Heroes Of Cosplay - General Discussion

[zxy556575]

The Wonder Woman (I could look up her name, but nah) who said she had won some world competition -- that had to have been in a special subcategory, right? Because that tutu costume we saw was nothing special. Nothing!

 

You know how the national spelling bee has gotten so popular? I'm thinking I'd like to see an entire competition televised. We barely see any other costumes, and those only for 10 seconds each. I'd like to hear the judges ask their questions and get a better look at all the details.

 

Boy, that Ashe costume is some kind of jinxed. I was disappointed for Rikki that the bow didn't work, because it did look cool lit up.

[Zanne]

I was disappointed for Rikki that the bow didn't work, because it did look cool lit up.

 

 

I was also disappointed you couldn't even see the Wonder Woman lasso lit up. It just looked like a coiled tube since the lights on the stage were so bright.

[GaT]

 

Seems rule one of any electronics is to have spare batteries on hand; especially right at the judging stage.

Seriously, they spend all that energy, time, & money to make these incredibly elaborate costumes, but can't bother to slip a couple of extra AAs in their pocket? 

[Monty]

Everyone loves working on things that light up, but I think it hardly ever reads on stage. It's hard to make something look like it's glowing when you're already standing in a spotlight.

[leighdear]

Happy that the ladies got honorable mentions at least.  Chloe's Poison Ivy airbrushing looked great, and it was cool to see her work with her dad.

 

As YaYa mentioned, there was no pre-judging at that Con, which I like to see.  The Sauron costume was excellent, but kinda played out.  I like the costumes that are less well know and show some originality of thought.   

[Izzyboy]

I've just now gotten into this show.  I knew it existed and I can't believe I never gave it a chance as (while not a cosplayer) this stuff is right up my alley!  I haven't watched this episode yet (have it on the DVR) but can't wait to watch it!

[Tara Ariano]

Here's Monty's post on the episode!

[GaT]

Just curious question, they're still calling this season 1, isn't this the 2nd season? It was on last year, & now we're at the end of this year.

[leighdear]

I pretty sure they started the 2013 "year" with Wizard World in Portland, so it would make more sense if this most recent show was the end of Season 1.  A full-circle calendar year, though not a year in "TV Time". 

 

You'd think the timing & scheduling in the NerdVerse would be more logical.....*LOL*

[LoneHaranguer]

 

Just curious question, they're still calling this season 1, isn't this the 2nd season?

Compensation for cast and crew is based on what the contracts define as a "season", so if the show is successful, the producers can go longer before having to pay anyone more money per episode if they cling to a traditional season of around 20 episodes, rather than have anything reflect how they intend the episodes to run.

 

Were the ladies using bulbs or LED's for their lighting? You can get a lot more life out of a battery with LED's, but there's more to getting things hooked up right, and if you do it wrong, you'll kill the battery almost immediately, if things light up at all.

[Taeolas]

The Whip seemed to be lcd's I think, but the bow looked to be blue LED's. In the shots we saw when it was active, it had that bright ambient deep blue glow that LED lights have with digital cameras; but the whip just looked like normal white lights on camera. 

[Biosynth]

I'd love to compete in another costume contest, but I don't have a dad who pioneered the special effects in Star Wars and my Buddy isn't making amazing stuff on Mythbusters.  Woe is me.

[zxy556575]

I wonder how Chloe and Grant know each other? I would have guessed it was through her dad since Grant used to work at Lucasfilm and ILM, but wrong again in this life.

Edited June 20, 2014 by lordonia

[Lisin]

I know that Chloe's boyfriend and Grant are friends too, they all run in the same geek circle, I'm betting she just knows him from "around."

[hincandenza]

Finally got around to watching this week's episode last night. First thought: hey, can we see more of that Ivy Doomkitty?!?  Good lord, that woman was incredibly gorgeous and sexy as hell.

