fredag den 9. september 2011

Cosplayer Interview no.1: Skye!

okay, so since the game thing i did REALLY didn't work out at all, i got a new idea for breathing life into this little blog here.
Since i cosplay myself, and i know a few that does (and i am a fan of a lot whom i don't really talk to) i thought to myself: Why not interview some cosplayers, to see why they do this and promote their epic skills?

So i did that. I asked two people so far (first one haven't replied to my questions yet) and the second person is Skye, whom i have the interview with right here.

To me, Skye is a really really REALLY talented cosplayer, and i admire her work so much! I have actually met her once (though i bet she doesn't remember it XD) At a danish con called J-Popcon in the year 2009. She was hosting a panel about conventions in other countries, and she wore a really cute Elizabeth Middleford cosplay (from Kuroshitsuji). Her panel was really awesome, and i actually asked her a question after the panel because i was curious about how you make wigs and boots yourself. She was really sweet, and i found out later that she was also a cosplay judge and a very awesome singer! (she performed with a song that she did epicly awesome!) Since then, i've been following her on deviantArt and facebook, and her work is as amazing as ever.
She was also so generous as to give me permission to use any cosplay picture i wanted that is posted on her deviantArt account if i remembered to give the photographers credit! So i'll be posting a few out of many amazing pictures in the interview, to live it up a little! But i suggest you go check out her deviantArt account (after you've read the interview! ;D ) because there are just so many amazing pictures there. You can find her at astellecia.deviantart.com !

But, now to the interview and the pictures! (most of the pictures are pretty big, but they have to be or else you can't see the details and such in the cosplays!)

Ciel Phantomhive and Elizabeth Middleford from Kuroshitsuji - Photo by Tracy

(The Kuroshitsuji cosplay i was talking about!)

Interview:

1. What’s your name?
Andrea~

The person behind the cosplays!

2. Where do you come from and where do you currently live?
Originally from Singapore, currently studying in Melbourne, Australia~

3. What is your cosplayer name/what do you prefer being called?
Most people I know call me Skye, but I use Astellecia on deviantart and other cosplay websites because skye is always taken.

4. Why do you cosplay?
Fun, laughter, peace and joy~ well maybe except the peace part, cosplaying is anything but peaceful :D I like dressing up, pretending to be characters I like and I especially love cosplaying with big teams because there's always alot of crack and good times involved when we're rushing costumes together and preparing for performances.

5. When did you start cosplaying?
Did my first cosplay end of 2002, it was a pretty big failure, but I had lots of fun during that convention~

6. How many cosplays do you have?
way way way too many to name, I think I did slightly under 20 costumes last year alone. I think I've done maybe about 80 cosplays up to date? I've kinda lost track along the way, I just do whatever I want to do, I don't think very much about it ^^".

Banshee from Ragnorok Online - Photo by Shiroang

7. Did you make them all yourself?
Nope, I only started making my own costume around 3 years back, and I made my first few when I started out. Sometimes I get my outfits tailored if I'm short on time or if the costume is too difficult for my abilities, and sometimes I just modify them from clothing I already have on hand~

8. Of all your cosplays, what is your favourite one?
That's a tough one~ I like quite alot of them >.< Seth Nightlord is one of my favourites because up to date it's the costume I spent the most money and effort on, plus it was one of my dream costumes~ But I have alot of fond memories with Sheryl Nome, lion version and diamond crevasse version, because those are the costumes I did World Cosplay Summit with~.

Sheryl Nome, Diamond Crevasse version from Macross Frontier - Photo by garion

9. And what is your least favourite?
hmmm....possibly one of the first few ones I did, I look back in horror and go D: I COSPLAYED THAT? REALLY? D: THE SHAME. But I'm starting on a project to recosplay all the old cosplays I did now that my skill has improved~ Currently marked miyu, yuna and astarte off my list. All that's left now is Sophie from Howl's Moving Castle and Machi from HunterXHunter, guess those would be my least fav for now.

10. What was your first cosplay?
My first cosplay was Miyu from Vampire Princess Miyu~ I dragged a couple of schoolmates in with me, and we sewed all our costumes from scratch with drafting help from a friend's mom. It turned out pretty okay for a first attempt, but I got hooked since that first experience.

