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Unread 02-20-2007, 10:49 AM   #1
PockyDarcy
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Katsu Masquerade - Swan Song

If anyone is waiting for an official line on the masquerade judging in thorough synopsis, don't. If you recall, I was on stage dring the judging, so I was a bit curious about the results as well. However, after meeting with the judges to hear how their judging was, I walked away content with their reasoning. There were many great skits and only a few trophies, but some made special impact on the judges. They were especially intrigued by originality (Pokemon skit, Magitek armor costume, Daily Show, the summoning, etc) and that stood out to them along with presentation strength and costume quality. Here at the masquerade, since the advent of the giant screen and other unorthodox changes we've brought to the masquerade, we feel we've made a great situation for people to be imaginative and experimental. Last year, the biggest shows on our stage were Fraggle Rock, the Gundam SEED Destiny skit, and Legend of Zelda story dance (which was by the same crew who worked the Yuna's summoning skit this year for Best in Show). These three were very original and used what we offered to offer the best. There are so many awesome ideas (even with dancing, musical, and comedy skits) that have been unexplored. We emphasize we want to see the new, not the recurring. Gundam SEED Destiny was an experimental skit in 2006, for example. Watch it again to see the potential on our stage. However, everyone still was wonderful and the general quality of the skits was extremely high.

Have never seen a "Best ___" win along with the "Best in Show?" Darcy and I (along with a few respectable others) claimed "Best Overall Craftsmanship" AND "Best in Show" not a year and a half ago at a significant east coast convention's masquerade. We're not the first. It happens.

Again, as for the judging, I have spoken with them and back their decisions. Though I do understand, from the audience's perspective, how things looked a little odd, I personally assure you that there was no animosity via bias involved. For instance, one presentation judge is good friends with the Dead or Alive skit's leader and another presentation judge used to work with the Castlevania crew. There were no biases and the range of tastes for the judges were very broad. If you reasearch these eight, you'd realize that they all have vastly different styles or presentation, cosplay, and taste along with astounding experience in their respective fields.

If you feel you can judge better, that's why we hold open auditions. Did you know that the individual who built the Magitek armor was a judge from last year. That may seem like a situation where bias can arise, but did you know that his mech was too large for the stage because it couldn't fit between the stage supports? Did you know that Magitek suit had fully designed console interfaces for the pilot inside and the outfit actually allowed the pilot to WALK in it? Did you also know it had the electrical ability to cast color lights for ice beam, fire, and lightning? Again, just because of the inability to show something on stage doesn't mean something more doesn't lie therein.

Lastly, this forum will not become a bastion for controversy. This is the public, official statement of co-director Corey. There were no disqualifications (though one skit irked me on going over that fine line of taste - you know who you are). There was no favoritism outside of the costumes and presentations brought to these judges. Every judge had completely different styles and they worked together to reward those most deserving in their unalike eyes, but not to say that there were other skits not deserving of recognition whatsoever. There's always a lot that goes on behind the scenes, but it's not something to bring to the public due to honor and avoiding drama spates. Everyone who won and everyone who didn't win trophies should all feel compelled to try their best next year. The technology for using the screen to COMPLEMENT your skit is available for all. We (and the audience) prefer pre-recorded skits, so you have time to prepare the biggest, greatest show that the Potomac has ever seen. Stretch out those levels of comfort and try something new. Are you typically in a dramatic dancing skit? Try your hands at comedy or maybe a new type of dance. Making Part 25 of a running game show series? Maybe try a new game show or drama. Have lots of fighting skills and choreography? Reenact a scene from, I dunno, Fist of the North Star with exploding fake heads. The evolution of the masquerade has come again and I want to see everyone put their best foot forward, but not hide in comfort zones. Trust me, I'd use the Katsucon stage and the technological advancements to put on the best show if I was eligible.

Again, everyone did a wonderous job and we're anticipating the release of the video as much as the next person - if not more. We feel we now have the technical kinks out of the way so that people can rest assured that their work will be fully available for their presentation. Until the holographic projector become available at some point in the future, we still have the technology to allow everyone to put on an entertaining, spectacular, original show.

