top of page

Media Mothership

Search

Exploring Cosplay Culture with Dr. Emerald King

Craig Norris

Feb 1632 min read

Episode 98 - With host Craig Norris & Emerald King

First Broadcast on Edge Radio, 14 Feb 2025.

Join us for an engaging conversation with Dr. Emerald King as we dive into the world of cosplay! We'll explore the upcoming Wellington Cosplay Photo Festival in New Zealand, discuss the vibrant cosplay scenes in Australia and New Zealand, and examine the unique differences and influences between the two cultures. Plus, we'll share tips for creating costumes that can withstand international travel and look ahead to exciting future plans in the cosplay community. Don't miss this insightful and fun episode!

Listen Here:

Watch Here:

Links:

Listen live to “Media Mothership” every Friday 4-5pm (Australian Eastern Standard Time) via YouTube, Twitch, and Edge Radio.

Follow us on:

TRANSCRIPT

This is an AI-generated audio transcript, and it may contain errors. We may update or correct this transcript in the future. Please get in touch with us if you have any questions about the information in this transcript. The audio is the official record of this episode.

Audio file

edited Media Mothership Podcast - 2025-1-31 1.mp3

Transcript

There is nothing wrong with uranium. Do not attempt to adjust the volume.

We are Anthro Ringo Zagro do questo.

For the next hour, we will control all that you hear. You are about to experience the knowledge and insights of the media mother ship.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Welcome to media motherships broadcasting out of Edge Radio Studios here in Nepal. Luna Hobart TAS on this show, we explore how media can shape our understanding of the world around us. We're streaming on edgeradio.org dot au as well as on YouTube and Twitch. You can message us on the chat on Twitch and SMS US directly in the studio on 0488811707. I'm your host, Craig Norris, and I'm joined by guest Doctor Emerald King, Humanities.

DR EMERALD KING

I'm just. I'm just putting on Instagram. I'm uploading my socials.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Ohh wow, there we go. I'm. I'm. I'm I'm looking for a sudden influx of metrics hitting my channel.

DR EMERALD KING

And it's not gonna happen. Sorry.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

So you are a humanities lecturer at the University of Tasmania and and award winning cost player. What's the latest award? Is that there's the latest one right like? From the last year.

DR EMERALD KING

Ohh no, it's so the the latest isn't possibly the biggest was winning what caused by some of Australia's smashed in 2023.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

The cosplay. The summit in Australia, it smashed the Sydney 1 Sydney younger anime.

DR EMERALD KING

And then in Australia and then and since the city among anime show, the SH is for show and I always forget that yeah.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Cause yeah, you get to the S and you. Go show and then each what's hate.

DR EMERALD KING

That's sheer sheer. It's what's.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

DR EMERALD KING

Shitney manga anime show. Yeah. And then in August, my cosplay partner Amy and I did a lot of media, did a lot of I'm going to the world cosplay Olympic style media because of course Paris was happening at the same time.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

And this was the Akira.

DR EMERALD KING

This is the Akira. Yes, we went to Japan in the middle of Nagoya in the middle of the 38 plus degree heat, 90% humidity plus our performance costumes.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

DR EMERALD KING

We were in T-shirts and jeans doing Akira, so I was Canada. I made a bike. The whole, the whole thing. And yeah, we did.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Bike how did you?

DR EMERALD KING

We did the Canada bike slide.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

So, I mean, we're jumping ahead early. It's that there's so much about that, which is kind of the fascination I have with, you know, a.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Performing as a character in a fictional text. So in this case the the classic Japanese anime from was it 89, Akira by Katsuhiro Otomo and two main characters that you guys went as and what I like.

DR EMERALD KING

DR CRAIG NORRIS

I was thinking very low tech. I'll get around past who knew about.

DR EMERALD KING

DR CRAIG NORRIS

You know how hits for travel? Yeah. Overseas thinking. OK. Well, it's kind of like, you know, clothing, but you've just mentioned a the bike that he had.

DR EMERALD KING

Goodbye, goodbye.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

How did you? I've gotta ask right now before I forget. Yeah, I mean, Canada's bike is. So Canada's.

DR EMERALD KING

Bike is canonically 3 metres long.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

So that's like, yeah, how do you know?

DR EMERALD KING

Ask me how I know it's canonically 3 metres long. Ask me how I know.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Cause it's. Yeah. Is there any dinner on that?

DR EMERALD KING

Yes, there's so much data. There is a data book just on the bike like you know how in like up until the the 90s you'd buy a car. And then they'd be a manual for it. Like I don't know.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Ohh yes, yes yes.

DR EMERALD KING

I I can't drive.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Is that your? Two, the Corolla and.

DR EMERALD KING

I'm driven in life, but I come from a family of of insane engine heads.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

DR EMERALD KING

But yesterday there there is full specs for the bike. People have made the bike full specs so that it works Rd where the there are various versions of it as a really cool series. The Japanese maker made of creating the fibreglass shell to make a roadworthy bike, but people have done in the states people have done in Japan, they've made legal versions of the Canada bike.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Um, because it's such a futuristic design.

