there was a desent cosplaycompetition. Sometimes I think to organise one myself but then I realize that I'm just one man!
I participated on many Miss-elections at the past like the Flowerqueen. So, I know alot about elections and thier procedures but I don't have a group who would support me and help me a bit.

For example: the Flowerqueen election was held at the SOFITEL HOTEL and it was just fantastic. We didn't need much space and there we only 15 participaters. So, the hotel was wonderfull. Last night when I was in my bed with my eyes half closed I thought to hold a cosplaycontest on the Sofitel. It would be wonderfull you know. I see it before me with the participaters and their family in that wonderfull hotel. The journalists and the public but like I said, I'm just a man alone!

Oh let us wait till the Facts on october maybe we can work out something together when we meet eachother

[Barney]

And I also believe they had a child who impersonated Anakin Skywalker from Episode I shifted among the adults, because his character was supposed to only that old. I stil don't get why a child impersonating another child would suddenly become an adult?

A change I've been thinking about is the following: people who subscribe would have to present themselves in costume to a person, who not only handles the subscription, but also is primary jury member. That person should know his/her stuff about costuming and would be able to:
- put the contestant in the correct category.
- get a change to judge the costume up close, thus picking up on the detail work.
He/she could also ask questions about the costumes, point the contestant in direction of others/clubs who share the contestant's interest and more. With the background knowledge gained from the subscription, he/she could even present the actual contest on stage, thereby avoiding situations like all previous years, where the announcer has to announce characters he doesn't know, or can't read the name.
Ideally, you should even have two of these persons, whom contestants need to see when entering.
In the actual contest, there'd still ba a jury, but that should be made up of neutral people (preferably guest stars) and not club-related ones like last year. Try as you might, when you're linked to one costume-club you'll automatically be more mild for your own members. The points given by this jury is added to what the primary members, gving the final result.

The problem I find there is mainly: find someone who can and is willing to do this.
CAN means the person needs knowledge about costume making in general. That's pretty obvious. The problem is these people are either: linked to a club, thereby coming back to the point I stated earlier. You'd need someone who isn't biased towards or against the person wearing the costume or any club he/she belongs to.
Or they're visitor, but the visitors who're into cosplay well enough usually want to participate themselves... which a jury-member obviously can't do.
WILLING TO means... FACTS is a commercial convention and someone who'd be assigned to subscribe with would need to present for subscription at all times. We can't have people who're willing to take partin the cosplay contest search around the ICC, looking for the jury-member to subscribe with, knowing they probably won't even know what he/she looks like. And when on FACTS, everybody likes having an opportunity to look around the stalls and check out the merchandise yourself.

I can only think of one thing to get this idea to work: to limit the time of subscription. By saying for example that you can only subscribe from 13.00 till 15.00, you limit the time the primary jury member(s) need to be available. Then they'd have all morning to roam around FACTS themselves and the contest will start shortly after that.
But I don't know if the costumers would appreciate this limit. I can only suppose they will if a large enough time frame is chosen, they know who to find and where to find them. With the contest staring shortly after the end time, I also assume the people who subscribed will stay until then.

That's a suggestion someone brought up somewhere on this forum and which I have been thinking about a lot. I was going to throw this into the group on the first meeting and see what the others felt about it. But I'll extremely appreciate any other suggestions and possible solutions as well.

[Barney]

sintel said:

maybe you can have some neutral judges who are specialised (know a lot...) for a category, they would only have to judge their category and then would be able to do whatever.

They wouldn't be able to do whatever. They'd still need to be present a certain time for the subscriptions, who don't come all at once. Unless I'm not getting what you mean with that last part.

Having different judges for every category is not bad per se, but it is unnecessary. You'd have to switch judges, thereby making the contest longer and more complicated to organise.
And you'd need to find even móre judges.

sintel said:

Not every person with more specialised knowledge... joins a club.

True, but most do and the problem is... finding those that don't, and then hoping they'd want to judge, instead of participating themselves.

sintel said:

by the way, how about a category miscellanious (or however you spell it)

FACTS has three categories:
Star Wars
Anime/Manga
Other <--- your miscellaneous

[Fenicia]

And a fourth for childeren (= younger then 16 years). If there will be alot of childeren, then they will be split up to.

