Arts, smarts, and who knows what else

Hello, CrescentShay here! THIS PAGE IS UNDER MAJOR CONSTRUCTION My name is Shay, and this is going to be a place for me to post my art and my cosplay, and anything else I think is really cool! (this tumblr isnt really active now, but I still reblog cosplay tutorials, and answer all asks) You can also find me at my youtube!

[aicosu]

how do you decide what to do with your face in pictures? there are a lot of tutorials on posing but they mostly just talk about the body and i feel like my face looks boring or weird in most pictures

AS ALWAYS this stuff takes practice. You get more comfortable the more you do it, but there are tips and shortcuts to help you achieve something more in your control then just smiling and hoping you look right. 

My favorite tips are the, “MMMM”  “me” “haha” and “you” tricks! And what they are, are words to say to yourself during your pose to help train your face into specific structures. For smiling for example, specifically with your mouth closed, practice saying “MMM” when you pose! It creates a really natural curve to your mouth, without making your cheeks ache and contract when you force yourself into a fake smile. I know this all sounds stupid, but seriously try it. Try it in some selfies, practice agnling your head. Say it out loud if you need to!Here’s me saying “MMMM” to make a closed lipped smile! 

For an open mouthed, natural, teeth smile, say “Me” when you pose!! You can either say “Me” as you smile for a prounouced smile, or simply say it as the shutter goes off to catch a more candid looking, happy state of your face. 

These are all “me” poses, where im literally saying the word under my breath to train my face. 

Saying “You” so youself as you exhale through your lips, creates a very neutral, easy, UN TENSE, looking face. Its my go to for everything. YOU poses are awesome for static poses, where you just need your face to look normal, natural, and pretty. Lol. It’s great cause if you dont do this and keep your mouth closed, you often look boring or too stiff. Sayng “you” activates your muscles and livens your face enough that you dont look dead or lifeless. 

These are all You poses. I’m literally saying that word a I pose. And some of these I say YOU while putting a little smile in there by thinking happy thoughts.

I don’t use “HAHA” as much, but it really is just like you might think. Saying HAHA out loud as you pose creates that easy going, natural look of laughing. 

As you might tell, Posing is a lot about ACTING as well as knowing your body. 

SO GET LOOSE. In between photos im CONSTANTLY moving around. And after a few shots im cosntantly stretching my mouth wide, making fish faces, puffing my cheeks, RELAXING my muscles so they don’t do that horrendous School Day smile that we all dread. 

And again PRACTICE. Get in front of that mirror and try out a bunch of stuff. Try DIFFERENT WORDS to see what saying them dos to your expression. Try angles and poses at home, so when the camers in front of you, your ready. 

Then youll be able to do more complicated stuff too. 

[crescentcatcosplay]

This is super helpful!!

[ivorivet]

Workspace Wednesdays:  Fabric Catalog

If you are like most crafters, the longer you have a sewing-related hobby the larger your stash of fabric will get.  (If you sew and you don’t have a fabric stash, I am officially afraid of you and your merciless resolve.)  I’ve been cosplaying for about eight years and sewing for longer than that, so the amount of fabric I want to hold onto because I might use it someday is… really extreme.

What I ended up having to do to get my fabric stash under control was catalog it, put it into bins, and get it out of my actual craft room.  I need to pull something from my stash maybe a couple times a month at most.  It doesn’t make a lot of sense to keep that stuff in my primary working area when it gets used that infrequently, so I keep it my basement. You might not have a basement you can store stuff in, but everyone’s got corners of closets or other less readily accessible areas where stuff for long-term storage is asking to go.  A catalog of what you have allows you to utilize those spaces more effectively. 

This is the binder I made up, which 1) allows me to check what’s in the basement without having to actually go to the basement, and 2) is way easier to flip through than a pile of fabric that I have to re-fold because I messed it up while pawing through it.  

