Derrick Jean-Baptiste
Think about what gets you excited. You know, what do you love to do so much that you stay up until one in the morning on a school or work night thinking about and talking about on the internet with friends?
Awesome. Now, have you been to a convention about it? It’s definitely not a requirement to be a certifiable geek on a topic. In my experience of attending conventions for seven years, you haven’t lived until you attend a convention. Find a good one, and you’ll be on your way to a 72 hour non-stop high with hundreds or thousands of people who are just as passionate as you are.
Sound intense? It is. A fan convention is a unique experience that many people often do not take the time to have. Through these photos, the goal is to give you a unique look at the con experience utilizing Omni Fandom Con.
Cosplay is a quintessential part of any fan convention. Cosplay (short for “costume play”) is a way of expressing one’s admiration of a character or even character trait. It goes beyond the realm of the typical Halloween costume in many aspects: craftsmanship, personal experience, and role-playing. They are also comprised of many pieces, from head to toe, from wigs to accessories along with the main costume.
In regards to craftsmanship, cosplayers range in levels from beginners to the elite ranks. However, their goals are often the same: to be accurate to the character, to create a high-quality creation, or to share it with others.
Another integral part of cosplay is personal experience. Many cosplayers do what they do to feel connected to the characters they are portraying, those around them who also enjoy the series or character, or even just for the companionship and time spent with friends. When in costume, a cosplayer has two choices as well: to simply look like the character they are cosplaying as, or to act and become that character. This is where role playing can come into play.
Overall, cosplay could be summed up as an amazing creative outlet through which one can create works of art for others to enjoy and admire. On the subject of Cosplay, Oone of the main events at Omni Con was the Cosplay Guest Panel. The cosplay guests panel was a fun event where audience members got the chance to ask famous cosplayers questions ranting from cosplay tips to favorite memes.
The panelists started by talking about who they are and what they had recently been doing and quickly opened the event up to questions from the audience. The first few questions were about specific tricks to cosplaying and the skills the panelists found most useful but the topics got a bit more serious as time went on.
An audience member explained that they had faced some negative feedback recently and wanted to know how the panelists dealt with those kinds of responses. Moderately Okay Cosplay said that there will always be negative responses. Even if you get a hundred compliments one day just one negative comment can really stick with you but you should always remember just how many people support you. KayBear Cosplay also talked about the difficulties of being a person of color in the world of cosplay and that the best way to deal with the negative responses she received was to ignore them and focus on the support she received from fans.
These are just a few of the things you can experience at a fan convention. If you’re a fan of anything in pop-culture then you owe it to yourself to attend a fan convention.