[cinder]

you have good points, and about that last part... that wasn't clear for me either. It was just a 'It-took-me-less-than-a-second-to-think'-idea. ;D

about partcipating, not everybody likes doing that (but maybe I'm speaking too much for myself now )

b.t.w.: are there many kids cosplaying?

[Fenicia]

You don't have to enter the compo if you don't like it.
And there are more and more childeren coming each year in costume. Also more adult dress up each year.

[St@rla]

Childeren are sooo cute in their costumes. I like childeren alot. So, fenicia how are you going to dress this year? If you are going to do any sailormoontheme, I would like to stay with you for a while. b.t.w. what are the prices for the costumecompetition? I couldn't find that on the website either.

[Barney]

The prizes for the cosplay contest aren't announced on the site, because they usually don't know what they can dig up. AFAIK they are being donated by shops or fan clubs, befitting the category.

[Fenicia]

moonprincess said:

Childeren are sooo cute in their costumes. I like childeren alot. So, fenicia how are you going to dress this year? If you are going to do any sailormoontheme, I would like to stay with you for a while. b.t.w. what are the prices for the costumecompetition? I couldn't find that on the website either.

On Saturday I'll be Sasha together wit Menchi as Misha; both from Pita Ten.
On sunday I'll be Jun / Princess and Menchi will be Ken / Mark from Gatchaman / Battle of the Planets.

[jedi knight]

can't you make some more space for the cos. play
i have seen almost nothing because the people stand to close and there was not much place
and that's no fun at facts 2004 there was more place to stand.
well so do i think about.

[Mr. Facts]

Thx Serge Broskopf for giving all the details about the FACTS-cosplay contest. Let's mhope the contest will be better and bigger than last year.

[Mr. Facts]

Thx Serge Broskopf for your support giving all the details about the FACTS-cosplay contest. You're certainly the person who is most involved in the contest. Let's make the contest better and bigger than last year.
And let's introduce this cosplay page as quick as possible.
Any suggestions for the different sections the Cosplay page should consist of?

It will be possible this year to subscribe to the cosplay contest online so no more losing time finding the correct place at F.A.C.T.S. to subscribe yourself. You only will have to notify your presence the day itself.
Check our site in the coming weeks.

[Fenicia]

But what about the people who don't go to the site and want to enter the compo? Can they still enter the compo on the day itself?

[jedi knight]

doe s someone knows a good costume shop in belgium where i can buy a star-wars ,lotr or batman, ...costume?
for sections on the page cos. play you can place some pictures of the cos. players of the preview editions and other...

[Barney]

I don't think there's any cosplay shop in Belgium. And if there were, you'd hardly get any good costume material anyway. The things you get in shops are more meant for Carnival. Same goes for internet shops.

If you want to cosplay, the best thing to do is... do-it-yourself. For that, there's plenty of people willing to help you out.

First thing to do would be to determine whàt costume you want and how much you're willing to spend on it.
Then you can go to one of the cosplay-clubs in Belgium (all of them are represented on this forum by members) and ask for info. If there's anything you can't do yourself (because you can't sew, knit or work with power tools, whatever...) you can also ask them for help with that.

In my case, I need help with both costumes I plan on bringing to FACTS 2006.

As for clubs: my group is involved in movie-cosplay, which ranges from Star Wars, over LOTR, Ghostbusters, Spiderman to cartoon-characters and even a few game-characters.
If you're into manga or anime, Fénicia from Sakura would be the person to turn to.

[Barney]

admin said:

Thx Serge Broskopf for your support giving all the details about the FACTS-cosplay contest.

No prob.

admin said:

You're certainly the person who is most involved in the contest.

No, I'm not. I'm not involved with the cosplay-contest in any way. I participate every year, but that's it. I have no clue who's in charge of organising that contest, or where the prizes come from. Hence my suggestion to take that to people who know their stuff and whose sole responsibility would be that contest, in order to make it better.
Simply because cosplay on FACTS is booming!

[Fenicia]

piper said:

doe s someone knows a good costume shop in belgium where i can buy a star-wars ,lotr or batman, ...costume?
for sections on the page cos. play you can place some pictures of the cos. players of the preview editions and other...

