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Masquerade FAQ
- How long does it take for the Masquerade to fill up?
- Why do you require summaries for skits to register? Are you pre-judging or censoring the Masquerade? What should be in my summary?
- I can't find the Masquerade Craftsmanship form! Where is it?
- Is it true that bigger, more complicated costumes always win?
- How important are props and accessories?
- Is it better to be alone or in a group?
- Is it better for members of a group to be judged separately or together?
- Why do the judges always ask which parts of the costume are store-bought? Are they accusing me of trying to pass off professional work as my own?
- Why do you care so much about the shoes?
- What if my character's shoes, or another part of the costume, are never shown?
- Is it better to use my own hair or to have a wig?
- Is it true that kissing on stage will get me a prize?
- Are the odds of winning different for Novices and Advanced entries?
- Do more popular characters have an advantage?
- Why can't I enter the same costume I entered last year, or enter my costume in both the Masquerade and the Hall Costume Contest?
- Why are there quotas of presentations and walk-ons? Why are there more spaces reserved for presentations than for walk-ons?
- Why do you insist on prerecorded sound?
- Who are the judges? What are their qualifications?
- Is it better to have craftsmanship judging on Friday or Saturday?
- I am on staff. May I compete in the Masquerade or Hall Cosplay Contest?
- I have some other questions that are not answered here.
For questions about sound and music, see the separate Masquerade Sound and Music FAQ.
- How long does it take for the Masquerade to fill up?
It is very hard to predict how long it will take the masquerade to fill up. Last year it took less than two months to fill up. This year, once again, there are quotas with some spaces in the Masquerade reserved for presentations and others for walk-ons. We expect the walk-on spaces to fill up more quickly than last year and the presentation spaces less quickly. If you do not get a space in the Masquerade, you can register for the Hall Costume Contest.
- Why do you require summaries for skits to register? Are you pre-judging or censoring the Masquerade? What should be in my summary?
We want to make sure that the skits in the Masquerade are of good quality and well-planned out, so we prefer groups to start working on them early. We require that you submit a brief summary of your skit in order to prove that you have started working on it and are not simply registering now to snatch up a space and will not start working on your skit until the week before the convention. The summary can be very brief, only one or two sentences. It does not need to contain actual dialogue or to describe the whole skit from beginning to end, so long as it states the general idea behind the skit. No one will be denied registration on the grounds of their skit summary, unless it contains lewd content which does not fit with the Masquerade's PG rating. If necessary, you will be allowed to change your skit if you have a better idea later simply e-mail the Masquerade Director to give notice of the change and submit a new summary.
Here are three sample skit summaries of various degrees of detail. All three of these would be acceptable:
- Our skit is a crossover skit which starts with the cast of Hikaru no Go having a Go tournament. Hikaru is playing against Touya, but then gets mad and removes his jacket to reveal that he is really Edward Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist. Touya then removes his coat to reveal that he is Haku from Spirited Away. As they start to fight, other Hikaru no Go cast members intervene, and one-by-one reveal themselves to be characters from other shows with similar character designs in disguise.
- My skit is a stand-up comic routine in which Astro Boy complains like an old man: "Back in my day, giant robots didn't have to have angst-ridden teenagers inside them, they had their own angst..." etc.
- Our skit is a Naruto/Harry Potter crossover in which Konoha is Hogwarts and Orochimaru is Voldemort.
The following three summaries would not be acceptable, because they do not demonstrate that any real planning has gone into the skit:
- Our skit is a crossover skit.
- My skit is a stand-up comic routine.
- Our skit has Naruto characters.
- I can't find the Masquerade Craftsmanship form! Where is it?
We are not using it this year. Minors still need to have a parent or guardian fill out the Participation Form for Minors, but we will provide all necessary paperwork at check-in for ordinary entries.
- Is it true that bigger, more complicated costumes always win?
It is true that a more complicated costume gives you more opportunity to demonstrate your skills, and a perfectly-constructed ball gown or suit of armor is more impressive than a perfectly constructed T-shirt or mini-skirt, but differences in complexity are generally much less important than differences in quality. A pair of hand-made blue jeans that looks as if it was store-bought is more impressive than a hoopskirt whose rough edges and irregular seams are obviously amateur. So between two costumes of precisely equal quality the more complicated one will win, but this is rarely the determining factor in awarding of prizes. Still, it can be wise in selecting a character to make sure that the costume is one that will give you plenty of chances to show off your skills.
- How important are props and accessories?
