WCS2010, Team Singapore's Official video

I have no idea why they feel the need to do all those fancy music dubbing. Doesn't that takes away the essential performance?

Anyway, enjoy this video while you guys wait for me to churn out my Hong Kong entry! XD I'm almoooost done...except the videos

WCS 2010: Final videos !

Am late in pimping. But thanks to Laurie and World-Cosplay-Summit DA group, I found links to the video upload of the WCS performances.

Credits to Juno for filming and uploading the videos to share with us all! Go visit her blog now =)

Singapore

Mexico

Australia

Brazil

China

Thailand

Spain

Germany

Italy

Finland

Japan

France

Korea

USA

Denmark

WCS 2010: Results out!!

Photo by Damien, Animania Festival

The highly anticipated Cosplay event of the year has finally drawn the red curtains. Below are the results taken from World-Cosplay-Summit Group. Much thanks to Wakaleo for his prompt ENGLISH updates! Following the official WCS tweeter on erm, twitter was an annoying torture of trying to guess/figure out what was going on based on the visual uploads (read: I DUN UNDERSTAND JAPANESE OKAYZ?!)

1st Italy 98

2nd/3rd places Brazil 97 and Thailand 97

4th/5th Places France 90 and Korea 90

6th China 83

7th Spain 81

8th Japan 80

9th Denmark 79

10th Australia 78

11th USA 77

12th Singapore 75

13th Mexico 74

14th Germany 67

15th Finland 61

Apparently, this year, they have some sort of point judging system. Very harsh imho but definitely a fairer and more transparent system. Maybe Singapore Cosplay Competition organisers can learn a thing or two from them?

Kudos to all the representatives and especially team Singapore =) Each and everyone of you are winners and should hold your head high in pride! Banzai to all and till the excitement come again next year!

WCS 2010: Live stream!!!

Much thanks to the folks at World-Cosplay-Summit (Deviantart Group) for the information. Apparently WCS organisers this year is FINALLY opening up their media coverage to the non Japanese demographics! Smart move imho :D

Anyway, we can watch the Osu Parade Live here at Ustream tomorrow!!! How awesome is that xD?



While you're at WCS's Ustream Channel, also check out the interview videos of the representatives !

World Cosplay Summit: Representative’s performance

OMG! WCS 2010 Kicks off this Sunday!!! How time lies! Before we anticipate the final battle of the nations, let’s have a recap of their preliminary performance!

A little rant first, seriously tell me, am i the only one who finds the official WCS website somewhat annoying and slow in reflecting updates? Singapore and Thailand’s representatives have been selected for near a month before it has been officially stated on their website.

Anyway, because I was annoyed with the official website, I decided to do an entry for people like me, who are keen to poke more into the happenings of the World Cosplay Summit, but aren’t keen to stalk the blog or website everyday.

Last year they had some awesome video coverage of the entire event with exclusive interviews with each representatives. But they choose to restrict the video to a speciifc Japanese flash player. And none of us could watch the video despite installing the plugin multiple tiimes @_@ Was very annoyed.

Picture by ~alsquall.

Most people I’m sure, are like me, just wanna know who was selected, what were they cosplaying as and how entertaining were their skit. Simple.

So I’ve searched high and low to put together this video compilation entry that has skit performance of all the countries I can find. I’m lacking links to Korea, Italy and China. Does anyone know if there’s any videos of their performance online?  Without further ado, scroll down for the alphabetically organised videos =)

 

Australia

Brazil

 

China

 

Denmark 

 

Germany

 

 Finland

France   

 

Mexico

Singapore

Spain

Thailand

United States of America 

 

 

*Phew* Hope you guys enjoyed the performance, was pretty troublesome to gather these videos ^^;;;

As I mentioned, World Cosplay Summit kicks off this weekend.  Go to the official website for the full event schedule and guides. Also check out fan groups like World-Cosplay-Summit on deviantart for eye candies!

World Cosplay Championship 2010
August 1(sun),2010
Open Gate 16:00 / Start 19:00 , Area Map (PDF)
Official Website: http://www.tv-aichi.co.jp/wcs/2010/e/event/index.php

World Cosplay Summit 2010: Singapore representatives Interview

Rushing to have this video up first ^_^ Actually finished editing last night but didn't have time to blog about it until now.

