Cosplay for a Cause

22 min read

Deviation Actions

behindinfinity's avatar
Published:
17K Views




Do you have a question for us?

Before you ask, kindly check out our Frequently Asked Questions page! You might also want to check out my Cosplay Photography Guide. :)

March 20 Update

:target: Thanks to everyone who participated in the poll! behindinfinity.deviantart.com/… The team is taking your insights and opinions into consideration. :D

:target: I'll be going on a 3-day trip, so I apologize in advance for not being able to answer comments and notes until I get back. Leaving in a bit, and I haven't even packed. Gah. I'll have a big picture post ready for when I return home. Probably not what you expect, though. Hoho. Bye, everyone! Take care!

March 8 Update


Sorry I disappeared for a while! I had an academic final boss battle during which I relied on sugary stuff and energy drinks to keep me awake despite sleep-deprivation. But it's over now, mission completed, and I'm slowly reviving. I'll get to replying to comments and notes once I catch up on enough sleep.

The team has been discussing the proposed cosplay photobook and online wig shop, and here are some of the things we've talked about, if we manage to push through with these plans.

:target: Still trying to find a way around the copyright issue, but you guys certainly have been giving helpful insights, and we thank you for that. :D Also got a very informative note from SweetKiwiDesign. I must discuss this with a lawyer friend of mine soon. (Yo, Theoben!)

:target: We plan to release the photobooks in volumes. That'll make each individual book cheaper, also lighter and easier and less expensive to ship. And that least that way you guys can select the sets you really want. :)

:target: Apart from the shots you see in our galleries, we might take more pictures to add to the books. Some of those we won't be posting online, so they can be something like photobook exclusives.

:target: Pricing will just be enough to cover the production cost (books are cheaper when they're mass-produced by publishing houses, so the more books we have printed at a time, the cheaper it'll be) and shipping cost, with an additional percentage to go to charity, and a smaller percentage to go to our fund for having more books printed. We'll be paying for the first batch out of our own pockets, unless we figure out deals with sponsors.

:target: We know you're concerned about how we'll handle the money that we're going to donate, and rest assured that we'll prepare the proper documents that will ensure our credibility. Scanned documents with signatures, maybe even a video of us getting that document signed as an extra measure, hahaha. We know people who have donated to PGH in the past, and we'll definitely find someone trustworthy to handle the money.

:target: For the custom wig store, we won't be accepting individual commissions, since it'll be hard for us to make that much commitment because of our busy schedules. We'll never forgive ourselves if we finish late and it's not shipped in time and you miss out on a con because of us. :ohnoes: Instead, you guys can make suggestions (for now, comment on this journal entry if you want) about what wigs you might want. We can't promise we'll be able to fill all those requests, but if we manage to find base wigs for that character, we'll go and do the styling and put the wigs up in the store. :) (note: The store isn't up yet! There seem to be people who had misunderstood so I just thought I'd clear that up.)

We're happy there are so many of you who are rooting for us, and we can't thank you enough for the support!
:icongrinclub:

That's all for this quick update. I'm gonna go catch up on sleep.

Cosplay for a Cause

I know this is going to sound unbearably narcissistic of us but we're considering publishing a cosplay photobook and putting them up for sale (wait wait, before you decide to hate us) and donating the money to charity. Apart from that, we're also thinking of setting up an eBay store where we can put up cosplay wigs we've styled ourselves, since we receive a lot of wig commission requests. We'll be donating part of the profits, and part will go to continuing to fund these projects.

My friends and I have been toying with these ideas since our first photoshoot together but we'd really like to take action now. We weren't able to participate in the cosplay charity event back in 2006, but at least this way we get to help in our own way, at our own pace.

Lately I've been feeling this way again, and I really want to be able to do something to help, even if I wasn't gifted with a brilliant mind that could change the world. I'm thankful that my friends are behind me on these ideas.

Part of what pushed me to try to bring these plans to fruition is the support you all have been giving all of us. I can't believe this site has gotten over two million hits already. It's pretty crazy. That's a significant amount of exposure, and hopefully it can be put to good use by helping us come up with money to donate to someplace that really needs it, like the Philippine General Hospital. We do something seemingly trivial like cosplay, but it could end with lives getting saved.

For a little background on PGH, let me quote Sandee littlesailboat.

"Last year I was asked to shoot to document the condition of the Outpatient Department of the Philippine General Hospital. It's a government hospital, so everything is free.

The lines are ridiculously long, the facilities leave something to be desired, and everyone is sick and miserable. This isn't due to incompetence on the part of the administration - there are just too many damn people that come through daily. The lucky ones will be seen within the day. The less fortunate ones, well... they can keep coming back for days on end - commuting back and forth to the ass end of the country, sick and all - with no guarantee of an appointment.

-

When I feel like complaining about my life, I try to remember the day I spent there taking photos.
"

Here are some of those photos.


We do know it's going to be difficult, but things that are worth anything never come easy. :) At this point I'm not entirely sure if these things are beyond our capability, but we'd like to give it a shot. I do have some questions and concerns I'd like to address, and hopefully there are those of you who can enlighten me about them.