 

I'd love to compete in another costume contest, but I don't have a dad who pioneered the special effects in Star Wars and my Buddy isn't making amazing stuff on Mythbusters.  Woe is me.

 

Yeah, it's kind of why I don't like Chloe, because she feels inauthentic to this subculture.  Everyone else seems to have been cosplaying as a fan for years, but we saw in the first "season"- if I recall correctly- that she seemed to get into cosplay very recently due to being connected with this show/geek culture, and has connections out the wazoo.  Didn't she win something in her very first cosplay competition, thanks to great help from experienced cosplayers?  That said, even given the help she got, I thought her Poison Ivy was the best costume she's worn and one of the best we've seen on this show: polished, clean, well-designed, as if it popped right off the page of that sample comic drawing they kept showing.  The airbrushing and look, even without the animatronics, was top-notch.

 

As others have mentioned, the "drama" from stuff not working is played out; who doesn't bring extra batteries?  At least we were spared the usual "my costume is half-missing/broken/somehow doesn't even fit even though we literally made it this week" silliness, but why was Riki the only one who had things like superglue, considering every single episode we've seen people were in their hotel rooms, crafting their costumes right up to the last minute?  As an aside, I am growing more fond of Riki. I don't think I liked her much the first season, but I might misremembering her as someone who snarked disproportionately at her husband/boyfriend for not helping.  Maybe that was someone else?  She seems cool, level-headed, super competent, and admittedly is pretty dang cute.

 

I'm surprised we didn't see Jesse; I thought he lived in Portland?  I didn't mind the lack of men, as we at least got another new face in Katie.  I thought her WW shield was absolutely fantastic; the construction and look was flawless, although it's a shame the lasso didn't "pop" on stage, her whole look was terrific.  I still think the show would benefit from a broader stable of people to focus on, including retroactive "guest stars".  For example, we had the cast actually talking about the Sauron (which was well put together but as mentioned, kind of tired) and referencing how good they thought it was... but no one thought to interview the guy after the fact, so we could splice in a "My name is Andrew Bobcharlesdick, and I've been cosplaying for 8 years, and this Sauron is the product of __ months of work, nights and weekends mostly...".  You know, have him showing off the costume backstage, close ups on the parts he's most proud of while he discusses the details of construction and materials, so we can see some of the detail and understand why that would win out over the costumes we spent all episode being constructed, and develop the language of cosplay and costuming.  That happens in most of these shows, like with those of us who watched "Face Off" feeling fairly proficient calling out to our screen, "Oh, honey.... no, not with the orange, you know that looks awful on camera", or anyone who watches singing competitions having lots to say about song choice, melisma, etc.  Here, I don't think I see enough distinction to know why one costume wins over another.

 

There's something almost unsettling in a narrative where we see our "stars" often fumble and misstep, yet rarely see them, you know... win... while great costumes get 10 seconds of screen time and no follow-up.

Edited June 22, 2014 by hincandenza

[Monty]

Yeah, it's kind of why I don't like Chloe, because she feels inauthentic to this subculture.  Everyone else seems to have been cosplaying as a fan for years, but we saw in the first "season"- if I recall correctly- that she seemed to get into cosplay very recently due to being connected with this show/geek culture, and has connections out the wazoo.

That was her first cosplay competition, but she was already hosting a webseries about cosplay on the Nerdist network. I don't think she'd have all those connections if she weren't an authentic geek.

[Zanne]

Everyone else seems to have been cosplaying as a fan for years, but we saw in the first "season"- if I recall correctly- that she seemed to get into cosplay very recently due to being connected with this show/geek culture, and has connections out the wazoo.

 

 

There's no denying her connections, but I think she's been cosplaying as an amateur (not in contests) for a while. Her boyfriend Chris Hardwick told a story before one of his Nerdist shows at ComicCon last year about their meet-cute - their eyes met across a crowded room when they were both dressed as a Doctor Who.

