The actualization of issues of organizing youth leisure is due to the fact that, in accordance with their sociocultural needs, the younger generation devotes their leisure time mainly to such factors as: entertainment, communication, self-education, etc. In youth companies and peer groups, a special youth subculture is formed, influencing the development of the personality of young people. Leisure is the most important means of developing a young person’s personality, communication, knowledge of the world, self-improvement, acts as a means of developing new forms of personal creative self-expression.
According to a number of researchers, young people, as a specific socio-age group that is in the process of active professional and social development, due to age and psychological characteristics, adapt more effectively to the trends of the constantly changing surrounding reality. Many modern scientists believe that the boundaries of young age are very arbitrary. This entire interval can be roughly divided into three subsections: adolescents – up to 18 years old, youth – from 18 to 24 years old, young adults – from 24 to 30 years old.
Modern cultural studies determines leisure as a process of creating conditions for a person’s motivational choice of objective activity. This process is determined by the needs and interests of the individual. As noted by Belarusian researcher I.L. Smargovich, leisure innovations are understood as phenomena in this sphere of activity that did not exist at previous stages of the development of society and which found their manifestation either in completely new forms of leisure activities, or in transformations of pre-existing forms, as well as in the conditions and consequences of these changes.
In his book “Fundamentals of cultural and leisure activities” Smargovich I.L. notes the most popular forms of youth leisure, and also divides them into traditional and innovative. Traditional forms include:festivals, competitions (dance, vocal, etc.).), participation in amateur groups (music groups, theater groups, dance groups, etc.), competition and game programs, intellectual games ("What? Where? When?", "Brain-ring", "Smart Men and Women" etc.),intellectual and educational programs, summer recreation and sports camps, holidays, concerts, youth themed events, tourism, discos.
Innovative forms of youth leisure include: role-playing and role-playing games (“Fight”, “Photo Hunt”, role-playing games for fans of fantasy, the Middle Ages, knightly tournaments), KVN, informal youth associations, extreme sports (paintball tournaments, extreme driving courses), extreme tourism, performance, Internet technologies (Internet projects, online role-playing games, communication, etc.).
Among the most popular innovative leisure forms we can confidently highlight cosplay, which has similar features of a role-playing game, allows the individual realize your creative potential.
Term "cosplay" comes from English "costume play", which translates to costume play. Cosplay implies complete transformation into a character (anime, manga, computer game, etc.).d.), dressing up, putting on makeup, role-playing. Cosplayer’s challenge (cosplay participant) – maximum correspondence to the selected character. The cosplayer strives to fully reveal his character, copy his behavior, manner of speaking, phrases and gestures, show his character.
Cosplay has similar features to role-playing games, but it is worth noting that this is not entirely true. A role-playing game is a game for educational and entertaining purposes, a type of dramatic action, the participants of which act within the framework of their chosen roles, guided by the nature of their role and the internal logic of the action environment; together they create or follow an already created plot. The actions of the game participants are considered successful or not in accordance with pre-adopted and agreed rules. Players are free to improvise within the chosen rules, determining the direction and outcome of the game.
Also one of the distinguishing features cosplay from role play is a costume. Modeling costumes in historical restoration clubs (for example, knight clubs) aims to restore historical events of a particular country or a specific general historical event. As part of the events implemented by historical restoration clubs, historical costumes are modeled and role-playing games are held, as well as various costume parades, balls and tournaments on specific historical topics.
Cosplay, unlike a role-playing game, it does not adhere to certain rules and represents a whole creative process from the creation and embodiment of an image to its direct display. Main prototypes cosplay are characters from cartoons, anime, video games, films, comics, legends and myths. It is worth noting that real-life characters can also act as prototypes – for example, musical performers and groups.
In the process of becoming cosplay was a phenomenon of Japanese culture (initially divided only into cosplay on computer games, anime and manga). Over the last decade cosplay gaining popularity in the USA, Europe, Russia and Belarus (cosplay based on American Disney cartoons, films, literary works). In many European countries cosplay began to form on the basis of clubs and societies for lovers of Tolkien’s work and science fiction. However, in Japan cosplay has long been part of the national culture. Under the influence of the current, thematic exhibitions and festivals began to be organized in Japan, and maid cafes were opened (themed cafes in which, depending on the “theme of the week,” the staff transforms into heroes of anime, manga or computer games).
Currently, there are quite a few trends in Japanese fashion, which are often classified as cosplay. These include such trends as: lolitas, gothic, fruits, visual kei, koguro, gyaru, ganguro and other types of street fashion that are widespread in Japan.
For example, lolitas wear dresses stylized as costumes from the Victorian England and Rococo eras, hats, bows, etc.d., and the image of Lolita itself is the image of a sweet girl close to a princess.
Cosplayers demonstrate their costumes either at themed festivals (both group and solo work is possible), or in a series of photographs (photocosplay) or on video (videocosplay).