1. We're aware that character copyrights can keep us from using the photos for profit, but apparently cosplay photobooks are pretty common in countries like Japan. And there are professionally published books that are close to what we hope to do, like Everybody Cosplay! by Jan Kurotaki. It's not just distributed in private circles, it's even on Amazon, along with plenty of other similar books. And artists at established conventions in the US sell prints of fan art.

How are they able to do that?

2. How are custom-styled wigs usually packaged to maintain the quality? I've always done my own styling so I haven't tried having, say, a spiked wig shipped to me.

3. I've bought from online stores and have shipped packages to other countries though this is the first time any of us are going to attempt to manage an online store. Any important tips for us noobs?


Disjointed Little Musings



School's been okay lately, but there's so much to do so I always end up staying up late. I go to bed at around 3AM, haha. The fact that I need my daily dose of madness stretches my work time even more. I can't wait for the schoolyear to end so that I can draw again, and perhaps work on those paintings that have been collecting dust in my room, some of which are for my solo art exhibit.

On a random note, Logic class was canceled so I sat on the floor outside our classroom, leaning against the wall, watching stuff on my iPod. One of my classmates whom I had never talked to (well okay, I never really talked to anyone in that class) sat beside me and made small talk. First he asked me if my hair was real. Then he proceeded to ask me about my gender. My reaction was pretty much like this: and I found myself debating whether to beat him up or stay calm. In the end, we actually ended up getting along quite well. :lol:

As for my aforementioned recommended daily allowance of madness, YouTube has certainly been a good source for it. Here are some of the unexplainable things on the internet that have been keeping me sane.



Moskau

This has been around for a while, but it doesn't make it any less awesome. As some of you might know, my friends and I are suckers for silly dances and this is our current obsession. XD I mean look at them! They're like a European sentai team!

ALTERNATE VERSION! They're more visible, and there are crack English lyrics by some person called Buffalax, hahahaha!


Naruto German Dub Opening

Okay, I don't mean to offend any Germans here but jeezus on a stick, this is hilariousy AWFUL! :lol: I can't decide which part of it is the worst! The lyrics (My two best friends by my side / Sasuke, he's really cool / Sakura, the beautiful) mangled by the accent, the way they say "Sah-SOO-kay", that strange synth/bass crackchild that's trying to pass itself off as a bass line, the demon chanting, the seizure-inducing character headshot montage at the end, the list goes on... It's so horrible BUT I CAN'T STOP WATCHING.

And... OH GOD THEY MADE A SECOND ONE. Now excuse me while I learn the lyrics and roll around the floor enjoying my lulz.


Naruto Artbook

Artbook-themed Naruto photoshoot. More information here. :)

:iconbehindinfinity: :iconmerkymerx: :iconceruleanmorning:
Rokudaime by behindinfinity
Legend of Konoha by behindinfinity


:thumb77455636:
The Space Between by behindinfinity
After Time by behindinfinity


Naruto: Shippuuden

More information about the trial photoshoot HERE. :D



Tuxedo Team Extra Photos of Lulz




Thank you for the gift art!

We're happy there are those of you who somehow find inspiration in our work. Here are some people I haven't been able to feature yet who've made drawings based on our photos. Thanks, you guys! :D

Naruto: These Hands by danielledemartini by :icondanielledemartini: danielledemartini

:thumb75825408: by :iconlambchild: lambchild

by :iconashfromavolcanoe: Ashfromavolcanoe

:thumb78631648: by :iconxxunmeixx: XxUnMeIxX

Rokudaime - painting by Wik86 by :iconwik86: Wik86

SasuSaku: Cherry Blossoms by xChibiChibi by :iconxchibichibi: xChibiChibi

:thumb75722388: by :iconbastablue: BasTaBluE
(Influenced by our crack-ish omake pictures, it seems! :lol:)

Renji Cosplay Trial Pic by MarvelPoison by :iconmarvelpoison: MarvelPoison

Death Note: Light by Crayon-Panchan by :iconcrayon-panchan: Crayon-Panchan

:thumb70042528: by :iconand-yet-so-far: And-Yet-So-Far

'After Time' anime-style by pumpkin-girl27 by :iconpumpkin-girl27: pumpkin-girl27

:thumb79289783: by :iconeternel-s: Eternal-S

Jin: Remix by NorahKhor by :iconnorahkhor: NorahKhor


dWarped Journal CSS is based on the Warped template design by Six Shooter Media. It's avaliable here at deviantArt under the Creative Commons Attribution v2.5.

© 2008 - 2024 behindinfinity
Comments666
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
Sungirl800's avatar
I'm from Germany and I had to puke (well, I was sick..) when I first saw that intro of Naruto on TV. I've been watching Naruto for ages on the Internet and let me say, I appreciate Fighting dreamers, blue bird, heroes come back etc. a looooooot more.

They also censore Naruto over here,no blood etc., because they're showing it at 2:30 p.m. And translate stuff completely wrong. Sasuke isn't trying to kill his brother, nooo, he has to talk very seriously to him. Insane in my opinion but well. I'll keep enjoying Japanese episodes and your hawt (Sorry Jin) cosplay, but still: have fun watching our silly German Naruto- intro. ^^