I am sitting with the web team on this, but to get things started here is a direct link to the form https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1DapZN_5DFoeTPdeYUb2a6owrrdo5pXMc7-HnRwR0V_g/viewform?usp=send_form (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1DapZN_5DFoeTPdeYUb2a6owrrdo5pXMc7-HnRwR0V_g/viewform?usp=send_form)
Please review the rules that have already been posted and I will field question on the forum or you can contact me via email at
[email protected], Skype erikpassmark or Facebook
.
Will there be list of all the contestants before the masquerade like last time?
Awesome, thank you! I filled out and sent my registration a few minutes ago.
Awesomesauce. I've registered.
I'm a little curious at some of the things missing from the form though. I didn't see anywhere to enter exactly what our costume is (character, series, and variant), nor a place to describe our skit beyond tech requirements. That seems like fairly basic info. I know those of us with a tendency to cosplay from obscure series (or in my case, obscure variants on relatively well-known characters) would certainly appreciate the MC announcing what the heck we're cosplaying. Also, I'm not sure how else staff is supposed to know in advance if the Asian-origin rule is being followed.
The skit description I don't think is strictly necessary, but is helpful for arranging order and knowing if there are repeat skits. IIRC, I started seeing that on the form after the 2008 fiasco of like 3 skits with the Hare Hare Yukai and 2 with the Lucky Star cheer. (let's ignore for a second I was IN one of those Lucky Star ones)
Thank you so much!! Gonna register my group now!
Animegeek86
Will there be list of all the contestants before the masquerade like last time?
Yes, this is the plan
Enkai
I'm a little curious at some of the things missing from the form though. I didn't see anywhere to enter exactly what our costume is (character, series, and variant), nor a place to describe our skit beyond tech requirements. That seems like fairly basic info. I know those of us with a tendency to cosplay from obscure series (or in my case, obscure variants on relatively well-known characters) would certainly appreciate the MC announcing what the heck we're cosplaying. Also, I'm not sure how else staff is supposed to know in advance if the Asian-origin rule is being followed.
Our MC will get the intro information prior to the show, but let me see about adding it to make it faster during rehearsals
The skit description I don't think is strictly necessary, but is helpful for arranging order and knowing if there are repeat skits. IIRC, I started seeing that on the form after the 2008 fiasco of like 3 skits with the Hare Hare Yukai and 2 with the Lucky Star cheer
No worries, your entry order and your run order are separate and we set them during the rehearsal time.
Thanks a bunch Erik!
Our group is looking forward to competing this year!
Finally submitted mine!! Had to wait for my group to give me their necessary information I had to enter. Hoping for the best!! If things go smoothly, I'll be rather excited. So good to be back in Fanime's Masquerade!
Crap! I dont check the forums for 2 days because of midterm studying and it goes up. There better still be spots ;_; i cant register until i get home from campus! !!
Out of curiosity, will we be getting some sort of confirmation that you guys got the form we submitted and that we're registered?
Sorry, I'm kind of confused. Are we supposed to wait for a confirmation and then send the music file or do we have to send the music file before we receive a confirmation?
Hi identivity,
Out of curiosity, will we be getting some sort of confirmation that you guys got the form we submitted and that we're registered?
Hi Groma,
Sorry, I'm kind of confused. Are we supposed to wait for a confirmation and then send the music file or do we have to send the music file before we receive a confirmation?
Yes, I am working through them, this will include your participant ID and a link to a drop box location to place your music.
Sorry for not responding to this earlier; I went to Star Wars Celebration last weekend, so that and getting all my work done before going out of town kinda took over my past week.
Quote from: Erik_anderson on April 13, 2015, 09:04:47 PM
Our MC will get the intro information prior to the show, but let me see about adding it to make it faster during rehearsals
Could you please? The MC issue is a minor one, but ensuring the rules are being followed before Fanime itself is I think in everybody's benefit. I'm guessing you don't want to deal with the fallout of telling some Frozen cosplayer who's put hours into their costume for masquerade that their costume doesn't follow the rules and they've been disqualified. Not when you could have told them that in advance. Better for you in that you don't have to deal with it then, better for them so that they know before the time sink.
And better for the rest of us because we don't want you wasting your time on things that could be forseen in advance.
Also, if documentation is not required, as it appears to not be, better for the judges so they know who's showing up without documentation and can prepare ahead of the con.
Quote from: Erik_anderson on April 13, 2015, 09:04:47 PM
No worries, your entry order and your run order are separate and we set them during the rehearsal time.
This wasn't the concern. Thhe concern was that there will be an approximate plan prior to the day of rehearsal so we know what to expect. This was true before the 9AM rehearsal time correction. I already made my point about rehearsal order in the rules thread, so I'm not going to make it again.