Picture taken from pinky_fish

And yes, as the title implies, its an interview with the WCS Singapore winners! Sorry I only have videos to show as my pathetic camera can’t really justify their awesomeness in that pitch dark dome. So video it is.

A lot of you voted to have video interviews of the WCS contestants but as luck would have it, I didn't get the chance to interview ANY of them except the Final Fantasy 13 team....and they became the final winners! What coincidence hehehe.

My sincere congratulations to them and may they level up even more for the final competitions!!! Maybe for once, Singapore can ace the competition :D:D

Congratulations to both pinky-fish and liberi Fatalis for the win and thank you for the short interview ^_^!!!  Am very honoured!

World Cosplay Summit Singapore Finals 2010

Videos of the 5 WCS teams  are up!!! Congratulations to the Final Fantasy 13 Team for acing the competition and winning the rights to represent Singapore!!! Do us proud over at Japan okays!!!

 Final Fantasy 13

Guuren Lagann

Beatmania

Peace Maker Kurogane

Blaz Blue

World Cosplau Summit Tour Package (USA only)

God always seem to have a weird and cruel way of playing pranks on me.

So, I’ve been toying with the idea of a Japan trip since forever. And might even really be going this end of the year. But my friends and I are still sorting our itineraries and stuffs out now and we can’t seemed to get to a conclusion. To explain our(or rather just mine-_-) dilemma simply, I wanna go Japan to experience all things Otaku, visit Akihabara, go to Maid cafes, butler cafes and attend Cosplay events. My friends want ………………… NONE OF THOSE |||oTL

So I then toyed with the idea of maybe going for a short cosplay oriented one myself. And thought, hey, might as well go to the prestigious World Cosplay Summit at Nagoya right??? I don’t even mind being some sort of ‘saikang’ (do it all, caretaker, nanny) to the WCS Singapore representatives. And so yesterday, I emailed Singapore Cosplay Club to inquire if they provided such services but alas, they do not T_T.

And then just 10minutes ago, while checking my Gmail, I saw something. Look at how Google MOCKED ME!

 Do you spot it?

Argh, I swear those annoying Google bots and Spiders are in conspiracy with someone or something to remind me of my misfortune=_= !!!!

ARGH YES i know they are some intelligent ‘content relevant’ generated ads. But i still feel irked=_=  

Apparently a 7 day package tour to Tokyo and Nagoya. Highlight of the trip , of course, is the joining of the World Cosplay Summit.

Itinerary

 

“ Destination Japan is a package tour service that takes you to Japan and gives you a one-of-a-kind experience you won’t find anywhere else.  Our tours are specially tailored to show you Japan’s deep world of pop culture and tradition, and do it better than any other tour service out there for an even better price.  Designed to be your window to whatever aspect of Japan you love, and to expose you to new and fascinating things you might not have known about, Destination Japan has everything you could want in a tour.  We’re here to make going to Japan easy, exciting, and unique, and we think that’s just the kind of trip to Japan you’re looking for!

Organized and managed by H.I.S. International Tours (L.A.), Inc., the US-Japan travel agency that is second to none, Destination Japan is poised to provide you with a professionally run tour service to Japan that still gives you the excitement and freedom that you yearn for on traditional sightseeing tours.  Destination Japan understands what it takes to make a tour fun and interesting no matter where your interests lay.  With experienced and friendly staff to accommodate you any way possible, you can count on a relaxed yet unique experience on a Destination Japan tour. “

And no, this is not an advertorial. I just thought some of you guys (USA citizens only) might be interested in it and figures maybe someone can benefit from my misfortune.

Click on the pictures above of visit the website here to learn more.

WCS Singapore Semi Final (Korea WCF 2010)

Finally found the video uploads of our Singaporean team’s  performance in Korea! Much thanks to maria for the link.

No commentaries from me because I haven’t watched them yet. But too excited so pimping to you guys first *_*!!

Monster Hunter

Vocaloid - Canterella

Blaz Blue

Team Tower Of Druaga

Clover

Vocaloid – Synchronicity

WCS 2010: Skip Beat Journey!

