AFA'09: Thoughts and Observations

(Note: The review below is based on viewing the You-Tube videos of the AFA'09 skits and not in any way should it be mistaken or assumed that I personally attended AFA in Singapore. Feel free comment. The usual etiquette regarding posting/commenting applies.)

This year's AFA'09 came and went, and the winner picked out and given the grand prize of a trip to Japan and a sewing machine. The winner was the Singapore Team: Gundam 00 Emotion. My congratulations to them, one of the duo being Clive Lee (aka Mirage_cld) who was a regular visitor of the Mecha Cosplayers HQ thread of FilCosplay. Again our congratulations from us metal heads of cosplay!

Its a good thing, for those who didn't have the time and money to attend AFA'09 in Singapore, someone was kind enough to record and upload them in You-Tube. So to Zerartul, i personally thank you from the bottom of my heart for your generosity. So to everyone, here is the compiled recorded skit links of AFA'09 (click here).

AFA'09 was also the second time Filipino cosplayers were represented in an international competition, the first one being the Hong Kong Gaming Convention back in 2001, where JM Chua came cosplaying as Rurouni Kenshin's (Samurai X in the Phils and North America) Saito Hajime. He earned the right to represent the Philippines by winning the AXN Cosplay Competion two months earlier. And surprised everyone (and himself) once again by winning the Hong Kong Cosplay Competition.

In AFA'09, the Philippine team was represented by the Gosiengfiao sisters Alodia and Ashley, coming as characters from Witchblade the Anime.

(click image to watch video performance)

Watching all of the videos, at the same time chatting with some friends and fellow mecha cosplayers, I've probably seen and realized fully why the Singapore Gundam 00 Emotion team won the competition. I have a few theories, and maybe I'd email Clive if my observations were correct.

What makes a Cosplay Photographer?

If anything, this has been one of the most least understood (and downright enigmatic) element in the cosplay community. As far as I know, its been a self-named category to differentiate itself from other "normal" photographers.

So what is a Cosplay Photographer?

On the outside, and probably the most obvious, is that its a group of photographers who concentrate more into photographing cosplayers. There has been a growing number of photographers posting their photos on their multiply accounts. Some were praised, others were criticized as being "improper" on their subject selections (and some more critical instances, their focus on certain body parts).

Stirring the Cosplay Pot

My, it seemed I'm causing quite a stir, especially among old acquaintances in regards to this Model Vs Cosplayer thing. What's funny is that i'm seemingly being used as a forefront for pushing the "model is not a cosplayer" advocacy to whoever seemed to be pro-model to the one pushing it. According to the link's blog, he seemed to have conveniently left out the reason for my clarification (what a model is and what a cosplayer is), opting to give just enough bait to shell out a response to provoke(?) an answer from a well known individual. True enough, some people decided to surface from the void to defend the concept of modelling and still be called a cosplayer, making my statements look like I'm denying opportunities for cosplayers to what they perceive as "commercial gain", not to mention trying to make me look like a hypocrite by being one of those who do. I once again felt the need to clarify and even challenge the poster on her claims, but in the end, is no longer point of the argument.

Government and Cosplay: The 1st Philippine Cosplay Mini-Summit

Yesterday me and my friends were invited to attend an open forum gathering called 1st Philippine Cosplay Mini-Summit at the UP Diliman ITTC building with the topic "Promoting the Philippine Cosplay Community" with speakers from the Business Process Association of the Philippines (BPAP) Mr. Jonathan de Luzuriaga, Commission of Information and Communication Technology (CICT) Mr. Ramon Ibrahim, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Mr. Eric Tamayo, Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM) Mr. James Romana, ABS-CBN Interactive representative Mr. Cid (i forgot his last name, my apologies) and Game Developers Association of the Philippines Mr. Ranulf Goss.

Zaku Mecha Helmet Tutorial

For those interested in making their own basic Zaku helmet
just follow any one of these links:

http://eva-guy01.deviantart.com/

FilCosplay Forum Tutorial

Cosplay and the Generation Strife

This blog is about the Philippine cosplay community. Those outside the community are free to read and comment about the topic. The usual rules about flaming and trolling applies.

2009 may be called the year where cosplay generations have laid down the line and started expanding the gap between themselves with constant bickering and labeling. Its amusing how these things happen through the years as I sit back and read/hear people generalize each other as "old farts" and "noobs" in cosplay. Hell, we even have that Cosplay Mafia thing going on, giving a humorous illusion that a bunch of Illuminati-like cosplay-in-black vets are moving in the shadows and taking over the cosplay world as we know it.

There has always been strife between cosplay "veterans" and "newbies" since the start of cosplay's popularity in our community back in 2000. Both parties though aren't free of any guilt, so any whitewashing between the two parties only leads to hypocrisy. Its just funny how these things, through the years, turn out like automated laundry: "Rinse and Repeat."

Cosplay Fame: how and why it happens

At one point I stood back and looked at the community these days and thought to myself, why fame come to those who least expect it, and very rare to those who actually strive for it.

Fame is relative, it depends so much in a lot of factors, which i would discuss briefly. This is not to teach cosplayers how to get fame, instead its to give understanding why fame falls to the few, whether they aimed for it or not.