CC26-SF-07d: Elegant Mythos
Competition Staff & Rules
Staff:
- Director: Jennifer Tifft
- Master of Ceremonies: Unknown
- Presentation Judges: Unknown
- Workmanship Judge(s): Unknown
Rules:
Costume-Con 26 Fantasy & Science Fiction Masquerade Rules and Information
Posted: December 31, 2007
The basic information:
I’m your F&SF Masquerade director, Jennifer Tifft. I hope to provide you with a pleasantly memorable (or at least appropriately un-adventuresome) environment to present in.
There are 3 main sections here. The first explains how division placement works. The second is the rules (i.e. the things that can get you disqualified). The third is the basic rundown of what you’ve got to work with. There is also a fourth section for your perusal, the instruction the judges will be receiving.
“Presentation” and “Workmanship” judging are entirely separate in the Fantasy and Science Fiction Masquerade. There is a judging panel for Presentation and a judging panel for Workmanship. Each panel selects and gives its own awards. Workmanship judging is not required, and the decisions and deliberations of the Workmanship panel have no influence on the Presentation panel.
Please remember, this competition is not all about you. It is all about you and your fellow competitors. By respecting the rules and procedures of this competition, you help ensure that your fellow competitors get a fair shake.
This is revision 1.2, published December 2008*. It may not be the final revision of these documents. Please return to the CC26 website for more information.
If you have any questions, please contact me at fsfmasq@cc26.org . Please put “CC26 Masquerade” in the subject line.
30 Jan 2008 Edit: age of Young Fan division adjusted to 13 to match Historical Masquerade rules
Division Placement:
Most entries will be placed in the ICG standard divisions of Novice, Journeyman and Master. A group entry will be placed in the division appropriate for its most experienced member.
Master:
- Any competitor may enter in the Master division
- Professional costumers [may/must] compete in the Master division
Journeyman:
- Professional costumers may not enter in the Journeyman division.
- A contestant who has competed and won in the Master/Open 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
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 more than two major awards in the Novice division at international competitions may not enter in the Novice division
Young Fan
- The Young Fan division is open only to competitors under the age of 13 who have participated actively in the design and construction of their costumes
- If a costume is entirely adult designed and constructed, it may not be entered in the Young Fan division no matter the age of the person wearing it
Exhibition
- The Exhibition division is an open division. Any presenter may enter the Exhibition division
- The Exhibition division is presentation-only. Exhibition entries are not judged either for presentation or workmanship, nor are they eligible for any award
- Entries that have already won awards at other [international] events and have not been significantly modified may enter the Exhibition division
Clarifications and Definitions
- For this masquerade, any person who made more than 1/3 of his or her annual income by costuming in any of the last 5 years qualifies as a “professional”
- “International competition” means “WorldCon Masquerade” or “Costume-Con Fantasy & Science Fiction Masquerade.” If you have participated in other large international competitions, such as San Diego ComicCon International, Anime Expo, or the Dragon*Con costume contest the Masquerade Director will be happy to help you select the appropriate division on a case-by-case basis
- “Major awards” includes any awards that do not feature “Honorable Mention” or “Honored for” in the name
- “Most Experienced Member” in general means just that for division placement. If you have a situation that you feel warrants an exception speak to the Masquerade Director
- Competitors under 13 who have participated in the design and creation of their costume may enter in the “Young Fan” division. Adult-designed and-constructed costumes presented by children may be entered in the maker’s division or the Exhibition division (not in competition)
- Any competitor may enter in a more advanced division than he or she is placed
- Any competitor has the option to enter in the Exhibition division (not in competition)
If you have any questions about any of this, do not hesitate to ask, the earlier the better
The Rules:
If you violate any of these rules, you may be disqualified and dropped from the competition.
All masquerade contestants must be attending members of CC26. If the maker and presenter are different people, both must be attending members. (note: see Special Circumstances below for certain exceptions.
This is a costume competition celebrating and rewarding the art and craft of costuming. Purchased and rented costumes may not be entered.
A costume may not be entered in competition if it has won “Best in Show” or “Best in Division” at an ICG-recognized international competition. It may be entered in the Exhibition division (not in competition).
Each presenter may only appear on stage in a single masquerade entry. One body, one presentation.
The standard PG rule applies. No costume is “no costume.”
No live animals are allowed on stage with the exceptions of a) people and b)service animals.
No materials or effects that will leave a mess on stage or in the green room are allowed. No effects that may ruin another entrant’s costume are allowed.
No pyrotechnics or any other open flames are allowed.
All special effects must be reviewed with me before or at rehearsal (the earlier, the better).
Rehearsal is required. You need it to get a feel for the stage. We need it to make sure your tech is right, and to make sure the crew knows what to expect from your entry.
If you’re going to have large props, bring your own ninjas to get them on and off stage. Bring them to rehearsal too.
Individual entries are granted 60 seconds on stage. You may use less time, but if you exceed the limit without prior approval, you will be ineligible for any award.
Group entries are granted 90 seconds on stage. You may use less time, but if you exceed the limit without prior approval, you will be ineligible for any award.
Additional time may be granted if you can show me that you will use it well. Requests for additional time should be made early (i.e. as soon as you know how long you want). Last-minute requests (any point after your paperwork is turned in) will not be looked upon favorably.
