Tag Archives: Cosplay

L.A.R.P.-Knowing the Line

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“Live Action Role Playing” (pg 70, How To Avoid Hara-Kiri)

L.A.R.P., short for Live Action Role-Playing, is a form of acting where people cosplay and act like their favorite characters from a story, game, or anime series. In most conventions, there will be an area dedicated to this, where people can meet and act out their favorite scenes from a show or a game, or it may be something original that the convention offers. Either way, the concept still centers around acting out, and my advice today is on what to do when you need to act in a certain role.

Whether it’s at a convention, or in a big-budgeted motion-picture, acting is an art; one takes serious effort in getting into their respective role, portraying the proper emotions, body-language, and most of all knowing the correct lines for a particular scene. As such, you have to take the role with a certain seriousness when you are portraying that certain mood or posture. At the same time, it doesn’t mean that they can’t have fun with it either, and in most cases, L.A.R.P. [events] at cons tend to be very comedic and easy-going, nothing like a Broadway musical. Have fun with your role, but make sure that you portray the role that you’re playing correctly, whether its comic relief, or being the serious badass.

However, I cannot stress enough when saying, please do not take role-playing too seriously. Remember, it is just acting. Most of the time people don’t actually/always mean the things they say when acting out a persona. And while there are those who understand this, there are also cases where people take to role-playing as if it’s a part of their life, in every aspect. I unfortunately have experienced this firsthand; interacting with people who claimed identities aside from their own, I formed relationships despite never meeting them, and almost got into some serious trouble for it. Even though I was still young, I realized that the blurring line between what is real and what is not is extremely dangerous.

With L.A.R.P., have fun with the experience, as it is a chance to meet people and interact in a different way from the norm, but also be serious when portraying the right character to your audience, because they won’t show interest in your character if your emotions are all over the place. Try not to take to heart any [potentially] rude comments or lines people may say, as it is not in their intention to hurt you. Not every character’s a good guy. Most importantly, do not mix the line between your acting and your actual lifestyle. Trust me, it’s not always pretty.

Secuirty At Conventions

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“Our job is not to boss anyone around but to help attendees with any problems, answer any questions, and stop anything that may cause a problem for the attendees and the area the convention is held at.” (pg 45, How To Avoid Hara-Kiri)

During my third year at AnimeNext, I was hanging out with my friend, (we’ll call her Sam) who showed me her authentic Soul Eater sword from “Kingdom Hearts”. It wasn’t one of those wooden ones either, but an actual metal one. We played around with it, with her pretending to stab me, until one of the security guards caught the potentially dangerous scene and asked her to put it away. We were both upset; especially me, because I felt mostly responsible. A part of me even want to get all philosophical and boast, “That’s how the government controls us man! It’s the 99% all over again”. Seriously though, we knew that the man was just doing his job, the same as anyone else in his position would. That is ultimately the same understanding that any con-goer has to have when dealing with con security.

Security is basic protocol at any large gathering, be it anime-related or otherwise. The reason being is to make sure that no serious altercations occur: fights, accidents, something that may cause panic for attendees, etc. Some will be more uptight with this than others, enforcing rules and regulations that may disrupt your convention activities. However, it is all to make sure that no one gets hurt or does something stupid to hurt themselves in the end.

The person we dealt with was easygoing, and was only doing the right thing after what he saw was a potential incident. There are, however, situations when you’ll be dealing with those who abuse their authority, be it because they have too little experience, or just because they’re assholes. The best thing you can do, whether an attendee, media, and/or a guest, is to be civil and avoid potential confrontation. If there is a situation where you may have to deal with security, just do what the person says and try to avoid any problems with him or her. Trust me, the last thing you want to do is cause a conflict that may get you kicked out of the convention. Then, all that hard work on cosplay, the money spent getting to the con, etc; it all goes down the drain.

So, for the sake of not getting potentially banned at a con, respect the rules of the event, including those that come from people whose job it is to enforce them. If there is a conflict, respect security’s positions, listen, and just don’t do anything rash. It is one thing to get angry, but generally better to be the bigger person and just walk away.

Bad Weather At Cons

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“…be sure to have the appropriate equipment” (pg 98, How To Avoid Hara-Kiri)

One of the few things often overlooked by even the most grizzled con-goers are the weather conditions. The weather can either make or break your entire convention experience. Good weather is a blessing for most (cosplayers in particular), whereas bad weather can be a hellish nightmare.

Bad weather is not just limited to rain or snow during a convention weekend; it can also include extreme temperatures as well as high winds. Most of the time people don’t plan their cosplays out for freezing temperatures or scorching summer days, but that should really be taken into consideration. If you are cosplaying a scantily clad character for a winter convention, then you might have a difficult time walking to and from the convention freezing cold. Sun’s no better. Not only can the summer heat make you sweat more profusely than normal, but it can also mess up your wig. If there is a lot of humidity in the air, then it can cause your wig to mat up and lose its style.

