MASQURADE/COSPLAY COSTUME CALL

MASQURADE COSTUME CALL

The main event for Saturday night is the Masquerade Costume Call. This is where all the hard work comes to its final end. Who will walk away with the coveted Best in Show for this year's convention. This and many more questions will be answered when the dust settles from the most intense competition of the year.

Costume call is divided into several categories, Juvenile, Novice, Journeyman, and Master. Juvenile is any contestant under the age of 12. Novice is any contestant with less than 3 wins at any convention. Journeyman is any contestant with up to 6 wins at any convention. Master Level contestant is any contestant with more than 6 wins in any category at any convention.

Contestants are judged on a variety of segments. These segments are presentation, technique, and craftsmanship. A special note to all contestants doing a recreation costume, you must have all documentation with you at the time you are judged for a recreation costume. This documentation can include any and all reference pictures (if from a movie or TV series), painting, passage from a book, video game, etc. This documentation is to be presented to the judges so that they can understand what costume you are presenting and have a frame of reference to go by.

Awards for this year include: Best in Show, Best Craftsmanship, Best Presentation, Best Recreation, Best Juvenile, Best Skit, Best Group, and Viewer's Choice. Best in Show is the costume that is judged to be the standout of the show as all aspects of the judging fall into this category. This is technique, craftsmanship, presentation, and ingenuity all rolled into one category. Best Craftsmanship is judged to be the most well put together costume (no hanging strings and your safety isn't showing). Best Juvenile is for our smaller contestants with the best overall costume for that category.

Best Presentation is actually judged out on the stage and is whether that portrayal of that costume is convincing or not. Acting skills are a plus but not a requirement here as well as did you hit your mark on stage. Best Recreation is just that, the contestant is recreating their favorite character from TV, film, book, etc. In this category covering the little details makes or breaks the costume.

Best Group is any contestants with 2 or more people being presented at the same time. There is no maximum on how many can be in a group and there are times when the costumes work because you have everyone else around to help accentuate the costume you're wearing. Best skit is for the most entertaining presentation on stage. You can make us laugh or cry. We really don't care, just entertain us.

Finally the new category for us is not judged by our panel of judges but by the audience, The Viewer's Choice award. Any costume entered into the costume call, including the junkyard costume, can win the Viewer's Choice. The Viewer's Choice costume is awarded by popular vote of all those in the audience. How this award is chosen will be announced during the costume call.

So with all of the awards listed, time to bring the completion and we will see whose left standing when the dust settles. Bring your best costumes and skits and let the completion begin. Good luck to one and all.

The She Va Con Costume call rules and regulations

Time and place: 6:30 pm in the Green Room (Boardrooms 1 and 2)

How to enter: There are two ways available to sign up for our little shindig. Either sign up on the website or at the Registration Table. If you sign up through the website, please make sure you are a confirmed member of the con. Only paid memberships will be allowed to compete. Online registrations should be sent to shevacon@shevacon.org. We will be taking sign ups until 6 PM on Saturday.

Please use handy dandy registration form seen here. If you pre-reg, your registration must include the following:

A. Your real name (or group leader) and email

B. Contact person if different from above.

C. The real legal names of all participants. NO NICKNAMES.

D. The name of your skit

E. A brief outline of you skit. No need for great detail here, just a brief description of what you want to do.

Catagories: Best in Show, Best Craftsmanship/ Workmanship, Best Presentation, Best Young Fan, Best Group, Best Hall Costume, Viewer's Choice, Best Recreation, Best Skit, with Honorable Mentions of The Naughty Spat Award, The Guest of Honor Choice, and The Fan Judge Pick. There are 4 Shout Out (Honorable Mention) Awards that are awarded for outstanding niftyness. There is a copy of the score sheet the judges will be using here.

Special Note for you recreators out there: the judges will require something for reference material for the costume you are recreating if you are being judged on recreation. Any form of reference is acceptable: a photo, a comic, a painting, etc. If using a passage from a book or story, please provide the passage that describes the character.

We will be using our interpetation of the World Costuming Guild's rules in our categorizations. Use the descriptions below to find which group you fall into:

Youth/ Young Fan - any entrant below the age of 13. For safety reasons no one under the age of 15 is allowed to compete without a legal guardian.

Novice - Any costumer(s) who have won 2 awards or less. This is the category you select if you have never entered a costume contest before or have not won any before.

Journyman - Any costumer(s) who have won 3 to 7 awards.

Master - Any costumer(s) who have won 8 awards or more.

If you have a group, determine who has the highest skill level and use that when registering. Example 1 - You have a group of 4 Novices and 1 Journeyman. You will be entered as Journeyman level.

Example 2 - You have 3 Masters and one Novice in your group. You will be entered as Master level.

