Live Magazine September 2014 Volume 9/2014 | Page 172

COSPLA
cosplay

3 SIMPLE TIPS ON POSING
BROUGHT TO YOU BY COSPLAY LIVE

You’ve poured your blood (renegade sewing machine), sweat (heat guns are super powerful) and tears (watching
Firefly on repeat while creating will induce an emotional response) into your cosplay creation for nearly a year.
It is your pride and joy, with every fibre of your being energised with the thought of wearing it out on the floor of
your favourite convention.
However, the final piece of the puzzle on that convention floor is the pose you pull for photographers. You’ll never
see a Judge Dredd with slumped shoulders, nor a Duke Nukem without a muscle flex and never a surprised kitten
without jazz hands. Here are three simple tips to make sure you shine on that con floor.

1.

BEFORE GOING INTO A COSPLAY
EVENT, LEARN 2 POSES/FACIAL
EXPRESSIONS FOR YOUR CHARACTER.

Cosplayers consistently underestimate how much of a celebrity they’ll
be on the floor of a con, a Jack Skellington cosplay can expect to be
requested for a photo upwards of 3
times a minute from as many different attendees. These numbers, by
Murphy’s Law, are tripled if the cosplayer is desperately trying to make
their way to the bathroom.

cosplaying a Disney Character, watch the
film and pause it at a memorable pose that
your character pulls, practice that pose in
the mirror until it become muscle memory. The same for a fighting game character, if their signature move is a high kick
your hours upon hours of posing practice
will not only give you a great core muscle
workout, but your photo memories will be
timeless.

With so many photo opportunities,
as a cosplayer you’ve got to bring
the goods to the photo, and the simplest way is prior planning. If you’re

By learning two poses you’re also giving
a bit of variety to the crowd of camera
phones and DSLRs. Who doesn’t want to
be the crowd favourite?