If there are any comments, do send them to cosplay@katsucon.org. However, to disrespect a growing tradition in certain cosplay circles, we will not endorse any controversial discussions or argue. If you're happy with the result, so be it. If not, try next year to blow us away with something amazing or try out to be a judge. Everyone (except me) who reads this has the potential to rectify anything they deem wrong with the last masquerade's finale. So go for it.

- Corey
Katsucon Masquerade
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Unread 02-20-2007, 10:17 PM   #2
Runi-Chan
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I'm sorry for any hand I had in any of this controversy; it only seems to have arisen because of the quality of the skits.

The backrounds are a godsend, but there are some of us out there who can't seem to figure out how to use them to their full potential. Perhaps if we had some sort of mini-guide, or links, or something..I think it's just BECAUSE the backround is such a new and strange thing that we're afraid to completely embrace it because it's a BIG noticable thing if Tech slips and the audio doesn't sync with the video.
It's just...I suppose if it didn't seem that those who blow our minds did something so beyond the rest of us, it'd be easier to wrap our minds around the simple fact that all we need is like, Movie Maker or some sort of slide show...

It's new. In a few years, I'm sure the Masq participants will grow more comfortable with it, and use it more.

Katsu is BY FAR the best Masquerade I've ever been in. The craftsmanship judges actually get up out of their seats and inspect and touch costumes. It's a very refreshing change for those of us who've only dealt with Otakon's judging.
I would have liked feedback on what I could have improved, though..the Hall Contest Judges gave me tons on T-Chan, but no one in our group got any such feedback.

Not winning is bitter, I'll admit that, but I'm astounded at the skill level and sheer orginiality (for the most part; namely all but a few skits) I saw at this past Katsu. It reminded me why I started entering Masquerades; even just watching them in the first place; It's fun. And for the sheer number of awesome skits, I'm honored just to have been in it.

Last edited by Runi-Chan : 02-20-2007 at 11:02 PM.
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Unread 02-20-2007, 10:51 PM   #3
TheAnarCHris
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OH MANNNNN....
For the record, if I'm judging next year and someone pulls off head explodey, it's totally getting my award. Nothing spells awesome like head explodey!!!
And what's a Gundam SEED....?
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Unread 02-21-2007, 10:34 AM   #4
PockyDarcy
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Gundam SEED? That's just what I have always called it.

If you want my two cents on how to use the background, I'll speculate a little. For the record, the tech crew and us feel we've worked out the vast majority of kinks now, so stalls with audio/video synch and "missing music" should be a thing of the past. New technology has its troubleshooting. Now, on to the background hints:

1. Are you doing something with the background that complements the skit? This is crucial. If you are having a big background music video where you will be matching their actions (Castlevania, for example), what are the dangers of this and what is the purpose? I'm not saying anything about the Castlevania skit, but one danger certainly is whether you will be in synch with the background video. If not, it will stand out and look bad.

2. Again, if you are using a background video, does it complement the skit? Maybe it distracts. It's called a background for a reason. It is not an AMV. If the background is more exciting than the skit, don't expect the stage presentation to get much concern or points from the judges. The video should be complementing or secondary to the stage work. Gundam "Seed" and (this year) the Daily Show skits used them in combination with the stage features. This is a skit contest, not a video-editting contest. Maybe a background is unnecessary altogether? No point deductions will occur for groups not using backgrounds remember, but you may get a deduction if the background hurts the skit, just like any bad prop.

3. Are you trying to make things fancier with the background than necessary? Granted, the Gundam Seed group did it well, but maybe a still pic or something similar is all that's necessary. I feel the FF6 skit (Battle with Kefka) could have used a bit more movement in the background (like climbing the tower or even a moving sky scene with the clouds parting to reveal light beams like in the final battle in the game). This may have added that spice, but what they used was also a great backdrop - even if not moving. However, they were wise enough not to make it over-technological. If they showed a fast, exciting background, it could have taken away from the skit. Moderation may be the most difficult part of using this new technology.