Other than bad weather affecting your cosplay choices, it can also affect certain things within the convention. One of the obvious things that bad weather can affect is your actual trip to the convention itself. This is more so meant to be considered during the winter convention season when the roads are icy and covered in snow. Sometimes, in extreme cases, a convention can be snowed out (or in >.<). An example would be back in the late-2000s, when Katsucon experienced “Snowpocalypse”. There was a big blizzard that hit Washington D.C. that year, and the entire city of D.C. was basically shut down. The city wasn’t ready for all the snow and did not have the means to take care of the roads. Needless to say, all of the con-goers were trapped in their hotel rooms until the snow was cleared up.

The main thing to remember about bad weather is that bad weather can happen at any time, you should plan your cosplays accordingly. Just remember to check the weather forecast before heading to a convention.

GIANT F***ing Cosplay Props!!!!!

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[O.o] [Insert chapter we forgot to write] [>.<]

For the bold cosplayer who excepts the challenge of a uniquely sized cosplay, I bow my head in your general direction. But if it’s your first time there are certain things that need to be considered.

First and most important is weight. Do you plan on carrying the prop with you the whole time? How long are you going to be carrying it? How far do you need to carry it? Will you have help? Will you be able to fit through the door? Ask yourself these questions now, before it’s too late! To best explain further the importance of these questions I’ll tell the tale of Ikkaku’s bankai.

It’s a cosplay I did a couple of years back. Ikkaku is a character who’s ultimate weapon is three giant axes. 2 are handheld, each about the size of a person, and there’s a giant floating axe, triple the size of the handhelds, floating behind him. Well for the hand axes I constructed the body of pvc pipe, cardboard and duct tape. Same with the back axe. But the back axe needed more support to be held up, so I constructed a wooden brace that strapped to my back like a backpack. It was pretty good, but I wanted more detail. So I used plaster strips to cover the axes and painted them. They looked great! However the major problem was that they were now 100+ pounds. I had paid the price for that extra plaster, as it accounted for at least 50 of those 100+ pounds. But I’m a big guy, so I went for it anyway, and I took this cosplay to Anime Expo.

Since I knew how heavy this bad boy was, I had a good many friends with me to help with the cosplay. I did make one big error though in the sense of the photoshoot location. They changed it at the last-minute, too the complete opposite side of the convention. I had no choice but to lug my giant cosplay to the other end of the convention center. What made it worse is that it’s impossible to reach the other side of the convention without actually going through the convention center itself. The cosplay would not fit through the doors, but luckily some happy volunteers helped me disassemble it on the spot and lug it across the convention hall; security was very polite and helpful as well, thankfully. So I made it to the Bleach cosplay photoshoot 30 minutes late.

Was it worth it? Hell yes, it was! It was one of the most memorable, crazy, and exciting cosplay experiences I’ve ever had. However, I would do it a bit differently if I had to do it over again.

Your Cosplay’s Just Been Destroyed!!!!!

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“Do not touch a cosplayer or their costume unless you ask.” (pg 37, How To Avoid Hara-Kiri)

One of the most common problems for cosplayers during a convention is cosplay malfunction. This can include props breaking, costumes getting ripped or frayed, buttons falling off, costume attachments becoming unattached; and the list goes on and on. An easy way to prepare for a costume malfunction is to buy a small hand-sewing kit; these can be purchased at the local fabric store and are normally inexpensive. In these kits, there are normally a pair of fabric scissors, needles, pins, thread, and measuring tape. If you take this to the convention with you, then you will be prepared to fix any small costume problem until you can fix it properly at home.

Prop malfunctions are a little more difficult to fix than a cosplay malfunction. Props are made from a range of materials and come in a variety of sizes. Some easy items to fix props with are super glue and duct tape. Depending on how heavy the prop is, it can be held together by either of these two things. Super glue would work best on something light, like a headpiece or small weapon. Duct tape would be used for something larger like a full body length shield or large type of weapon. Granted, these easy fixes won’t leave your prop looking exactly like it’s supposed to, but they will keep it together for the rest of the con until you can acquire the proper materials to fix them.

I unfortunately have had both prop and costume malfunctions happen at conventions, and it is not fun. At Katsucon 2012, I was cosplaying Namine from Kingdom Hearts and had my hand-made keyblade break. Someone hit my keyblade at a wrong angle and one of the attachments fell off less than five minutes before a photoshoot. Luckily enough, I thought ahead and brought crazy glue with me to the convention. Within that time limit, I was able to fix my prop and get to my shoot on time.

Even if you are not the cosplayer who is experiencing a malfunction of these sorts, if you notice it, please tell said cosplayer. Cosplay problems are like medical problems, in the aspect that if they are noticed quickly, before they get too bad, then they are easier to fix. If you see a small hole in a shirt, that small hole is going to be a lot easier to fix than a shirt ripped in half. The same can be said with props. Cosplayers put a lot of effort into their cosplays and would love it if someone would let them know that something is wrong with it. Especially if your mentioning that wrong thing can save them time in the long run!