It doesn't have to be planned before Fanime, though it could be, but I dunno, something like how it was before. When we checked in on Friday or Saturday, we said what our preference was as to when we wanted to perform (my group at the time usually liked to be between groups 5-12 or so), and preference was given to whoever checked in first. While that order might get shifted in rehearsal when discoveries were made about how costumes/routines interacted in the schedule (I remember a Black Lady cosplay moving her skit when she discovered she was preceded by another Black Lady cosplay at rehearsal), those were the exceptions not the rule.
I mostly just want to know what to expect. I want to have things in writing so that I or somebody else doesn't get missed at rehearsal, I want to have an idea of approximately when I will be performing when I check in at Fanime so I can have the next couple days to mentally prepare myself for that. And I want everybody else to have that as well. It's way less stressful for all of us - the stress of performance and finishing a costume is enough without the stress of not knowing what is going on added to it.
Quote from: Enkai on April 21, 2015, 12:41:39 PM
Could you please? The MC issue is a minor one, but ensuring the rules are being followed before Fanime itself is I think in everybody's benefit. I'm guessing you don't want to deal with the fallout of telling some Frozen cosplayer who's put hours into their costume for masquerade that their costume doesn't follow the rules and they've been disqualified. Not when you could have told them that in advance. Better for you in that you don't have to deal with it then, better for them so that they know before the time sink.
Ok, so I wasn't going to bring this issue up, considering it actually would make me and my friend disqualified, but. When the heck has the Asian only media rule ever actually been put into place? I know for a fact over the years there has been non asian inspired cosplays entered in the masquerade, and they have won major awards at that. I could understand it as a 'preference' to have asian only, but having it restricted to only that does seem a little crazy with how the actual convention seems to go with cosplays/ media and such.
Off the top of my head last year there was 2 Elsas, adventure time, Marvel/DC cosplayers, plus in past years there has been things like portal completely allowed.
I just kind of want to know if we'll be safe or not, because I've been looking forward to competeing again,and i think that's a very silly rule to make us unable to.
Oh, the rule has always been there, it's just been unevenly enforced. IIRC in the Portal case, that was a misunderstanding about the origin, and the marvel skit I remember was Marvel versus Capcom which is kinda a grey area (like Kingdom Hearts). But it definitely was enforced before the management change. I remember a discussion on the forums about whether Avatar was acceptable.
Honestly, I only care because there is a rule there, and it's not fair to the people that changed their behavior because of it. People were complaining about the Frozen skits last year, and the rule stayed there. That's why I think enforcement is important this year, and why I brought Frozen up, is because now there is precedent for the rule being blatantly broken, but the rule is still there.
Whether or not that rule should still be there is a discussion that should happen. And heck, just throwing the rule out this year is an option; it's Fanime's masquerade. But there is a rule there, and staff ignoring their own rules doesn't fill those paying attention with confidence (part of the reason I'm not competing anymore.)
And this is probably the most lawful neutral thing I have ever posted.
Quote from: Enkai on April 23, 2015, 07:45:33 PM
Oh, the rule has always been there, it's just been unevenly enforced. IIRC in the Portal case, that was a misunderstanding about the origin, and the marvel skit I remember was Marvel versus Capcom which is kinda a grey area (like Kingdom Hearts). But it definitely was enforced before the management change. I remember a discussion on the forums about whether Avatar was acceptable.
Honestly, I only care because there is a rule there, and it's not fair to the people that changed their behavior because of it. People were complaining about the Frozen skits last year, and the rule stayed there. That's why I think enforcement is important this year, and why I brought Frozen up, is because now there is precedent for the rule being blatantly broken, but the rule is still there.
Whether or not that rule should still be there is a discussion that should happen. And heck, just throwing the rule out this year is an option; it's Fanime's masquerade. But there is a rule there, and staff ignoring their own rules doesn't fill those paying attention with confidence (part of the reason I'm not competing anymore.)
And this is probably the most lawful neutral thing I have ever posted.
Oh no, I know that the rule has always been there, that's why it concerns me a little bit. I've always done Final Fantasy cosplays, so I've personally been safe but I just feel like it would be kind of dumb to start super enforcing that rule. Also, I'm really not even talking about skits either like, last year during rehersals I hung out with a Harley Quiin and an Elsa. Elsa was in a skit, but Harley did a walk on and won some sort of performance award if I remember right.
We're planning on doing Assassin's Creed 4 this year, and I just personally think it is kind of dumb to restrict who can enter based on media when there is not a separate competition for everything else. I've worked my butt off on these two cosplays for the last 5ish? months ( and still am at the moment) and I would like to be recognized for the craftsmenship I've done >>.
Okay, I'm understanding where you are coming from more, and I'm in agreement.
