Let's Talk About MASTER LEVEL Cosplay Competitions | Impractical Cosplay

[@telekineticManiac]

No one has ever actually called me out on this but I’ve been thinking a lot about it because of some general contest drama happening in the cosplay sphere lately so I thought I would nip some potential future drama in the bud. SO. If anyone’s curious about my saying that my award for the Nightwalker was the best overall at Anime Boston 2018 because it seemingly contradicts information you know about that contest, KEEP READING. Anime Boston has over the years had a series of very convoluted award names. Just this past year even they had “Best in Show Craftsmanship” and “Best in Show Performance” for the top ranking competitors in each category, while also having awards like “1st Place Master Craftsmanship” and “1st Place Master Performance” being given to what can ultimately be described as the runner up competitors, or competitors who ranked 2nd overall. This makes things really confusing especially as you work down the line of awards, because then there are also awards like “2nd Place Master Craftsmanship” and “2nd Place Master Performance” actually given to the competitors who overall ranked 3rd in either craftsmanship or performance. This however was the most convoluted and confusing when Anime Boston didn’t separate its categories into Craftsmanship- and Performance-ONLY and actually let you compete as a Craftsman, Performer, or both, and this was THE most convoluted when I won the highest craftsmanship award you could receive back in 2018, but more on that later. In previous masquerades Anime Boston has awarded “Best in Show” to competitor(s) who are (supposedly - this has been debated over the years) both ranked 1st overall in craftsmanship AND performance in one awe-inspiring award. But then it has followed that award up with “Best Overall Craftsmanship” and “Best Overall Performance” to whoever would be considered ranked 2nd overall in those categories, and then “1st Place Master Craftsmanship” and “1st Place Master Performance” to whoever would be considered ranked 3rd overall in those categories. Pretty ridiculous right? Well don’t worry, it’s about to get a lot more ridiculous. In 2018, Arda Wigs wanted to sponsor a special grand prize check for craftsmanship only competitors. And instead of just attaching this check to the “Best Overall Craftsmanship” award that Anime Boston was already using, they decided to make it an entirely separate award ranked above that one. So in 2018, the competitor who had the top ranked craftsmanship overall, got the “Craftsmanship Grand Prize” (also called the “Arda Wigs’ Grand Prize - they were not consistent with the branding), the competitor who ranked 2nd overall in craftsmanship got “Best Overall Craftsmanship,” and the competitors who ranked 3rd overall in craftsmanship got “1st Place Master Craftsmanship.” It was insane - like literally who approved this absolute mess of a naming system? And this is not even to mention the elephant in the room, “Best in Show.” I genuinely don’t know how the ranked craftsmanship part of “Best in Show” compared to the ranking of craftsmanship in the “Craftsmanship Grand Prize.” I am well aware that the grand prize was read last suggesting that it was the ranked the highest, but with the categories as odd as they are, I suspect they are dead even in ranked weight - essentially, I believe they tied for ranking 1st place in craftsmanship overall. Still, I know that if they are anything other than dead even, all these ranked places would need to be shifted around even further. Regardless, I am very fortunate to say that I earned the “Craftsmanship Grand Prize,” and therefor got the highest ranked award I could possibly earn as a craftsmanship-only competitor in that contest. But the thing is, this award only existed in 2018 (and I believe 2019 as well), and the name itself offers no insight into how I actually did in the contest because ALL of the naming is so ridiculous! Anyone hearing these award names individually without this little write up to help them, may genuinely be confused as to who actually won the contest - they may think, "was it the grand prize, best overall, or 1st place?!" So when inevitably no one ever knows what my award is and how it ranks overall because it only existed for such a short amount of time, I often describe my award as the best overall award for craftsmanship-only, and that’s how I simplified it in this video. So if anyone’s ever been confused about my comment on my 2018 award because it somewhat contradicts award names for that contest, I really hope the clears things up. And for the record, if you want to see this insane awards system in action, check out this full recording of the 2018 Anime Boston Masquerade: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gGe4fZRumZmIpcksi=gtmT4yNKn-Xb-kVI

[@becca9867]

That is an excellent point about who can call themselves a master cosplayer vs people's preconception of them. And YESSSSSSSS MORE COMPETITION VIDEOS!!!! They fuel me when i'm not at a con or actively working towards a competition project. Keeps that energy and motivation rolling.

