Hey cosplayer!
How ya holding up?
The lack of in-person cons is beyond awful, huh?
Lots of boo hiss.
Boo hiss, I say!
I feel ya, I really do. And I hope that you’re getting some satisfying cosplay time in where you can. Virtual cons and communities, working on that epic new costume, hunched over your sewing machine into the wee hours of the morning. Or even if it’s just the small things.
Small things are good too.
Now, I got a question for you, and it may help ease the void of not being physically among fellow cosplayers right now.
A (possible) new way to level up your cosplay.
A way to continue to develop your loved cosplay favs, or new ones, new is good too.
Alright, so here’s my question:
In your cosplaying experience, how much have you thought about character movement?
So, is movement important for cosplayers?
Now, my thoughts and feelings (and I have a lot of feelings here) about if character movement work is important for cosplayers is a big great grand YES.
I could argue it’s essential. But, in reality, it’s definitely not as essential as, say, costume, makeup, or props. However, it certainly can’t hurt.
Especially for people who are asking you for a photo op and oh, costume contests of course. Let the posing begin!!!
So, I imagine you’ve at least given character movement work a blip of a thought, from time to time. Specifically, if you’re cosplaying a character who’s known for how they move, I’m thinking the Spidermans and Harley Quinns. The Mikasas and Hulks.
Firstly though…
A few great questions to ask yourself:
Here’s a few quick questions that may be good to ask before delving into a deeper level of character movement work. Now, you not only want to nail the character costume, makeup, etc. but also to make sure your body and others around you are not going to get injured…or embarrassed…
Questions like:
Does my costume inhibit my movement? Does it have an element that I’m not used to? Do I have to wear a mask, where I can’t see as well, walking in heels or stilts? Have I got a tail that could knock someone/tables over?
Or, does it free up my movement in some way? Usually wear pants and the costume is a skirt.
Is my costume slightly awkward in that I have to be aware of how I move to not have something fall down/slip or fall off/out? (Potential costume malfunctions are indeed a key thing to be aware of in character movement work)
To the movement stuff!
To start, I’ll say you can get as broad or nitty-gritty as you want with movement work. Think about what you want to do and if what you want to do is realistically sustainable.
Now, I’ve got some homework for you. Fun homework, promise!
I’ll take a guess and say that the character you’re cosplaying is a character you kinda like. Really, really like even. You’ve delved down the rabbit hole of this character. Analyzed what they wear, props they use, demeanor, etc.
So, all I’m asking you is to dig a little deeper and focus on how they move.
Do they walk quickly? Limp? Do they have their chest puffed out? Swing their hips?
Stuff like that.
Compile a movement signature for them. What are aspects of their movement that are consistent? Identifying this character’s movement signature is key to level up your cosplay.
Adding movement to your character creation routine
Lemmie give you a quick example:
Let’s take Nightmare Before Christmas’ Jack Skellington. Cos it’s never too early/late for Halloween.
How does Jack move?
There’s this spidery quality about him, right?
Light on his feet but he’s also grounded. He seems to move so effortlessly.
And yes, I do recognize I’m analyzing movement of an animated character and some of the laws of physics may not apply to humans 🙂
That being said though if you really want to get into the movement of Jack, you’d need to find a way to emulate that, to any animated character for that matter.
So, a few other movement notes that come to mind with Jack: he moves fluidly, he’s quite comfortable in a squatting position, and when he stands fully upright with his head to the sky, he puffs his chest out, and he’s also very VERY tall.
With Jack, it’s like his long limbs’ energy almost extends past their physical selves…could be something to play around with there.
Now, this is just the tip of the iceberg, right? We could get really nitty-gritty with analyzing his movement if we so chose to.
Honestly, doing any of this is going to level up your cosplay, no question.
Ready for a deeper dive?
As a movement coach, I focus on one movement method for my character movement work. It’s called Labanotation and is the dance notation of Rudolf Laban (KEY: you DON’T need to be a dancer to put this method into practice!)
It’s got a scientific spin to it, and it’s really easy to assign a movement signature to either a new or existing character once you know the basics.
Check out my other posts for a deeper dive down the rabbit hole of what Labanotation is and how it will help level up your cosplay game.
Now thinking about Jack makes me want Oingo Boingo in my ear holes *whistles Dead Man’s Party and exits*
