Cosplay Parade

[gobbs24601]

If you are going to go ahead with this then please try and make it as short and sweet as possible as it WILL get annoying, and that isn't just me. I've mentioned this to all of my friends and my cosplay group planning to come to the con, and every single one of them has either facepalmed or expressed distaste. You should also do a pre-signup and make sure that the costumes involved will not have large props and will not have long flowing material or wigs as that will be potentially dangerous. If people decide to join at the con then that's their own liability. I'll again stress that it is an EXTREMELY bad idea for you to be spinning anything in an area of concentrated people. Even for me learning my mace and cutlass drills I always had to do it in a large open space away from people, and that was with people who knew what was going on and were going through the same training.

[CirqueCosplay17]

(Removed)

[CirqueCosplay17]

(Removed)

[Candolf]

Hi everyone,

Just thought I'd chime in for a minute here.

Anyone ever watch "whose line is it anyways?" The golden rule of ALL improv is to never say "no" to an idea. Granted, I think it's clear that there are some misunderstandings and it's fair that people here are concerned that the idea of a cosplay parade may seem a bit lackluster from the hordes of cosplayers we'll already be getting at the con.

But suffice it to say, I think CirqueCosplay isn't your average run of the mill marching band / parade person. He seems to have a huge passion for the stuff and maybe we can see what he might have to offer before we turn it down. I'm sure the zombie walk sounded very strange when only a few people were into it but it certainly grew very large (and is pretty cool!).

I see that cirque has asked for some music for his idea and perhaps he'll have some choreography worked out. Who knows, maybe the parade may grow into a half flash mob/dance parade thingy in the middle of it. I'm not sure.

At this point, I'm not trying to argue one way or another. I just appreciate the fact that everyone is trying to make the con a fun place to attend.

Apologies for anyones feelings who got hurt in the process but thank you nonetheless for everyones contributions.

I hope we can continue the constructive feedback that i've already seen and focus less on the more colorful comments

[CirqueCosplay17]

Hey Candolf, I know I said I wasn't going to apologize for my outlandish behavior. But I do.

I let my pride get in the way of negotiating and well....as you can see, I totally lost my cool. That was extremely unprofessional of me to do and I'll make a more valiant effort of reducing colourful language on the forum to a minimum. The parade idea was what I wanted to say to the Vancouver and Area Anime Community as a huge thank you for letting me come down to what I think is going to be an amazing con in a beautiful city and showcase myself as a performance artist.

So...I would like to try this again but I will stress that isn't a project I can pull off by myself, not even close. So yes: I would love to see some music suggestions, maybe a choreography move you always wanted to try. With permission, I will set up a separate page where people can sign up as participants and post choreo videos, not as actual routines but moves I would like everyone involved to try.

Also I am going to need some guidelines so this can be done in a safe yet fun way and also a route towards the cosplay contest stage that doesn't obstruct the right of way of other guests.

I guess a deadline for music & choreo suggestions, mixed or not will be May 28th, I think 15 minutes worth should cover it nicely.


Again I sincerely apologize for my rude reaction and even ruder language; it won't happen again. I have been going through some family and school related drama, and I have not been dealing with the stress as well as I should be. Anime/Cosplay is just as big as a performance art to me as is theater, dance or colourguard and I feel completely horrible that I'm venting my frustrations in an unhealthy way towards guests and staff.

[norimaki]

If you are going to go ahead with this then please try and make it as short and sweet as possible as it WILL get annoying, and that isn't just me. I've mentioned this to all of my friends and my cosplay group planning to come to the con, and every single one of them has either facepalmed or expressed distaste. You should also do a pre-signup and make sure that the costumes involved will not have large props and will not have long flowing material or wigs as that will be potentially dangerous. If people decide to join at the con then that's their own liability. I'll again stress that it is an EXTREMELY bad idea for you to be spinning anything in an area of concentrated people. Even for me learning my mace and cutlass drills I always had to do it in a large open space away from people, and that was with people who knew what was going on and were going through the same training.

I think there is good advice here so hopefully the advice will not be missed while labeling this as "against". We know Cirque can handle his part as a pro, but not every participant will be pro as well, so maybe keep it a bit more simple with the choreography.

Cirque, I don't think there is an event that can make everyone happy (personally, I would rather stay away from crowds myself) so I hope you stay open to many opinions and use them to improve on your idea : )

[gobbs24601]

Cirque isn't the only one here with years of performance experience. The reason I'm saying to be careful and have guidlines in place is because I've seen accidents happen, and in my field people have died from not taking the right precautions when doing drill. Granted, my basis for drill and performance is probably much more extreme than most as I've been based with military marching bands and guards rather than university ones, but the point still stands you need to take precautions. Another huge reason I'm saying don't start spinning your flags or rifles around is its pretty much against con rules from what I can tell. All weapons/props must be peacebonded and must not be used in a fashion which could be considered dangerous. Even with a flag you're breaking a rule, let alone a rifle or a sword.

