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Quarantine hasn’t been easy on fans as they attempted to make up for the restrictions on gatherings. Just as other fans found cures for the quarantine blues, so did cosplayers by taking to the internet. A combination of the words “costume” and “play,” the hobby includes a performance element where fans roleplay as characters while wearing their costumes and accessories.
Cosplay’s Digital History
Comic and anime conventions serve as a space for spectacle with grand costumes and in-character performances. Mainly, conventions and meet-ups were hosts for real-life interaction with other fans. A part of this experience was photography opportunities and performances, either improvised or prepared for a masquerade. Conventions are like a grassroots Disneyland. However, when conventions were canceled due to COVID-19 restrictions, fans had to find a way to recreate these traditionally interactive experiences with costumed characters online.
Social media platforms, such as Instagram and TikTok, have always played an important role in fandom, especially for cosplayers. By uploading their photos and videos, online fans can make new connections with people who have similar interests and share tips and tricks of the hobby. During the age of quarantine, extra emphasis was placed on the importance of social media as fans sought to virtually replicate their convention experiences and create a space for character interactivity.
Online Photography
Cosplay photography serves as a form of memory and celebration for cosplayers, a chance to preserve their costume in its most perfect state. In-person gatherings were usually the site for many costumers and photographers to meet up due to their convenience in terms of location and times. While taking photos at home is already common, many people used quarantine to learn new editing skills or purchase specific equipment.
Tutorials on how to use photoshop and the best way to pose your body for pictures became vital tools for fans looking to show off their costume. Photographers offered paid virtual sessions during which they would advise on how to take the best photos and offer editing services to alter backgrounds. Online fan and photography groups used photo editing sessions through Zoom to encourage multiple cosplayers and photographers to meet with each other and learn new tricks. These virtual sessions allowed for professional cosplay photography to continue and supported the wages of photographers who were out of work.
Photos could also be posted to Discord servers or convention websites as a replacement for the “hall shot.” Taking photographs in hallways at convention centers is a vital part of the cosplay experience, as it is the space where fans are most likely to meet each other. Posting pictures online gave participants the ability to see the variety of character costumes and share links to social media pages. While social media cannot completely mimic the sensation of a chance encounter in the convention hall, it did allow fans more time to talk with each other about their cosplays and favorite fandoms (without causing a traffic jam in the hallway) through the use of likes and comments.
Video Performances
One of the most important elements of cosplay are the performances. Typically, fans will role-play throughout the day, encouraging passersby to engage or partake in a more formal masquerade, where a skit is rehearsed and shown to an audience. Luckily, social media was already prepared with a solution to the lack of traditional in-person performances.
In April of 2020, a new TikTok trend called “Pass the Brush” became popular among cosplayers. This sequence features several cosplayers passing a makeup brush to each other, covering the camera and revealing their costumes. The video requires participants to be in contact with each other about the order of their videos, what direction to pass the brush and connecting with people from the same fandom. Not only did “pass the brush” videos connect fans they also served as entertainment for the public.
Other TikTok trends followed, such as “Questions For Cosplayers,”which invites participants to show pictures off pictures of their cosplays that best match the prompt. These questions include “the cosplay you cannot or will not eat in” and “the cosplay that takes the most time to put on.” These questions invoked a sense of memory and nostalgia that was lost in quarantine. The experience of getting ready for or having a meal at a convention is one that cannot be perfectly replicated by social media. However, the ability to share and look fondly upon convention memories served as a form of bonding and anticipation for when it will be safe to gather again.
Quickly following the TikTok trends, cosplayers turned to Zoom, Twitch, and Youtube for longer and more technical video performances. Online masquerades, music videos, and character improvisation panels served as replacements for real-life performances. Individual scenes or skits can be filmed by fans in their homes and edited to make a cohesive video that displays their costuming and performance skills for a wider audience. Online performances also offer a new form of freedom to cosplayers by incorporating editing and special effects, like magic or costume changes, that would not be possible in the real world.
Staying Digital Is The Future
While conventions will still be missed, social media has brought a new virtual element to costumed play. Conventions can now take place in the comfort of home, no need to pack delicate wigs and oversized props. Without physical limitations, cosplayers are now interacting with other fans from across the globe.
Due to online fandom activities’ success, conventions are more likely to include virtual elements, such as live streams and chat rooms, to reach audiences across the globe. These editions to the convention scene will only help increase fans’ chances of making new friends and hopefully inspire new co-players along the way.