If you’d like to use my templates, they’re over here!  My goal in making them was to not overwhelm myself with information because I had a ton of fabrics to catalog and I didn’t want it to take forever.  The sheets are made to record a few pieces of information:

A fabric swatch. I made two template sheets, one with the swatch space on the left and one with the swatch space on the right, so the stacked pages wouldn’t be super uneven.

A brief description and enough room to note anything special about the fabric.

A super rough ballpark of how much yardage I have.

Did I ever cut anything out of this fabric before, or is it still basically in a rectangle?  Helpful for knowing if your fabric looks like swiss cheese or not.

And that’s it.  You can add more or less information based on what you think is important, but that’s enough for me to go off of.  And here’s the organized stash itself, more or less:

Another tip in organizing your storage bins: if you make it so all the edges of your fabrics are visible when you take the top off your bin, it’ll be easier to find things and take them out.  While I was loading the bins, I set them on one side and stacked my fabric up in a pile.  (The end result is the same thing as Konmari vertical clothes folding!)

[jennacosplaypatterns]

Found this online. Great for those who are drafting hoods.

Hoods are one of those finicky things to draft if you never drafted hoods before.

Example Cosplay: Attack on titan capes

[tumblingmagpie]

I find this more revolutionary than I probably should, given the number of hoods I’ve sewn over the years. But it’s like world is a whole lot clearer now!

[aicosu]

It is crazy to me that you just give out your resources. You give out your patterns and links and mail people your cosplays and I know that I would be horrified if anyone had my stuff. Don't you worry that someone might cosplay what you cosplay better than you?

Dude literally FUCK being better than anybody else. 

What about, creating more cosplayers?

I’ve been doing this 2007. Which, isn’t even a lot of time compared to others, really, but I’ve been in this community long enough to realize that Cosplay being this small, secretive, thing, is no FUCKING fun. Its just not. All of us cosplayers, all of us, have come from a generation before super hero movies where being a nerd was not cool. Almost all interviews with cosplayers start off like, “I used to be bullied.” We all were. And we found a place we we weren’t. Where we excelled and found a like minded community. 

Why the hell in the world would I turn it into a war ground? We were all bullied. We were all judged. To turn around and do it to each other is becoming exactly what we hated in the first place. I WANT everyone who follows me to be better then me. PLEASE BE BETTER THAN ME. PLEASE. Because why else would I help you? I want to see progress, improvment, I want you all to be amazing! I want more people cosplaying, I want cosplay to be something you can say at work and people all smile and go “Wow thats so cool.” Not, “Okay weird, I guess.” Because I know that feeling and it sucks ass.

Its almost as bad as asking a big time cosplayer, someone you look up to, that you feel you relate to because they are in this niche with you, its like asking them a question and getting back a, “Figure it out yourself.” 

I’ve been there, it’s soul crushing. 

So please be better than me. Because why else am I here, but to be someone you can learn off of and then excel past? So that way you can inspire other cosplayers who then inspire more and then inspire more. 

Like yeah, I cosplay, cause its fun and my passion, but if I’m gonna do anything with what I learn from my process its gonna be to give it back to the community that gave it to me. I want someone else to be me when I was 16, spotting a beautiful cosplayer as my favorite character, and feeling like they were real. That  my passion was validated. And then realizing they have the power to do that themselves.  To this day nothing gets me more beside myself with hype then seeing a perfect cosplay. And I don’t want that to ever stop.

And that means making sure there are always more cosplayers to do that. So please be better than me. So you can show me what those characters being real looks like. And I’ll let you in on a secret, its so, so, so not hard to be better than me. I don’t press my seams, I don’t measure anything, I use almost all pre-made clothes, I never line anything, and I don’t make anything last more than one convention. I’m in no way, shape, or form, any skilled craftsmen. I just want to show everybody how easy this shit is, so everyone will try it. 

I can only hope that when you get there, and you will, when you get to being better than me, you help others too. Maybe I can instill that. 

[aicosu]

OK this may sound odd but what fabric shops would you recommend in the LA area. I know you no longer live here but any advice helps, since joanns does have its limits in fabric options and in your experience is it any cheaper than Joanns or am I paying just as much?