[@telekineticManiac]

Yooooo so many competition videos get hyped!!

[@Locomania22]

Bless you for talking about masters category qualifications! I'm still so anxious with the "im not good enough" thoughts but at the end of the day it's just about having fun! Winning is a plus but that doesn't entirely matter.

[@telekineticManiac]

Yeah no prob! And yo we all got our battles - I hope given some time you're able to convince your anxiety that it's wrong and you are good enough!!

[@madchaser8835]

(I’m halfway through the video) There’s also the FanExpo Masters of Cosplay Grand Prix, which is technically international bc two of the qualifiers (and the finale) are in Canada. BUT there’s a qualifier at Fanexpo Boston! Not quite as big as the others, but it’s close!

[@telekineticManiac]

Oo that sounds like good fun and I'll have to look into it more - thank you for telling me about it!!

[@elvyralani]

Super helpful! I competed for the first time this year at Momocon. I was unsure what level to apply at, did Novice since technically I've only made a few outfits but never competed. I got SO many wonderful tips over that day from the masters while waiting. In the end they bumped me to Journeyman and i got best sewing for journeyman! My wondering now, do I enter in masters next time? Or do I need to 'win' more major awards? Either way, I started on my next competition piece. I'm just concentrate on making it the best I can. And doing so much testing now!

[@telekineticManiac]

Honestly, if you’ve watched the video and understand the general disqualifation system AND understand the rules of the specific contest(s) you want to apply to and how those might affect your decision, AND are still stuck on deciding, I’d highly recommend looking inward and making a choice that feels morally right to you. While I only ever received one award effectively at the Journeyman level (and I was also bumped up a category when I received that award just like you!), and I could’ve absolutely kept entering Journeyman for up to two more wins at that level per my local contests’ rules (and seemingly so could you), I chose to move to Master because it felt like the right thing to do. I was studying fashion design at the time and watching my skills improve tenfold every semester, so despite nothing disqualifying me from Journeyman, it just felt wrong for me to stay in that category. If you take some time for introspection where you are critical of your work and abilities, you can pick a path forward that seems the most fair to you and that you’ll be happy to live by! No matter what you choose, good luck on your next contest - I hope the whole process is a wonderful experience!

[@MyFictionalChaos]

8:20 100%!! Nowadays most "secret" techniques are being spread by "content creators" online so there is no reason for judges to judge solely based on "new, cool technique." Now TBF new and innovative techniques DO impact some peoples judging in certain contests. But a seasoned judge will for sure have seen a variety of techniques & judge **mostly** on the actual craftsmanship of the piece (alongside all the other criteria mentioned in your ofher videos). I see it at smaller/midsized where sometimes someone will just-so-happen to win & also use a new and innovative technique which blow the judges away. We, as the audience, should never assume **why** they won & if this technique was the only reason why they won. It usually **accompanies** the amazing craftsmanship the competitor had 😁 Love your videos

[@telekineticManiac]

Yo continuing off of this train of thought, I think a lot of cosplay contest drama could be avoided if people stopped themselves from making assumptions, or better yet, contests also took the time to be more transparent about how they operate. Thank you for all the great comments - I'm sure any folks scrolling looking for more ideas will be happy to stumble across them!

[@narrowwing]

I competed at galaxy con okc in journeyman, I was the last one so I was hanging out in the back with the masters, they were so nice and very encouraging! They gave me helpful tips and major confidence boosts! honestly some of the coolest people i've met

[@telekineticManiac]

Omg that's awesome - I'm so glad you got to have that experience!

