Masque

Rev. 28-Jun-1999

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Kathy Sanders, masq@99.nasfic.org

Additional Details

There will be a backdrop available for flash photography.
The double-doors open up to 5' wide. If your costume is more than 5 feet wide or 6'8" tall, you might not get through the door.
The Masquerade Director dearly appreciates everyone who pre-registers by mail, because it gives her an idea of the head count.

Attention Masquerade Contestants!

There are two important new announcements concerning the masquerade.

Number 1: The stage will be 24' deep x 32' wide x 32" high, with steps on both sides. The primary entrance will be stage left, with the primary exit on stage right. Entrances and exits are possible from either side, but we need to know ahead of time if you plan to vary from the standard. Doors leading into the Green Room and Ball Room are standard height (6' 8") although some are double width (2 x 2'6", i.e. a double-doorway five feet across).

Number 2: The Masquerade will be offering three (3) cash prizes. These will be awarded by a special panel of judges on merit alone, with no consideration for class or category.

For a complete set of rules send a legal-sized sase to the convention address or check the NASFiC web site.

Greetings and welcome to the NASFiC Masque! We hope you will use this opportunity to let your imagination loose, to re-create your favorite character or do the wildly original.

The masquerade will be held Saturday night. Please remember we are one week before the Australian Worldcon [www], so you can stop off at NASFiC and show your stuff before heading off to Australia. While there will be on site registration for the NASFiC Masquerade, contestants are encouraged to preregister. The more information we have ahead of time, the better we can prepare.

While we wish everyone can and will enjoy themselves, there are some restrictions we feel are necesssary to ensure the safety of all participants. The following is a list of no-nos.

No smoking back stage.
No costumes made from food products or other items which may rub off on other costumes.
No live steel or real weapons.
No microphones.
No winning costume from a previous Worldcon may compete, nor any professionally made costume (purchased or rented) or any costume which has been worn as a Hall Costume at NASFiC prior to Saturday night.
No CO2 cartridges can be used.
When in doubt, please use common sense. Don't do injury to your fellow costumers.

Please remember that this is a visual medium. In order to keep things short, sweet and non-verbal, the following time limits will apply:

1-4 people may use up to 60 seconds.
5 or more people may use up to 90 seconds.

The MC will announce the entry number, division, class and title. Any additional narration will be limited to 25 words or less.

Participant and construction details will be listed in a prorgam book.

Masquerade Rules

The Conucopia Masquerade will be held on Saturday, 28-Aug-1999 at 8:00 pm. Details on the size of the stage will be available at a later date.

Judging

As always the masquerade consists of two separate competitions, the stage/presentation competition and the workmanship competition. Each has its own judges and awards. Both competitions are run on the skill division system to ensure that a beginning costumer will be judged against other beginning costumers. Likewise for intermediate and advanced costumers.

The definitions of these skill levels are as follows:

NOVICE:: any contestant who has never won a major award at Worldcon level. (Major award is defined as any award other than "Honorable mention" or "Honored for excellence")
JOURNEYMAN:: any contestant who has won at least one but less than three major awards at Worldcon level.
MASTER:: any adult contestant who has won three or more major awards at Worldcon level or who has won a major award in the Master Division at the Worldcon level. The Master Division is open competition; anyone who chooses may compete in this division. A professional costumer who earns more than half their income from costume/clothing design must compete in the Master Division.

Costumers may compete at a higher skill level if they wish to do so, but may not elect to compete at a lower skill level.

Re-creation Costumes

Costumes that are "re-creations" of those used in movies, theater, television or from paintings, comics, or bookcovers will be judged in a separate class from "Originals." Costumers who are doing Re-creation costumes must submit documentation. Photocopies are acceptable; books, paintings or other original source material is not. All costumes, whether original or re-creation, are eligible for "Best in Show."

Workmanship Competition

The judging of workmanship will take place backstage before the stage competition starts. This is for the exceptional accomplishment in the crafting of a costume and is the place for exquisite attention to detail to be recognized. Workmanship judging is voluntary, not mandatory and portions of the costume or a prop may be submitted for Workmanship judging.

Time Limits

There will be a maximum of sixty seconds for groups of four or fewer. There will be a maximum of ninety seconds for groups of five or more. No one will be allowed more than ninety seconds unless it has been cleared by the Masquerade director ahead of time.

Weapons

Display weapons may be worn by contestants during the masquerade if appropriate to the costume. Display means DISPLAY. There will be no live steel.

Props

Props will have to be capable of being carried on and off the stage by the people using them. We will not be providing large lifting bodies and there will be a limited number of gofers we can allow backstage. Because the ballroom is being used for other functions, we cannot allow props to be stored backstage prior to Saturday. Props must be removed immediately following the masquerade.

Music

Any musical accompaniment must be on cassette, preferably recorded in Dolby B. Remember to make an extra copy to keep for your rehearsals.

We will be able to play standard cassette tapes with your presentation. This tape may be played for background music or voice over. Please turn in your pre-cued tape when you check in at the masquerade desk at the convention. Make sure you label the tape with your name, costume title and correct side to be played.

Masquerade Rules

This is a competition for science-fiction and fantasy theme costumes. Historical costumes will not be judged unless they have a science-fiction/fantasy tie in such as time travellers.
No purchased or rented costumes may be shown in competition.
All contestants must be attending members of Conucopia.
Entries may pre-register by mail or do it at the con.
Each contestant may appear only once on stage. However, you may enter more than one costume, provided it appears on another body.
This masquerade is rated PG. NO FLAGRANT NUDITY.
There will be no live microphones on stage. You may use taped music or narration. Any narration to be read by the MC will be limited to 25 words or less.
Costumes with electric power requirements must be self-contained. Connections to electrical outlets will not be available.
NO LIVE CREATURES, other than human, will be allowed backstage or on stage. If your costume requires snakes, ferrets, cats, etc., use a stuffed animal. The only exception would be a seeing eye dog.
NO MESSY SUBSTANCES, wet, dry, or oily, that might ruin the costume of any other contestant will be allowed in the green room or on the stage. Do not leave anything on the stage that a gopher can't pick up in a few seconds. If you are doing body paint or makeup, be sure it won't come off in casual contact with others.
NO FIRE, FLASH POWDER, EXPLOSIVES OR OPEN FLAME OF ANY KIND WILL BE ALLOWED. Electronic flashes will be permitted provided you notify the Masquerade director. No CO2 cartridges.
Costumes seen in the halls prior to the night of the masquerade are ineligible for entry in the masquerade. They will be eligible for hall costume awards that will be handed out during the convention.
Surprise the audience, not the masquerade director. If you are planning something particularly "unique" please let us know in advance.
The Masquerade director has the full authority to eliminate anyone from the competition on the basis of taste, danger to the audience, violation of the above rules or any other reason deemed sufficient. There will be no appeal.

Photography and Video Taping

Limited seating for available light photography will be available in the audience. Photos and videos are for personal use only. Any sales must be done with the permission of the individual costumers. PHOTOGRAPHERS MUST REGISTER AT THE MASQUERADE DESK AT THE CONVENTION.

All rules and regulations subject to change.

Masquerade Registration Form

Costuming Resource Guides on the Web

The Costume Page [www] (Julie Zetterberg)
Milieux: The Costume Site [www] (Lauren Podolak)
The Costumer's Guild West [www] (Zelda Gilbert)
Science Fiction Resource Guide: Costuming Resources [www] (Chaz Boston Baden)

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Next: S.F. Playhouse '99