I have alot of costumes for rent on my site. I also do commisions (make costumes to your size), but I'm already full booked until October 2007. I also know some carnavalshop here in Antwerp, but they are quite expensive. Just mail me, or add me to your msn-list, if your want to know more about it.

[St@rla]

Well, someone must have the capacity of organizing a cosplaycontest. I can provide info because I have alot of friends outside Belgium who participate on contests. I think that you must also update the website frequently. It's a great website and if you work on it, it will become fantastic. At the moment I have the impression that F.A.C.T.S don't spend much attention to cosplay although cosplay is popular around the world. You can still trade and have gueststars or games on a convention but cosplay makes the convention more attractive. If you look at Katsucon or Otakon, you see thousands of people are taking pictures, making video of the cosplayers because its an unique form of art. Where else would you see a star wars stormtrooper or catwoman? It's like I said before, It's too sad that we don't have a big cosplaycommunity like in Japan or Amerika because we have really talented people. The only place where these people can show their talents are the conventions. If you are a great cosplayer, you can take hundreds of pictures at home and post them on the internet but that isn't the same as showing your creations in a convention. So, maybe it would be nice if this year you can spend a bit more time on cosplay because cosplay made conventions like Katsucon famous and it would also make F.A.C.T.S. famous. Can you imagine that next year we could have foreing cosplayers visiting F.A.C.T.S.! WE HAVE THE BEST d**n STAR WARS COSPLAYERS EVER! We must show this to the world! Did you noticed that OUR F.A.C.T.S. is not even mentioned on the conventionlist of Cosplay.com. We deserve a place on that list!

[Barney]

moonprincess said:

Well, someone must have the capacity of organizing a cosplaycontest. I can provide info because I have alot of friends outside Belgium who participate on contests. I think that you must also update the website frequently. It's a great website and if you work on it, it will become fantastic.

Problem here is that the guys from FACTS themselves are way too busy organising the convention as it is, without having to look into cosplay a lot. Same goes for the website and this forum.

moonprincess said:

At the moment I have the impression that F.A.C.T.S don't spend much attention to cosplay although cosplay is popular around the world. You can still trade and have gueststars or games on a convention but cosplay makes the convention more attractive. If you look at Katsucon or Otakon, you see thousands of people are taking pictures, making video of the cosplayers because its an unique form of art.

See above. FACTS-organisation has too little time on their time on their hands to look into cosplay deeply. Which is why I suggested to leave it to a sub-group of people who're familiar with it.

moonprincess said:

Where else would you see a star wars stormtrooper or catwoman?

Apparentely, you're not familiar with the Belgian cosplay-scene, at least not the one covering movie-costumes. Since that is my club's area of expertise, I am in a position to state that conventions is the least of what we do. FACTS is a big goal each year, but we do more other stuff than conventions. It ranges from parties, over concerts with film-music, to international club-meetings.
I suspect that it is different for anime/manga-cosplay, because that isn't very well known to the grand audience.

moonprincess said:

Can you imagine that next year we could have foreing cosplayers visiting F.A.C.T.S.!

That wouldn't be hard to imagine for we alone bring over 70 foreign cosplayers to FACTS. They are from our fellow cosplay-clubs: the Dutch, Swiss and Germans. Our French colleagues also send a group each year and then there's your occasional American as well. And that's just us.

moonprincess said:

WE HAVE THE BEST d**n STAR WARS COSPLAYERS EVER!.!

Thank you. That's quite the compliment for our work.

moonprincess said:

Did you noticed that OUR F.A.C.T.S. is not even mentioned on the conventionlist of Cosplay.com. We deserve a place on that list!

No, because I don't go there. But anyone who does, feel free to (annoy the appropriate people enough so they will) make that change.

[St@rla]

Serge, I never knew a man who can explain everything so good. It really cleared up my mind. I must honestly confess that I'm dying to meet you on F.A.C.T.S.
It would be so nice if we could meet the factsguys just for once! Just to give our suggestions and remarks. Could they not organize one little meeting where they can listen to us, just for an hour or two. It would be so great.