Once again we will have Hall Costume Awards, a Masquerade on Saturday night, and (in a related area) the Costume Repair Station will be in the same place as last year -- but now the hotel has a cafe across the hall from it. (Remember the boarded-up area last year? They've got coffee and sandwiches and so forth there now.)

WEAPONS POLICY

It is the policy of Anime Los Angeles that no real or realistic projectile weapons may be carried anywhere within the convention except during the masquerade or specially approved events. The use of a weapon during the Masquerade or during a programming event must be approved by the Masquerade Director or the Programming Coordinator respectively. No weapon of any kind may be drawn or wielded in any area of the hotel or convention space.

Anime Los Angeles defines a weapon as any object designed to cause damage, or any replica of such an object, or any object that the Committee determines to pose a risk to the safety of others or to personal or hotel property. The Committee reserves the right to alter or amend this definition and the right to impound weapons for the duration of Anime Los Angeles. Failure to surrender a weapon for impounding is grounds for immediate revocation of membership without refund and expulsion from the convention.

Dealers who sell weapons must securely wrap each item at the point of sale and provide each customer with a printed copy of these rules.

We at Anime Los Angeles know that most people who would like to carry weapons are sensible and careful individuals. However, we must keep in mind liability, legal issues and our relationship with the hotel. The safety of you, the members, must outweigh any other consideration and it is with this in mind that these policies have been formed.

HALL COSPLAY

Wear your costume everywhere because you can win an award! Hall Costume Awards will be given out at our convention once again. Tiffany ["Neo Serenity"] heads up our roving hall judges.  All costumes are judged on a by costume basis to if you have 5 costumes, you can win 5 awards!

MASQUERADE

Cosplay Masquerade
Saturday, January 26th
8:00 P.M.
LP1, 2, and 3

Welcome to the birthplace of Cosplay!

This is no joke. In 1984, Japanese writer and editor TAKAHASHI Nov came to Los Angeles for L.A con II, the 1984 World Science Fiction Convention. He saw the costumes being worn around the halls and attended the Masquerade, and took the ideas he saw home. He wanted to encourage people to dress as their favorite anime, manga and video game characters.

There was only one problem. Takahashi knew that Japanese fans wouldn't take to the word "masquerade" or its Japanese translation. He decided to take two English words that would be more attractive to Japanese fans, "costume play" and made a contraction. The new name was a hit and so was the idea. Cosplay quickly became a popular activity at Japanese conventions.

So cosplayers, take pride in carrying on a grand Japanese tradition with roots right here in Los Angeles!

Anime Los Angeles 2007 Cosplay Registration Hours

Friday, January 26th: ?? - 7:00 P.M.
Saturday, January 27th: ?? - 12:45 P.M.

There will be a mandatory entrants' meeting starting at 1:00pm on Saturday, January 27. If all participants in an entry will not be available for this meeting, please stop by the Cosplay Masquerade desk during the times listed above to discuss options.

Competition Details

Welcome to the Anime Los Angeles Cosplay Competition. We're your competition directors, Andy Trembley and Kevin Roche. We do not intend to take the fun out of cosplay. We are attempting to give stage time to as many entrants as we can support, and we're attempting to counter complaints that favoritism and politics influence competitions by providing a fair and safe environment to compete in.

We've got 3 main sections here. The first explains how division placement works. The second is the rules (i.e. the things that can get you disqualified). The third is the basic briefing of what you've got to work with. At the end of this document we've also included the instructions that the judges are going to be handed so you know the rules that they're going to be working under.

"Presentation" and "Workmanship" judging are entirely separate. There is a judging panel for Presentation and a judging panel for Workmanship. Each panel selects and gives its own awards. Workmanship judging is not required, and the decisions and deliberations of the Workmanship panel have no influence on the Presentation panel.

Please remember, this competition is not all about you. It is all about you and your fellow competitors. By respecting the rules and procedures of this competition, you help ensure that your fellow competitors get a fair shake.

DIVISION PLACEMENT

Most entries will be placed in either the Novice or Open Division. A group entry will be placed in the division appropriate for its most experienced member.