And so with procrastination and life, this entry comes unbelievably late. I really ought to have posted this before the guide to korea.
Anyway, just thought that even though we didn't win, I should still chronicle and share our wcs journey. Afterall, it is part of my life journey too =)

So gin and I only decided on the series a month or so before the competition. In fact, we only thought of joining the competition roughly around that timeline too. Gin wasn't super keen but with 'cosplaying skip beat' as a bait, i managed to lure her in. Muahaaaahahaa *kaika evil spirits loiters* After that, it wasn't until another 2 more weeks before we started our actual script details and practise.
<<-- My ultimately not used “Fuwa Sho“ Poster
The delay was due to our over imaginative ideas in the beginning. A lot of time was spent conceptualising the script and figuring out how to do the special effects without any stage ninjas. We had many big ideas for the script and we brainstormed endlessly for a solution to solve the technicalities.
For one, my initial idea was to create a 'spirit hand' , well, kyoko's famous spiritual power, and grab gin with it. We also thought of creating gravity defying spirits like how it should look. But they all had to be scrapped for obvious reasons. Sigh.

You know, sometimes its really challenging to only having 2 cosplayers in the skit. There is just so much storyline limitations!!!  And telling a story to a group of audience who probably don't know who the heck you're cosplaying is .... Just "Icing on the cake".
And seriously, choosing to cosplay Skip Beat in a competition that judges very much on your costume is suicide. Yes, we know… but we couldn’t resist the urge to cosplay a series both of us so dearly loved. And having the chance to acted out a skit AS the character was another offer we couldn’t turn down. So we choose to overlook our chances of winning and go ahead with Skip Beat. And I guess reality has showed how wrong(results) we were but… overall, I’m still really happy we did Skip beat.
Off tangent with my rants again, sorry.     

After altering the script to have lesser or no 'special effects' . The next step was voice acting and audio mixing. Gin came over to our place and recorded with my pc microphone which i then mixed together. After getting the first audio draft out, we started working on the props and acting.
We tried to paint the signboards but it didn’t work out so we just got them laser printed.

Gin’s ultimately not used “rugby ball”  (lower left)

In the skit, there was a 'stripping' scene where gin will hide under a big black thrash bag and change under it. We had spent a lot of time decorating that bag with wordings and kyoko's spirit so that when she shakes the bag, the spirit tail will sway too. Sadly, we forgot to highlight that to the stage crew and the thrash bag ended up facing the wrong direction ToT.
It was a very very upsetting part in the skit.... After all, we didn't spent so much time on those props to have it hidden. But what's over is over =(

A lot of time was spent fine tuning our skit actions. We wanted to make sure we performed everything to perfection so every time we rehearse, we'd film it down and review later on.

Bruise on my knee from all the falling at 3:04. I love how Zeratul’s video angle captured the impact of the grabbing most xD

Argh the wig >.<

Almost every gesture, every movement and every expression was scripted/planned. Like the change from 'happy' to 'angry' mode at 1.00, i specially choreographed my body to tilt at an angle and have both arms lifted up to my face area so as to enhance the dramatic-ness of the arms dropping and dangling.

I like how Gin did her arms and face expression at 3:04 to match her voice over. Her disgust for the “Love Me” section and Kyoko (my character) is portrayed so interestingly xD

I love Gin’s acting here XD 

3:50 has got to be one the most fun part to act out xD I truly enjoyed intimidating Gin here MUAHAHAHAH. It took us some time to figure out how we should position and move our body posture here. In the actual manga, Kyoko was supposed to rise from hugging Kanae’s calf and then caress Kanae’s face with her hand.

But obviously we couldn’t do that here because I’m 2meter away from her. So we decided to go for a ‘side tilt intimidating’ effect .

 

Disgusting dance ahahhahaa . Well, I had to do something to distract the audiences while Gin changes into her uniform right XD?

_o_
\|_
   

Can you spot Kyoko’s spirit and curses on the thrash bag T_T?

Marionette wahahahhaa

This still is really comical to see. Kyoko looks so freaking happy while Kanae is shocked outta her mind xD

  

Lalalala ~~ *prances around the summer field*

 

Marionette 2. GUAGUAGUA XD

We found it hard to synchronise both our actions at this section. So we decided to let Kyoko take the lead and turn Kanae while Gin (kanae) will just allow herself to be turned around :D
Argh stupid wig and pouch kept running around =_=

We wanted to highlight Kanae’s OTLness so we designed for Kanae to lean over to the sides to look like she’s dying/fainting/spirit coming out from her body.