The garmet district is what you want to do. 

Shopping in LA Fabric District

What you want to do is – HIT UP MICHAEL LEVINES FIRST BUT DONT BUY ANYTHING. Maybe pick up your pattern. Check out how much fabric you need according to the pattern, etc etc. Search the store for the fabric you need, even if you see a perfect match, leave it, don’t buy it. Trust meeeee. You’re basically making this your garaunteed last resort. I know it already seems a great deal compared to Joanns’ money grubbing prices, but trust me.Head out to the streets and start walking up and down 9th. From Maple to San Pedro. CHECK EVERYWHERE. North shops usually have the best SPANDEX and stretch fabrics, lace and sequins. SOUTH shops usually have upholestry, leather and vinyl (there’s exceptions but this is what I noticed.) 

I garauntee you any stock of fabric at Levines is avaliable in all the surrounding stores and they will sell it way short for a bargain! 

PROTIP: Never say yes first. If you ask one of the workers in the off stores “How much is this a yard?” and they say “12,” even if thats an amazing price, still just nod and say “Thanks” and start walking away like you dont want it. They WILL ALWAYS go lower. They’ll start telling you “11! 10– 8 for you!” Especially if they know you want 2-3 yrds or more.  But don’t get intimidated either, they’ll try to corner you into saying yes. Just wave them off, tell them “Ill take a picture and come back? I just wanna compare.”  Seriously, even if you see the perfect one at one of these places for the best price, just wait until you hit all the stores. You have no idea how many times i bought something and regretted it 5 minutes later when I saw an even better version. 

Second Protip: When they ask you how many yard you want, always say 2-3. Even if you need seven. Because they’ll give it to you for cheaper if you only want that much. Then when you say, okay, ill buy it for 4 bucks a yard, as he’s measuring it out, then say “ACTUALLY can I get 5?” 

Here’s some of my favorites:L.A. Alex has the CHEAPEST notions. Zippers, elastic, velcros, thread, muslin, etc. They are AWESOME for all extra stuff you need. Way cheap. 

JOURNAL has some of the most interesting fabric on the block, unique textiles like dancewear or lace, usually exclusive to them. This is where I found that rare ass pre-pleated suede fabric for Kylo Ren’s sleeves and the awesome shimmer-non-sparkle spandex for Miraculous Ladybug. .99 Fabric a yard. Literally as it says. 99cents a yard biittcchhh. I ALWAYS hit this place up because you always need cheap ass broadcloth, poplin, CHIFFON or Taffeta. He’s got it all man. Its awesome for basic shit. City Fabric has the best FUR and FLEECE selection you’ve ever seen. Mora Tex is a favorite of mine. The guy here loves cosplayers and the fabric I get here is always rich and stunning looking. I bought my Astrologian Velvet, Dishonored purple and grey suede. Kylo’s outer tunic, Rey’s tunic and shoe wool, Lavellan’s trespasser tunic, and so much NICE suiting. Basically any heavier, richer type fabrics you can probably find here. Trim 2000 Plus is the place I found my Inquistor buttons. This place is like a gold mine for buttons. They have the most interesting shit for super cheap. I spent like 5 bucks on both Emily and Corvos diamond cufflinks and royal button getup here.

Jerry’s all Trims. My favorite trim store!!!  He has everything! Belts too! Great for any trims, tassles, or piping you made need. AND HE LETS YOU BUY THE WHOLE ROLL OR BY YARD. I bought all the leather cord here for our Solas necklaces. And every gold piece of my Astrologian cosplay.

SOME TECHNICAL ISSUES:

-Parking in LA FABRIC district is hell on earth. The spots up by Jerry’s All trims is my secret spot, those are usually free (2 hr maximum). You can check side spots too, like between maple and san pedro, but don’t feel bad about pulling into a parking structure and paying the 7 bucks. Its not so bad. 

-Stores close around 6:00 on weekdays and saturdays. 

