COSPLAY – Hollywood Style SuperHero Dress-Up!

COSPLAY – Hollywood Style SuperHero Dress-Up!

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Cosplay is literally a contraction/combination of the two words “Costume” and “Play.” Cosplay can mean dressing up and pretending to be a fictional character (usually a sci-fi, comic book, or anime character). Or it can be used to describe the costume itself. Noun: Making that cosplay only took me 5 hours. Verb: I like to cosplay. There are already anime cosplay conventions around the world, and this hobby continues to grow.

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Halloween aside, I got my first real chance to directly experience cosplay with mostly adults for myself last Saturday, when Suzanne and I covered the “DC Comics Super Hero World Record Event” for Discover Hollywood Magazine and DiscoverHollywood.Com.

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A colorful event such as this is always a draw for photographers, and this one was no exception.

As part of the early promotional efforts, Warner Bros. has released the first full trailer for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. To introduce this trailer, Warner also held a Guinness World Record attempt for the most Super Heros assembled in a 24 Hour period.

Warner Bros. Pictures’ Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is the highly-anticipated action adventure starring Henry Cavill in the role of Clark Kent/Superman, and Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman. The film also stars Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, with Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne and Diane Lane returning from Man of Steel, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, Jeremy Irons as Alfred, and Holly Hunter in a role newly created for the film. Jason Momoa will also be making an appearance as Aquaman.

Batman v Superman:Dawn of Justice Trailer
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is written by Chris Terrio, from a screenplay by David S. Goyer. Charles Roven and Deborah Snyder are producing, with Benjamin Melniker, Michael E. Uslan, Wesley Coller, David S. Goyer and Geoff Johns serving as executive producers. Set to open worldwide on March 25, 2016, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is based on Superman characters created by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster, Batman characters created by Bob Kane, and Wonder Woman created by William Moulton Marston, appearing in comic books published by DC Entertainment.

The DC Comics Super Hero World Record Event kicked off on April 18, 2015 in Queensland, Australia, and came to a commemorative close in Los Angeles, CA, USA. Within the same 24-hour period, additional events took place around the world in: Manila, Philippines; Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Madrid, Spain; Rome, Italy; London, Birmingham, Warrington and Cardiff in the UK; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Paris, France “Smallville,” USA (Plano, IL) and Mexico City, Mexico.

According to the Urban Dictionary, Cosplays are made for the following reasons:

1.) To recreate a 2 dimensional art form into 3-D.
2.) To challenge one’s self to create a cosplay. Many of which dont seem possible to physically create, but somehow are.
3.) To show appreciation and/or interest in a certain anime/manga/videogame.
4.) To take pride in a cosplay that looks well done.
5.) Because normal cloth that is shitted out for everyone via mass factories and little kids in china are dull. Cosplays are much more interesting to wear. And each cosplay is one of a kind unique considering the wearer most likely made it him/herself.
6.)It’s a Hobby

Reasons why Cosplays are worn:

1.) To take pride in ones own creation
2.) To wear something out of the ordinary (societies restrictions on what is allowable to be worn everyday can be pretty bland)
3.) To show support and/or interest in an anime/manga/videogame
4.) Self expression. Often the character that is choosen to be cosplayed mirrors the actual person wearing the cosplay. The person’s personality is like the character, not the other way around (the person wants to be the character).
5.) To get into the spirit of the son
6.) To have fun

Cosplayers cosplay for the same reasons that:

1.) Sports fans wear jersies and paint themselves for games.
2.) Goths wear all black.
3.) Punk wear punk cloth.
4.) Preps wear tight cloth.
5.) “Gangstas” wear baggy cloth.

But for most cosplayers, cosplay is worn for 1-3 days out of the year. A limited and restrained form of self expression. Cosplay is a “hobby,” much like a model builder builds models, a person modifies their car, a hunter hunts (when they can buy food instead), a gamer plays games, or a sports fan watches sports. A cosplayer cosplays (makes costumes).

20 WORDS RELATED TO COSPLAY (From The Urban Dictionary)