4. The Pokemon skit used the background for only key parts of the skit. Maybe you don't NEED to use the background for the majority of the skit at all. Instead of having characters walk around the stage with signs like "WTF" as they once did in masquerades, maybe this is a method of doing this clearly to the audience. Maybe the background screen isn't necessarily for backgrounds, but communicating non-verbal messages to the entirety of the audience - and not just the front few rows who squint to read signs.

5. Possibly being the most important, follow the technical specs on the website for your background and audio submissions. You have no idea how many entries did not do this. And you wonder why there were technical difficulties.

Those are my two cents. Remember that the background is to help the skit, not distract. It's not an AMV screen. It helps the skit, not takes it over. Many more groups will learn this lesson the hard way in the future. For now, everyone reading this should try to avoid this. If the background screen is over 50% of the total skit's emphasis, make sure you're not doing something wrong or over-reaching. Thanks everyone.

- Corey

PS What's a T-chan?
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Unread 02-21-2007, 11:00 AM   #5
vartan
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rurouni_Ina_Box View Post
I'm sorry for any hand I had in any of this controversy; it only seems to have arisen because of the quality of the skits.
...
The backrounds are a godsend, but there are some of us out there who can't seem to figure out how to use them to their full potential. Perhaps if we had some sort of mini-guide, or links, or something..I think it's just BECAUSE the backround is such a new and strange thing that we're afraid to completely embrace it because it's a BIG noticable thing if Tech slips and the audio doesn't sync with the video.
It's just...I suppose if it didn't seem that those who blow our minds did something so beyond the rest of us, it'd be easier to wrap our minds around the simple fact that all we need is like, Movie Maker or some sort of slide show...
...

One thing I do know from dealing with digital projectors...unless they are substantially expensive projectors (which I'm not saying Katsu's aren't) there is a bit of a trade-off when projecting video (through the internal LCD screen). The faster the content changes, the more the projector has to "keep up" so to speak, which causes it to do partial frames or drop frames completely if it cannot. Sort of like the tearing or stuttering effect you get when playing high FPS computer games on a LCD that doesn't have a fast enough refresh time. Even great projectors have to do this from time to time if you have content which is changing very rapidly and substantially. When you also take into account that there were more than one unit (if I recall from looking at it, it was several (three?) beams synchronized, but I could be wrong) synchronization takes an even higher priority.

The point? Backgrounds that have less change are going to be the most reliable. Backdrops like the Yami no Matsuei one and last year's Gundam Seed skit worked the best because they were a series of semi-static backgrounds with periodic changes. Any time you take something like the Dark Muffins' Helena skit which had fast-moving full motion video with very rapid full-screen changes and tons of angles and such, you're going to be opening up the possibility of occasional dropped frames, so if it's important that you don't even lose a second worth of synchronization...then, well. You may need to retool your media a little.

Now granted, I could be misinformed in this particular situation, there may have been other factors, but I do know that the preceding information does hold true for many projector systems. Iit could have just been that the audio was just not started at the same moment as the video, but I remember there were some really significant synch problems with the video itself during the runthrough as well. And if I remember right, YnM and GS didn't have the same synch probs with the audio vs the video.
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Unread 02-21-2007, 04:26 PM   #6
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The video screen is indeed a useful tool, but maybe I'm not technically inclined enough to understand why the video and audio had to be seperate. I'm posting this publicly rather than directly because I'd like input from all angles. Our skit had a bit of a kludge with one joke and, while they worked on the audience, the timing was off for all the others, which did throw off the comic timing as well.

Are all projector/audio systems always out of sync? Should we take this delay into account next year? Is there no way that the crew could, in the future, use a single file with audio and video?

I'm not trying to incite drama, hopefully it didn't appear that way on the other thread either. ^_^ I'll follow PockyDarcy to the ends of the earth for cosplaying as Adair. Restecp. XD
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Unread 02-21-2007, 05:10 PM   #7
Arlette
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PockyDarcy View Post
Gundam SEED? That's just what I have always called it.
Ah, I think you mean the Sakura Taisen group. ^_^ Although both series have mechs and stuff. XD

Oh, wait, durr, Gundam SEED was the one I was thinking of from last year, so that is what you meant. ^_^ I remember they were one of the first to even use the screen. More people seemed to take advantage this year.

