Next week Syfy kicks off the new six-episode docu-series Heroes of Cosplay, which takes a look into the world of cosplay and those devoted fans who dress up as their favorite characters at comic book conventions. Earlier this week Syfy held a press Q&A call with cosplay legend Yaya Han, one of the nine cosplayers featured on Heroes of Cosplay. Check out what she had to say and then watch the series premiere Tuesday, August 13 at 10:30pm ET/PT following the season-five premiere of Face Off.
Why do think Cosplay has been so misunderstood during the years and now is starting to get a little bit more accepted?
Yaya Han: Well, I think Cosplay is a very unique art form and I’m not surprised that there are misunderstandings about it because, you know, inherently we’re adults from all walks of life and we’re dressing up as cartoon characters or comic book characters or video game characters. So that in itself raises the question like, why can’t you just do it during Halloween once a year? But when you understand – we take the time to understand Cosplay you’ll see that it actually offers a lot of positive aspects. There is a lot of creativity in it; there is a lot of craftsmanship involved in making Cosplay; there’re skills that you have to learn to be able to bring these characters to life.
As these characters are being developed more, you know, with video games coming more elaborate and TV and movies becoming, you know, being able to offer more intricate costume designs – we as fans who have to actually replicate those designs and we have to sometimes find very advanced technologies and techniques to make the designs happen. So in a lot of ways, Cosplay is really more than just, you know, buying a costume and dressing up. The essence of it lies within actually creating the costumes.
Also to me – to most Cosplayers, you know, us growing up as geeks; as nerds; we definitely have experienced our own, you know, issues with being outcasts be it in school or liking something that is considered not mainstream – and Cosplay is a way for people to actually get out of their shell. It actually teaches a lot of social skills – people can become very confident in the costumes – they can put on the costume of Wonder Woman and all of a sudden they have more, you know, they have more extroverted, how do you say it – extroverted tendencies – or for me, it certainly is a confidence builder. It’s been a way for me to make friends; it’s a very social activity so I think it’s a great thing that with the geek community with comic books and with movies becoming more mainstream – Cosplay has become also more accepted and more know.
This could end up being an expensive endeavor – how do you balance cutting costs and getting the costumes right? It must be kind of a tightrope to walk there.
Yaya Han: Absolutely. Good costumes do cost money but if you think about it – everybody has something that they like to spend their hard earnings on, you know, some people are really into cars and other people are really into fashion – Cosplayers, you know, have a budget – I think the Cosplayers that are able to make costumes continuously throughout the years – they do budget for each project – they really take on not only the monetary budget but also the time management and it is more than just a hobby. It really is a lifestyle for us, you know, we spend most of our free time either thinking about costumes; thinking about our next convention; thinking about the next project and there’s so much more that goes into it than just I want to be this character, you know, because you have to be able to set the money aside for it. And also to, you know, I think we are very frugal – at least for me I’m definitely always looking for buying things, like, when they are on sale or buying things in bulk when there’s a clearance going on. It’s just shopping around and really sort of – I don’t think there’s really a trick to it, I think if you really love something you’re willing to spend your money on it.
How do you keep your designs unique while maintaining the people’s interest?
Yaya Han: Well, thankfully there are thousands – hundreds of thousands of designs out there. There’s always something that you can pull from or there’s always something that can inspire you. Cosplay – first and foremost – is a very personal past time – it’s something that sits very deeply personal to each Cosplayer, you know, some are newly into video games that they grew up playing or some are really into the movies that they grew up watching like Star Wars. One of our cast members, Victoria, she’s an avid Star Wars fan and she will spend the majority of her, you know, money and effort on Star Wars costumes because that’s what she loves.
And so I don’t think that Cosplayers choose projects that try to, you know, to try and gain popularity so to speak – at least to me and a lot of our cast I’m here with at Cosplay – we choose projects based on, you know, the characters we want to be next. And so the popularity of a character doesn’t always tie into what we want to do. By – and the other great thing is because we make our costumes, you can do your own version of a character. So even if you are making a costume that has been done hundreds of times by other people and you can put your own spin on it. You can choose your own materials and your own execution of it. And that is the great thing about Cosplay because there are thousands of variations of the same character.
The cast has traveled to several conventions around the world. What was your most prominent convention experience?
