Name: Giorgia – Giorgia Cosplay
Location: Vigasio, Verona, Italy
DeviantArt: http://giorgiacosplay.deviantart.com/
Website: www.giorgiacosplay.com
Twitter: –
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/giorgiacosplay
Photographer(s): Cesare Marino Photography, Demis Albertacci and Daniele Faccioli.
1. What does cosplaying mean to you?
It means I can be the characters I loved in my childhood. It means paying homage to them, thanking them for the countless happy hours they gave me.
2. What was your very first cosplay experience? What inspired you to take up the craft?
I had been seeing people attending comic conventions dressed as Star Trek characters or elves and orcs playing their live fantasy RPG, so I said to myself, “well, if they can do that with their favorite characters, I can do the same with mine.”
And there I go. The following year I attended the spring edition of Lucca Comics & Games, the most important comic convention in Italy and one of the world’s biggest, dressed as Sailor Mars.
At that time I didn’t know I was cosplaying, we called that just “dressing up” and it was only later, when Internet became widespread as a home appliance, I came to know that people around the world were practicing this hobby called cosplay.
3. If you could select a favorite costume that you have worn, which would you choose?
This is like asking which of my children is my favorite. But yes, I do have a few favorite costumes. Of course Silen from Devilman is among them, since it is thanks to it that I could win the World Cosplay Summit in 2005 and meet Leiji Matsumoto, but also Alcyone from Magic Knight Rayearth allowed me to be selected for that competition.
4. And, if you could select a favorite costume that you’ve seen someone else wear, what would that be?
Over the years I have seen a bunch of spectacular costumes, but if I have to be sincere, the most I envy in some cosplay sets is the post production which can add wonderful backdrops and details. If I could access that kind of post-production, that would be enough for me 😉
5. What is an upcoming costume that you’re currently working on?
I am working on Poison Ivy. It will have carnivorous plants spiraling around my body, so I hope it will be a stunning view.
6. If you had unlimited funds and resources, what costume(s) would you create?
I would create the ultimate Witchblade costume, with a real looking symbiont, maybe one that would move and change shape like the one you can see in the comic.
7. How do you prepare yourself, mentally and physically, for an upcoming convention/event?
Let’s bear in mind that I don’t do contest any longer, but I usually work there as a contest presenter. That said, I go there much earlier than needed, I attend the eventual briefing, I try to check the characters that will participate in the contest, trying to see if I know them or not, getting used to the correct pronunciation of their names. I also check if they sport unusual or very good details which to which I might draw the audience’s attention in order to give them the visibility and the presentation they deserve. If I’m asked to present the contest while wearing a cosplay, I try to choose a comfy one which allows me to move freely on the stage, which will not cause trouble in using my hands that might arise when you wear gloves, and without any cumbersome accessories which might impair my vision or my movements.
If I am in the jury, I have a little more freedom in choosing the costume, so I usually go for some costume for which I am recognised more easily and I might even hold a poll on Internet to see what my fans would like me to wear.
In any case, if I am to wear a tight costume, I try and pay attention to my diet for the two weeks preceding the event, just to be sure. 😉
8. At the end of the day, in your opinion, what is the best part about cosplaying?
Well, I think that, just like any other job or hobby, the very best part is seeing the result of your work. This comes in two forms. The first one is when you finally come to see the pictures you have taken in a particular location, enhanced with a good looking post-production and you see your work expressing its maximum potential.
The other one is the appreciation of fans and general audience, when they recognize the character you are cosplaying (possibly without each time mistaking you for the Pink Ranger or for Sailor Moon), and you see the emotion in their eyes, because that is the time when you know you have nailed it, you are that character in the flesh and you are giving good memories in the shape of digital pictures to kids and grown ups.
9. What advice can you offer to those who are aspiring cosplayers?
First of all, find bunch of fellows to start with a group cosplay which will help you fight the stage fright. Internet can be a nice help in finding people who like your very same favorite anime or movie. Even if you can’t find any friend, start simple, with something from everyday life which you can adapt into a cosplay. And most of all, never forget to have fun.
To learn more about Giorgia Cosplay, visit her website: www.giorgiacosplay.com, and check out her Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/giorgiacosplay
If you or someone you know would like to have a gallery featured on Geeks World Wide, please email Casey at gwwcapescrew@gmail.com!