[@amazoniancosplay]

Great video! Just wanted to let you know that there are 2 international contests that do online applications, so no need to travel to a qualifier! Polymanga Global Easter Cosplay, and Art To Play BCC (in switzerland and france respectively) both allow applications from worldwide!

[@telekineticManiac]

Omigosh thank you for the information - I'm def gonna have to look into those and I'm very excited to!!

[@Locomania22]

*whispers* check-chan Oh my l o r d

[@telekineticManiac]

Listen the check is so flippin funny

[@Locomania22]

@@telekineticManiac I love check-chan

[@kitsunekriss]

C2E2 is so much fun

[@telekineticManiac]

Omigosh I'm really hoping that next year (or the year after at the latest) will be the year I finally get the chance to go! Fingers crossed!!

[@kitsunekriss]

@@telekineticManiac good luck!!!

[@KnoviceCosplay]

i rarely see proportions discussed! thanks for bringing that up! I also loved hearing you talk about avoiding the 'gamification' of masquerades. I personally think its such a waste of time to try and figure out what will get the 'most points'. great points all around!

[@telekineticManiac]

Me looking at my half finished script about proportioning costumes rn like 👀👀👀 - anyway thanks for the comment!

[@Pissarrospies]

Super informative video! I have a question though, when you say having won an award in journeyman will disqualify you from those category, do you mean the judges will move you up to masters or do they remove you from the competition? I have only competed once in a smaller convention and won the journeyman craftsmanship award (I entered as novice bc I had only made one other costume before and had never competed) and I want to compete again but will I have to enter as a master bc of this award? I know each competition will be different but I didn't know if this is a standardized rule or not. Thank you!

[@telekineticManiac]

Ahh great questions so short answer this is NOT a standardized rule, and you do not have to follow it unless your contests dictates you do! But two part long answer incoming because this deserves some elaboration. One. With your contest history, if you do come across a contest with this system (the ICG recommendations or something similar to them), you should just choose to enter masters when filling out your application form from here on out. It is an honor system, so judges will not make the choice for you or even advise you, they just expect you to be honest. Previously when you were moved from novice to journeyman, it was presumably just because they thought you were deserving of that level an award not because of anything regarding this conversation. But now that you have that award, if you don't enter master, there will very probably be repercussions. "Repercussions" generally mean you would either be quietly disqualified at the contest if they learn your contest history the day of, or if if they find out your history some time after the contest, you may have an award rescinded if you happened to earn one, and they may not let you back in the contest. Overall it would just kinda be like a bad mark on your reputation if you didn't honor this system. (On a personal note, this is why I don't think judges should have the authority to move people up in categories - in the very least, like not without asking first. I think contestants deserver to slowly experience contests and move up the categories one at a time if that's more comfortable for them.) But two. While this is not a standardized rule - so my short answer stands like you genuinely you don't have to follow it if it's not applicable to the contest you are entering - many, many contestants feel morally obligated to follow this idea regardless of specific contests' rules. For example a lot of people really abide by the stance, "once a master always a master." So while there there aren't any like flipping cosplay police coming to put you into cosplay jail if you don't just also choose to take this stance even when not required, like fair warning, it's soooo common a moral stance taken by contestants, that if you don't chose to do follow this guideline regardless of contest rules, it may affect your overall competition experience. (And on another personal note, this is actually something I wanna discuss in a future video because the peer pressure to do this can be very unfair especially if you are just trying to have more of a casual contest experience. But that video is far away at the moment, so I hope this little comment could suffice!)

[@Pissarrospies]

@@telekineticManiac Thank you for the reply! That's good to know about the honor system, I didn't know if there was a standard set of rules. I'd like to follow it but if I go to a larger con I'd be entering in masters as my second competition amongst way more experienced people, but I guess that's unavoidable now. I'll still cosplay but maybe wait until I have a few more costumes under my belt before competing again!