Naka-Kon 2008 Cosplay Competition
Cosplay Contest Rules
The 2008 Naka-Kon Cosplay Contest will be divided into two sections:
Runway and Skits.
Conduct
All costumes should cover the body so that you are not nude. Think of the contest as being rated PG and, as long as your costume agrees with that, you should be fine. If you are unsure regarding appropriateness, it would behoove you to email in a picture of yourself to cosplay@naka-kon.com and get it approved.
All costumes should conform to the weapons policy.
You cannot jump off the stage, throw anything at the audience, or leave anything on stage that can not be easily picked up by a stage hand.
Do not use your time on stage to make any political/religious/insulting/etc. demonstration. Also, do not create any surprises (like a wedding proposal) without approving it with the cosplay coordinators beforehand. You will be disqualified from the immediate competition and potentially banned from future Naka-Kon conventions.
Costume themes
All costumes must be based on Japanese Anime, Japanese Manga, J-Rock, J-Pop, Japanese Live Action Cinema, or a Japanese origin video game. If your costume originates from any other country, it does not qualify.
Costume Limitations
You may not enter the same winning costume in multiple cosplay judging's in the same year. To clarify, the costume winner (not the person, but the OUTFIT) of any award given during the Cosplay Competition of Naka-Kon 2008 (for example, Best Cosplay, Best Character Representation, Best Use of Innovative Materials, etc) may NOT enter the Hall Cosplay Contest.
However, contestants in the Cosplay Skits for 2008 MAY enter the Hall Cosplay Contest, even if their group has won a Cosplay Skit Award.
If you have several different cosplays and would like to enter each into a different competition, or several in one competition, this is fine. A cosplay that wins an award is not available to be entered in another competition.
Any costume that has won Naka-Kon awards in previous years may not be entered in years to come. (If you won something last year for your Pokemon costume or the year before, you cannot enter that particular costume into any 2008 competition.)
Judging
Skits:All Cosplay Skit entries, both pre-registered and 'at con', must be checked in at the Contest Registration Booth by 11 am on Saturday, February 9th!!! You must turn in your skit dialogue (if you did not send it pre-convention through email) typed at this time. If you opted for an audio file to be played during your skit, this too must be turned in at this time (burned to cd in .mp3 format). No entries will be accepted past 11 am on Saturday, February 9th.
Runway Entries:All runway cosplay entries, both pre-registered an 'at con', must be checked in at the Contest Registration Booth by 11 am, Saturday February 9th!
What to bring:
It is highly suggested for anyone entering in hopes of a workmanship award brings 'in progress' photos, reference photos (photos of yourself in cosplay) and a source picture (a picture of the character you are cosplaying).
It is highly suggested for all contestants to bring in source pictures and reference photos, but it is not necessary. It helps the judges and shows them all the effort you went through for your cosplay. It is not necessary to have made your own costume in order to win an award, but you will not be eligible for the workmanship award in particular.
Remember! The better the quality of the picture, the better the judges will be able to do their job. You will sign up for a time to be assessed by the judges by 11 am, Saturday February 9th.
It is of the utmost importance that you are ON TIME to your judging appointment. One late contestant can flub it up for everyone! It would similarly behoove you not to provoke the judges' wrath! ^_~
Skit Requirements
- Simply singing a song will not be acceptable for a skit. Save that for the karaoke room and karaoke competition! If your skit happens to INCLUDE (but is not limited to) a song, that is most certainly welcome.
- There is a time limit on all skits. A skit for a single person should be no longer than four (4) minutes, and a skit with a group of people should be no longer than four to six (4-6) minutes. If you go over your limit you might be forced to leave the stage (however, if you are exceptionally entertaining, we might let it go on for a while).
- You must provide a typed copy of your skit dialogue to be reviewed by officials via email at cosplay@naka-kon.com or at the convention at the Contest Registration Booth by the designated time (11 am, Saturday February 9th).
- If you would like to make changes to your script, you may do so up to February 1st, 2008. Email them to cosplay@naka-kon.com. No changes may be made after that. You may be contacted about making alterations to your script if we find any content that is found to be questionable. You will have until February 1st to make these changes before your entry is disqualified.
- All skits MUST have a pre-recorded track of the dialogue and/or music that can be played while you are on stage. You can do this by sending the audio file to cosplay@naka-kon.com or giving it to the cosplay office when you register. Please deliver these BURNED TO A CD in .mp3 format, or email them ahead of time!
Entry Limits
The limit of number of entries is 100. This does not mean people, but actual entries.
For registration at the convention, print and fill out the appropriate Cosplay Contest Registration Form and turn it into the Contest Registration Booth by 11 am, Saturday February 9th.
Awards
Runway Competition- Best Overall
- Audience Favorite
- Best Character Likeness
****Best Workmanship (Source photo of character attempted REQUIRED)
- Best Beginner
****Best Master
- Best Group (Non-Skit)
- 3 Judge Awards
- Best Comedy
- Audience Favorite
- Best Overall
**** For these awards, in-progress photos are highly encouraged, but not necessary.
More awards may be decided by judges on the spot, so don't be discouraged if you don't win one of the above!!!
Naka-Kon Cosplay Registration
Registration for the Naka-Kon 2008 Cosplay Competition is closed! Thank you to all who entered!
At Con Instructions
All Individual and Group entries registered online as well as at con must sign up for a time to be judged at the Contest Registration Room by Saturday at 11 am. If you are submitting your entry for the competition at con, you can sign up for a judging time when you turn in your submission in the Contest Registration Room.
Judging will take place between 11 am and 4:30 pm on Saturday, February 9th. You will be shown where judging takes place when you sign up for your judging time or turn in your cosplay registration.
Skits are not judged pre-competition, and thus do not need to sign up for a time to be judged.Skits
All skit entries MUST turn in a TYPED COPY of their scripts AT CON. Even if you submitted it online, you must still bring in a copy to be reviewed for a final time.
All skits MUST have a recorded dialogue, burned to CD (.mp3 format) to turn in with your script. Any skit entries that fail to accomplish this WILL BE DISQUALIFIED.
Judging
Show up to your judging appointment on time. We have a very small amount of time allotted per entry. If you miss it, you will have to wait until the last contestant is judged. If it is past 4:30 pm by that point, you will be disqualified.
Cosplay Rehearsal and Green Room
All contestants (Skits, Individual and Group) must be in the Imperial Ballroom by 5 pm on Saturday for Cosplay Rehearsal and Green Room. After this point, you will be allowed to leave for bathroom breaks only. Water will be provided. We cannot leave to hunt you down after this point, so be where you are supposed to be, or we will not let you on the runway!
We will be doing a tour of the runway and sound check. Skit contestants are welcome to practice their skit on stage providing we have enough time.
Special Accommodations
If you have entered two costumes in the competition, or will be in a skit as well as an individual entry, please remind the Cosplay Coordinator during the Rehearsal. She will be very frazzled at this point, and will need reminding to place you in the runway order accordingly.
Direct any questions to cosplay@naka-kon.com.