11. What is your newest one?
Newest would be Ruby Moon from Card Captor Sakura, something I've been dying to do for the longest time, I cosplayed that with an amazing team of Melbournites, Singaporeans, Indonesians and Malaysians at manifest, we were quite an international team :)

Ruby Moon from Card Captor Sakura - Photo by Elaine Ho

12.Which cosplay was hardest to make?
Hardest to make would possibly be Will of the Abyss from Pandora Hearts. Her skirt gave me the most epic headache ever, I took quite awhile to conceptualize it and just as long to make it. I had to make a hoop skirt from scratch and modify it such that it opened in the front but kept a bell shape, I spent forever searching for materials to hold up the hoop skirt and finally ended up using copper wires. Unconventional, but it worked well~ Homura Akemi from Madoka Magica was quite a nightmare too, her collar is the most incomprehensible thing I've ever come across. I redrafted it about 4 times and I still couldn't get it to sit right on my shoulders >.<.

Will of the Abyss from Pandora Hearts - Photo by zerartul

13. What project are you currently working on?
I have a massive Sheryl Nome project on hand, I really love the character and I've done about 15 outfits from her, finally finishing up with about 3 more costumes which are all in various states of completion. Have a big project planned with missdeliri next year as well, we're hoping to compete together in Singapore if everything goes well, but at the moment I'm not actively working on anything, got a thesis to rush out by October ^^"~

14a. Have you ever performed on stage with an act? If yes, how many?
Many many times~ I used to take part in karaoke performances during event in Singapore, I started competing in group competitions and performances after I went to Australia, I learnt alot from the cosplayers there!! I really have to thank the WCS organizers I've met around the world who have given me opportunities to perform at their conventions~ They were all really eye-opening experiences ♥.

14b. If yes, what was your favourite performance?
My favourite was definitely WCS Singapore round 2009 :) The audience cheering was just amazing, and my partner Jill and I put alot of work into our performance so we were really happy that everyone enjoyed it so much~

(This is their WCS act at WCS from 2009. Just listen to her sing, she is so talented =O Also, i suggest you view this in big version on youtube or fullscreen it ;3 )

14c. And have you won anything by performing on stage?
Won a few group competitions in Australia and Singapore, best cosplayer in Comic Fiesta a few years back and a few others that I don't quite remember off the top of my head ^^" I don't really keep track of them.

15. Do you have a cosplay idol/cosplayer you really admire? If yes, who and why?
Too many to name D: I really admire Yaya Han from US and Cvy, Lenneth and Kanasai from Singapore, NJ, Jun and Kototi from Japan, Alberti , Ryoko-demon and Astarohime from Russia, Pinky and Orochi from Indonesia and possibly almost everyone in Australia for their costume workmanship :D. I also really respect the work of Sara and her photographer Chihane from Taiwan, they take the most gorgeous photos ever that have so much feeling and depth. To be honest, I think a good cosplay photo is as much the effort of the photographer as the cosplayer~ I love looking at the photos of Hybridre from Beijing, Shiroin from US/Taiwan and Kirawinter from Russia~.

16. Do you go to conventions? If yes, which one was your favourite?
Yeap. I don't have a particular favourite, but I really enjoy going to all the cons in Australia (because my aussie mates make everything fun!!) and attending conventions overseas because they're always a new experience.

17. What are the next three conventions you are going to? Where and when?
I'll be going to Main Animania In Sydney in 1 week's time, 17th/18th September to watch the 2012 WCS selection round for Australia, and then heading down for one day of Brisbane Supanova in Brisbane for the madman finals on November 5th, hopefully I'll get to perform at both events :) And erm...I think the next one should be Comic Fiesta in Malaysia on 17th and 18th December. Really looking forward to seeing my Malaysian friends again >//<~

18. Do you plan to continue cosplaying for a long time?
Possibly, my list of things to do is still pretty long. But if possible I'd like to cut down on my own cosplays in a couple of years and start abit on cosplay photography~

19. Anything else you want to add?
Nope~

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So, this was the interview. Again, thanks to Skye for doing this, i'm really happy since i admire her so much <3 i hope that you think this blog entry is okay, and i hope that you will come visit us in Denmark again one day :D

Also, my sister is working in periods on the new design for my blog, so the progress is slow but it's there! I can't wait to show you all how cute and awesome it's going to be! I don't know when the next interview is going to come (and with who) but i'll try to be brave and ask more of my totally epic cosplay idols for an interview ;3

At last, i will leave you with some more of my personal favourites from Skye's many cosplays!

Yuki Onna from Nurarihyon no Mago - Photo by ShinoMatrix

Seth Nightlord from Trinity Blood - Photo by garion

Sheryl Nome (not sure what this version is called?) from Macross Frontier - Photo by zerartul

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