Entering Contest: Choosing what level

[Axis]

I've only made one cosplay before, but am very, very detailed with....urm, well, details xD
I was planning on entering the cosplay contest, but didnt know whether to enter beginner or intermediate since they said you could be disquailified for entering the wrong one..... this is just for a walk-on, not a skit or anything.
    Could i get any more info on these levels?
And (pfft, i totally doubt it) but they said throwing things into the croud is not aloud. What about blowing fire into the air though? xD haha, totally stupid, right? Just thought id ask anyways :]

Also, when you walk onto the stage, are you allowed to add personality? Crawl, dance, trip, whatever fits your character? Sorry to ask, as you can probably tell, first time. Im a complete and utter noob when it comes to this.

Edit: Totally forgot! You can play music, right? Any rules on language? Im guessing PG or PG13. Hopefully it can have some profanity, although i dont want like F word all over and the song screaming SSSSSEEEEEXXXXX!!!!!
   Just thought I'd better be safe than sorry

[Sporkie]

Agreed, better to be safe than sorry.

We go off of the International Costumer's Guild level guidelines.  Here they be: http://www.costume.org/documents/fairness-26-05-2006.html  Scroll down to "Skill Division Guidelines"...they call them by different names, Novice = Beginner, Journeyman = Intermediate...Master is the same.  You can't go wrong entering on the higher level.  However, if you would like to enter under beginner's, the main thing to ask is, have you won anything in a costume contest before?  If Yes, go intermediate to be safe.  Regardless, as the rules say:

"Contestants may sign up for the category they think they belong in. However, the masquerade area head and the craftsmanship judges reserve the right to move contestants into a different category based on the work presented."

So, I wouldn't sweat it too much.  It's mostly to be sure we don't have vastly experienced individuals competing in beginners just to pick up some prizes.  It sounds like you don't have anything to worry about either way.  My advice based on my own personal preferences, stretch your limits.  If you feel your skills are that of an intermediate cosplayer, go intermediate, regardless of how many costumes you've made.  It's skills and wins that really determine where you should enter.

...no.  No fire.  No water, no glitter, confetti, small rabid rodents, anything like that, no matter how accurate to the character it may be.  Sorry. ;p

Go ahead and crawl or limp or anything when you get onstage, but I'd say move up the ramp toward the stage at a pretty good clip.  I'm not saying run, but if you're going to crawl, don't crawl up the ramp, you'll use up your whole 45sec just on that, and presentation judging doesn't technically start until you hit the stage.  Dancing would probably be fine up the ramp, though.  Once you're onstage, you can dance, crawl, hop, skip, whatever.  Thank you for doing so, it's much better for your presentation score to put lots of thought and effort into those 45 seconds onstage, rather than just waving and running off.

The rules state: "NDK’s masquerade is rated TVPG (Parental Guidance Suggested)".  That's a good guideline for your music selection.  If you have any worries, I'd run your music choice by Katie, the head of Cosplay at NDK.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.  Here are last year's contest rules, although they change slightly every year to adapt things like "no throwing weapons" or "no cracking whips at the judges".  Little things like that. ;p http://ndkdenver.org/activities/cosplay/contest-rules

[Katie]

Sporkie <3! You hit everything on the head. If you have any questions about your music you can send me a clip http://ndkdenver.org/contact (make sure you select cosplay or costume contest from the drop down category list) and I'll give it a listen and approve or whatever before signup begins.

And please no stunts (cracking whips, ect) that can hurt our judges, the MC, the audience or yourself.

[Axis]

Thank you very much! Im pretty sure that answers all my questions >w<
as for the level, i think ill see how much i like the costume when im completely finished and go from there.
 Thanks again :]

[ako pah]

Speaking of contest, just want to share of my thoughts about my past cosplay competition that I attented.

I went in Ohayocon last week and pre reg the cosplay contest and when im going to check in for craftmanship judging. They ask me if my costume won in other convention, I said yes then they reply I cannot join. and I asked why, the reason is only costume that never win in any award can join. Im not upset in their regulation and understand why I cannot join. All the costume step on the stage have never won any award, to make it short if you won million times in your life but the costume not, zero, nada, you can still join. They feel bad about the accident so they upgrade my regular badge to VIP badge and all my friends too....... 

