work at home #5 - Cosplay

-The practice of dressing up as a character from a movie, book, or video game, esp. one from the Japanese genres of manga or animeTo me, it is a form of performance art ( like theatre and photography). It contains the many elements of art, from photography to costume design and make up. It creates many possibilities where we can bring it from just a hobby to a national level in competitions. There is no limits to anything from age to sex to even the country you are in.Some videos of winning cosplays from WSC ( world cosplay competition) The gundam ones are amaming::Zeld ( a game) 

Well you may say that their acting is not all that good, but everything on stage: the costume, the props are all handmade by them. That is one of the rules of WSC, where eveything have to be handmade and they have to provide evidence of that through picture before they qualify for the competition. This group is from Italy and as you can see ,this "dress up game" as many see cosplay as, is not only for girls but for guys too!! Even though they might not speak japanese at all, it is a must to use japanese during the competition and i think cosplay is a platform to bring people of different cultures together just like how some art does.

This costume was one of the best i've see. Usually these Gundam costumes are very popular in cosplay competitions ( they are really hand made by these cosplayers) because its huge, hard to make and usually wins many of the judge's hearts. It also takes a lot of time just to wear it and the discomfort it gives the person inside is just unimaginable!! And I love the ending the most, where they even created a doll inside of the costume!!~~ 

This is from the anime/manga Death Note.

commenting on the construction of the props and costume. IT IS SO AMAZING. I mean to create something that looks like its floating above your head is so hard and they made a death god float above theirs ( the character is a death god it basically floats around with the main character)

They installed light and wings into the prop which is already amazing for being able to balance on the shoulders. 

Then the creativity of the book, where the words just appear ( although its obvious that some one was spray painting behind it) . I really like how the whole skit shows some of the main characteristics of the manga but at the same time also wow the audience.

And of course since i love cosplay so much... there must be a reason.... because i cosplay too!!!!! ( actually a few of us in class does it! )

This is one of the most recent project. We went to source for locations to do the photoshoot ( this is a church) and we even invited some of our photographer friends to help us. In this picture, the costumes are half original half referenced from the original art. 

we were able to come up with our own costume design using the basic design of these  two character, for characters in the same series. 

Who is this????? Yessss its Hsi Chien in blue hair!!! 

I really love the composition of this picture because there is both a sense of space and depth. The lighting in the corridor ( actually we sneaked into the emergency exit) gave a very professional look to our photo ( this was taken somewhere near the even hall of the cosplay convention) and the balance in the composition also makes the photo look pleasing. The color of the walls amazingly complemented our costumes very well as our costumes are made of soft colors and the walls together with the lights complemented the soft color well. 

This was from very long ago! And the other cosplayer is a friend i made at the event. In this picture there is also the balance in composition where the background of the event area which we choose also complemented the picture. ( some people do not choose their background carefully and they end up with crowds of people standing behind them or their pictures are taken against the roads.. which.. well does not look as nice) 

This is another one of the photos taken at a photoshoot and once again, we choose a balanced composition. The two pillars were used as frames for the picture, allowing the viewer to focus on the  subject matter in the middle. And as for this cosplay, I like the costume the most as the costume has intricate designs and the designs for each character just complement each other so well. And the colours of the different characters coming together gives a vibrant feel to the picture. 

The one ontop was taken at the event hall and the lighting was not good. So the effect did not come out as well as we hoped for. ( especially the wigs. when flash is used, the wigs usually reflects light and it comes out ugly in pictures. So that has to be taken note of) ( and look at the girl in the corner in pink! guess whoooo) 

Here is a ' behind the scenes' photo~ ( the one in green is one of our ex ny girl!) the black cloth is acually a 1m train connecting to the back of her dress and from this you can see how hard it is sometimes for us to walk around. We had to carry that for her as we go around~ 

This was during some past year Fun Fair in school where we used our cosplays to attract attention to get people to visit our stall. See some familiar faces there?

And finally here another one of the shots during a photoshoot with our photographer!!!

Overall, i think cosplay is something for everyone and if you look deeper into the surface, it has many elements of art in it. Many things has to be taken into consideration and if everything comes together well, i would call that a perfect cosplay! <3 

Im sure that i will continue with this hobbie with my friends and we will strive towards bigger projects!

I would really love to attempt creating a cosplay that has many props in it as i think thats what makes it fun. It is the making and preparation of the whole thing that is fun. After the current ongoing project is done, i would like to challenge myself to make more props! 

Before i end, here are some props i've done before~

A vending machine! (dont ask me why) 

It was not really sucessful because it didnot have a stable structure... D;

A dog soft toy ( a pet of the character) 

 O i used BJD glass eyes for its eyes and as for the teeth, i shaped some fake nails to look like teeth and glued them on! <3

and well, i've also done a few smaller ones! <3 

good bye