Not All Cosplay Competitions are the Same
I recently read Kamui’s post on a breakdown about cosplay competitions, and while I did like the write up on a perspective of competing for something like Blizz con, there was one important article missing from it: this is for a very limited type of cosplay competition. As someone who competes and also runs cosplay competitions on the east coast of the USA, less than half of the writeup really applied.
Below I have a list of items that a con may, or may not have in their variation of a cosplay competition. Please note, I am also writing this from my knowledge of competing at east coast anime cons and reading rules/word of mouth from other cosplay competitors that is primarily from the USA. There is no universal standard for any con type on how to run a cosplay competition.
absolutely no real craftsmanship/performance competition (look-alike, for fun competitions)
craftsmanship only portion (no performance needed)
craftsmanship requires a walk-on
craftsmanship requiring performance
performance that does not require craftsmanship
separate competitions for performance & craftsmanship
Hall Cosplay = craftsmanship judging
Hall Cosplay = ‘I found you in the hall and I like this, here is an award for your work’
Masquerade = craftsmanship / performance competition
Masquerade = performance only competition
Masquerade = an actual ball and not a competition at all
Cosplay Competition = wild card
craftsmanship judging where they actually get up and look at your work
craftsmanship judging where people sit in place and listen to you talk about what you put together
craftsmanship judging while you are on stage competing and are only able to see you from your table
craftsmanship judging in a private room
craftsmanship judging on stage where you are asked questions in front of an audience
given an unlimited amount of time to talk about your work
given a minimum of 3-5 minutes to talk about your work and have them look at it
craftsmanship judges that are costumers themselves
performance judges that are performers themselves
guest judges that have never made a garment in their lives
guest judges that have never been on a stage in their life
staff judges who may/may not be cosplayers or performers
judges who only do armor and prop work
judges who only do sewing work
judges who are not biased and can easily put aside wow factor in order actually judge the quality of a costume
judges who are biased or have no background and want to give the best scores to the biggest, brightest costume out there
scores that are also manipulated in a way by the audience (popularity contest)
someone might be in the background manipulating the scores
separate the level for competition between performance and craftsmanship
combine level for competition between performance and craftsmanship (are you a Master performer? Never made an outfit in your life? You’re a master craftsmanship too)
have a weekend long event where Friday/Saturday are judged separately
have a weekend long event where Friday/Saturday are competing for the same awards
rulesets set to ICG standards
rulesets based off of general agreement to other cons nearby
rulesets that might as well be written in crayon cause they don’t really follow them
low standards because they are a small con and limited entries
massively competitive standards due to the entry submission level and the popularity, meaning the bar is astronomically high (BlizzCon + WCS are great examples of this)
give out money/cash prizes
give out free stuff to the con and/or dealers hall garbage
rules for allowing original character designs
rules for allowing fan designs of established characters (gijinka, steampunk, ect), but not fully original characters
rules for having a limited genre of characters for competition (anime = japanese/south east asia only, comiccon = comic book only ect)
Remember: If you have never competed at a con, try to find someone who has and ask them about it. Their formatting may be completely different from what you are used to, or completely different from what some people have informed you of.
My inbox is always open as well for questions about cosplay competitions, and I will try my best to answer them if I know the venue/setup to explain it better.