I remember a costume won in other convention and saw him/her again in NDK cosplay competion(and win again in NDK). I am not upset or jealous about it, my point is lets other new costume/cosplayer chances to compete to other costume that never won before in what ever category they were in. It would be nice if you guys(the people who responsible in competition) applied this kind of rules. So everyone have fair competition.

Just sharing my opinion...........

*I wish someday I can be one of the judge in NDK,lol*

[Sporkie]

Hey, Ako Pah   We do actually have a rule of this variety in place.  As it is currently phrased, it goes:

"Contestants may not enter a costume that has won at a previous NDK, has won two or more awards or has won an award at a larger convention than NDK. If you have any questions, please email the masquerade area head."

If they won in a larger convention than NDK and enter it again at NDK, then they're actually breaking rules.  We HAVE had people blatantly and knowingly break rules before...it's terrible when it happens, but we can't monitor every winner of every costume contest in every convention in the world, nor can we know for certain if other rules are being lied about, so unfortunately we're sort of limited to the honor system to a degree.

[l4justice]

I know this is Axis' thread but I'd like to ask a question myself if that's okay (didn't wanna waste making another thread...) Anyways, I want to enter with a cosplay that is simple and this would be first time ever trying a cosplay contest, and so I'm going beginner. And my cosplay has headphones that go with it. And so, for the walk-on, I wanted to place my hands and walk on stage kinda like bobbing my head to the music. I'm sure this is okay but just being safe here xD

Edit: Also, can the music be J-Rock?

[Sporkie]

Sounds good! :3  And J-rock's fine, as long as it adheres to those TVPG ratings...some NDKgoers do speak Japanese. ;p  Again, when in doubt about a specific song, contact Katie with it.  Katie = Final Say.

[Katie]

I know this is Axis' thread but I'd like to ask a question myself if that's okay (didn't wanna waste making another thread...) Anyways, I want to enter with a cosplay that is simple and this would be first time ever trying a cosplay contest, and so I'm going beginner. And my cosplay has headphones that go with it. And so, for the walk-on, I wanted to place my hands and walk on stage kinda like bobbing my head to the music. I'm sure this is okay but just being safe here xD

Edit: Also, can the music be J-Rock?

No problem!

Yes you can do the headbobbing and the music can be J-rock just make sure that the file is sent along with you online registration. As it will state in the rules once we get microsoft word and HTML to play nice.
All audio submitted for walk-on entries will start when the first contestant steps onto the stage unless otherwise asked for. The total maximum running time is 45 seconds for walk-ons.
Audio must be 7mb or less in .mp3, .wav or .wmv format (anything other than that runs the risk of not being compatable or downloaded).

Because I get asked so often let me just state that I will not cut down audio for anyone. I have around 70 entries every year to go through, if I were to cut everyones music for them it would take hours, possibly days, and you might not get the part of the song you wanted. However if you crop the song yourself you know and get exactly what you want. There are several programs that can be used for this. If you're a windows user, most likely you have windows movie maker which can be used to cut audio (just make sure you put the song in the audio area and not the video). Or Audacity is a free program that can be downloaded and used to crop music files.

[l4justice]

Lol, thanks Katie. I planned on doing the cropping myself, and funny that I hav both Windows Movie Maker and Audacity XD DOUBLE CROPPAGE POWER >:-D Anyways, thanks again Katie, and hope to see u at NDK :p

[Axis]

since this thread is continueing well, i figured i might as well ask. Do you know the exact date for preregistration? And do the slots fill up very quickly?

[Katie]

Online signup begins Saturday, August 15, 2010 at noon Denver time (Mountain time) and ends Saturday, August 21, 2010 at noon Denver time (Mountain time). Any emails sent prior to the beginning of signup will be returned and the entrant will need to re-apply. To pre-register for the contest you need to be pre-registered for the convention. Email confirmation of walk-on entries will be sent within 3 days. Usually you'll get a confirmation the same day but if you don't hear anything by three days you need to email me. Skit entries will be sent a confirmation after the script and sound recordings have been previewed.

Last year we ended up filling up by the end of the sign up week but it may fill up faster this year. It would probably be best if you want in the costume contest to send in your registration in the first couple of days.

[Axis]

Thanks for the advice. will do~