One of the reasons I'm saying make it short and sweet is a parade isn't something congoers can just avoid if it's what they're not into like a panel in a room, its going to be out in the open, it's going to be loud, and many people will get annoyed and frustrated with it if it goes on too long. A year ago there was a Glee cosplay group that did a short, one song dance routine out of the way of most congoers, and that was fine and acceptable by most people as they weren't in anyone's way and it was short and quick and cute, and they did a couple performances through the day. I can guarantee you had they done all their performances at once people would have been asking them to stop at least halfway through. Maybe do something like that, every half hour/hour leading up to the competition do a quick little routine and let people know how long it is until the competition and where it will be, and you could do them around the con not just in one place. It would be quick and short, cute, give the impression you want to give and would still be a lead up to a competition and would avoid it becoming annoying by drawing on too long. Plus, other cosplayers can join in if they want to. If people ask for an encore, give one. And, yes, people will blame you if their costume gets ruined in your event, because people don't like admitting they made a bad decision and just blame the next best thing.

Also, if you wanted only positive opinions on this event you shouldn't be posting in a public forum, sorry to say. Not everyone is going to love every idea, and people are going to voice their opinions on it. Personally I think it's extremely rude to expect noone to give criticism if they feel its waranted and give the impression that you're merely shrugging off any suggestions given to you. Unless you didn't notice I didn't say don't do this, I was giving suggestions and warnings of how you can make the event more safe and enjoyable for everyone at the con.

[CirqueCosplay17]

Cirque isn't the only one here with years of performance experience. The reason I'm saying to be careful and have guidlines in place is because I've seen accidents happen, and in my field people have died from not taking the right precautions when doing drill. Granted, my basis for drill and performance is probably much more extreme than most as I've been based with military marching bands and guards rather than university ones, but the point still stands you need to take precautions. Another huge reason I'm saying don't start spinning your flags or rifles around is its pretty much against con rules from what I can tell. All weapons/props must be peacebonded and must not be used in a fashion which could be considered dangerous. Even with a flag you're breaking a rule, let alone a rifle or a sword.

One of the reasons I'm saying make it short and sweet is a parade isn't something congoers can just avoid if it's what they're not into like a panel in a room, its going to be out in the open, it's going to be loud, and many people will get annoyed and frustrated with it if it goes on too long. A year ago there was a Glee cosplay group that did a short, one song dance routine out of the way of most congoers, and that was fine and acceptable by most people as they weren't in anyone's way and it was short and quick and cute, and they did a couple performances through the day. I can guarantee you had they done all their performances at once people would have been asking them to stop at least halfway through. Maybe do something like that, every half hour/hour leading up to the competition do a quick little routine and let people know how long it is until the competition and where it will be, and you could do them around the con not just in one place. It would be quick and short, cute, give the impression you want to give and would still be a lead up to a competition and would avoid it becoming annoying by drawing on too long. Plus, other cosplayers can join in if they want to. If people ask for an encore, give one. And, yes, people will blame you if their costume gets ruined in your event, because people don't like admitting they made a bad decision and just blame the next best thing.

Also, if you wanted opinions on this event you shouldn't be posting in a public forum, sorry to say. Not everyone is going to love every idea, and people are going to voice their opinions on it. Personally I think it's extremely rude to expect noone to give criticism if they feel its waranted and give the impression that you're merely shrugging off any suggestions given to you. Unless you didn't notice I didn't say don't do this, I was giving suggestions and warnings of how you can make the event more safe and enjoyable for everyone at the con.

Hmm, Okay. You raise some good points and now that you have cleared things up I can see where you're coming from. I'll try to be a little more civil in those regards, from my standpoint it looked like you were putting me down so I sincerely apologize for getting defensive. And don't worry, I read the rules on peacebonding and I'm very aware of the consequences.

That being said: It doesn't have to be a parade; but a series of "Standstill" performances; ie myself and a random group of cosplayers do a song one location, go the next one, repeat. Or: Do a performance during the intermission of the cosplay contest if there is one?

What do you think would be better?

[norimaki]

I think the idea of standstill performances in different areas is much more entertaining than a big group of cosplayers just dancing around continuously throughout the entire convention center. Also there is that short period of time when the judges are making their decision I think...? I forgot what they usually do during those times... lol

Like mentioned above...if the group is out of the main walking areas and not blocking anything, people who don't like it can just ignore it, and people who like it can watch/join in peacefully.

[Momimochi]

Intermissions?
.... Commercial breaks? LOL