Now cosplay is an extremely personal and individual creation. I won’t claim to be an expert, but I’ve been around, done my own costumes, and generally enjoyed the experience. Cosplay can be a lot of fun and a lot of hard work, and it’s up to you how you balance the two. I’ve seen costumes that took a year to make and costumes that were created over the week beforehand (or the night before).
Some of my advice might seem obvious, some might make the reader go “duh” in retrospect. In writing the column to be helpful for the general reader, it’s necessary to start at the beginning. If you already enjoy cosplay a lot, I suggest you check out cosplay.com, where there seems to be an expert in every aspect of costuming, from making your eyes look Japanese to the intricacies of how to sew with different materials. And never underestimate the help of a crafty family member. Sure, they might look at you funny, but plenty of parents, grandparents, and others are happy to help out.
The History of Making Excuses to Wear Costumes when It’s Not Halloween
As anime cons made their way into America back in the 80s, cosplay was immediately a popular event. Cosplay is the name used by otakus to distinguish it from that of a Masquerade, which is the typical term for the costume events at a science-fiction or comic con.
Masquerades often served as the only event where people were in costume, and the rest of the weekend would be filled with “normal” clothing. This difference in costuming attitudes is one of the reasons for the name distinction. Cosplayers at an anime convention often also hold themselves to a higher standard of acting in character, a trait that was brought over from Japanese counterparts.
So in other words, the term cosplay only refers to costumes related to Japanese medias, or at least that’s how the most serious cosplayers define it. I’ve seen long debates break out on message boards about what exactly is allowed as part of cosplay. Some people will go so far as to say that video games, even when based on games from Japan like Zelda or Super Mario Brothers, are not permitted in the cosplay events. The term cosplay is beginning to creep into the general lexicon as a word that just means dressing in costume, and every year I see more and more cosplayers at anime conventions dressed as American creations.
By Nightambre Get ready, get set… start sewing all night long!
Most actual cosplay events do place standards on the costumes, meaning they have to have something to do with anime. While it might be fun to wear your Harry Potter costume around the con (and I saw a wonderful Harry Potter cosplay group at Anime Expo once), those wouldn’t be acceptable entries in the actual cosplay events. We may see a lessening in the stringency of these rules over the coming years as arguments for shows like Avatar are made. It will also depend on the focus of the event—some are more focused on anime in America, while others keep to a more traditional “anime is only from Japan” approach. Read the rest of this entry »
Navigating Corporate Interests
Communicating with companies comes with its own set of headaches. Unlike conventions, it’s not quite as easy to get involved yourself, though future career plans can come out of a desire to bring a change to the industry. Most of the time, the way to enact change is to write a lot of letters, gather together people who feel the same way, and simply make a polite pest of yourself. There’s a fine line between being effective and being obnoxious, and you’ll have to do your best to walk it.
The first place to start is with a good plan of what you want to accomplish. I’ve been having some good PM discussions with a member of theOtaku about bringing anime movies to local movie theaters, so let’s use that as an example. The problem is that the local/small town theaters aren’t getting movies like Howl’s Moving Castle, even though they’re being distributed to some bigger theaters. So first step is to contact the local theaters and express an interest in them putting on a viewing of the movie, even if it’s only a limited engagement of a week or a night. Since this is a local issue, it’s probably more effective to go to the theater and talk to the manager than to write a letter. It’s much harder to say no to or ignore a person face to face than with a letter.
From talking with a manager or owner, we can then decide where the problemlies. Is the movie theater owned by a corporation or is it completely local? How do they get their movies? Most movie theaters are owned by a larger corporation, even if they may not appear to be. When this is the case, just talking to the manager isn’t going to be enough. The local manager may very well not be getting the choice to show the movies to begin with. That’s why you need to start writing to the company in charge and ask for them to give your local theater or area the choice to view these movies. This step will take patience, and the more people you can get involved, the better.
Remember that your local anime clubs and conventions can be a great way to meet like-minded people. You can even meet others who might have done a similar campaign in their hometown. The internet likewise serves as a place to meet others and find out how they’ve changed things. Since many companies are national, you might find someone else who dealt with the same company in a different part of the country.
The above example also holds true for most contact with a store, TV channel, etc. Many of the places you interact with in your daily life are owned by a larger corporation or have their distribution determined by someone else. Still, the local people do have some say, and making your opinion known to them is crucial, because they’re interacting with the parent companies as well.
As soon as you make a difference, get that anime viewing at the local theater or convince the cable company to carry a new channel, make sure you throw your own promotion efforts into it as well. Tell all your friends, all the local high schools and colleges, and make sure that everyone who might be interested shows up. The more money you can make for that company, the more interested they will be in bringing more of the same kind of thing into the area.
Image by Bee Starting a revolution can involve a lot of time on the phone.
Conventions *are* run by the fans
Anime conventions started out of a combination of fans getting together to watch fansubs and anime related panels at science fiction conventions. They have always been fan run and continue along that path. Sure, some of the big conventions have to answer to sponsors and need a lot of rules and by-laws to keep the peace when they have 20K+ attendees, but most of your local conventions continue to be fan run. Even the big conventions do not pay their staff, convention chairs, or board members (to the best of my knowledge), with the possible exception of a stipend to cover gas, hotel, or food.
So, what this means to you, the average attendee, is that there is a lot you can do to affect how conventions are run. First off, most panels are run by fans who know something and want to teach others, so if you think there is a topic that is lacking, then next year volunteer to lead that panel. Leading a panel usually requires no more commitment than volunteering (or filling out a panel request) to show up at the correct time and have something to say.
The other more direct ways to affect a conventions, besides leaving feedback on websites and with staff, is to participate at the convention as a staff member or
volunteer. Most conventions are set up with a hierarchy that runs along the lines of: Convention Chair -> Department Heads -> Staff Members -> Volunteers. All of these people are crucial to making the weekend enjoyable and run smoothly. Now, volunteers often only participate during the actual weekend (though local ones may be asked to help stuff bags, assemble nametags, etc. before the convention) and they are the ones checking badges, handing out water bottles, etc. They are the grunt labor that frees up staff members to take care of bigger problems and to make sure that everything else is running smoothly. Most conventions allow you to sign up as a volunteer onsite without a prior commitment. If you have a few hours to kill, it’s a great way to do some good and meet new people.
Art by Nightambre Volunteers for everything from badge checking to guest wrangling are needed to make sure a convention runs smoothly.
