Masquerade
Con Bravo Masquerade Info Guide!
Think you’ve got what it takes to rock the ConBravo! Masquerade? Well bring it on! This gives you the chance to enter a costume or small skit in a competition against the best! It’s like Pokemon, but for costumes! And instead of moves, we have skits and walk-ons! Which don’t use up any PP at all!
This competition is meant to recognize and reward the hard work and efforts that costumers put into their work. Think of it as winning a gym badge for all your hard work and dedication!
Registration
You can register online when you pre reg for the con! Just fill out the application form and send it in to masquerade@conbravo.com along with any audio you need for your performance!
You will also be able to register for the masquerade at the con! Just see the Masquerade registration/sign in desk! Registration will end by 4pm!
Online Masquerade Registration is only available to those who have PRE REGISTERED for the con itself! Email the Masquerade master for details!
Online Masquerade Registration is now available – Web Form
Online Masquerade Registration is now available! – PDF
Online Masquerade Registration is now available! – Word Document
This will only be open until a week before the con! There is a cap on how many people can be allowed into the masquerade, however there will be spaces made available for on site registration!
Rules of the Road
Participant sign in will be at 5:00pm for workmanship judging, and must be signed in by 5:30 for normal entries! If you have not arrived by 6, you risk being not able to enter! From here, you will follow traditional masquerade guidelines, in that you will be organized into dens, and you will be given the order you are in.
Time Limit: 3 minutes max!
Winners will be announced during the dance!
Workmanship Judging: We will be doing workmanship judging for entries that would like to be judged on the technical aspects and quality of their costume. Remember the beauty contests in the later versions of Pokemon? It’s like that. You need to wow the workmanship judges on the pretty itty bitty details of your costume! So whip out your wicked technical skills, and dress to impress! Please specify on your entry form in the designated area if you would like to do workmanship judging!
Intros, Sound and Music- Oh my!
Please clearly specify the intro you would like to be read by the MC on your entry form for the masquerade. You will be given an opportunity in the green room to let the MC know what you want from them, and if they are to have any involvement. If you do not provide any information about an introduction, the MC will only read your entry number and the title of the skit. Please be clear as to how your entry number is to be pronounced on your registration sheet! We don’t want to mess it up!
Our stage is just a little dude, so keep in mind you are not working with a massive space. As well, although you may not require pre-recorded dialogue, if hearing the dialogue for your skit is very important we strongly suggest you pre-record it as there are no microphones for the participants, and we cannot guarantee the audience being able to hear you. You may submit it either as a CD in .mp3 format, email it to masquerade@conbravo.com with your pre registration for the masquerade, or bring it on a USB key in the correct format to the Masquerade table if registering at the con. We will also accept CDs at the con. If you choose to arrive with your USB key, then you are required to wait until we have confirmed your audio onto the computer. In regards to submitting CDs, please make sure it’s properly labeled (so it can be return to you), other playing instructions and what track you wish us to play. Again, there will be no microphones for you on stage.
General Masquerade Rules
1- No messy, sticky, or gross substances on stage (liquids, confetti, goo, jello, snow, bubbles, etc)
2- Just because Pikachu wanders around naked doesn’t mean you can! No nudity or inappropriate material or references. Keep it PG-13 kiddies!
3- Follow the weapons policies of the convention! That being said, also don’t do anything ridiculously dangerous on stage. This includes sword fighting, shooting any projectiles at the audience, no firearms, no fire (or anything related to fire), rough housing, throwing anything into the audience, throwing around massive props, etc. Going against this rule can disqualify you from the competition!
4- No purchased or rented costumes in competition! They may be presented as out of competition entries! See guidelines for more details.
5- No live animals on stage! This only applies to real animals. Pokemon, Digimon, Monster Ranchers and the like are encouraged.
6- Good idea: Surprise the audience! Bad idea: Surprising the Masquerade Director. Please do not have any surprises happen; we need to know your full plan for risk management purposes!
7- If you are entering in for workmanship judging, please provide a reference photo of the costume. Not everyone knows what a Cyndaquil looks like!
8- The Judges may choose not to give out any awards in a division if they do not feel any costumes entered in that division are deserving of an award. What the judges decide, goes! They will be deciding in a fair and considerate manner, following the ICG guidelines (as is mentioned later).
9- The Masquerade Director reserves the right to eliminate anyone from the competition at her discretion. This will obviously only happen if the rules are broken or if someone goes against convention rules.
10- Got Questions? Email the masquerade director at masquerade@conbravo.com and she will be positively delighted to answer any question you have!
Divisions
(Youth, Novice, Journeyman and Master qualifications are quoted from the ICG website)
Con Bravo will be working on a three tiered division system, as well as including youth and out of competition divisions as well. The divisions and requirements for competition in each division are outlined below, in accordance to the International Costumer’s Guild guidelines. The Con Bravo! Masquerade will be following the guidelines as they have been updated in January 2010.
Out of Competition:
Commissioned or store bought costume can be presented at Con Bravo!, however they will not be judged and hence not eligible for any awards in either the workmanship or presentation divisions.
Junior/Youth:
A child wearing a costume designed and built entirely by an adult should be entered either in the adult’s appropriate skill division or entered as an exhibition (out of competition) piece.
Novice:
- Professional costumers may not enter in the Novice division.
- A contestant who has competed and won in any division other than Novice at an international competition may not enter in the Novice division.
- A contestant who has won “Best in Show” or “Best Novice” at an international competition may not enter in the Novice division.
- A contestant who has won numerous major awards in the Novice division at international competitions is encouraged to enter in the Journeyman division
- Awards won at regional competitions may be counted towards division placement at the discretion of the costumer and the masquerade director.
- Minor awards may be counted towards placement at the discretion of the costumer.
Journeyman:
- Professional costumers may not enter in the Journeyman division.
- A contestant who has competed and won in the Master division at an international competition may not enter in the Journeyman division.
- A contestant who has won “Best in Show” or “Best Journeyman” at an international competition may not enter in the Journeyman division.
- A contestant who has won more than three major awards in the Journeyman division in international competition may not enter in the Journeyman division.
- Awards won at regional competitions may be counted towards placement at the discretion of the costumer and the masquerade director.
- Minor awards may be counted towards placement at the discretion of the costumer.
Master:
- Any competitor may enter in the Master division
If at any point there are questions regarding the masquerade you would like cleared up, please do not hesitate to email the Masquerade Director (masquerade[at]conbravo[dot]com)
