Organizing a Masquerade Skit?

[captainvontapdat]

Is organizing a masquerade skit difficult? I've never been to a Fanime masquerade before and from what I hear it can be very stressful at times. My friends and I are planning a musical number which would require choreography and live singing. I know you would have to have the audio of the skit pre-recorded, but we were thinking of just pre-recording the background and having our main singer sing live. GAHHHH!!! IT'S SO CONFUSING! Anybody have some good advice or any experiences to share?

[Dany]

Is organizing a masquerade skit difficult? I've never been to a Fanime masquerade before and from what I hear it can be very stressful at times. My friends and I are planning a musical number which would require choreography and live singing. I know you would have to have the audio of the skit pre-recorded, but we were thinking of just pre-recording the background and having our main singer sing live. GAHHHH!!! IT'S SO CONFUSING! Anybody have some good advice or any experiences to share?

What I can tell you from what experiences I have had and what I've seen (my two shiny pennies only, other people may have other comments and your mileage may vary :) ):

-You will not be able to sing live for Fanime. I think it was in the rules last year, and I don't foresee it changing for this year. Record everything in advance, including voices. In truth, it will be easier for you anyway because heaven forbid the mike dies in the middle of your skit. At least if the CD works, you're fine. (Note: the masquerade director may pipe up and say otherwise, but do not expect it).

-The more people you have, the more stressful it can be. You have more peoples' individual schedules to take into consideration for rehearsal, more personalities that you have to hope work together with one another, and you have to hope that everyone has the same commitment level to the group as everyone else so you don't have people falling off at the last minute.  I consider it a prime example of "herding cats" :)

-The sooner you start planning, the more time you will have to practice what you do. With things involving dancing and synchronized moves, you REALLY have to rehearse or else it will show to the audience that you didn't (it's a weakness I've faced..I get so involved building things that I don't always give time to rehearse what I am doing, and I've regretted it later. It's a weakness that I hope to tackle more in future entries).

-Reality check: you will not be the only entry that has song and dance. Therefore, it makes your rehearsal time all the more important, as you will find your group's efforts compared to others doing the same thing, as well as to other groups as a whole. You might want to consider adding other elements that might differentiate you from everyone else if you can so you're not "just another dancing cosplay group". If you're not sure what those elements might be, look at entries from previous years and see what they have done.


Yes, it can be difficult, in summary. But if you are up to the challenge and your counterparts are into it as well, your potential to be successful goes up significantly.