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COSPLAYING
TIPS - GETTING STARTED
So you decided to get into cosplay - congratulations,
that's cool! Here's a few tips on how to get
started when you're completely new to the hobby.
• Reference
- Find good reference pictures of the character
you want to cosplay. Study the costume and decide
which of the parts you can make yourself, and
which ones you'll have to buy.
• Shopping
- Not everyone is skilled with the sewing machine,
so you might find it easier to shop for clothes
that look *a-little-like* or *close-enough-to*
what your character is wearing and modify them.
The general idea is to look out for color or
fabric that resemble the stuff your character
is wearing.
• Imagination
- When you cosplay a "real-life" character
(like from a movie), you get a pretty accurate
idea of their costumes, speaking in terms of
material and color. That's mostly not the case
when you want to create a costume of any character
from a video game or comic. Recreating outfits
of digital characters requires a little imagination
and being open for creative ideas. There simply
is no such thing as THE right color, fabric,
or cut. Be creative and try to think yourself
into the character to find out what sort of
material he/she *might* be wearing in real life.
You might even end up with different versions
of your costume in the end - that's awesome! |
Whether you decide to take your pictures yourself
or ask a friend or member of your family to
do it, is completely up to you - either way
works fine, when you keep just a few general
things in mind.
• Light
- Try to avoid using the flash, it gives you
red eyes and makes your skin shine. Natural
light makes pictures look more smooth and balanced,
even when you're taking indoor photos. If you
have to use additional artificial light, make
sure the light source is never directly above
you - gives you dark shadows beneath the eyes.
Light shining on you from the side seems to
make you look more radiant and natural than
a spot from above.
• Self
timer - Don't be afraid to use the self
timer - it can become your best friend ;) -
When you find nobody is interesting in helping
you with your photos, you'll have to take them
yourself. Use a stable tripod for your camera
if you have one. Try to avoid zooming, and put
a few large staps of distance between the cam
and you for a minimum.
• Assistants
- When you're lucky to have friends of family
to help you, that's great. Before you start,
make sure to tell them what exactly you want
them to do, and what kinds of photos you want
to get in the end. Action shots? Still poses?
Portraits? Assistants can get quite irritating
when they start giving you hints and telling
you what to do. If you like that, no problem.
Most people don't. In that case, try to politely
tell them that you can't work that way and prefer
to take your pictures by yourself if they don't
stop.
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Got your first photos? Great! What to do with
them? How show them to others?
• Posting
rules - Before you publish your photos
on a website or forum, please be certain that
you really want others to see and evaluate your
work and comment on it. When posting, make sure
your pictures are of reasonable size, both in
dimensions and kilobytes. Nobody likes waiting
for a huge image to load, so keep everything
compact if you can.
• No
bragging - Even if you're very proud
of your pics (and you have every right to be),
please refrain from bragging. Statements like
"My costume is the best..." or "I
look so fantastic" won't make you friends
in the community. Bragging is just bad style
and conveys the impression of arrogance. Try
to stay humble and down-to-earth, and you'll
see you'll get more positive comments and compliments
on our pictures.
• Theft
protection - Finding someone else using
and posting your pictures, profiting from them
and getting compliments for them, is annoying,
to say the least - To protect your hard work
from thieves and opportunists, it's recommended
to place distinct watermarks on all your photos.
These can be your nickname, e-mail addy, or
website - whatever you want to share. Yes, some
people are bad. But you see, you're not unarmed
;) |
Once you've posted your first pictures on various
websites and forums, you'll eventually notice
that some people have a very different approach
to cosplay than others. While 99.9% of cosplayers
are a creative, supportive, and helpful community,
you'll probably also encounter black sheep who
seem to take joy in bashing your photos and
costumes.
• Accuracy
vs. Spirit - While for some it's of utmost
importance that a costume is made *exactly*
to the specs of the original reference, other
people prefer to take a more casual approach
to cosplaying, saying that it's more important
to capture the spirit and overall look of a
character than to have every tiny detail 100%
right. Make up our mind about your very own,
personal idea of what you want your cosplay
to represent, and don't let anyone tell you
what you're doing is "wrong", "sloppy",
"inaccurate", or "pedantic".
• Bashing
- Constructive criticism is a wonderful thing
and very helpful, but the fun ends when it comes
to insults and threats. Some people take joy
in hurting others, and do so on every occasion
and without manners or respect. Most of the
time, these people are not even cosplayers themselves,
so they have absolutely no right to judge and
insult your work. Being bashed and insulted
hurts, but remember that the reason is mostly
found in jealousy and envy, because these guys
can't do what you can. It takes quite some courage
to be a cosplayer and post photos, so you're
the brave one, and they're the cowards, hiding
behind anonymous screen names and throwing random
insults at others.
• Help!
I'm being bashed! - When you find yourself
the victim of bashing, don't lose your temper.
It's upsetting and annoying, but try not to
let it get to you too much. Keep a clear head
and don't react too quickly out of reflex or
anger. Insulting people in return is hardly
ever a solution, but makes things even worse.
You don't want to start a war after all. So
what can you do? First, make sure you don't
be too quick on the "delete" button.
Keep insulting messages and posts for later
reference and proof. When on a forum or website,
contact the moderators or administrators. Let
them know what's going on, maybe forward the
insults you got to show them what's happening.
A good administrator won't tolerate childish
behavior like bashing on his/her site and will
call for order. When you're being insulted via
e-mail - there's mostly nothing you can do to
these people in return. Don't let them push
you into justifying your work. Don't even try
to reply, it's not worth it. 99% of bashing
mails are being sent from anonymous or fake
e-mail accounts anyway. Find someone to talk
to. Talk about it on your forum of trust, and
you'll find a lot of support and positive ideas
from your friends there, and also learn that
you're not the only one who's been treated like
this. You'll see, once you've talked about it,
the matter suddenly looks only half as bad.
Bashing is not a personal war against you -
it's just the result of narrow-minded childish
people being bored and jealous. |
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