I didn't get to see the Castlevania skit because I was backstage at that time, but perhaps the Sakura Taisen group could have done with a bit less "anime opening" in their BG as you suggested. All that, coupled with the mech backgrounds they had on stage (which I understand they needed to change behind) caused a lot of extra...stuff.

I think the Daily Show group and another group who used the screen last year are totally on the right track. ^_^ If I could come up with an awesome idea, I'd love to utilize the screen someday.
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Last edited by Arlette : 02-21-2007 at 05:28 PM.
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Unread 02-21-2007, 07:09 PM   #8
Shey
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Originally Posted by vartan View Post
And if I remember right, YnM and GS didn't have the same synch probs with the audio vs the video.
Our (YnM) audio and video ended up synched pretty well, concidering the video didn't show up at all in rehearsal. The video was actually about 2 seconds late during the masq but I think it was only obvious to me since I did the editing in the first place. I'll have to keep in mind for next time that it would have worked better if the sound guy has a video que to start the file or vice versa, instead of having the files start at the same time. Otherwise I loved the backgrounds and from the different audiance reaction in rehearsal and Saturday night I think it really made our skit come across much better than it would have.
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Unread 02-21-2007, 08:58 PM   #9
Runi-Chan
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^.^ Ah, okay, now the background thing makes sense. My group IS returning, barring some inability to return, and doing another skit. I'll be in charge this time, so I could probably put together a simple background for it, if I have to beat this year's skit head for our group into using it, XD
...a bit of moving video in there too..
Ah, look, I'm giving myself ideas, XD
But we've got a whole year, and we're starting on it NOW. So if we suck, it's our fault, XD

Rehearsals and such should really start earlier in the morning. I understand letting everyone sleep inand such, but no one's going to be able to rehearse if all the skits together are given an hour and a half total for rehersal. For most, if not all of us, it's the first time we've had rehearsing the material with that much room. Each skit should be alloted at least double their skit's running time to work through things. Some of us have choreography that we would like to practice on stage. Starting at 1 for rehersal never gives us that time.

@Corey; he's from Petshop of Horrors, and I entered him in the Friday hall contest. I meant the Masquerade Craftsmanship judges could have given a bit more feedback. My bad, lulz

Last edited by Runi-Chan : 02-22-2007 at 05:44 PM.
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Unread 02-21-2007, 11:02 PM   #10
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....I asked what a Gundam SEED was coz I was IN said skit, silly heads. Durs. :P
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Unread 02-24-2007, 02:07 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vartan View Post
...When you also take into account that there were more than one unit (if I recall from looking at it, it was several (three?) beams synchronized, but I could be wrong) synchronization takes an even higher priority...
Just got a chance to look at some masq videos and it looks like it was only one projector. When they played the footage during the runthroughs in the morning it looked like it was multiple beams, either I was reaaaally tired or they changed something for the actual masq.
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Unread 02-24-2007, 06:25 PM   #12
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I believe that some on the tech crew was missing some equipment... lol so some reason
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Unread 02-25-2007, 12:46 PM   #13
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Alrighty, as a member of said Tech Crew, let me speak up for a moment about what we had...

We were running a trio of High End Systems DL.2s that have a collage generation capability to project onto the rear Cyc this year. The problem we ran into with cosplay was when we attempted to stretch the image across all three projectors, we got some SERIOUS distortion, which is what many of you saw during the rehearsal. The simple solution for this was to simply use only the center DL2 which provided a nice clean image.

Last year we used a Hippotizer and a pair of 5000-lumen projectors to do something similar.

As for the synching issues, we're working on that, and looking into ways for it to no longer be a problem. As soon as we have a solution, we'll let everyone know what formats to use for all media.

Oh, and if there's anything you want to try at a Cos-play, ask the tech crew. I mean it. The worst that can happen is that they say "no", but all too often, tech crews will see it as an interesting challenge and see what they can do to make it happen. I mean, Black outs are fairly easy, small pools of light can be done, just ask.

Nathan
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