On the current interest of young people in cosplay indicates widespread cosplay festivals. Among the most famous: “San Diego Comic-Con International” (San Diego), “Star Con” (St. Petersburg), “Manifest” (St. Petersburg), “Hinode” (Moscow), “Animatrix” (Moscow), “Comic Con Russia” (Moscow), “UniCon” (Moscow), “Animania” (Nizhny Novgorod), “Imagiro” (Lipetsk), “AsiaBreeze” (Ekaterinburg), “Anime Festival” (Voronezh), “OTOBE” (Kyiv), “White Foxes Are Coming”!"(Dnepropetrovsk), "Anicon" (Lviv) and others.
The cosplay festival was held in Minsk https://spinpanda-casino.co.uk/bonus/ for the first time in 2006. The following thematic cosplay festivals are held annually: “Higan” (since 2012, the Annual Belarusian Festival of Contemporary Youth East Asian Culture “Higan”), the festival of science fiction lovers “Universe Convention”, the festival of youth subcultures “Hansen” (the last festival was organized in 2011).
Among the reasons for the widespread development and spread cosplay the main one can be identified: high cost, which is a significant barrier to wider reach of potential audiences. To create a high-quality image, a cosplayer has to invest a significant amount of money to order or sew a costume. If in the West there are companies that produce and sell special costumes and paraphernalia for cosplay participants and fans, then, for example, in our country, in order to purchase a high-quality costume, you need to order it from abroad or contact individual entrepreneurs for a special order. An alternative to purchasing a costume is to sew the necessary costume by the cosplayer himself, which also requires him to have the necessary knowledge and skills.
Phenomenon cosplay becomes an important qualitatively new element in revealing a person’s personal creative potential. Taking into account and considering the uniqueness cosplay as both a theatrical and playful phenomenon, we can conclude that its dissemination among young people can enrich creativity and expand leisure space.
In conclusion, I would like to note an incident that occurred at the beginning of September 2015 at the Dragon Con convention (festival), which took place in the state of Georgia (USA). Ben Carpenter, an engineering student from Florida, wowed not only festival-goers, but the entire Internet with his cosplay costume of the character from the movie of the same name and the Mad Max series of computer games.
The thing is that Ben was born with a congenital back disease called muscular atrophy (SMA) and is forced to move in a wheelchair. Especially for the image, the guy himself was involved in the reconstruction of the wheelchair and the welding work necessary to create the image. The chains and mask of the image very well reflect Ben’s situation – confined to a wheelchair, but in the image this chair has turned into an addition to an ornate car in the style of the recently released film.
1. Smargovich, I.L. Innovative forms of leisure activities of modern youth in Belarus / I.L. Smargovich // Increased role of club institutions in the social cultural life of the region: materials of the Republican Scientific and Practical Conference (22-23 of the fall of 2006., G. Minsk) / Belarusian State University of Cultural Problems. — Minsk, 2006. – WITH. 73-76.
2. Smargovich, I.L. Fundamentals of cultural and leisure activities: textbook.-method. allowance / I.L. Smargovich. – Minsk: BGUKI, 2013. – 174 s.
3. Introduction to Cosplay [Electronic resource] / Thematic Internet portal “Serjetto”. – Moscow, 2001. – Access mode: serjetto.do.am/publ/5-1-0-47. – Access date: 31.07.2015.
4. Kulagina, N.IN. Motivation of cosplay players with different experience in role-playing games / N.IN. Kulagina, M.A. Ovchinnikova // Scientific and methodological electronic journal “Concept”. – 2014. – No. 05. — URL: e-concept.ru/2014/14115.htm.
5. A disabled guy himself created an image for cosplay of the latest Mad Max movie [Electronic resource] / Internet magazine “Culturology”.Ru". – Moscow, 2015. – Access mode: www.kulturologia.ru/blogs/120915/26245/. – Access date: 10.09.2015.
Thank you Daur for moral support!
Best comments
While I was reading the introduction, I had the feeling that this was a scientific work or an abstract, but then things got easier.
A good, informative article, a plus for the author and a question whether she herself is a cosplayer?
..
I got to the list of references and realized that this is something from this area and there is C: Blog entries are characterized by a slightly simpler language after all, however, it was not without pleasure to read.
The post is good, although it is written in scientific language, which looks quite strange on blogs.
But I still have something to cling to in fact and not only.
In the process of its formation, cosplay was a phenomenon of Japanese culture (initially it was divided only into cosplay based on computer games, anime and manga). Over the past decade, cosplay has been gaining popularity in the USA and Europe,
It is believed that it all started in the USA and actively developed there.