Yaya Han: For me, I actually loved travelling outside of the U.S. I definitely think that Cosplay is a global phenomenon and to me, people in other countries and to see how they’re cultures enjoy Cosplay is very interesting to me. And it’s also very great to share a bond with Cosplayers from other countries – even if you may not speak the same language – you have that bond instantly because you’re dressed up; you’re in the same, you know, costumes that you made yourself and its – it’s really amazing. I personally have probably my most amazing experience at an event in London. It was called the Grand Cosplay Ball and it was an evening of celebrating Cosplay from around the world. So I was invited as a guest to perform in costume and to me Cosplayers from all over Europe and there were even some coming from Asia and so – just really amazing to see everybody in these elaborate outfits, you know, enjoying the music and dancing together and having a drink together and just sort of celebrating that everybody comes from different countries but we’re all together in this, you know.
What’s your take on the current trend of people using Kick-Starter or Indiegogo to fund their costuming? You even mentioned earlier about people having to, if they believe in something, sink their own money into it but on the other hand, you now have more and more people kind of going, hey guys, I want to go to a convention, you know, but I don’t want to pay for it. What’s your kind of spin on it?
Yaya Han: Oh goodness – loaded question there. I’ve been doing Cosplay for 14 years and in that entire time I have never once asked people for money to fund a convention or fund a costume, you know, this is something – even though I do make a living with Cosplay, it’s always been very important to me to provide a service or to provide a product in return for money. I either create my Cosplay accessories or in the past I have done costume commissions and I’ve been able to monetize from Cosplay that way. So there’s always a very specific product – something that people can physically receive from me in return for money. I personally do not believe in crowd sourcing your next costume project. It seems tacky to me – it seems unnecessary and seems like taking advantage of what Kick-Starter and Indiegogo – I really think that if you want to do a project you can either find private sponsors – which I think some people actually have been able to do, or you can fund it yourself. A great example is a gentleman by the name of Ejen, he made a book called Costplay in America and he funded it himself with his own credit cards. He maxed out several credit cards to be able to publish the book, you know, and I find that so impressive and I respect him so much for doing that because he wanted to make a product, he did not want to go and accept handouts from people.
Can you comment on the other Cosplayers that were with you. Did you learn new things about them in going on with them or have you already known them enough that it was kind of going through old paths – or what did you discover along the travels?
Yaya Han: Oh, it was certainly a journey of discovery for all of us, just being on a TV show was a really amazing life experience. And some of the cast like Ricky, Monica and Victoria – they were friends of mine already before the show. We already had a personal relationship and so I actually, you know, through us knowing each other we all were able to be on the show and it was really nice to see everyone sort of being able to showcase their own way of Cosplaying, you know, Ricky is very much into molding, casting, the armor part of costumes, props; Victoria is very much about, you know, as much accuracy as she possibly can achieve with her – she works her team with her partner (Genio) and Ricky worked the team with her husband Chris – so we’ll get to see sort of what it’s like for two couples to work on costumes together. Monica is very young so she is very impressionable and so you’ll see in her journey that she will go through some changes as she is thrust in the world of Cosplay. And then we all get to know some of the other cast members who we didn’t know before such as, 
Holly and Jessica and we learned that they’re incredibly funny but also incredibly professional – and Chloe who is quite the newbie in Cosplay but just had a – she brings, like, a different air to it. She’s very, like, why is it so important for everything to be made perfectly, you know? Why can’t I just do it for fun? And so you’ll see different people come in with different philosophy – if you may call it – and none of it is wrong; none of it is the way that it has to be; it’s simply to show the different ways of Cosplaying.
Yaya, more and more events like Comic-Con like the one in San Diego last month – are devoting time to television shows. Is the Cosplay community is picking up on this and devoting more time to using their Cosplay around TV?
Yaya Han: Well, I think especially for Cosplayers in LA, they’re always has been – there have been opportunities to be on TV or to be in movies. The movie Paul actually did a scene with various Cosplayers and our Victoria was actually one of the slaves Lea’s in that scene. So there’s a lot of casting calls for extras and now with YouTube and other channels are doing little Cosplay scenes – just like little Cosplay videos and such. I think just as Cosplay is becoming more mainstream or more accepted, people are realizing that you can actually use Cosplay to promote something. Or you can use Cosplay to just sort of like, show something funny or something interesting. And so there actually have been companies that are more inclined to approaching costumers to work for them; however, that has been more prevalent in the video gaming industry versus TV. I think a lot of video game companies will actually hire a Cosplayer to, you know, spokes-model for them. I think Bio-Shock just hired a Russian Cosplayer because she looked so much like the character Elizabeth, you know, and various things like that.
