Events: Masquerade Contest

Masquerade Contest: General Info | Registration info | The Full Rules

Otakon 2008 Masquerade Information

We are pleased to announce that the Masquerade contest will return to the 1st Mariner Arena! We are also excited to announce some additional changes to the contest that will benefit you, the participants. Please read below for more details.

The Masquerade will be held Saturday night. It is designed for costumers who wish to perform a short skit on stage, or whose costume would be best presented in an on-stage format. For costumers who wish to have their costume judged but do not want to perform a skit (i.e. a walk-on entry), we recommend entering the Hall Costume Contest.

In order to participate, you must have an Otakon member badge (Dealers, Press, and other specialty badge types are also valid).

Entries will be separated into one of five categories:
• Youth – individual or group consisting primarily of children 13 years of age and under, as well as their parents, guardian, or other individuals deemed appropriate by the Masquerade Coordinator
• Novice – contestants who have won zero or one major cosplay award at any convention
• Journeyman – contestants who have won two, but less than five major cosplay awards at any convention
• Craftsman – contestants who have won five or more major cosplay awards at any convention

Please note that the award counts for each category has changed from last year, so please double check to make sure you register your group in the correct category.

Judging Categories

Children 13 years old and under will be judged separately in the Youth category. Entries which include participants who do not qualify for the youth category, such as parents or guardians, in addition to qualifying youth participants may request to be judged in the youth category. These requests are subject to the approval of the Masquerade Coordinator.

Parents are required to accompany children 13 years of age and younger during the Masquerade.

Release Forms

All participants will be required to sign a permission/release/waiver form to participate in the contest. This includes stage hands, stage assistants, and any other individuals appearing on stage. Simply put, any person who steps on stage must submit a waiver.

Minors under 18 years of age may participate in the Masquerade only if a permission/release form signed by the minor's legal guardian is provided. We highly encourage you to print out and sign the appropriate form(s) and bring them to check-in to expedite the process.

Waiver forms will be available closer to Masquerade registration.

Important! Forms will be collected when you check in for the Masquerade. This is the only time we will accept waivers. If signed waiver forms are not present for all members of your cast, we will not check you in. We strongly recommend that you make prior arrangements on your own with your cast members to ensure that all waiver forms are present when you check in.

Costume Eligibility

Costumers may not wear the same costume in both the Masquerade and Costume Contest.

New for 2008! Audio and Dialogue We are pleased to announce the availability of one additional microphone for usage during your performance.

Skits will have access to a maximum of two wireless handheld microphones with accompanying stands. Any speaking parts your skit may have which cannot utilize these microphones must be recorded to an audio tape or CD. Skits may use a combination of pre-recorded audio and live audio using the microphone mentioned above.

We certainly encourage creative solutions, but please keep in mind that your skit must be audible at all times. Remember that a microphone has a finite area in which it can pick up sound. If you have several members in your skit with speaking parts, crowding around one microphone will probably result in your group being inaudible or near inaudible.

While you’re planning your skit, please remember to consider your audio needs as well. After all, a good skit is one that can be seen and heard, and your audience will be able to appreciate your months of hard work that much more.

New for 2008! Skit Length We are very excited to announce that all skits will now have a maximum time limit of 4 minutes, regardless of group size.

This is an increase of 1 minute over previous years. The length of skits is measured from the first move or line until the last move or line.

We do, however, strongly encourage you to exercise this new found power with extreme caution. Remember, short is good, funny is better, short and funny is best. Time limits will still be enforced.

Please read the Full Masquerade Rules and Regulations for more information.

How to Register for the Otakon 2008 Masquerade

All entries wishing to participate in the Masquerade must register via the Otakon website. There will be no at-convention registration of new entries. Registration begins on June 25, 2008 at 12 noon Eastern Daylight Time and ends on July 25, 2008 at 12 noon Eastern Daylight Time or when all slots have been filled, whichever comes first.

There will be a maximum of 40 adult skits and 5 youth skits performing at the Masquerade. These slots will be filled using the following method:

The first 30 adult and 3 youth entries registered for the Masquerade will be designated as “Reserved Entries.” These entries will be reserved a performing slot at the Masquerade provided that they check-in during their designated check-in period at the convention.

The next 40 adult and 5 youth entries registered will be designated as “Overflow Entries.” These entries are not reserved a performing slot at the Masquerade, but will have the remaining 10 adult and 2 youth performing slots and any additional unclaimed slots available to them on a first come, first serve basis at the convention.

If you have not done so already, please take a moment to review the Full Masquerade Rules and Regulations.

We are in the process of revising the Masquerade registration process. Forms and additional instructions will be available closer to the beginning of Masquerade registration.

Registration forms will be accepted during the registration period only. Please do not submit entries before or after the registration period. They will not be processed.

Once your information has been received, the Masquerade Coordinator will notify you at the email address provided on your registration form to confirm your entry and provide further information on checking-in at the convention.

Questions?

The Otakon Web Boards is the quickest way to find your answer. The Otakon Masquerade and Cosplay Contests section is dedicated to questions about the Masquerade and other costuming events.

You may have a question that’s already been asked by fellow Masquerade participants. You can find answers to the questions already asked and post new questions there.

You must be registered member of the Otakon Web Boards to access the Otakon Masquerade and Cosplay section, but it only takes a moment.

We strongly encourage all Masquerade participants to visit the web boards regularly, as we will be posting information leading up to Otakon to make your at-con Masquerade experience smoother and more enjoyable.

Questions, problems, changes to any skit entries, and requests for additional information may be sent to the Masquerade Coordinator by choosing "Otakon Masquerade" from our Contacts Form