It is believed that the word “cosplay” was coined by the Japanese journalist Takahashi in 1983, and the subculture of dressing up as movie and comic book characters allegedly also arose in Japan in the late 1970s. However, American researcher Ron Miller proves that cosplay took shape in the United States already in the 1960s – in the Sci-Fi genre. And the very first “cosplay”, in the modern sense of the word, dates back to 1939. At the first World Science Fiction Convention, a certain Forrest J. Ackerman dressed up in a futuristic suit. This is what gave rise to a wave of imitations in the future. Already by 1956, the tradition of boka nameless “cosplay” was relatively established and still the same Forrest J. Ackerman noted in the Fantastic Universe report: “Monsters, Mutants, scientists, astronauts, aliens, and other creatures rule the roost today.”. He also noted that Olga Lay, the wife of writer Willie Lay, won in the “Best Costume” nomination and was the first highly professional costume designer. The first Comic-Con was held in 1970 at the US Grant Hotel in San Diego. Everything was modest – there were just over 300 visitors, and there were almost no costumed visitors at all. By 1974 there were already about 1000 visitors. And the number of cosplayers has grown slightly to approximately 10% of all visitors. Moved to the El Cortez Hotel, Comic-Con 1979 already welcomed 6,000 people.
Thus, cosplay researcher and photographer Ron Miller believes that this subculture arose in the USA in the 1960s. And the Japanese (including the above-mentioned Nobuyuki Takahashi, who often visited high-tech forums in America) simply copied it. So it all didn’t start in Japan at all, it’s just that it was there that large corporations, before others, figured out collecting all the cosplayers to advertise their products, the pioneer among which was Nintendo.
To create a high-quality image, a cosplayer has to invest a significant amount of money to order or sew a costume. If companies have appeared in the West that produce and sell special costumes and paraphernalia for participants and cosplay lovers
I’m not sure about Russia, but in the USA there is a very clear distinction between models who dress up in costumes and real cosplayers. Top cosplayers make their own costumes, or at least that’s how they started.
The hardest thing about cosplay (surprise) is creating the costume. Some may take many months. For example, it took Alyson Tabbitha more than a month to make Lightning’s armor alone. After all, it’s one thing to make a suit and quite another to put it on, and so that it remains comfortable. On average, work in the workshop takes about three working weeks per month.
The whole point of cosplay is a unique costume.
Among the reasons for the widespread development and spread of cosplay, the main one can be identified: high cost, which is a significant barrier to wider reach of a potential audience.
This is exactly the reason Not widespread development and spread of cosplay. Or I didn’t understand something? Maybe I’m stupid, but the train of thought looks strange.
Here’s more about everything I wrote. stopgame.ru/blogs/topic/64384
Thanks for your feedback!
The article was written aimed at an international scientific conference (I am a master’s student at the Belarusian State University of Culture and Arts).
Unfortunately, I haven’t tried myself in cosplay (Perhaps you have suggestions on who I could try?) The link to VK is in the profile.
Quinn looks cooler than in the movie! More like a gloomy mental patient than just a head-butted laughing woman from a Hollywood movie vysera creations.
I also looked at the photos on VK and the list of favorite games on SG. Try the version with Julia Kidman from Evil Within. It’s easy to make a cosplay for her, since you don’t need to craft a separate costume like for Tracer. Cosplay of this character is not done often. And there is an external resemblance.
Thanks for your feedback! At the time of writing this article I was not yet familiar with your article. I’m just starting to work on this topic. When preparing new material, I will definitely refer to your article (with your permission, of course). My article is not perfect, so I always welcome constructive criticism ^___^.
I hope it will be possible to prepare a new material better taking into account your comments.
Thank you for taking the time and effort to study this work.
Interesting and good post! I would especially like to note the way the author presented the material – excellent!
But let me correct you a little. Not historical-restoration clubs, but military-historical reconstruction clubs (VIR Clubs). In fact, I think that it is not entirely correct to classify reconstruction as cosplay and role-playing. Now I’ll explain why.
It cannot be denied that there is always a certain competitive element in cosplay. As an example – various cosplay competitions and cosplay fashion shows. Also, quite often cosplayers can be seen at various gaming-themed events and geek festivals. I don’t think that cosplayers can go to any events in order to live in the atmosphere and surroundings that correspond to the character. Also, in cosplay and role-playing games there is always a large element of creativity and fantasy.
But in reconstruction there is no such free choice. If your club is engaged in the reconstruction of a specific infantry regiment of the Red Army, Wehrmacht, US Army… then you don’t have much choice. Uniform, equipment and weapons – strictly according to the regulations, no imagination and no creativity. Still, it will all be more serious. After all, the reenactor not only collects uniforms and equipment, but also a carload of other things – camping equipment, bedding, “soap and soap cases”,..
The most striking example is military history festivals (by the way, since the author lives in Minsk, I highly recommend visiting the Brest Fortress festival). Here you will find historically accurate camps with a bunch of household and bivouac junk, and reconstructions of battles involving equipment and a large number of soldiers.
https://youtu.be/h5GH0zZyq7M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dls8XznfMc
Men and women of all ages not only try on 1940s uniforms, but also live for 2-3 days in conditions very close to military field camps, with all the pros and cons.
I would also like to say a few words about festivals and events dedicated to the early and developed Middle Ages. At such events, participants also live in absolutely historically correct camps, eat from authentic dishes and are dressed in absolutely correctly made clothes and armor.
https://youtu.be/pDCOj2oNJHY
In fact, I was probably carried away into the jungle of various reconstructions. I apologize if I gave too many unnecessary facts and examples.