-WHILE PARKING IS FREE ON SUNDAY. A lot of these shops aren’t open. LA Alex and the the button store are closed for example. Button store is also closed mondays for some reason? AND EVERYTHING CLOSES BY 4 ON SUNDAY. 

-AWAYS bring cash. Lots of stores don’t take card. Or they will charge you extra for using it. There are ATMs inside some stores. But the service fee is like 3-5 bucks. YUCK. 

-Theres a random costume shop on 9th street that sells gloves. SKIP THIS. I know your tempted to buy everything at once, but this guy is way overpriced. Order your gloves on ebay for $1, trust me. 

-Best time to go is in the morning on a weekday, if you can manage it. Saturdays are hecka busy but that sometimes it a great thing cause the shops are ready to bargain.

-North of San pedro is NOT A GOOD AREA. Don’t park there. And if you’re leaving to go to Little Tokyo afterwards, turn around, take another street. 

[ms901-deactivated20160516]

RWBY Nora Valkyrie Magnhild animetion TEST GIF

RWBY © 2013 Rooster Teeth Productions

Magnhild of Nora Valkyrie, from the RWBY.

Used programs are 3Ds MAX 2011

RWBY fan art Video

Just Magnhild of Nora Valkyrie animetion TEST

[crescentcatcosplay]

This was my major reference when making Magnihild, I’m posting it here so I don’t loose it again!

[crescentcatcosplay]

"You had better not underestimate humans. They're greedy, cunning, and tenacious." 

Yuichirou Hyakuya photos finally! This photos was just taken using a self timer and a tripod, but hopefully I will have some better photos soon. I also updated my Costume FAQ, so now you can see all the info on this cosplay, and anything else I have made/worn! I’ll be more consistent on posting on tumblr, but if you want the most up to date info, check Instagram! I am the most active there :)

[crescentcatcosplay]

New video! This was just a quick fun little thing because I haven't posted much, but it was fun get back into video editing! Some actual content will be on the way, but for now enjoy this fluff :) 

[chevalure]

Any tips for voice over recording? I'm trying to record over some clips and wven though I know what I want to say, I can't help but feel like I sound super unnatural/forced?

absolutely! frankly, your voiceover can make or break a video. even if your footage is stunning, a lot of people will stop watching if you have a low-quality voiceover; and this doesn’t just mean bad audio quality (although that’s a large component of it).

here’s a couple tips, off the top of my head!

record with good equipment. first and foremost, having good quality recordings will help you out a ton! if you’re going to be doing a lot of voiceovers, i highly recommend investing in a good microphone. i personally use a Blue Yeti mic, but the Blue Snowball is a great cheaper alternative. a smart phone can record decent audio in a pinch, but a quality mic is worth the investment if this is going to be a long-term hobby/career for you.

record in an area with very little background noise. nothing is more distracting than hearing a lawnmower in the back of a tutorial video. assuming your room isn’t sound-proof, recording in a closet or hanging towels up can help dampen any background noise.

write a script. having something to read will help to eliminate any awkward stumbling, “ums” and “uhs”, trailing thoughts or rambling, etc.

let yourself gesticulate while recording. this will help your speech feel more natural, as if it’s a real conversation.

stand up or sit up. good posture comes through in your speech, believe it or not! and good posture will help you feel more professional, too.

talk louder and slower than you usually do. most people tend to rush when giving a speech, so thinking about slowing down will help you get back to your “normal” talking speed.

articulate. make sure you’re pronouncing syllables and not mumbling. you want listeners to understand what you’re saying!

practice pronunciations. if you’re not sure how to pronounce something, google it. say it out-loud a few times before you hit record. this is especially important with names, locations, and brands!

practice proper delivery. don’t make? everything sound? like a question? make sure you’re emphasizing the correct syllables in your words, too (i.e. “Oc-TO-ber” rather than “OCT-o-ber”). again, your goal is to sound natural. pretend you’re speaking face-to-face with someone. structure the pace and delivery of your sentences as if it’s a regular conversation. anything else will sound incredibly awkward and forced, and chances are, it’ll make people either mute or click away out of sheer secondhand embarrassment.

get it right, no matter how many times it takes. give yourself as much time as you need to achieve a voiceover you’re happy with! if you don’t like how something sounds, do it again. and again. and again. very few professional voiceovers are done perfectly on the first take! if you stutter or mispronounce something, it’s okay. laugh it off. shake out the jitters. redo it.

i hope that helps, anon!! voiceovers can be really tricky at first, but the good news is that they get easier with practice! it’s a form of public speaking, and the more you do it, the more natural it will become, as do most learned skills.

