PICTURE CREDITS: JIMMY COMETA
Section 8
https://www.facebook.com/WcsTeamSingapore2012
https://www.facebook.com/Section8Singapore
Raistlin
http://raistlin03.deviantart.com/
Shinji
http://worldcosplay.net/member/3516/
Cure No. 189408
Representing Singapore at the RCC held at AFA this year, Raistlin and Shinji competed against 4 other champions from regional countries Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines in an exciting finals and emerged as champions of RCC!
We were lucky to score an interview with the champions with their hectic schedule, so read on !
~Emi
Q: How
long do you take to prepare for a competition?
Team SG: Usually for story writing we take
around 2-3 weeks to come up with a script and finalise the details. For the constructions of props, it
depends on the complexity of the props. For this props we used this time, it
took about a month.
PICTURE CREDITS: JIMMY COMETA
Q: Does the length of time it takes to make a prop depend on the complexity
of the props?
Team SG: Yes it
does. It depends on how many stage props we are making and how complex it is.
If it is, perhaps, something new that we have never tried out before, it takes
more time as we need to test out the prop to make sure that it works according
to how we want it to. In that case, it takes up to 2-3 months. However if it is
something that we already have experience making it and we know how to make it
work, it would probably take around a month.
PICTURE CREDITS: JIMMY COMETA
Q: How do you come up with ideas for performances?
Team SG: As you
know, for cosplay performances we have to stick as close to the original anime series
as we can. So we rewatch the anime a few times and figure out how to compress
the anime into a short 3-5 min skit. Other than that, I (Raistlin) get my
inspiration from my background in drama club, and that is when my theatre background
comes into play in a cosplay performance.
PICTURE CREDITS: JIMMY COMETA
Q: How do you go about choosing cosplays that you want to cosplay in a
competition?
Team SG: It
depends on the members that are taking part in the competition (Raistlin and
Shinji are part of the group ‘Section 8’). Firstly, you need to have a love and
passion for the series. If you don’t like the series, you won’t put in effort
to make the props required. Secondly, we see if the props are complex or
challenging. If the props are too simple, we may not have the inspiration to make
them.
PICTURE CREDITS: JIMMY COMETA
Congratulations to Team Singapore for winning the competition! Well we managed to get an interview post competition with them, so continue reading to follow up!
Q: How do you feel about
winning First Prize at RCC ?
Team SG: It was kind of an unexpected win for us. I thought we made a few
mistakes that were different from our actual performance and that it would have
cost us a lot. I guess everything goes well because those who did not watch our
rehearsal would not know the mistakes we made.
PICTURE CREDITS: RAISTLIN'S DA
Q: You've won many prizes this year
including WCS 2nd, ACM 2nd, and now RCC 1st. How do you achieve such success in
competitions?
Team SG: Firstly, you must really have the love for performance in order to
carry on going. Preparing for just one cosplay competition would take up a lot
of your time. I would dare say with that same amount of time, you can easily
prepare 10 sets of costumes and photo shoots. Hence, the love for performance
must be that great.
Secondly, you must not give us even if you fail. Before winning
these three prizes, I actually lost out at WCS 2010 in the Singapore qualifying
round. Not sure how many people can remember that.
Lastly, in such competition, people tend to make the mistake of
focusing too much on either costume or performance. Sometimes, I see comments
such as Team A do not deserve to win because Team X got better costumes or I
don’t know why Team B win because Team Z have a nicer performance. In cosplay
competition, it is about the combination of costume and performance and giving
a good show to the audience.
PICTURE CREDITS: SHINJI'S WORLDCOSPLAY ACC
Q: What aspect of the entire performance
did you spend the most time on?
Team SG: This time round it would be the making of the stage prop especially
the motorcycle as we felt it was the highlight of the performance. In addition,
it was our first time making a bike from scratch. Yes, we made the structure of
the bike!
PICTURE CREDITS: RAISTLIN'S DA
Q: Do you have any advice to give to
people who want to try out in competitions?
Team SG: Most people often give up when they do not win on the first try. The
thing is that the first time is always an experience. The more experience you
get, the faster you are able to prepare and the more you will understand what
works and what would not. Most importantly, enjoy your time on the stage. If
you don’t, you will not enjoy cosplay performance or competitions.
PICTURE CREDITS: SHINJI'S WORLDCOSPLAY ACC
-Transcription/Translation/Commentary by Emi
-Layout/Pictures/Posting by Emi
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