Con season is coming in strong and that means more competitions. There’s a few ways to get yourself ready before you walk the main stage or even go in for pre judging. We’re going to cover how to prepare for a cosplay contest so you are set up for success and have a great time competing no matter the results.
Cosplay Contest Prep
If you have made the decision to compete in a cosplay craftmanship contest, this is everything you need to know on how to prepare for a cosplay contest.
Before You’re Accepted to Compete
Before your competition submission gets accepted, be working on the following:
- Pick and road map your build – The most important first step in competing is picking the costume you want to make. From there, it’s wise to road map how the build will get done so you can ensure you’re able to finish on time and can avoid unnecessary con crunching.
- Submit on time – Most contests require you submit and they will either accept or deny your submission. Make sure to get this done before the due date so you can try to actually get into the contest. Be sure you also meet all the requirements to compete and submit as well.
- Costest – Always test out your costume as you’re building it. Once a new piece is finished, try putting everything you have completed on. See how it wears and what modifications or reinforcements may be needed. That way you ensure you’re able to wear the costume well without it breaking once you’re on the con floor.
- Document your build – Take lots of pictures as you’re building your costume. You will need these to create a build book later. These are needed for your pre judging time.
After You’re Accepted to Compete
Once you get the exciting email telling you you’re in, start getting to work on these tasks:
- Get convention tickets – Just because you’re competing doesn’t mean you get free convention tickets. Be sure to check with the specific contest and purchase the passes you need to be at the contest. It’s good to do this early to get early bird ticket pricing and to avoid the risk of them selling out.
- Pick a handler and prepare them – Especially if you’re doing a larger than life costume build, you want to have a handler with you. They can help you with an assortment of things like keeping you on schedule, carrying phones and more. Make sure to prepare them as well so they know what you need from them before you guys are walking into pre judging.
Pre Judging Prep
These should specifically be done to get ready for pre judging.
- Select your time and plan your schedule – Usually you will sign up for a pre judging time slot. Pick something that works best for your schedule and be sure to then plan everything around it. This means picking when you need to arrive at the con center, when to head over for pre judging and what free time you have for attending the con. Make sure to also factor in what time you need to line up for walking the stage in that schedule.
- Final costest – You will want to do a final costest of your completed costume. This will ensure nothing breaks right before pre judging.
- Prepare your handler – Go over with your handler how you want them to assist you in pre judging. Is there key things you want to talk about with the judges that you want them to remind you of? Give them a list of those things so they can help keep you on track.
- Prepare what to say – Review what you want to talk about and practice a few times. Make note cards if you need them so you can use the limited time you have best.
- Get your build book made early – Be sure to design, build and print/order your build book early. That way you ensure it’s ready on time and you’re not fighting with a printer when you need to be heading over for pre judging.
- Make repairs as needed – Make sure to do any repairs you need before going into pre judging. You don’t want to show up with anything broken at that time. Be sure to take a repair kit with you and hand it off to your handler to carry.
Stage Prep
There is also ways to prepare in between your pre judging and stage time. Try to get the following completed before you have to line up to walk on stage.
- Eat and hydrate – Make sure to take time to get food and water! If you need, ask your handler to remind you about lunch or dinner so you’re held accountable.
- Take a break – Be sure to also give yourself some time to rest. Save some energy before you go all out on stage and recoup from your pre judging.
- Review with handler – Be sure your handler is ready for helping you with your stage time. If you can have them backstage with you, let them know so they’re also on time for lining up. If they have to be in the audience, be sure to have them collect items you need held, get an idea of where they will be seated and make requests for pictures if you want them.
- Make needed costume fixes – Between your pre judging time and stage time you might damage your costume. Especially if you plan to walk the packed con floor. Be sure to make time to assess the cosplay and see if repairs are needed before you go to line up.
- Plan your poses – Think about the poses you want to do ahead of time. You can even research what would fit best for your character too. That way you aren’t trying to make it up as you go along on stage.
- Head over early enough to line up – Always be on time! It’s good to get an early start walking over for line ups so no matter what stops you, you arrive on time.