Special Circumstances
Since in some areas of costuming, particularly Fursuit and Cosplay, the Creator and the Presenter are frequently not the same person, special arrangements must be made when the Creator of such a costume entered in competition will not be present at CC26.
If the Creator (defined as the person who did the majority of principal construction and/or design on the costume. For fur-suits this would include the head and/or ‘torso’) has an attending membership but cannot attend the convention.
You need to let me know this either when you register or at the convention before registration closes.
Bring with you a signed copy (or equivalent) of the Non-Attending Creator Statement below.
If the Creator has a supporting membership, you need to let me know this either when you register or at the convention before registration closes.
Bring with you a signed copy (or equivalent) of the Non-Attending Creator Statement below.
If the Creator does not have a membership, a supporting or higher membership for that person must be obtained in order for the costume to be entered in competition. Supporting memberships are set at $35.00.
Notify me either when registering for the Masquerade or at the convention before registration closes of the situation.
Bring with you a signed copy (or equivalent) of the Non-Attending Creator Statement below.
The Masquerade Director will decide on a case-by-case basis whether to allow an entry to compete when the creator is a supporting member, since the usual rule requires an attending membership.
Entering in the Exhibition category does not require a non-attending maker to have a membership. I encourage you to enter in this category if the above will be a hardship.
Hints and suggestions:
The following information will help you ensure you get the most out of your investment in the competition. These suggestions are not mandatory, but they are Strongly Advised.
This is a Fantasy & Science Fiction Masquerade. Please respect our theme. There is a Historical Masquerade for your historical costume.
If you’re entering a re-creation costume, bring documentation. A letter-size color photocopy or color print of your source should be sufficient to show the judges what you’re trying to recreate (5 copies would be nice). The judges will probably ignore anything other than that. Video, floppy disks and CDs are right out. Paper, please.
Workmanship judging is optional. In the F&SF masquerade, workmanship is judged by a separate panel and has no bearing on presentation awards. All entrants are encouraged to participate in workmanship judging. You can’t win a workmanship award if you’re not judged.
If you think a personal or business relationship with a judge will make it difficult for the judge to be objective, please talk to me. I will consult with the judging panel, and we’ll come up with a reasonable course of action.
Don’t wear your masquerade entry in the halls at the convention before the masquerade. This will reduce the impact your entry has on the judges and audience. Most judges will ding an entry they’ve seen walking around the halls.
Don’t plan on having access to power on stage. There will not be access to power on stage. Extension cords all over the stage aren’t particularly safe.
Don’t plan for complex lighting. It will not be there. If you wish anything other than default lighting, discuss it when you check in with me, and also with the crew at rehearsal.
Don’t plan to use a microphone. During presentations, the MC is the only person with a microphone. Spoken narrative must be pre-recorded or provided when you register in script form for the MC. Spoken dialog must be pre-recorded.
Speaking of pre-recorded, we will accept tape, but we prefer CD and will also accept MP3 files. The “5-copy rule” is a good guideline. Terrible things can happen to tapes and CDs; make a master and 4 copies. Pack them in separate bags. We’ve seen too many people lose their only music.
If you are providing a CD, make sure it only includes the material you wish to use on track 1 (no commercial CDs). If you are providing a tape, same deal, and make sure your material is recorded at the start of both the A-side and B-side (tech snafus happen, but this can help you avoid one possible snafu).
Judges’ Instructions
“Excellence deserves award” is your watchword.
I ask that you be serious in granting awards. A serious award with a funny name is fine. Please don’t grant an award if you don’t think the entry has real merit. No “joke” awards.
You are encouraged to award “Best in Show” and “Best in Division” (for each division) if you find such awards are appropriate. For all other awards, please judge each entry on its own merit.
It’s up to you to decide whether an entry deserves a major or minor award. Consider, though, that for novice and journeyman division, major awards indicate you think the entrant deserves a nudge into a more experienced division.
Please identify “minor” awards by using “Honorable Mention” or “Honored for excellence in” in the award name. Anything that doesn’t have “Honorable Mention” in the name is a major award.
For each award granted, please identify the entry and the competitor being granted the award. For example:
you wish to give a child a presentation award for a costume made by an adult. Name the child.
you wish to give a workmanship award to the person who did all the beading on a group entry. Name that person.
If you need help identifying the appropriate person to grant an award, ask your clerk.
Competitors who have entered re-creation costumes are asked (but not required) to provide as documentation a color photocopy or print of the image the costume is based on. You may ignore any documentation beyond that.
If you think a personal or business relationship with a competitor will make it difficult to be objective in your judging, please talk to both me and your fellow judges about the problem, and we’ll come up with a reasonable course of action.
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Fantasy and Science Fiction Masquerade Forms
Posted: March 1, 2008
Our online masquerade system is now up and running! You may access the system via the F & SF Masquerade Pre-registration Form. Note that you must be a registered member of the convention to pre-register online; you will need to log into our interactive system in order to access the form.
Once you have submitted your pre-reg, you may return at any time to update the information in it, by logging in and then clicking on the “view my profile” link in the upper or left menus.
You may also download and use these printable (Adobe Acrobat PDF) forms.
Fantasy and Science Fiction Masquerade Entry Forms
