As we enter convention season, now is the perfect time to try out new cosplays, characters or improve your crafting skills. Throughout this week, I'll be posting up tips and suggestions for getting into the hobby and talk to cosplayers who have experiencing cosplaying Remedy's characters, regarding their experiences and what tips they would give.
If you're just in the planning stage, I recommend checking out a mobile app called Cosplanner. The program helps you to follow the process of your costume and keeps you on track for your budget. You can type in every piece your cosplay needs and how much you want to spend for each. You can also upload reference photos too so you can store everything in one place and take it with you on the go.
Of course an essential part of getting into character is having the look. To help you prepare, reference photos are a cosplayer's friend (and occasionally worst enemy). Below are a collection of images to help you capture the look.
Another important part of cosplaying is capturing the character's personality. Having things in shot which reflect what they're like is an easy way of doing this; so you're describing through the use of props. But the expression and body language is much more important, and more challenging. After picking what character you want to portray, check out their page on the Alan Wake or Max Payne wikis, replay some of the levels and just take note of how they stand and express themselves.
Even after you've got a good grip on what your character is like and you've got the outfit completed, you need to look at possible locations for your photoshoot. Many cosplayers choose to create their own set at their home, which helps with things like anxiety, which may be a perfect place to start if that is a concern. However the location will be down to you; you don't have to shoot where people will be walking by, in fact your photographs may be better in areas where it's more empty. (If you're nervous about attention, but less nervous about cosplaying, your photoshoot can take place during a convention. A lot of people will be in costume then.)
