BABSCon - Golden Gates' Cosplay Contest

BABSCon has held a Cosplay Contest every year, it is a place to celebrate the hard work and craftsmanship of the many diverse cosplayers we see every day of the con! If you’re interested in entering the contest, please consider submitting an entry form here:

BABSCon 2019 Cosplay Contest Entry Form

Curious about the rules we follow during our Cosplay Contest? Wondering what you will be judged on? Below you will find our Cosplay Contest rules, what is and isn’t allowed onstage for the Contest, as well as what our Cosplay Contest Judges will be looking for when we give our awards at the end of the contest!

BABSCon 2018's Winners!

 

 

 

Cosplay Contest Rules

Thank you for your interest in entering our Cosplay Contest!

We want to ensure that every entrant and audience member feels comfortable and safe during our contest, so please honor the following rules.

 

• Above everything else, BABSCon’s Code of Conduct must be followed.
  • Cosplay is NOT Consent
    • This means:
      • No touching other people or their cosplays without their explicit permission
      • No photographs of other people without their explicit permission
      • No inappropriate comments towards another person
      • If someone tells you to leave them alone, leave them alone. Super simple!
  • Cosplays must adhere by BABSCon’s General Dress Code.
    • Shoes, or other adequate footwear, must be worn in public areas.
    • Clothing which publicly exposes—or provides the illusion of—genitalia, buttocks, or breasts are strictly prohibited.
    • Non-thong swim and dance wear are acceptable at designated BABSCon events and designated BABSCon areas.
    • Clothing and tattoos must be appropriate for a family environment. Prohibited images include, but not limited to:
      • Blood
      • Gore
      • Profanity
      • Pornographic material
  • BABSCon Cosplay Prop Policy:
    • All cosplay props must be peacebonded at the BABSCon FLARE Office.
    • At the discretion of the BABSCon FLARE Office, the following may be allowed:
      • Plastic and Metal Shields
      • Lightweight Plastic/PVC Props/Lightsabers
      • Toy guns as long as they do not look like real firearms, cannot function or fire projectiles, and have an orange tip on the barrel.
      • Prop bows as long as all arrows have soft tips made of foam or cardboard.
    • If any of the above items are deemed unsafe by the BABSCon FLARE Office they will not be allowed inside convention areas.
    • Care should be used with props and accessories so they do not pose a safety issue or interfere with other attendees' enjoyment of the convention. Swinging, throwing, shooting, or waving props and accessories is prohibited.
      • Nothing will be allowed to be thrown, shot, or otherwise propelled off of the stage while performing in the contest.
• If you are entering the contest wearing a costume with limited visibility or mobility, please have a handler to accompany you onstage.
  • There are a few steps to get on and off stage - please be prepared for this.
• There is no heckling or putting down of other entrants’ cosplays - in a joking manner or otherwise.
  • This is all considered harassment under BABSCon’s Harassment Policy and you will be removed from the contest.
• For the safety of the entrants performing after you, please be prepared to pick up anything you may have dropped or set down onstage before you leave the stage.

Sound like fun?

 

 

Judging Information

The BABSCon Cosplay Contest is an event to celebrate your hard work, it is also an event your costume will be judged at and may be considered for a craftsmanship prize.

Like all Cosplay Contests, our judges will be looking at your costumes in detail to find the best of the best. If you want to be considered for potentially placing and winning a prize the judges highly recommend attending prejudging before the actual contest begins.

 

What is Prejudging?

Prejudging is a set time where our cosplay judges have the opportunity to look at your cosplay up close, ask you questions about your progress, and really get a better feel for your cosplay as a whole.

Our judges may...

• Ask you how much time you have put into the cosplay
• Ask what parts of the cosplay were purchased vs what parts were handmade
• With permission, flip your seams to look at your sewing details
• See what specific types of materials you used

 

Why is Prejudging important?

Prejudging allows to judges to separate the good cosplays from the great! This is a time where you should brag about your hard work to the judges. Did you spend over a year hand-painting the armor detailing? Did you dye the fabric yourself? Important details like that will help our judges decide who will place in our Best in Show positions.

This is a time where you:

• Should show the judges tiny details they wouldn’t see onstage
• Share stories about the process you went through
• Prove to the judges why YOU should win!

 

When it comes down to it, if the judges are split between two entries, they will refer back to prejudging to determine who ends up on top!

 

What are the judges looking for?

Our Cosplay Contest is separated into categories depending on skill level:

• Youth/Children (ages 12 and under)
• Novice/Beginning
• Journeyman/Intermediate
• Masters/Advanced

Within each level we will be looking for:

• Appearance
  • Does your cosplay look like the character?
  • Does your cosplay evoke the feeling of the character?
  • Does your cosplay have elements that make it look familiar to the judges?
• Quality
  • Are fabrics sewn together so nothing falls off?
  • Is your wig pinned down so you don’t lose it?
  • Did you take your time to make your costume the best it could be or did you rush?
• Craftsmanship
  • Are fabrics sewn together to the best of your ability?
  • Are wigs styled to the best of your ability?
  • Is armor formed and painted to the best of your ability?

After seeing all of the entries on stage, the judges will come together to decide on placements. They will use their prejudging notes as well as their impressions on stage to come to an agreement together and will then announce who won in our different categories!

We look forward to seeing what you all bring to the contest this year and cannot wait to celebrate all of your hard work!

And above all else, have fun!