I was basically ignoring last year because the rule was so blatantly ignored, in spite of still being on the books. That was a fail on the part of masquerade staff - 2012 and before, as best I can recall, with exception of a few misunderstandings (SO many gray areas), when a skit did slip through the cracks, it usually didn't get an award, even if it was excellent.
However, to somebody only considering last year as far as what's allowed that rule not being in place is a reasonable assumption. Many of them got awards as well, so that's confirmation it's okay!
If the rules had been posted earlier, as they should have been (oh, and they still aren't on the website yet), you all would have been able to catch that before you started putting hours and hours into your costumes, which was what I was trying to avoid by suggesting that entries were checked for what people were cosplaying in advance. Because that is horrible to put that amount of time into something due to an utter failure on the part of the staff.
It all comes down to that failure last year. Those of us who have lived with the rule a while have an expectation of what should be fixed (fix enforcement or change the rule), and those who just remember last year think the rule isn't there in the first place.
Whatever's done about that is up to staff, so I really can't say whether or not it's okay. Understanding where you're coming from, I hope that the rule's just discarded for this year because of the past precedent.
I just want to see that written down in the main rules section, SO EVERYBODY ELSE KNOWS. Forum diving shouldn't be a necessity for understanding what's allowed and not allowed.
Has anyone gotten a confirmation email yet? It is a bit concerning that we're 25? days away from fanime and I've still yet to know if we're actually doing the masquerade or not.
I haven't got a confirmation email either and I registered a while ago. Its kind of worrying since the project I'm about to start is very work intensive. It would be horrible if I put all the work in and I don't even have a spot.
I haven't gotten a reply yet either. Its a little concerning, but if worse comes to worse, we register at the convention.
I'm also concerned about the "grey area" of the masquerade. I have a few video game characters, 2/3 are of Asian descent, the other is american. But since they're altogether in one skit, I think It'll be fine. Any Thoughts?
I haven't heard anything either.
If you have a question about your costume being OK for the masquerade you can always email
[email protected] and ask if its OK that's what I always do and they'll normally be OK with it.
(Yes, I am still watching this thread even though I am not in masq anymore.)
I had never received a registration confirmation, but I did get a response to my email requesting being removed from the list a couple days ago. You can always try emailing
[email protected] just to find out if you are even registered.
Quote from: PrincessSquib on April 30, 2015, 03:53:10 PM
I haven't gotten a reply yet either. Its a little concerning, but if worse comes to worse, we register at the convention.
I'm also concerned about the "grey area" of the masquerade. I have a few video game characters, 2/3 are of Asian descent, the other is american. But since they're altogether in one skit, I think It'll be fine. Any Thoughts?
We're completely just ignoring the rule and doing Assassin's Creed since everything under the sun was allowed last year. I think you're fine though, you have some asian stuff and that seems to be all the rule cares about
which I still think is kinda dumb
Quote from: KuriQueenofFeels on May 01, 2015, 04:57:46 PM
Quote from: PrincessSquib on April 30, 2015, 03:53:10 PM
I haven't gotten a reply yet either. Its a little concerning, but if worse comes to worse, we register at the convention.
I'm also concerned about the "grey area" of the masquerade. I have a few video game characters, 2/3 are of Asian descent, the other is american. But since they're altogether in one skit, I think It'll be fine. Any Thoughts?
We're completely just ignoring the rule and doing Assassin's Creed since everything under the sun was allowed last year. I think you're fine though, you have some asian stuff and that seems to be all the rule cares about which I still think is kinda dumb
All Will Be Well.... I hope
I haven't gotten any confirmation, either....... would like to know if my group is in or not.
Quote from: Angelx624 on May 02, 2015, 02:13:04 AM
I haven't gotten any confirmation, either....... would like to know if my group is in or not.
same... I've been checking my email every day and im like well on nothing yet... 20 days till the con thats totally not a big deal or anything...
Quote from: KuriQueenofFeels on May 02, 2015, 11:33:15 AM
Quote from: Angelx624 on May 02, 2015, 02:13:04 AM
I haven't gotten any confirmation, either....... would like to know if my group is in or not.
same... I've been checking my email every day and im like well on nothing yet... 20 days till the con thats totally not a big deal or anything...
My group is honestly thinking about moving our skit to Sac-Anime cause this is ridiculous.
Anybody still excited for the con after dealing with all this crap?
Quote from: Angelx624 on May 02, 2015, 08:33:21 PM
Quote from: KuriQueenofFeels on May 02, 2015, 11:33:15 AM
Quote from: Angelx624 on May 02, 2015, 02:13:04 AM
I haven't gotten any confirmation, either....... would like to know if my group is in or not.
same... I've been checking my email every day and im like well on nothing yet... 20 days till the con thats totally not a big deal or anything...
