Project 3 - Cross to Play
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I went to Oni-con 4, and created a documentary about crossplayers. The documentary is meant for general knowledge of the culture of cosplay and crossplay, and I am hoping it gives a good taste of what crossplay is. Many people in our society make assumptions about crossplayers, and generalize on them, but hopefully the video was played to show the varying ideas and expressions that crossplayers have, as individuals.
I am an avid crossplayer myself, and unbeknownst to me as I began, people had preconceptions about me simply because I dressed as a male. Whether positive or negative, I wanted to show the world a little more indepth look, and to give crossplayers voice to the reasons they do it. In terms of the class, I've met most of the transgendered people I know through crossplay, and many people of different sexual preferences go to conventions and are very open about it. This environment that I hoped to capture was the essensce of my idea -people coming together, despite differences, and all accepting one another through the love of, well, anything, really.
In hopes of it not being too cheesy...well. in this film, as well many of my works, was aiming for a younger, more "family-friendly" video that is acceptable for people of all types to watch.
I started planning this about 2 weeks before the convention (oct 17-19) where I gathered my own equipment, as well as an amazing microphone (AT-71, forever <3!!) I posted on the convention forum, and the co-director, Cherry, another avid crossplayer, decided to give the convention's support to me, which I am very grateful of. I interviewed various people, with friends as cameramen (if there was any flaw, I would say my lack of insight in teaching my camera people how to hold the shots for interviews) and edited the video myself on Final Cut Pro. I cut 2.25 hrs to 5 minutes, which always make me feel accomplished afterwards. I have only cut one documentary before (in Intro to Editing) so this was a fairly fun experience.
I did run late to presentations because as I was exporting the movie, but arrived during the 1st presentation.
I am seen commonly crossplaying as the characters Itsuki Koizumi and Yaguruma (from Kamen Rider Kabuto. Yes, that is me in the black pleather coat.)
As some of the female crossplayers are friends of mine, I had never met the males (including the transgendered male) before, so it was a pleasure to work with them.
Want to know more about Oni-con? Go here: http://www.oni-con.com