There’s an abundance of ways to cosplay. From original designs to mashups, you can explore so many unique ways to bring a costume to life. There is a type of cosplay though that can be really cool and somewhat challenging to bring to create. Since cosplays are often based off some sort of source material like movies and TV shows, there’s people who strive for making screen accurate costumes. If you’re wondering what is a screen accurate cosplay, I have the answers for you.
Typically, a screen accurate cosplay is one that exactly replicates a character’s outfit and is as close of a match as possible. This requires careful research of reference images to try and match the on-screen version. There’s a few key things you need to keep in mind in order to make a screen accurate costume:
- Attention to detail
- Heavy research
- Appearance is key
- Can be challenging
Do Cosplays Have to be Screen Accurate
Ultimately, no. Even in craftmanship competitions you don’t have to strive for screen accuracy. It can be a challenge to achieve and just because you did it, doesn’t necessarily make you a master craftsman. Screen accurate cosplays are more a personal choice or in some instances there’s cosplay groups that will require it to a degree.
Why Should I Make a Screen Accurate Cosplay
There’s a few reasons someone chooses to make a screen accurate costume.
- Testing and pushing your skills with a new challenge
- Enhancing your immersion with the cosplay
- Appreciation for the original source material
- Joining a group that requires your cosplay be a certain level of screen accurate
- Improving your accuracy level for a cosplay competition
Screen Accurate Cosplay Myths
Now that we know, what is a screen accurate cosplay, there’s some myths we have to talk through.
- You have to look exactly like the character – Your physical traits don’t have to be changed to cosplay a character. Just because your eye color or height is different, doesn’t mean your costume is any less screen accurate.
- Accuracy is the only way to win cosplay contests – Accuracy isn’t the only things judges look at. In masquerades, they’re looking at your performance and for craftmanship contests they look at your skills for making the cosplay.
- All cosplays must be 100% screen accurate – As we mentioned before, you don’t have to make screen accurate costumes. It’s up to you to choose if you want to for whichever reason you decide to.