[vilyacosplay]

Worbla sealing technique

I’ve been asked many times how I sealed the Worbla on my Wrathion costume for it to look this smooth. I don’t have progress pictures but I can explain since it’s pretty straightforward. This technique not only allows you to have a smooth surface, it gives you the chance to refine the shape and erase seams if, like me, you’re unable to form Worbla perfectly. Also, if you use a flexible paint and varnish on top, your piece will remain bendable without cracking.

Keep reading

[crescentcatcosplay]

Anime California: Saturday Pictures! I haven't even gotten all the photos and footage off my camera, but I wanted to post some pictures I took at the convention. So I present to you: Anime California day 2! A con vlog will be posted soon, so look out for that!

[sugarsews-archived]

Here’s an AMAZING fabric care sheet from Threads Magazine Fall 2014 edition!!

This will definitely come in handy!

[twinzik]

I have been wanting to ask since your post several months ago about places to buy wigs, but I was too shy. I wanted to know if there are any particular ebay sellers you would recommend for buying wigs?

Hello! Honestly, when looking for a wig on eBay, we just generally browse around until we find something we like! However, there are a few rules you want to use when using eBay:

Check the seller’s Feedback. Generally, if they have under 500-900(ish) sales, we’ll probably steer clear unless it’s very obvious that they’re a new shop. Just in case! Having a great score AND great comments on their wigs is a wonderful sign that you’re going to get what you see on the page. Also, look through the Feedback thoroughly; for instance, see if you can find anyone commenting on the exact wig you’re looking to buy! Seeing the opinion (or any potential problems) from another buyer’s perspective is much more trustworthy than the big bold text from the seller themselves.

Carefully look at the photos. Do these look like photos you’ve seen before? Do they use cosplayer photos, or photos on a wighead? Are the wigheads all the same, or do the photos look similar? Does the WATERMARK match the store name? A lot of times this last question will be a no, but many eBay stores have several shops all under one department. However, if you see a store using a friend of yours or a cosplay-staple like Kipi in their product photos, youuuu can take a wild guess that you won’t be getting exactly what you’re seeing in the mail!

Look carefully at the description of the wig. Talking about fibers now, you’ll generally only see “Synthetic” as the fiber type, and that’s fine! But sometimes you’ll see more than that; you’ll see eleora, kanekalon, toyokalon, monofilament, heat-resistant, ect. And that’s where it comes into personal preference.

Eleora is a very high-quality fiber, in fact it’s kanekalon merely treated with a chemical to make it softer and more manageable. HOWEVER, due to this, it doesn’t take dye well, so that’s something to consider if you’re looking for a wig to color. Toyokalon is a step down from kanekalon, and monofilament wigs are very high-end because they’re often used to help those with hairloss (you can find synthetic monofilament wigs, but many will be human hair and, therefore, MUCH more costly!). Consider how you style wigs as well. For me, having a “heat-resistant“ wig isn’t always a requirement because I grew up styling wigs with gentle heat from a blow dryer, and I still refrain from using curling irons and straighteners most of the time simply because it’s not what I’ve taught myself to do. But if straighteners, curling irons, and hot water treatments are your thing, then you definitely want to make sure that “heat-resistant” is part of their description!

