Masquerade

Welcome to the Norwescon Masquerade!

We invite you to participate in the Norwescon 43 masquerade. The masquerade is open to people of all costuming skill levels and is held on Saturday night of the con. We will be following the International Costumers’ Guild guidelines for rules and skill levels, adapted for virtual use.

As we are streaming this event and understand that not all participants will want to submit videos of themselves, we are allowing people to enter themselves for workmanship judging, presentation judging, or both.

We still welcome group entries, but we encourage that they be made within your quarantine bubble unless you find a creative way to make your entry in a socially distant manner.

Due to editing and judging needs, registration will close on March 14 at 11:59 p.m. PST.

Masquerade Judging and Registration

Presentation Judging consists of your presentation on video. The judges will consider everything from your costume’s appearance on video, how you act and move, your music and voiceovers, and so on. The judge’s awards will be divided by skill levels and excellence of performance within those skill levels. You can register to be judged for presentation here.

Workmanship Judging allows the judges to consider exceptional accomplishment in crafting costumes, props, and accessories. This is the place where exquisite attention to detail may be recognized. Re-creation costumes (a costume whose design is copied from a film, television show, theatrical presentation, book illustration, comic, work of art, or other medium) must provide a color picture of the original with their entry. If you wish to participate in this category, please include closeup images of your costumes and props with your video entry. A option for a slideshow-only video entry is available. You can register to be judged for workmanship here.

Norwescon Masquerade Skill Divisions

Anyone may choose to compete in a higher skill division. Group presentations will be judged based on the highest skill division of the individual members.

Rising Star is for any contestant 13 years of age or younger who is not part of an adult group. Rising Star costumes must be made by the entrant with no more than a minimum amount of supervisory help. An adult-made costume may not be entered in this category and should instead be entered in the appropriate skill division of the adult. Rising Star Applicants must include an adult providing permission at the beginning or end of their video entry. This will be edited out for the performance, but the raw video will be kept for our records.

Novice is for any contestant who has not previously won an award for a costume in a higher division in any masquerade, or who has won a maximum of two awards in the Novice division for different costumes at a world-class convention masquerade such as World Con or Costume Con, or at a regional convention masquerade such as Norwescon.

Journeyman is for any contestant who has not previously won an award for a costume in a higher division and who has won a maximum of three awards for different costumes in the Novice or Journeyman division at a world-class or regional convention masquerade.

Master is for any contestant who has won four or more awards for different costumes in the Novice or Journeyman division, or who has won one or more Master division or Best in Show awards, at a regional or world-class convention masquerade. Professional costumers must enter the Master division.

Awards:

Awards can but won’t necessarily include:

• Best in Show
• Best Workmanship (Rising Star, Novice, Journeyman, Master)
• Best Presentation (Rising Star, Novice, Journeyman, Master)
• Best in Class (Rising Star, Novice, Journeyman, Master)
• Director’s Choice
• Judge’s Choice
• Best Editing

Norwescon Masquerade Rules

Please review these rules carefully. Violation of any rule may disqualify an entry. Please help us make the masquerade safe and enjoyable.

1. We expect your entry to be compliant to Norwescon’s Policies and Guidelines.
2. Purchased or rented costumes may not be entered in competition. Credit must be given for all people who participated in makeup and costume construction.
3. Video submissions must be kept no longer than 30 seconds for smaller groups/individuals and 1 minute for larger groups. If there is a reason you think you need a longer amount of time, it must be approved by the masquerade director.
4. It is preferred that videos are shot horizontally and not vertically in 720p minimum and 30 frames per second.
5. Sound accompaniment should be included with your application. Please provide high quality audio files that are ready to be played as-is, without additional editing. Your entry will be streamed so your music must be royalty free. Some recommended sites for this are epidemicsound and bensound.

Norwescon Masquerade Videos

Video of the Norwescon 42 Masquerade and many earlier Norwescon Masquerades are available for purchase. Please contact Alan Halfhill directly with inquiries.

DVD – $15; Blu-Ray – $20

Postal address:
Alan Halfhill
P.O. Box 312
Carlsborg, WA 98324-0312

Paypal address: halfmac at mac.com

Questions or comments? Please contact Special Events through our contact page.