For us, obviously doing a TV show about Cosplay is completely pioneering and completely new and we’re hoping that Cosplayers as well as the American audience who’ve never heard of Cosplay before will learn something new about it and will see that this is a really rewarding and really passionate way of passing your time. I’m personally hoping that families will see the show and will really like, get interested in maybe going to comic book convention or making helping their kids make costume and maybe dressing up together with them. That’s my hope for the show to just inspire other people to do Cosplay themselves.
I was wondering more though if we’re seeing more Cosplay participants dress up with television shows characters? Whether it’s the characters from Defiance or characters from The Vampire Diaries or upcoming shows like the Tomorrow People or classic shows like Star Trek – The Next Generation or the original Star Trek – I’m curious whether we’re seeing more and more Cosplay participants who do costumes.
Yaya Han: Absolutely. Thank you for clarifying and yes, I do believe that there’s a lot more Cosplaying of TV show characters even those who don’t really have fantastical outfits. I mean, you know, obviously there’s a lot of costumes of Game of Thrones because the costumes are fantastical and, you know, really intricate and cool – but there also has been a rise in Cosplay of – for example, Breaking Bad – or Walking Dead, you know, they’ll actually dress up as the whole cast from the Walking Dead and really put a lot of effort into finding the right clothing – or Doctor Who actually is a huge Cosplay phenomenon. There’s like an entire community of Cosplayers who will seek out the exact t-shirt brand and the exact design t-shirts that Rose Tyler wore or even with Twilight – they will go and find out what clothing the characters actually – the actors actually wore on the show and they will go and find those and there’s like e-Bay auctions for the t-shirts and the jeans and the jackets and such.
So, you know, there’s definitely different types of Cosplaying and if somebody doesn’t want to spend a lot of time making a costume, they can certainly still find avenues to Cosplay by finding, you know, TV shows characters that wear their own clothing for them to replicate them perfectly.
What is the criteria that you personally use for judging and how do you weigh that exact replication of a costume versus craftsmanship and creativity?
Yaya Han: Great question… for me, when I judge a contest I look for a combination of techniques. So I’m looking for the best craftsmanship but also the best performance. And the best contest will actually be able to allow the contestant to have both. They will have a craftsmanship judging before the contest where the judges can look at the contestant’s and actually learn how they made their costume and that is where, you know, if someone is in a body costume, they won’t be able to answer the questions on how it was made or, you know, they will have the work in progress photos and so we’re definitely looking for a costume that as much as possible made at home and it doesn’t have to be completely made by you – it could be made by you and your family or it could be made by you and your partner. But as long as you credit everybody who has helped you on the costume. Now on stage, if there is an opportunity for the contestants to do a skit or do some sort of a performance where they can actually show off how the costume moves; how they embody the character and that is very important to me in judging.
As far as craftsmanship – it’s not so much about, like, if the person looks exactly like the character. Because I think that anybody should be able to Cosplay – you should be able to Cosplay outside of your race; outside of your gender; outside of your body type; outside of your height – and so we’re looking for how well the costume fits the person; how well the costume is executed and how much detail work was put on the costume because they’re actually some Cosplayers – myself included – that will veer away from 100% accuracy to be able to translate a costume into a real live work. So we’ll actually add details on to the costume or we will choose materials that are not as accurate but have more texture or have more depth – just to enrich the costume in person. And so, yes, that basically is how I value judging.
I love judging – I’ve judged many contests so it’s very important to me.
With all the different ways that fans can express their artistic abilities at conventions, why Cosplay? What do you think it is about Cosplay that draws people to it?
