What makes a Cosplay Photo popular?

I know I shouldn't be blogging about this as it is such a flammable topic, again. But in sight of the many Cosplay photo competition that have been popping up. All these competition just begs the question:

exactly what makes a cosplay photo POPULAR? 

 

 

Cosplay quality, photography, costume etcs aside. Let's focus on POPULARITY.

What do YOU think makes a cosplay photo popular? What makes a single picture stands out from the competition? Why do you think the winner of such competitions won/deserved to win?

feedback surveys

To be honest, I feel that smaller scale competition (most Cosplay competitions are small. Big scale would be stuffs on TV like American Idol etc).are very much waivered by the popularity of the cosplayer. And of course, their ability to garner their help to vote.

20100926-DSC_5944 copy Konata wonders why …

And even though I’m unwilling to say this… but I too feel that the looks of the subject is a determining factor 70% of the time. Let’s admit it, we all love eye candy. That’s why high profiled celebrities get paid so much. Because people like us are willing to shell out money to see/watch them. Or at the very least, pay attention to them or any publication/promotional medium they appear on. And that pulling factor in them is what outshines ‘normal people’.

Skip beat (142) copyKyoko wants to be famous too… but for strange reasons

Of course, voting is not the most accurate/fair way of judging but it sure is the best and easiest way to garner attention to your event or organisation. And I guess it’s also more interactive for the participants =)

What do you feel about competitions that are based on a voting system? Comment and let me knowwwwwwwwwwwwww!

Comments

Unknown said…
It's funny you should blog about this, I just went for a free 2-hour course on how to photoshop photos (taught by imacow...). Liquify is a scary thing. So is learning how to touch-up the professional magazine way. Now I know how those cosplayers make themselves so... pretty and different.
jactinglim said…
Ah yes when I see how much magazines shoop their photos I was like 'O_O'
Unknown said…
seriously? Well on the subject of voting, I feel that it can be a bit biased. Winning based on popularity.

So let's say cosplayer A has minimal character potrayal but has 1000 friends compared to cosplayer B who potrays the character spot on but only has 100 friends.. Who do you think will win?
It depends who is voting: fans, professional costume designers or tailors etc; and what they are basing the voting on; accuracy, originality, skill etc.
Depending on where the photo contest is held, the results might be different i guess. If you throw in a photo contest into Teenage Magazine, then all the people who vote will be the generic youths who based judgement on looks 90% of the time and also if they know that series or not. Most of the time is "Wah this one is chio! Like!"

Either way, photo contests can be rigged when a cosplayer has "X" number of friends voting while the other has "Y" number of friends supporting.
Anonymous said…
i find contest based on voting in certain occasions unfair.cause it all draws down to one thing, how many ppl u know and willing to vote for you (but theres the occational other random ppl voting for u cause ur really good/good looking)

in the end, this is just a natural fact somehow it is unavoidable. first impression always goes for looks first before anything else.
thats my opinion from what i see :O
maria_tachi said…
Voting system is never fair. It's not about costume, props, weapon etc. It's about how you get the most number of vote despite the fact that the costume looks plain...

Marketing ourselves is important and also pulling more vote is even more important. No matter how outstanding the person is in the piture, if voting stands a great part of the competition, then be sure to lose liao..

Take a look at me for example today.
Jennifer said…
I think that contests based on voting and pulling in votes sometimes really aren't fair. But at the same time, if you enter into a contests where voting is the way to win, you know what you're getting into.

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