[hincandenza]

Ah, okay- I thought she wasn't a cosplayer at all initially, just some TV/web personality who decided to get into it for the show.

[Tara Ariano]

In Part 1 of the two-part first-season finale, the cosplayers get ready for the individual competition at Wizard World New Orleans Comic Con.

[Biosynth]

Surprisingly, Jesse will be at Dragoncon this year, so I will probably go to his panel or get in the autograph line to chat.  They do a Hall of Fame there and the stars are often times at their tables waiting for anyone who wants a signature.  I'm sure Jesse won't be swamped.  I'll report back on what he says (but that's at Labor Day weekend so it will be a while.)

 

In regard to judging, I've often wondered that as well.  The really good cons will judge on construction quality, creativeness, and stuff like that.  The last contest I won was a group costume and was for humor at Dragoncon.  That was a real thrill.  Since then I've not competed seriously. 

 

I've always gotten my costumes done on time but there are always one or two people in my group who bring their sewing machines to the hotel and will feverishly sew in an attempt to get things done.  It's pretty common, especially for procrastinators. 

 

As for Chloe, I find her pretty pleasant and all, it just bugs me a little that it seems like every show they trot out her dad and some famous friend.  Most costumers don't have these connections.  It is good, however, that she doesn't win all the time inspite of that.  But rest assured, the costumes that are winning have been in the works for months. 

[GaT]

Jesse finally wins something! I thought his costume was great & he seems like such a humble guy, so I'm glad he finally got rewarded. Miguel's costume was OK, but once again I thought Carl's costume sucked. He really needs to do something about his painting skills, the white stuff all over his costume looked awful.

[Glory]

Carl is bad. Sloppy and no good.

I'm surprised how much I'm liking Jesse this time around. I didn't care for him much in the front half of the season, but this was definitely my favorite costume of his. I was glad he won.

[Ketzel]

As they showed Carl assembling his costume, I (who hadn't heard him say who he was going for) kept wondering why he was making a black and white chicken suit.

Unlike Carl, Miguel apparently really did learn something and I though he earned the judge's choice. And I was very impressed with Jesse this time around, especially when he did such a great job of re-creating the metal elements in resin after figuring out the metal elements in metal were too heavy. Although I did wonder why he couldn't have figured that out before casting all those little armor plates in metal - did I miss something?

[Tara Ariano]

Here's Monty's post on the episode!

[zxy556575]

Whoa, huge crowd in Nolo! And good for Jesse. He looked great.

 

I wonder about the significant others who devote so much time to helping -- don't they ever want to compete themselves? Maybe it's that relationship style where one person is the flower and the other is the gardener. Jesse's girlfriend did have some kind of medieval wench/hobbit thing going on at the con.

 

No clue who Ivy Doomkitty is, but her costumes have not impressed me so far. This time she basically wore a sparkly leotard and cloth cape which seemed even measlier compared to YaYa's elaborate (and well-made) Jasmin Synn costume.

 

Quote of the night: "I'm sweating bowls of ... sweat."

Edited June 26, 2014 by lordonia

[Izzyboy]

I thought this was Jesse's best costume by far and I'm glad he got recognized for it.  I think its funny because I was watching an older episode when he was The Mandarin and I actually thought, "you know, that guy should try doing Thorin..."

 

Carl has good ideas but his execution is too sloppy.  Compared to the other cosplayers his lack a lot of refinement...and choosing "dark" or "macabre" characters isn't an excuse for that.

[Trae Dorn]

Of course, the show flat out lied about there being two contests on two days -- Wizard World New Orleans had only one cosplay contest, which Yaya Han changed costumes in the middle of, and it took 6 hours.

http://www.nerdandtie.com/2014/06/25/at-this-point-heroes-of-cosplay-is-just-flat-out-lying/

[GaT]

Of course, the show flat out lied about there being two contests on two days -- Wizard World New Orleans had only one cosplay contest, which Yaya Han changed costumes in the middle of, and it took 6 hours.

http://www.nerdandtie.com/2014/06/25/at-this-point-heroes-of-cosplay-is-just-flat-out-lying/

That's so strange, why would they do that? They had to know that people would be talking about it & they would get caught.

