Once cosplayers have assembled a version of the character for re-creation, they embark on an activity that is typically referred to by practitioners as ‘research’.
This involved looking at images or, in the words of Australian cosplayers,
‘reference pictures’, and researching information about their chosen character.
In essence, research activities are focused on answering two questions: what does the character look like – front, back, sides, proportions, details, colours – and what materials can be used to re-create this visual look? In this stage of the process, manga illustrations fulfil their second role in cosplay communities as they are viewed by cosplayers as potentially wearable, created objects and are used to provide a guide or pattern for construction activities.
The materials and technologies used by cosplayers during the research stage can be extensive. Research is undertaken both online and offline, and it utilises digital and material resources. Cosplayers undertaking research must sift through large quantities of reference materials. Manga illustrations are an important source of ‘reference pictures’ and they are accessed both via files of images scanned by fans, including licensed and unlicensed online digital versions, and in physical magazine or tankōbon form (tankōbon are book-sized publications similar to graphic novels). Cosplayers gather these images and
store them as digital files and/or printed copies that they can easily refer to throughout costume construction process. Reference images are deemed necessary tools as they provide models of the design’s component parts, which can assist the cosplayer in their creation of an accurate and detailed costume.
The idea that manga illustrations can be used in this manner is promoted in online cosplay tutorials and convention panels.
‘Breaking Down’ the Image
Once a cosplayer has gathered a selection of images, they then examine them in a particular way, a process described by one experienced cosplayer as ‘breaking down’ the image, whereby all the different elements of a character design are viewed as potential costume parts, things that will have to be physically rendered by the cosplayer. The way that clothing is depicted in an illustration indicates the type of material from which it could be constructed, as a member of an Australia Costumers Guild (ACG) panel described:
When you see an image and it’s close fitting it’s more than likely that it’s going to be a stretch fabric. And also look at the way it hangs. Looking again when someone’s moving, if they’re moving slow it’s likely to be a heavyweight fabric. If it’s following out behind it’s likely to be a lightweight fabric. Little hints like that will give you an idea of what the fabric type might be. (Liz, AVCon, July 23, 2011)
The importance of a cosplayer being able to recognise details and distinguish between the important and the less important is emphasised in many contexts of cosplay practice: in panels, in online tutorials, in competition interview narratives and in informal conversations between cosplayers. The accurate re-creation of details such as belt buckles, earrings or armour patterns is viewed as a hallmark of excellence in a cosplay and evidence of the cosplayer’s skill and dedication. The gaze of the cosplayer must be so attentive that they can distinguish between subtle variations in the colours of manga illustrations. For example, they would need to perceive that Naruto’s forehead protector, as it is depicted on the covers of a tankōbon, is not merely ‘blue’; it is a particular shade of blue that needs to be distinguished from other shades of that colour. The limitations of human visual memory usually prevent readers from remember ing the more minute details of a manga character’s appearance. In most contexts,
the reader does not need to notice how many buttons are on a character’s tunic or on which side the character’s hair is parted. To achieve this level of accuracy, cosplayers need to locate and scrutinise illustrations that prominently feature these particular details, to find those panels that depict a sword handle or a buckle, for example. Finding these particular images may require the cosplayer to spend considerable time searching through images online or, alternatively, sifting through tankōbon volumes page by page.
The Learning of ‘Cosplay Vision’
As a form of skilled vision, cosplayers’ ability to ‘break down’ manga illus-trations is not intrinsic but learnt. The ability to notice and engage in colour differentiation, for example, is a skill that is valued, and thus acquired, within particular situational contexts (Goodwin, 1997). By learning to break down illustrations, cosplayers are learning to see manga as a cosplayer. Sometimes this form of looking is taught by experienced cosplayers in formal contexts, such as panels and workshops held at conventions. In these forums, the panellist will verbally and visually explain to an audience how to break down an image.
These instructional sessions often involves the panellists proposing questions for the audience members to ask themselves when participating in their cosplay activities. For example, an ACG panellist suggested to his audience at AVCon that the following questions be asked:
Consider the type of texture of the material – the shine, the drape, transparency, the type of garment it is. Is it tight or loose fitting on the body? How easy it is to make it or source it? (Ben, AVCon, July 23, 2011)
In Goodwin’s exploration of the ways that specialised forms of vision are taught and discussed in professional settings, he describes how a member of a community of practice may draw attention to particular features of an image or physical thing in order to identify for an audience aspects that may not appear relevant to an untrained eye, an activity that he terms ‘highlighting’ (1994).
Cosplay panelists, using speech and visual examples, highlight the features that make a costume accurate and cosplayers are expected to internalise this value for accuracy that when turn to creating their own costumes.
The learning of cosplay vision can also occur in less formal settings, especially in informal conversations between cosplayers, both online and offline, about the level of detail in character designs or whether, say, a character’s dress is green or blue. However this cosplay ‘way of seeing’ is acquired, it can sometimes be difficult for the cosplayer to switch it off – to read a manga without a view to potential construction activities. As cosplayer Julia said to me during an interview:
I can’t look at things these days without thinking, ‘Oh, how could I make that as a costume?’ (Julia, interview, February 27, 2012)
Cosplayers train their bodies and the bodies of others to see manga in a distinctive and skilled way that enables them to create detailed and accurate costumes that are valued within the community.
Cosplay vision involves cosplayers reading manga images as components of potential costumes, but it also allows cosplayers to view objects – craft materials, everyday items (including toilet rolls) and pre-made garments – as potential means of physically re-creating the look of manga characters. This is particularly apparent during online and offline cosplay shopping activities.
When shopping, cosplayers, particularly experienced cosplayers, will usually have reference images to hand in digital or physical forms. On shopping expeditions, Julia would bring her smart phone with her and would use it to display her reference pictures, placing the phone against fabric to check for accurate colour matches. Again, this way of seeing is explicitly taught and promoted to newcomers to the cosplay community as form of creativity. As with the act of assembling a single character model, the cosplayer is required to see the potential for things to be reused, reformed and reassembled into something new. In this case, the things in question are not illustrations, but material objects. At conventions, cosplay panellists often describe how they have transformed various everyday objects, including items from hard-rubbish collections, into costume parts, and urge newcomers to do the same, as did one ACG panellist at AVCon in 2012:
Never underestimate anything as being able to be used in a costume.
Eventually you’ll get to the point where you’ll view anything and everything as costume parts. (Cassandra, AVCon, July 28, 2012)