Open:

• Any competitor may enter in the Open division

Novice:

• Professional costumers may not enter in the Novice division
• If you have won an award at a major regional competition (San Diego Comic Con, Fanime or AnimeExpo, for example) you may not enter in the Novice division
• If you have won more than 3 awards in local competition (conventions under 1000 members), you may not enter in the Novice division

Young Fan:

• The Young Fan division is only open to competitors under the age of 15 who have participated in the design and construction of their costumes
• If a costume is entirely adult-designed and adult-constructed, it may not be entered in the Young Fan division

Exhibition:

• The Exhibition division is an open division. Any presenter may enter in the Exhibition division
• The exhibition division is a presentation-only division. Exhibition entries are not judged, nor are they eligible for any award
• Entries that have already won awards at other conventions and have not been significantly modified may enter in the Exhibition division

If you're not sure whether you should consider a past competition to be a major regional competition or a local competition, please ask the directors. The size of the event and number of entrants in the competition will be considered.

For this competition, any person who made more than 1/2 of his or her annual income from costuming in any of the last 5 years qualifies as a "professional."

Any competitor may enter in a more advanced division than he or she is placed.

THE RULES:

If you violate any of these rules, you may be disqualified and dropped from the competition.

1. All contestants must be attending members of Anime Los Angeles. If the maker and presenter are different people, both must be attending members. Purchased and rented costumes may not be entered.
2. A costume may not be entered in competition if it has won "Best in Show" or "Best in Division" at another competition. It may be entered in the Exhibition division (not in competition).
3. Each presenter may only appear on stage in a single entry. One body, one presentation.
4. The standard PG rule applies. No costume is "no costume."
5. No live animals are allowed on stage with the exceptions of a) people and b) service animals.
6. No materials or effects that will leave a mess on stage or in the green room are allowed. No materials or effects that may ruin another entrant's costume are allowed.
7. No pyrotechnics or any other sort of open flame are allowed.
8. All special effects must be reviewed with us before contestant meeting (the earlier, the better).
9. Attending the contestant meeting is required. You need it to get a feel for the stage. We need it to double-check your tech, and to make sure the crew knows what to expect from your entry.
10. If you're going to have large props, bring your own ninjas to get them on and off stage.
11. All entries are granted 2 minutes on stage. You may use less time, but if you exceed the limit, you will be ineligible for any award.

HINTS & SUGGESTIONS

The following information will help you ensure you get the most out of your investment in the competition. You don't have to follow these suggestions, but it would be advised.

This is an Anime and Manga cosplay competition. Please respect our theme. The judges will consider theme when granting awards.

All entrants are encouraged to participate in workmanship judging. You can't win a workmanship award if you're not judged.

If you're entering a re-creation costume, bring documentation. A letter-size color photocopy or color print of your source should be sufficient to show the judges what you're trying to recreate (5 copies would be nice). The judges will probably ignore anything other than that. Video, floppy disks and CDs are right out. Paper, please.

Your competition costume will have the greatest impact on the judges if they don't see it before the competition. Some judges may ding an entry they've seen walking around the halls.

If you think a personal or business relationship with a judge will make it difficult for the judge to be objective, please talk to us. We will consult with the judging panel, and we'll come up with a reasonable course of action.

Don't plan on having access to power on stage. It won't be there. Extension cords all over the stage aren't particularly safe.

Don't plan for complex lighting. It won't be there. If you wish anything other than default lighting, discuss it when you check in with us, and also with the crew at contestant meeting.

Don't plan to use a microphone. During presentations, the MC is the only person with a microphone. Spoken narrative must be pre-recorded or provided when you register as a script for the MC. You may attempt to speak from stage, but spoken dialog will be more effective if it is pre-recorded as part of your presentation.

Speaking of pre-recorded, we will accept tape and CD. The "5-tape rule" is a good guideline. Terrible things can happen to tapes and CDs; make a master and 4 copies. Pack them in separate bags. We've seen too many people lose their only tape.

If you are providing a CD, make sure it only includes the material you wish to use on track 1 (no commercial CDs). If you are providing a tape, same deal, and make sure your material is recorded at the start of both the A-side and B-side (tech snafus happen, but this can help you avoid one possible snafu).

• you wish to give a child a presentation award for a costume made by an adult. Name the child.
• you wish to give a workmanship award to the person who did all the beading on a group entry. Name that person.

If you need help identifying the appropriate person to grant an award, ask your clerk.

Competitors who have entered re-creation costumes are asked (but not required) to provide as documentation a color photocopy or print of the image the costume is based on. You may ignore any documentation beyond that.

If you think a personal or business relationship with a competitor will make it difficult to be objective in your judging, please talk to both me and your fellow judges about the problem, and we'll come up with a reasonable course of action.