Critical Role: Behind the Cosplay Act
Most good ideas start with a joke and an “okay, but what if we actually made this happen?“. At least that’s how the preparation for my first cosplay act since 2013 started. In this post I’ll go through our process from idea to the final performance on stage – so come along and check out the performance below!
Sophie (@myosotis_arvencis) and I were discussing various ideas since we were both interested in the competitive part of the cosplay community. We had a desire to get on stage as a trial before signing up for the Danish Cosplay Championship in 2023. And a Critical Role act seemed like the perfect fit since we both had cosplays already and a smaller convention was coming up.
Planning, Recording and Crafting
We began the process in early September – two months before the convention. We settled on translating a scene from The Legend of Vox Machina into Danish as a musical/ quick-change performance. We worked out a script and Sophie went into a closet to record her lines, while I recorded mine from the other side of the country. No official instrumental track has been released for the song, so I had to get creative; I ended up recording several kazoo parts and putting them together. Our aim was to be funny and energetic on stage, not to make high art.
I tested the limits of my audio editing skills in Sony Vegas and once we had our audio, script and references, we went ahead and sent an application. Then came the actual cosplay making. Sophie already had her Vex’ahlia gown, and we needed two quick change costumes (Keyleth and Pike) and a Scanlan cosplay. We decided to split the work between us with one costume each and a collaboration piece. There were many snap buttons involved as Sophie needed to change her costumes within a 30-40 second time-frame. I set a tight deadline for myself before the actual con to make sure that I wouldn’t be con-crunching. By doing that, I know that I 1) may be done before time and have a relaxed week before or 2) be close enough to the finish line that it’s okay if I pass the deadline.
In addition I also kept a list of items and props we would need for the act. Some of these items were kept optional – if we had the time, we could add them to the show, but they weren’t make-or-break essential. I like to mentally prepare myself for things that may go wrong or will not get made and this way I avoid either disappointing myself or making things last minute.
From Choreography to Stage
We had about two days for rehearsals before hitting the stage and as I am no dancer, we went for a simple choreography with big movements and lots of cross stage running. I had a prop microphone with pull out beads, so I could really dazzle the audience (and have something to hold onto which made it feel a little less awkward). My Scanlan cosplay was made specifically with movement in mind, so I barely had any restrictions while performing while Sophie had to rush from one cosplay to the next behind the screen.
In hindsight, there are several things we would’ve done differently about our performance, but it’s been a very valuable lesson moving forward with our wish to keep competing. We also had an incredible amount of fun creating this short show. My past self would have been terrified to go on stage again, but we did it and I’m very proud of that!
I hope you enjoy the recording below and thanks for reading along!