Blah! I had too much fun screencapping. Sorry for flooding you guys with our fugly and caught-in-action pictures. I just HAD to caption and share them xD.
Apologies for being off topic and going on non stop about the little details. Hope you guys enjoyed this entry nevertheless. Leave me a comment and share your thoughts ne ^_^?

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NE?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WCS Singapore Preliminary highlights

Uploaded by Pzportal

Founded this video recently and thought its pretty interesting =)

WCS Singapore Selection 2010: Skip Beat (redubbed)

Edit and reuploaded our performance video with permission from Kasuga1982. Click on his nick to see the higher res version of this video.

I received comments from some friends that they can't really make out our dialogue. So I decided to add the original skit audio into the video for better audibility. Blah, its been one week since the event and I still haven’t gotten around to writing about my post competition rambles and share our WIP photos. Give me a few more days, I promise I’ll get them up soon!

Surviving the WCS Bootcamp in korea Guide

Oh man, really lousy title I know. I just wanted to spice things up a little =P

Anyway, in sight of the recent WCS Selection hype and highly inspired by Cheesie’s Complete guide to bali, I decided to do an entry like it too. But to Korea of course =)

Hopefully the 6 teams will find this article useful in preparing themselves for the trip. Well If not useful… erm I hope this entry is at least some what interesting =X ? This entry is about what you need to know about korea and well, what you should do to prepare yourself for a fun trip at the land of Kimchis!

 

Electrical Information

South Korea uses the Europlug and Schuko plug, pic on left. So for Singaporeans, I think we definitely need at least an adaptor. According to some people on the forums, you can find them at Sim Lim Square though be careful of fraud.

Alternatively, you can pin your hope on the hotel concierge and borrow one. But I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Don’t wanna run out of battery on my dicam for that lovely trip.

But the shape of the socket is only half the story! Electrical sockets (outlets) in South Korea usually supply electricity at between 220 and 240 volts AC. If you're plugging in an appliance that was built for 220-240 volt electrical input, or an appliance that is compatible with multiple voltages, then an adapter is all you need. So make sure you check all your electrical charger to make sure it is compatible. If your appliance not compatible with the voltage, then you’ll need a convertor.

I have tried my best to consolidate and summarise the information. But I’m too lazy to go into the technicalities so if you wanna know more, visit the website.

 

Basic Packing List

You know, sometimes I think, the best part of any trip, is the preparation part haha. Anyway, I put together a small list of stuffs to bring over below. It’s not exactly complete because with cosplayers and their costumes, there’s just TOO MUCH to bring and prepare. So the list I put together is just a generic list of things that I would bring if I go on a cosplay holiday.

1. Passport
2. SGD cash (for the trip home)
3. Korean WON cash
4. Digital Camera
5. MP3 player + earphones
6. Extra dicam batteries (bring adaptor and convertor if needed)
7. Charger for all your electronic equipment
8. Extra Memory space (SD cards etc)
9. Medicated oil (just in case)
10. Jacket (for the colder nights)
11. Clothes for 5 days & 4 nights
12. Make Up !!!!!
13. Make Up remover
14. Facial & body cleansing products
15. Skin & beauty care products
16. Small towel (or you can just use the Hotel’s)
17. Costumes!!! (omg, this prolly need a list of its own each)
18. Wig cap, hair pins & hair accessories
19. Plastic bags x 4 (for worn clothes or dirty shoes when returning home)
20. Foldable recycle bag or just any good carrier bag (for carrying your loot back to Singapore)
21. Safety pins , needle and thread (for last minute costume saving)
22. Double sided tape, scotch tape, hot glue etc (reason as above)

A travel savvy friend once told me, its good to scan my passport or IC and then email myself a copy of that. Just in case I ever get into any trouble in a foreign land I’d still have access to my identification document. Just sharing information =D

 

Climate & what to wear

Photo © http://www.climatetemp.info/ 

According to the many websites I’ve been to, May should be the end of Spring over at Korea. The average temperature is around 18 degree but can drop to 14 degree or go up to 28 degree. Either way, dress like how you’d dress to stay inside our local air conditioned libraries. Long sleeves, fashionable stockings and jackets would be good enough =)

The climate would be perfect for pulling off that Japanese fashion magazine look we can only dream of doing in humid Singapore T_T  *envy*. Fore more info, go here

 

 

Where to ?