It is important to have all the props and accessories appropriate to your character, but you aren't penalized if you choose to do a character that simply does not have any props or accessories. When making props and accessories, you should try to make them look as much like the original as possible, but also to make them durable -- a wand which can be swung around the way the character does is going to score better than a wand which is just as beautiful but too fragile to play with. Similarly, research and accuracy are key: if your character smokes, bringing a pack of the correct brand of cigarettes (with a reference picture to show that it's the right brand) shows good attention to detail. Props and accessories can be a great way to enhance a costume that might otherwise be too simple. If you are concerned that your character's clothes are so plain that they don't give you much chance to demonstrate your skills as a craftsman, then you can look through the anime and/or manga and pick out a selection of appropriate props to create, anything from an overcoat or backpack to a gizmo the character used once in one obscure manga issue. Making these extra props can turn a simple costume into a complicated one and offset the competitive disadvantage of simple clothes.
- Is it better to be alone or in a group?
Generally your odds of winning are not affected by whether you are alone or in a group, with two exceptions. First, if the characters selected for a group are particularly clever or unusual, that can give an advantage -- especially for performance or Judge's awards which focus on creativity. Second, if a number of costumes in a group were all made by one person, not by several people, then the fact that one person went to the effort of creating several complete costumes is as impressive as if that person had created one exceptionally difficult costume, and the judges will keep this in mind -- especially when awarding the Best Costume Design award.
- Is it better for members of a group to be judged separately or together?
That depends on whether there is much variety in quality among the costumes. If one creator or a few people working together made the costumes jointly, then they should definitely be judged together. If, on the other hand, the costumes have multiple creators who worked separately, so one costume can definitely said to be one person's work and another another's, then you should consider the option of separate judging. If the costumes are all of about the same quality, then they should be judged together, but if some are of strikingly higher or lower quality than others, then you should probably have them judged separately. When in doubt, we recommend that groups opt to be judged as groups. If nothing else, each time a group asks to be judged separately, it makes the judging process slower so other groups have to wait longer and miss more of the con.
- Why do the judges always ask which parts of the costume are store-bought? Are they accusing me of trying to pass off professional work as my own?
There are two reasons judges ask which parts of the costume are store-bought. First, very well-made costumes are hard to tell apart from store-bought clothes and often the judges can't tell by looking whether a shirt or pair of pants is homemade or purchased. You should take it as a compliment that your sewing was good enough to make the judge uncertain. Second, one important part of cosplay is figuring out clever and creative uses for "found items," that is taking and modifying ordinary clothing and household objects to make them into striking and unusual costume pieces. Feel free to point out to the judges if you have made a suit of armor by modifying an ordinary jacket or if the core of your staff used to be a paint roller. Your creativity will earn you high marks.
- Why do you care so much about the shoes?
Shoes are a finishing detail that often marks a very good cosplay. Shoes are difficult to make and to modify and are often not shown in pictures, so it can take a lot of extra effort and care on the cosplayer's part to get them right. Frequently, in the halls, one will see an otherwise reasonable cosplayer walking around with completely inappropriate shoes because the person did not care enough to take the time to get it right. You will not be penalized for wearing simple or store-bought shoes if that is what your character wears. What matters is that you took the extra step to imitate your character literally from head to toe. This is why we especially recommend bringing a reference picture which shows your character's feet, so we can compare your shoes to the picture and give you due credit for your attention to detail.
- What if my character's shoes, or another part of the costume, are never shown?
This is a common problem, especially with secondary characters or costumes from promotional art. If some part of your costume is not shown, then you should look at the other costumes in the show and come up with an idea of what you think the artist might have done if they had drawn the missing part. Your choice could be very complicated, or very simple, but what is important is that it fit with the costume and the art style. You should point out to the judges which part you invented and, if possible, bring reference pictures not only of your costume but also of any other costumes in the series that you used as a model to choose what you did.
- Is it better to use my own hair or to have a wig?
Neither gives an advantage in judging. The important thing is for it to look as much as possible like the character. Judges will often ask whether you used your own hair or a wig, not because one is better, but because sometimes we are surprised to discover that very natural-looking hair is really a wig or that totally psychedelic, gravity-defying hair is actually real. Any hair or wig which can fool us into thinking it is the other is very impressive. Hair styling is very important. If your character has long pink hair, don't simply get a long pink wig, style it so that it really looks like the character, the right length, the cut of bangs, and especially take care to duplicate any characteristic locks of hair which stick up or hang down. Ideally, someone who watches your show should be able to recognize the character from your head alone, even if the rest of you were covered up.
- Is it true that kissing on stage will get me a prize?
The main performance awards, First Place and Second Place, are awarded based on creativity, originality, acting quality, and overall entertainment value, so a skit with kissing has little advantage against a skit which has been well-written, carefully scripted, and rehearsed. Judges' awards and other discretionary awards are distributed based on the Judges' personal preferences and nothing can predict what will affect them. It is important to keep in mind that the Masquerade is rated PG and the judges have been instructed to penalize skits with content inappropriate to this rating.