My group is honestly thinking about moving our skit to Sac-Anime cause this is ridiculous.
For a skit yeah, I completely don't blame you. Its a hell of a lot of work and this is just a mess.
Quote from: citrus on May 03, 2015, 01:14:37 AM
Anybody still excited for the con after dealing with all this crap?
I'm still excited to go to fanime.... just a bit annoyed that this is taking so long. I would just like to know if we're in tbh.
Hi all,
I just ran the whole conformation system through my email account. You should have receive both your conformation and a dropbox invite.
I am working with a few groups on their theme questions. On the Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag cosplay in-particular, while there are characters like Shao Jun in the game and the source is a bit universal 17th century which included the opening of the East to the West it does put us into an interesting pickle. Then again, we have many western styled Japanese Manga like full metal alchemist. If you were not aware of the origin of the series you may be tempted to think it was a US or German production. I've already sent you my queries.
Also to clarify, yes last year a number of act did make it into the show that did not fit the rule and when I asked for feedback the majority of it expressed an interest in keeping to the convention and the masquerade in particular more Asia themed given the number of venues for general media and american comics out there. This as I understand it is a line that at times gets crossed. Two years ago there was a Gi Joe entries and so on.
To address a few posts:
I will try to be transparent as possible around the logic I am using and how it plays out. I would like to move this to a different thread though.
KuriQueenofFeelsQuoteI'm also concerned about the "grey area" of the masquerade. I have a few video game characters, 2/3 are of Asian descent, the other is american. But since they're altogether in one skit, I think It'll be fine. Any Thoughts?
The race of the characters is less of a concern as the origin or feel of the work. Aforementioned Full Metal Alchemist as an example. in recent years most anime comming out of Japan and Korea seems to have predominantly american looking characters, but are clearly works created from or to these markets.
A good grey area is Big hero 6, it is a american franchise, based off (in very small part) a Marvel property, but its a clearly Asia themed source. My view is I would include it, its not a avengers / Star Trek or Matrix with an undertone of a western prospective and style, its a, often comically, styled anime motion picture.
Ok, so I wasn't going to bring this issue up, considering it actually would make me and my friend disqualified, but. When the heck has the Asian only media rule ever actually been put into place? I know for a fact over the years there has been non asian inspired cosplays entered in the masquerade, and they have won major awards at that. I could understand it as a 'preference' to have asian only, but having it restricted to only that does seem a little crazy with how the actual convention seems to go with cosplays/ media and such.
I think the clear understanding is that if a cosplay is an exception to a rule it needs to be discussed and approved. Perhaps I should be more clear on this, but in general folks ask. I am limited to what I can talk about this year, because I just ethically can't talk about someones cosplay before they have a chance to show it, however one of them is from a clear US game property that had a very much Asia themed elements and even a clear desire to embrace it. Ensuring this is clear in the presentation is enough for me to quality the performance. Examples of other rules which exceptions are made for: Time limits, music requirements, and number of people on the stage.
A ten plus years ago there was no question if you brought a cosplay to an anime convention it was 99% likely related to an anime theme. However as the rise in popularity of cosplay and conventions in general has grown the blending and in some cases the over saturation of general or popular media has caused people to want to push back and preserve more of the anime feel.
On the flip side I understand where you are coming from, the vast majority of my cosplays are not anime focused because frankly there are very few stocky white guy characters in the current crop of titles. I also complete at ComicCons, Dr who conventions and the like, so I see first hand some of the amazing cosplays out there that don't qualify.
EnkaiQuoteIt doesn't have to be planned before Fanime, though it could be, but I dunno, something like how it was before. When we checked in on Friday or Saturday, we said what our preference was as to when we wanted to perform (my group at the time usually liked to be between groups 5-12 or so), and preference was given to whoever checked in first. While that order might get shifted in rehearsal when discoveries were made about how costumes/routines interacted in the schedule (I remember a Black Lady cosplay moving her skit when she discovered she was preceded by another Black Lady cosplay at rehearsal), those were the exceptions not the rule.
I don't see any issue with your preference and how we are planning on scheduling the run book. There are tweaks I do make to balance out long running skits, to many back to back tends to make them forgettable and also the audience impatient. You already brought up the duplicate franchise issue, but there is also how much room to stage a large group. Its much more efficient to not have 4 8 person groups back to back. So some discretion is used, but it in no way means that compromises can not be made.
I'm going to move this over to a thread on "Anime theme rule" thread.
Ok, so for the Liability Release, does each person in the group have to fill it out, or just the one who registered the group?
Hi Angelx624,
Each person, includes helpers who will be back stage.
Quote from: Erik_anderson on May 03, 2015, 05:21:06 PM
Hi Angelx624,
Each person, includes helpers who will be back stage.
Got it!