Are you looking for a pre-styled wig or an unstyled base wig? This is completely a personal preference, but I wouldn’t consider buying a wig that comes with heavy styling from an eBay seller and would, instead, look for a commissioner. The reason for this is that shipping is HARD on wigs. Even wigs that I’ve shipped bolted to a wighead and taped and glued TO the box have slipped off and gotten knocked around, and with eBay wigs, the sellers more often than not DON’T send the wig on a wighead, but instead cram it into a soft package envelope or a small box. It seems very risky to me if you wig is supposed to come with spikes or very particular curls, so just use your discretion (and, again, look through the Feedback!) to see if you want to give it a shot. I HAVE seen very nice prestyled wigs that friends got from eBay, but have personally just considered them lucky and we all give a resounding “PHEW!” together.

Of course there are other things to look at, too, like shipping times and seller locations, but usually if you have plenty of time to spare, ordering wigs from another country isn’t too big of a problem.

And that’s about it! I hope this has been helpful, as we don’t have particular sellers that we use every time, we just do our best to make sure they’re legit before making any purchases!

Good luck and take care!~Hee-Hee

[swankwigs]

Tips for Purchasing Wigs on eBay

[crescentcatcosplay]

I just realized I never posted the rest of my pictures from my shoot at ALA! This is one of my favorites :) I'll post the rest later on so I won't spam, but I love how they all turned out! Photographer: @rokusancosplay (on Insragram)

[mangosirene]

Hi Mango! I have a fairly chubby face, and when it comes to cosplaying characters with lean features, I have trouble trying to make my face appear slimmer. I've dabbled a little bit in contouring, but it doesn't seem to make much of a difference. Do you have any other tips on how to make a chubby face appear thinner? Thank you!

Hey Anon! Basker here. As someone with an oval face, I’ve struggled with making my features more angular for certain characters. Honestly, your best bet when it comes to make-up to make your face appear slimmer is contouring and highlighting. I know you said you’ve dabbled in it, but I really suggest dialing in on practicing. Watch a couple youtube tutorials and also invest in a palette that suits your skintone. Go to a make up store like Sephora and tell one of their experts you want to learn how to contour. You DON’T have to actually buy anything (!!!!), just let them show you what colors and products will add definition to your face shape. In general I also recommend considering what you eat and drink and see if anything effects how your face appears and feels. I noticed that for me specifically gluten (I have an intolerance) and excessive sodium make my face really puffy the next morning, so I try to limit eating either around cons or cosplay gatherings. I have friends who find this happens with things like alcohol and dairy as well. Otherwise the best you can do is drink a ton of water and get a fair amount of sleep! Hope this helps~

[nighteyescos]

Just going to add this here: This is a holy grail video for contouring, because he lists his favorite beginner products for each skin tone in the description box, and has links to other vidoes specifically on contouring for specific face shapes. 

[mangosirene]

As a judge what do you look for in a good skit, my friends and I entering a masquerade soon and we're really struggling to enjoy doing it because we keep having doubts about how good it's going to be, it's making practicing it more stressful than fun. Do you have any pointers on what a judge will look for in a skit?

I can’t speak for other judges, but taking my theater background into account, this is what I look for when judging a skit.

1. BLOCKING. How are you staging yourselves? Are you always facing the audience so we can see your expressions? Is the movement practiced? Is your choreography well-rehearsed? Are you making use of the full space? Are you too stiff, is your back to us, do you clearly have no idea how to move because you haven’t practiced? Does the physical movement match the characters’ personalities (i.e. is that Hinata Shouyo cosplayer standing stiff as a board when, really, he should be full of energy and literally bouncing off the walls)?

2. AUDIO. Is your audio well-edited? Are the sound levels balanced and consistent? Is the voice acting full of emotion, or does it sound monotone, like you just read off a piece of paper? Are the voices similar/accurate to the characters? Did you have audio at all, or are you using microphones? Did you leave space for the audience to laugh/cheer/etc.?

3. WRITING. For a comedy skit: did the audience laugh? Did we understand all the jokes? Did you nail the comedic timing? For a dramatic skit: did it evoke an emotional response? Was there tension, suspense? No matter which category you’re entering: did it make sense? Did you convey the concept in a way that even someone who has never seen the series will still understand your skit? (Always write for a “Know Nothing Audience.” Assume everyone in your audience is totally clueless when it comes to your fandom. You don’t want to alienate a portion of the audience – or a judge! – because they don’t understand what’s happening in your skit that only True Fans™ will get.)