 

OK, "Sentient Lumber"? Why do they call Yaya that? What does it mean?

[Monty]

(Changed my mind)

Edited June 26, 2014 by Monty

[hincandenza]

Please tell me I'm not the only one who laughed, loudly, when Jessica said, "I did my grad thesis on Peter Pan, who's maybe a metaphor for aging and mortality..." I'm... sorry, maybe?! Where the heck did she go to grad school?!? :)

That said, whether Chloe truly came up with it on the spot or not, "Peter Pan's Labyrinth" is a damned inspired portmanteau. It's also fitting, as there are obvious plot and thematic parallels with Vidal/Hook, the Faun/Pan (Barrie's Peter Pan is after all a reference to the god Pan, although del Toro has said it's just a Faun, not Pan specifically), and Ofelia/Wendy. Also, that headdress pirate ship looks awesome.

I thought it was hilarious when Jesse sounded concerned about "this Carl kid"... trust us, Jesse, you have nothing to be worried about. They're on opposite ends of the spectrum, where Jesse is a quiet perfectionist making intricate, multi-layered costumes, while Carl is sloppy and muddy; he always looks like a child's papier mache science project. The editors clearly don't like him, as we got multiple spliced in shots of him looking exasperated with each award.

I agree that Jesse should have gotten a fake beard to complete it, but it was a great costume and a well deserved win. Although if he put 200 hours into it, there's no way he started it in the last week or two unless he's a Time Lord. It does hint at how manufactured and planned out these shows are; it must be so surreal to reenact your own life.

Still got a crush on Ivy Doomkitty, who admittedly isn't as incredible at her craft as YaYa Han (I dont like her personality, but she is prolific and deserves her status) but lord, thats a lotta woman! However, who is Ryan Frye, actor? He has exactly one IMDB credit, for some Thor short; is he basically a cosplayer who srumbled into acting because he did a great impersonation of Chris Hemsworth at a con?

[Biosynth]

I know that some of the larger cons will do two costume contests, one for actual craftsmanship and the other as a Masquerade.  But I doubt Wizard World New Orleans is one of those cons. 

Still 6 hours sitting and watching one is really really excessive!

 

I liked Jesse's costume the best, and then the guy who did Shazam.  I thought that was a really nice costume.  I'm glad he got recognition.  Carl needs to apprentice with someone and take some basic classes.  Maybe the others didn't and he doesn't see why he should, but his stuff needs more refinement.  it just doesn't quite do it.  He got sort of close with Hunt but there were little things that were bothersome.  He could have glued things down better, he could be less sloppy.  That's what dings him. 

 

I thought Yaya's Syn costume was really lovely.  I wouldn't mind meeting her at a convention sometime.  I've actually been thinking about going to Wizard World Portland next year, maybe she'll be there.  (I'm obsessed with Portland for some reason and would love to visit anyway, so win win!)

 

I'm not feeling the Peter Pan thing, though I think a Peter Pan's Labyrinth is a great idea.  I hope they make it creepy enough.

 

And I used to play Soul Caliber a lot so I was excited to see some do those costumes!  Though, I'm not quite sure I understand why Sophitia is such a hard costume in comparison to one that is all armor.  *shrug*

 

Sentient Wood, hahahaha

[Trae Dorn]

That's so strange, why would they do that? They had to know that people would be talking about it & they would get caught.

 

OK, "Sentient Lumber"? Why do they call Yaya that? What does it mean?

It's because Yaya Han is so wooden on camera.

The line is "We believe Yaya Han is a talented cosplayer, deserving of respect like any other person. We just also believe she happens to be composed of wood."

[Monty]

It's because Yaya Han is so wooden on camera.