From what the organising members of SCC have mentioned on the forums. Apparently, the 6 teams would be hosted in Everland Resort. 

Everland Resort is a theme park in Yongin, a city in Gyeonggi-do province, South Korea. Everland is South Korea's largest theme park. In 2007, Everland ranked tenth in the world for amusement park attendance[1]. Along with its main attractions, Everland also includes a zoo and a water park known as Caribbean Bay. Everland is operated by Samsung Everland, which is a subsidiary of the Samsung Group.

Everland is often compared to Disneyland by those who have visited both parks, as some consider the architecture, scale, themes and general atmosphere to be very similar.[2]

- Wikipedia

    

Everland is Opened in 1976, and it is about 1,200,000yd² It is ranked as the 4th theme park in the world by offering 5 main Festivals and exciting entertainments all year around.
Experience wonderful Festivals and magnificent shows at Everland, 365 days a year.
There are five theme areas along with more than 30 kinds of attractions full of high thrilling and various fun.

- Everland.com

  

     

 

Seems like a very beautiful theme park with castle and Victorian like architectural structures! Maybe the 6 teams going over can consider bringing their Victorian styled costumes for some photoshoot sessions :D

Travel Must see?

The 6 teams are supposed to be there for training since it is after all, a boot camp. But all work and no play is boring. So here is a list of travel must see around the area(as recommended by online websites). Obviously this is just a suggested list on my part (and a pretty half hearted list too) so don’t necessarily have to take me seriously hehe =X

Place: Myeong – Dong
Type: Shopping!
Homepage: www.myungdong.co.kr (Korean only)

Introduction

Myeong-dong (명동) is a massive shopping district. Myeong-dong Street is around 1km long and extends from Myeong-dong Subway Station (Seoul Subway Line No. 4) to Lotte Department Store at Euljiro. All kinds of brand name shops and department stores are clustered along the streets and alleyways. You can purchase various products such as clothes, shoes, and accessories. Compared to Namdaemun or Dongdaemun, many good-quality brands are sold in Myeong-dong. Such stores include Lotte Department Store, Shinsegae Department Store, Myeong-dong Apparel, Myeong-dong Migliore and Noon Square. You can purchase good-quality products at the department stores or other fashionable products at reasonable prices at Migliore or Myeong-dong Clothes.. Moreover, all kinds of brand shops are densely located along the main street and lanes.

More Info:
http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=264312

Place: Lotte World, Korea
Type: Theme Parks
Homepage: http://www.lotteworld.com/Global_eng/Main.asp

Introduction
Located in the heart of the city, Lotte World is the perfect spot for entertainment and sightseeing. It is a theme park filled with thrilling rides, an ice rink, different kinds of parades as well as a folk museum, a lake, and much more.

Lotte World is divided into a '’Adventure’ theme once you are inside the building, and outside is a ‘Magic Island’ theme next to Seokchonhosu Lake. Lotte World Adventure has certain districts representing different countries with various kinds of facilities and souvenir shops. You can enjoy watching parades, numerous films, laser shows, and a variety of international cuisines even during the holidays. Magic Island is situated outdoors, where the dazzling Magic Castle is located as well as thrilling high-altitude rides that you can't experience elsewhere. Be sure to also check out the peaceful walking trail around the lake.

More Info:
http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=264152

Place: Hwaseong Fortress
Type:  Fortress
Homepage: ehs.suwon.ne.kr (English, Korean, Japanese, Chinese)

Introduction

Hwaseong Fortress is the official fortress of Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do, from the latter days of the Joseon Period (1392-1910). Construction began on the fortress began in 1794 and finished in 1796. It was built to show the King’s filial piety toward his father Jangheonseja, and also to build a new city with its own economic power.

More Info:
http://www.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=264204

Check out this website for more recommended tourist spot!

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Once again, ending my entry abruptly here because I’m getting tired of it ahhaa. I’m sure you guys are really tired of me ending my long entries the same way. But nothing I can do about that I guess :P

Yeap, hope you guys enjoyed reading the entry even if you are like me, not one of the 6 lucky teams to visit Korea. To the 6 teams, prep yourselves well and do the Singapore community proud! There are a lot of awesome Korean cosplayers there so go and show them what Singapore Cosplayers can do!