4. TIMING. Was there a sense of boredom from the audience because the skit was going on too long? Or did you realize that most people have the attention span of a goldfish and made sure that something exciting (a joke, a new character, a flashy effect, a dramatic moment) occurred every 15-20 seconds?

5. PROPS & SET. Did you create set pieces? Did you have props? Did you have a crew of stage ninjas? Neither of these are necessary, but if you come out on stage with a full Haku dragon puppet for your Spirited Away skit, that will certainly catch the judges’ eyes!

6. CREATIVITY. Was your concept unique, or was it yet another Hare Hare Yukai dance? Did you put effort into explaining your crossover, or are Goku and Inuyasha just standing on the stage together for no reason at all? Did you perform original material that you wrote, or did you just reenact a scene from the source material? Did you choreograph your own dance, or did you just perform a popular Love Live routine? There’s nothing wrong with doing recreations of existing stuff, but judges love seeing skits that are comprised of brand new original material because it ultimately involves more work.

7. CRAFTSMANSHIP. Were your costumes well-made or did they fall apart in the middle of the skit? Did you make your costumes yourself, or were they store-bought? Was your sewing clean, or did you have unpressed seams and loose threads everywhere? You don’t need to have amazing costumes to take home a skit award, but if the judges are trying to decide between two great skits for Best Performance, having solid craftsmanship can be enough to sway them in your favor.

8. AUDIENCE REACTION. Did the audience laugh, cry, scream, and/or cheer during your skit? Or was it pretty much dead silent as the room filled with a tangible sense of secondhand embarrassment or downright confusion? If you’re nervous about this, practice the skit in front of your friends and family beforehand.

9. OVERALL PRODUCTION VALUE. Was everyone dancing in time? Did the sword clashes match up with the sound effects? Were you expressive in a way that fit your audio? This ties in all of the above factors, but at the end of the day: was it entertaining?

I absolutely adore skit performances, they’re my favorite part of the masquerade and it’s something I really, really encourage everyone to try~! Best of luck with yours, anon – break a leg! ;D

[mangosirene]

Hi there! My cosplay group and I were planning on doing some convlogs like you and Beth do! Do you have any advice for beginning vloggers?

Find your own style of vlogging. This applies to both “regular” vlogging videos, CMVs, and con vlogs. Make sure that your voice is coming through and that you’re not mimicking someone else’s style.

Create unique branding. You want to create your own brand, not look like the off brand of an established channel. Play around with your music, transitions, font choices, etc. to create a visual style that represents what your cosplay group is all about! You want something unique that people won’t confuse or subconsciously link to an existing, established channel, so it’s best to start from scratch as opposed to copying other people.

Invest in a decent camera. Conventions have a lot of varied lighting situations, so you’ll need a decent handheld camcorder that can handle that. I do have a DSLR, but I’m wary of bringing it into crowded con settings mostly because I don’t trust other people. So for con vlogs, I recommend something like the Canon HF R400 – and they do have newer models out that you could look at!

Be merciless when editing. Cut, cut, cut. If it seems redundant, cut it. If it seems unnecessary, cut it. If it seems like a scene is dragging, cut it. Chances are that if you’re bored while watching your own video, your audience will be bored, too. You may think 10 unedited minutes of your friends sitting in a hallway talking is hilarious because it’s your friends and your inside jokes, but it’s very unlikely your audience will care enough to keep watching. Cut all the extraneous footage out and only leave in what’s needed to tell your story.

Record as much as possible. I know this seems contradictory to the advice above, but it’s always better to have too much footage than too little. Film a variety of things every day at the con, even if it’s just b-roll while walking around. You never know when it could be used to create a nice transition or fill in a video that’d otherwise be too short!

Best of luck with your con vlogging adventures!! :D