Yaya Han: Oh, that’s a great question – thank you for asking it. Yes, there are so many ways you can express how you’re a fan. And for me, Cosplay is currently the most sincere form. Because I used to actually be an artist before Cosplay I was going to conventions and I did fan art and I would enter art shows and be in artist alleys and such and I’ve even drawn my own Manga, you know, my own Japanese style comic – but when I discovered Cosplay I realized that is how I wanted to be a fan. Because I see Cosplayers put a lot more of themselves into being a fan, you know, when you are making a model kit or when you are making, you know, a fan art – you present the art work itself at the end. And the people judge the art work – with Cosplayers, we present ourselves as the art work at the end. So we put ourselves out there as well as our craftsmanship as well as our bodies; our faces; our looks and we try to become the characters instead of just making a model of the character we become the character. And I think that is a really profound way to be a fan. It also is a very risk way to be a fan because people will not only judge how well your costume is made; how well it fits you; if the costume is in their mind how the costume should look of this iconic character – but they’re also judging on how you are as the character. And, you know, for someone like me, I’m Chinese and at Cosplay many times out of my ethnicity I’ve played a lot of Caucasian characters and every time there will be somebody who says, great Catwoman except you’re Asian. Or, you know, oh, Jessica Rabbit – I can’t see Jessica Rabbit being Asian, you know, but that doesn’t deter me from wanting to become the characters in any way because they’re, you know, important enough to me and I like the rewards that I get from Cosplay more than the criticism. So I think that’s why there should be a – I think people should understand that it takes a sense of courage and bravery for a Cosplayer to go out there in costume and that’s – it really must – the character must really mean something, you know, very meaningful to them for them to want to put themselves out there.
You made mention actually on your having done Manga before back with Cherry Blossom – I’m just wondering have you considered re-visiting that about your ongoing adventures?
Yaya Han: Oh, my gosh – that’s a huge regret in my life that since Cosplay I’ve actually really put art on a back burner. And I think that it’s just, you know, with, like there’s so much that goes into making a costume that, like, my brain can’t handle – it’s like focus also on art and I think, you know, I would love to revisit art but probably it would only happen if I would have to take a break from costuming and I don’t think that will ever happen. So unfortunately, at the moment, I don’t have enough time and enough focus to go back to art.
And can you speak to the symbiotic kind of relationship between Cosplayers and the photographers?
Yaya Han: Well, actually I think photography has completely changed the face of Cosplay and is a huge part of why Cosplay is so well known and so – has got so far, if you may – because when I started Cosplay back in 1999 – 2000, 2001 and such – there was not good photography – a lot of cameras were actually difficult to get and the only way that a Cosplayer could show off their costume was to enter a costume contest because that’s where the audience was to gather; that’s where you could actually show off your outfit and you have good lighting on stage and then, you know, that’s how you were able to get more known. With photography it sort of put the extra aspect of Cosplay – it put an extra aspect into Cosplay which is that it no longer was enough to make a costume and to wear it. Now the end result should be a great photo of a costume – it takes Cosplayers a step further that you can actually take a photo to recreate a scene from the comic books or recreate an iconic moment that a character has in a movie or in a video game and photography now is completely essential and a huge part of Cosplay. And I think the relationship between Cosplayers and photographers should be fostered and should be encouraged. It, you know, and with social media and such when you have a good photo of a costume you’re reach can be a lot further, you know, that photo can be shared who knows where and your work can be seen a lot more. The drawback to that is that they’re aren’t as many people that feel compelled now to enter costume contests because it’s so much easier to take a great photo and then post it on line. So I think viewers of Cosplay will hopefully show that costume contest will still be, you know, be a valid challenge for Cosplayers and should be an aspect that Cosplayers should still pursue. Because when you have to make a costume for a contest, a lot of times you have to put a lot more effort into the costumes – you have to think about its performance and there are different states than just taking a photo and putting it on Facebook, you know.
What advice would you give to someone just starting out with Cosplay?
Yaya Han: My advice would be to utilize the resources at hand. There really are a ton of resources out there and the materials that are available; the accessories are available – it’s really very easy for someone now to get into Cosplay. If you don’t want to make a prop, most likely somebody out there will have made one or can make one for you. Or, you know, if you don’t know where to get a wig, you know, there are companies that are really specifically catering to Cosplayers in creating custom wigs and creating custom colors for them and also there’s a ton of tutorials on line if you Google anything – like how to make a sword; or how to make an armor; or how to make wings – you can find step by step instructions that other costumers and Cosplayers of my generation have already put out there. And YouTube – you learn just about any skill that you want on YouTube. I still, to this day, I still learn new skills by googling and YouTubing, so it’s just about finding a character you connect with; a character you think that you would like to be and then really going full force, all in to the costume. Researching the parts of it and then specializing, like, if you feel overwhelmed, specializing on one part, say – I’m going to make the props but I’m going to have somebody else make the costume so I don’t feel too overwhelmed – and I still feel proud that I made something on the costume. I hope that helps.