- Are the odds of winning different for Novices and Advanced entries?
Not really, no. Judges' awards, other discretionary awards, and the "Best" awards (like "Best Script and Acting" or "Best Costume Design") are awarded to both categories. If there are many exceptional Novice entries in one year and fewer good Advanced entries, then the Novices will tend to take these awards. If the opposite is the case and there are few good novice entries, then the Advanced groups will take more awards. The separation of entries into Novice and Advanced categories are intended to separate out those with more experience, so that first-time costumers can compete against one another for some prizes and do not have to compete directly with the six-time award-winners who would otherwise tend to monopolize "Best in Show". The "Best" awards allow all entries to compete against each other.
- Do more popular characters have an advantage?
No. For craftsmanship, all judging is done relative to the reference picture you bring, so it makes no difference whether or not the judges are familiar with your character. For performance, if your skit is dependent on the spectator knowing who the characters are and why what they're doing is dramatic or funny, then it can be to your disadvantage to choose obscure characters. If you design your script so it is entertaining, even to people who don't know who you are, then it makes no difference. You should do that anyway, since the audience will enjoy it more. If you want proof that popular characters have no advantage, the group that won "Best Craftsmanship Advanced" and "Best Script and Acting" at Anime Boston 2005 were cosplaying a series which 2/3rds of the judges had never interacted with before.
- Why can't I enter the same costume I entered last year, or enter my costume in both the Masquerade and the Hall Costume Contest?
An estimated 30% of Anime Boston attendees cosplayed last year. There were around 9,000 people at the convention, so that's over 3,000 cosplayers! There are only sixty spaces in the Masquerade and forty in the Hall Costume Contest, so every year many people who want to participate don't get to. To be fair, we can't give one person more than one space, and we can't give a space to a costume which was also entered last year, since many costumes which have never had a chance to be judged are still waiting. Remember, though, that we have the Staff-Vote Contest in which any costume seen in the halls is automatically eligible, no matter whether it participated in the Masquerade last year or this year, so you can still win prizes for your old costumes.
- Why are there quotas of presentations and walk-ons? Why are there more spaces reserved for presentations than for walk-ons?
Presentation entries are in the Masquerade to demonstrate their wit, writing, and acting skills as well as their craftsmanship skills, while walk-ons are in the Masquerade only for craftsmanship. Anime Boston has a separate Hall Costume Contest, where cosplayers interested in displaying their craftsmanship and competing against one another can do so. Thus, walk-on type entries now have two contests in which to display their work while presentations have only one. For this reason, it is fair to reserve more spaces in the Masquerade for presentations who have no other opportunity to show their stuff. In addition, the Masquerade exists for the audience as well as for the participants and the audience prefers skits to walk-ons. The winners of the Hall Costume Contest will be announced at the Masquerade and may have photos of their costumes shown on the screens at the Masquerade. Winners of the Hall Costume Contest will still have an opportunity to have their costumes shown to a large audience even though they do not come on stage.
- Why do you insist on prerecorded sound?
Miking the stage is difficult, expensive, and unreliable. With so many different entries with different numbers of people and levels of volume, and without rehearsals to allow sound testing, it is impossible to set up microphones capable of reliably catching the sound from all types of skits. The requirement of prerecorded sound ensures that your dialogue will be audible and will come out the way you want it to sound.
- Who are the judges? What are their qualifications?
The craftsmanship judges are experienced, award-winning cosplayers, many of them recruited from among the winners of last year's Masquerade. The performance judges are a mixture of experienced cosplayers and celebrity guests who work in the anime industry.
- Is it better to have craftsmanship judging on Friday or Saturday?
It is better to check in and have craftsmanship judging on Friday. If you check in earlier, it gives the staff more time to verify your sound and get your skit set in the script. On Friday there are more judging hours and the judging is less rushed. In addition, if there is some problem with judging on Friday, it is possible for you to come back on Saturday...but if you wait until Saturday and there is a problem, you may be out of luck.
- I am on staff. May I compete in the Masquerade or Hall Cosplay Contest?
No. Anime Boston staff members are not permitted to compete or hold a spot in the Anime Boston Masquerade or Hall Cosplay Contest. IF we find ourselves in need of groups to fill spots closer to the convention, you may considered for an "exhibition" performance and would not be eligible for prizes.
However, staff members may be considered for Anime Dating Game or Cosplay Human Chess.
- I have some other questions that are not answered here.
E-mail the Masquerade Coordinator. She is often checking e-mail.
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