The line is "We believe Yaya Han is a talented cosplayer, deserving of respect like any other person. We just also believe she happens to be composed of wood."

"We believe she deserves respect. From other people. Not us, obviously."

[Trae Dorn]

You can respect a person and still laugh at their inability to do something. Making fun of her wooden, unnatural onscreen presence/performance is fair game in my book. Being disrespectful is when people mock her appearance or insult her as a person.

[Monty]

Oh, are you the "Sentient Lumber" person? Sorry! I thought I was criticizing an anonymous person out on the Internet somewhere. Which I guess I was,  but you know what I mean.

[Trae Dorn]

Yes, I'm the writer of that article.  And yes I came up with "Sentient Lumber" -- but does it matter? I personally make it a rule to never say anything on the internet I would say to someone's face.

 

Also, there's nothing to be sorry about  -- if everyone agreed with me, life would be pretty boring. :P

[Mertseger]

To be fair though, the entire cast pretty much sucks at the "let's act as if we just came up this idea to do X or go to Y" part of reality TV. I respect unreservedly their nerdish devotion to this activity, and their enthusiasm - if not always expertise - at fabrication. Yaya is a bit of what my Dad in a far-off, less-equitable time would have called an HMI, but I do enjoy her craft, and she does take the stage at the shows with an amazing amount of presence.

Edited June 28, 2014 by Mertseger

[Monty]

To be fare though, the entire cast pretty much sucks at the "let's act as if we just came up this idea to do X or go to Y" part of reality TV.

Reality TV in general is bad at that scene. I like Mythbusters, but I've never bought the scenes at the beginning of the episode where one of them explains to the other what the task is. I know it's important to have exposition, but when your cast is mostly made up of non-actors, those scenes are rough. I appreciate that Holly, Jessica, and Chloe tend to do their scenes at Meltdown Comics, which is an interesting place to look at. To me, anyway.

[Mertseger]

 

I like Mythbusters, but I've never bought the scenes at the beginning of the episode where one of them explains to the other what the task is.

But at least Jaime and Adam don't try to convince us that they just came up with the idea of testing explosives to clean up a cement truck on the in that moment.It's more: have you heard of this idea? Let's see if we can make that work.

 

I don't understand why the unit producers on HoC insist on all these awkward, "Oh, we just decided to go to DorkenCon, do you want to be part of our team?" scenes with a cast that clearly can't do them when there's little if any narrative reward for including them in the first place. Heck, it might be more interesting if they charted out all the Cons they wanted to hit in a season and presented it as a campaign with goals for the team members rather than trying to create dubious story-lines like "there's a national cosplay circuit which can lead to a lucrative career in the exciting world of professional cosplay or, dare-to-dream, costume construction for media production". I do respect the few people who do manage to carve out a career in those fields, but the reverence the show has for that possibility reminds me of the old SCTV bit about the Bryman School of Philosophy, "Did you know that some philosophers make nearly as much money as some poets?" It's enough, for me at least, to see the cast's craft and love for the characters.

[Trae Dorn]

The whole pretending that there's a national cosplay circuit AND THEN spending most of the season at cons that don't do serious cosplay competitions (only two cons they've been to in Season 1.5 have prejudging, and they didn't even show you it in one of the episodes) is ridiculous.

But most of the "serious" competitions out there likely wouldn't let their events be disrupted by a reality TV production crew.

And let's be clear - while there are professional cosplayers out there, an award from a Wizard World con doesn't actually do much for a person's fame or revenue. There are only a few shows where the status of winning helps, and most of the consumers of the merch and websites of "professional cosplayers" don't really care what awards you have.

[jennylauren123]

I'm really surprised that Carl seems to think that he has a chance to win. I've seen two of his costumes so far, and both were just bad, bad, bad. Can he not see that he needs to up his game? Look around you, young man!