Awards and prizes: Why yes Virginia, there are awards involved. We do have trophies for our main winners and we may have a few other surprises for all of our contestants. Trophy categories include the following categories: Best in show, Best Craftsmanship/ Workmanship, and Best Presentation.

Music: If you are using music or a prerecorded narrative it should be on a CD. If it is in another format other than a CD, please speak with our sound crew to see if it can play or not. Also please feel free to ask the sound guys for some theme music. They may have a thing or two for you to use. Also the sound guys' ruling is final. If they can't play it, we apologize in advance. Anything that you give these guys needs to be properly labeled. Please put your name and the costume name on the box, CD, container, whatever so that we can get it back to you if you want it. This also helps the sound guys cue you up.

Time and People limit: There is no real maximum on the total amount of people that can be in the skit. However if you are one or two people and need some helpers here is the verdict. You may bring up to 2 people with you to assit you with getting ready. That's up to 2 people per costume. Please note that we will have some staff monkey gorilla helpers in the back should you need a hand. And a con mom. And security. And a 500-pound gorilla (actually it's just Brad). Also, FOR ANYONE UNDER THE AGE OF 15 YOU MUST HAVE A MOM OR DAD (or something similar) WITH YOU. This is non negotiable and not up for debate. If you have any complaints or concerns, please see the 500-pound gorilla.

For time limits on stage please see the following: 1 person = 1 minute 2 people = 2 minutes 3 or more people = 3 minutes We have a time limit for the following reason. We have a lot of people who want to compete and we are on a time schedule. We want to give everyone a chance to show off so we kinda have to put in a time limit. This is the best way to be fair to everybody.

Ok so now like for the rules or some junk.

No costume is No costume. Period. End of story. Please remember we are attempting a PG-13 or lower rating. Please make the attempt to keep it clean.

All costumes presented must be of original construction or show signifigant modification to pre-existing materials. No costumes that are purchased or otherwise obtained from a professional source may be allowed. It is expected that you may have to purchase some items from a professional source. This is ok, we don't expect you to be able to make those screen accurate boots. If you have any doubt about your costume being up to snuff, please check with masquerade staff. They will be more than happy to give you a thumbs up on your costume.

No messy substances, fire, or anything that may pose a danger is allowed on stage. Note that unsheathing of bladed weapons or any type of firearm-style weapons are not permitted without clearance from the costume call coordinator. Also no throwing of objects of any type into the audience.

The coordinator may reject an entry on the basis of unappropriate or unsafe behavior or content or if the entry does not meet criteria of the rules.

You may enter as many costumes as you like but they must be worn by different people. You cannot enter a costume and then change into another one to be presented later as another entry. All contestants under the age of 15 must be accompanied by an adult. THERE ARE NO EXCEPTIONS TO THIS RULE. (don't worry we will give mom or dad a badge to get into the greenroom).

No flash photography during the show. We don't want to blind anybody. DO NOT TOUCH THE TROPHY GIRL. She will break you in twain.

All presentations will be previewed and oked by the costume call coordinators. This will also allow you to some time to work with the tech crew for any sound needs. There are no exceptions. Presentations are previewed for everyones protection and safety.

There will be EXPENSIVE equipment and irreplaceable personel nearby during the show. If you break it, we are sending you the bill.

We here at SheVaCon know that there may be a few "UHHHHMMMM" costumes. To make sure everyone passes the bar, please follow these guidelines: If a costume is clearly too revealing you are REQUIRED to wear a nude bodysuit underneath. Mastisole, double sided tape, and safety pins only work so well. If you are not sure then you should bring one anyway and the coordinators will make a final judgement call.

There will be no foul language used please. Usage of the 7 deadly words or any type of abusive or obsene language will result in immeadiate disqualification of yourself and possibly your entire group. And Bad Andy will be mad at you. This is a think before you speak. Anything allowable on regular TV (abc, nbc, cbs) is ok to use.

The head of Costume Call is in charge of the Costume Call. Their word is law and final. Do not try to make their job any harder than it already is. Please follow all instructions without fail. This is primarily for your safety and the safety of those around you. They will not make unreasonable demands. Their number 1 priority is the safety of the entrants and that the show comes off as smoothly as possible.

Please do not try to bribe, cajole, entice, offer favors, or otherwise influence the judges in your favor. This is flat out bad form. Besideds everyone knows that you bribe the Costume call coordinators. We like Burbon and Whiskey. The MC is a trained professional. He is good at improvising on the spot, especially when he's had a few too many. Please do not take anything said personally and do not try to heckle. You will loose and wind up as cannon fodder. Also please do not touch the MC. He will like it too much and become terribly destracted. Now for the most important rule: HAVE FUN!!!

All guests, programming and events are subject to change without notice.