Cosplay

=**Cosplay**=



__Group Members__

Alvaro Giorgetta James Le Jing Wang John Welkner

__Definition__

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Cosplay, short for costume play, is where people dress up in costumes and/or accessories to represent a character or idea. Favorite sources include manga, anime, comic books and fantasy movies. They gather at public events, and also at exclusive cosplay parties. There are certain districts in Japan where people go to engage in cosplay.Once in costume, cosplayers adopt the affect, mannerisms and body language of the character they play. This representing of a charater makes cosplay different from costume parties like mardi gras. ======

__What's the reason?__

There are various reasons for cosplay, each reason possibly being unique to each person. One reason could be the recreation of two-dimensional art into three-dimensional art. Just like how some artists turn their 2-D drawing into a 3-D model, cosplayers might create a wearable costume representing their favorite cartoon/anime/game character. Another reason might be the chance to take on another identity. Just like how we create avatars for video games or an avatar for forums. There are also those simply doing it out of interest or because it relates to their hobby. Cosplay's source is not just limited to the two-dimensional realm. Cosplayers might take on the form of their favorite characters from book, show, or movie. Cosplay also varies with culture, such as American & Japanese cultures. American cosplay is mostly influenced by science fiction while Japanese cosplay is influenced by anime & manga.

__Legal perspective__

Most people would just produce one or two items on their own and they will use them for themselves. There won't be any kind of massive production. There are a few companies making costumes and sell them from $ 100 to $ 400 dollars. However, if there is a mass production from and individual that doesn't own the rights from that character or series, the character owner may sue him/her.

Source Links:

http://www.cosplay.com http://www.cosplaymagic.com/ http://www.acparadise.com/ http://www.animenation.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=178 http://www.otakon.com/ http://www.cosplaylab.com/events.asp