Edited June 29, 2014 by jennylauren123

[hincandenza]

Yeah, Carl is so bad, I wonder if he was invited just to give the "Good cosplaying is harder than it looks" comparison. He'll not be back next season, like that young woman in the first 8 (Monika?).

Trae, since you seem to know a lot about the cosplay world, can you link some examples of the costumes found in these serious cons?

I mean, I've seen a few pictures linked ovwe the years from imgur or reddit that were nothing short of incredible, but I don't know how exceptional those are, or how they stack up against the best efforts of our crew (when they're not doing the 3-day-panic costumes).

[Trae Dorn]

In truth the actual costumes created by most of the cast are pretty damned good, and I was familiar with the work of several of the cast members before the show went on the air just off of their reputation.  The difference between a "serious" con and a not serious con has everything to do with the judging and rules of the con, and not the contestants.  You'll see the same quality costumes enter both, but the criteria for winning is what makes the difference.

 

Think of it this way - there's a big difference between three random dudes on a couch deciding what their favorite movie is versus three notable film critics doing the same.  The approval of the former is nowhere near equivalent to the latter.  The same is true if you compare Wizard World Chicago and Anime Central -- both attact almost the same crowd, but winning a Master level award at Anime Central is much more prestigious than an award at Wizard World Chicago.

 

Same cosplayers, different judging processes.

 

The show has gone to serious events -- the Ottawa Pop Expo a few episodes back was one of them (even if they didn't show the prejudging for some reason).  These events have the same variety of cosplayers enter them, but winning them is harder.  But the inclusion of Wizard World shows is a joke if you want to talk about "serious cosplay" -- because they have no prejudging at all.  Even the best cosplay judge can't get an accurate understanding of craftsmanship from someone being a half stage length away for less than a minute.

 

I criticize the show a lot, but rarely the actual cosplay. Most of them are pretty damned good.

(I can still give you examples of cosplayers at these cons, but I don't think you'd see a difference between them and what you see on other non-cast members on the show.  Again, I have no problem with the most of the actual cosplays worn by cast members of the show)

[Tara Ariano]

In the conclusion of the Season 1 finale, the heroes take part in a group skit competition; and Yaya takes on a costume that is difficult to make.

[zxy556575]

In addition to all the money it takes, the people like Jesse and Miguel who are primarily hobbyists sure seem have a lot of living space devoted to cosplaying. YaYa has a dedicated bedroom and a couple of people have set up in their garages, but it seems like the materials and tools gradually take over your whole house.

 

All the significant others seem extremely tolerant of it. I'm not sure I'd want to be stepping over 30' of PVC piping or whatever to get to the toilet.

Edited July 2, 2014 by lordonia

[Trae Dorn]

Yeah -- that's pretty typical.  Besides dedicated sewing/cosplay rooms, some of my friends apartments are absolutely just filled with fabric and various stuff come spring con season.

[Ketzel]

I think that's typical of any kind of obsessed crafters. I've seen the homes of devoted scrapbookers, historical re-enactors, doll makers, furniture designers - they all look a few weeks away from clinical hoarding (although the scrapbookers tend to be more organized, ime.) I say this with love and respect for these people and with a slightly uneasy glance over my own shoulder at the towering pile of art supplies, tools and unfinished projects that fill the home office I am supposed to be doing actual, paid work in.

[GaT]

I would have enjoyed this part more if I didn't know that the whole thing only took one day & the 2 day thing is bullshit. 

[Sarah D. Bunting]

Monty on that very issue and more from the finale!

[zxy556575]

Tippy and unable to climb stairs without help or not, YaYa's costume looked fantastic.

 

The Pan's Labyrinth team was fun, but Choe's nightgown was so plain and tame compared to Jessica and Holly and Holly's cornea-killing contact lenses that nobody in the audience and probably not even the judges could see.

 

It was nice that the participants/cast got to be friendly and seemed to enjoy each other, but I still wanted to see more of the actual competitions. Some enterprising documentarian needs to cover Wizard World for real next year.