DR EMERALD KING

It's it is incredibly iconic though, that the whole moment of the bike it happens at the beginning of the film. It's the opening shots. It's the love letter to Neo Tokyo. It's that really hypnotic use of gamelan and really earthy, psychedelic, futuristic music. You're taken through the the streets of of of futuristic Tokyo, futuristic Tokyo, July 2019 in futuristic Tokyo.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

That's right. It was the idea of the future of from 89.

DR EMERALD KING

From eighty well from the manga. So it's 83.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Yeah, right. Yeah, because each version changes that date right the Monga because it was published earlier.

DR EMERALD KING

I think I think it depends on the translation.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

DR EMERALD KING

DR CRAIG NORRIS

DR EMERALD KING

I think it depends on the translation, but yeah, so the bike is a is a. Vehicle for setting up the the world. And then there's this moment where Canada does a screech with the bike, and it's actually just set up an even cooler moment where he takes out a member of the opposing gang. Who is an obese clown? No hyperbole there, the character is no obese clown on a motor. On a motorcycle.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

This is classic kind of cyber punk.

DR EMERALD KING

A sick yeah. And this this bike, this bikes worth it is a meme. It's showing up in everything. There's a version by Akira, which there's a version in Cyber. You can ride the bunk that you can download the bike in most versions of cyber.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

The video, the video game that was released with kind of read. Yeah, as the kind of slippery cameo, right?

DR EMERALD KING

No. And like I don't wanna mention ready Player 1 but it's. In Ready Player 1.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

It's really cold line. So yeah, it's a real touchstone.

DR EMERALD KING

Iconic and it's something that people keep on coming back to.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

DR EMERALD KING

So yeah, so how do I know the bike is 3 metres? Because all the stats have been publicised.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

DR EMERALD KING

DR CRAIG NORRIS

You. You did one hadn't had one.

DR EMERALD KING

I did. I will. I've done. I've done 3.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

OK, so you're playing as the character, and then you're in Nagoya. And then you drop the bombshell and the bike.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

So was the bike there?

DR EMERALD KING

No. So we we we had we each had two pieces of. Pitch. So Amy had.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Yep. So you your Qantas ticket and you say, OK, I will need Ohh buy 2 chow.

DR EMERALD KING

Gaol Gaol a sponsored sponsored by Gaol and Smash. Thank you very much.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Let's get those representing to thank you for that. Um, so, uh, you could get 2 and and and you're thinking it as a cosplay. You're not thinking as I'm going on holiday and I need clothes or is stuff you thinking?

DR EMERALD KING

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Okay to get all my cosplay in I'm gonna need. Yep, there's okay. So how did you justice this?

DR EMERALD KING

The first thing that we did is we emailed Mr Gel and asked for. More likely right cause.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

I mean, people do this right? They do surfing holidays, right?

DR CRAIG NORRIS

They need to. Get a surfboard over there.

DR EMERALD KING

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It needs to and and jealous. Been really gaol was really great immediately.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Did you say it was cosplay?

DR EMERALD KING

DR CRAIG NORRIS

I mean, did you?

DR EMERALD KING

Yeah. So, so gaol gaol sponsors it.

DR EMERALD KING

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Cause everyone of the sponsors but.

DR EMERALD KING

They wanted the sponsors, they they give out the the the big novelty check.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

But it's one thing to be a sponsor and it's another thing when you're on the phone talking with someone. At the other end thinking, do they know what cosplay is? Do they know what this object is?

DR EMERALD KING

DR CRAIG NORRIS

I'm describing you found it was.

DR EMERALD KING

Pretty, pretty invested. So last year it smashed last year before. No, it was last year because foolishly we went to the we, so we won in 2023. At Smash, we went to 2024 and judged our successes. Who are a great duo from Queensland and one of them is part of the Amuse idol group. But then. Guys, it's so we finished smash. I came back here to teach the first the first lecture of Semester 2, and then we got on a plane to go to Japan.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Ohh yeah, back to that. Live life richly. Don't do that to the mouth.

DR EMERALD KING

Ohh. But yeah, so we had we managed to get extra luggage gaol had this promotion where if you scan a QR code at Smash then you can. And get extra luggage that was targeting was targeting just people who were at Smash, who liked Japan really great promo.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Chanelle was targeting cosplays, right? Or. It. Right. I'm gonna. Yeah, cause I'm I need an extra suitcase to bring back all my merch from Japan.

DR EMERALD KING

Yeah, yeah, yeah, pretty much that.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

DR EMERALD KING

I mean, I think it's, I think it's definitely aimed at the people who go to Japan with NBC suitcases. Yeah. And then buy an extra suitcase because they shopped too much. I think Amy had all of her mundane clothes in her sister's luggage. She had a a box because we did so.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

DR EMERALD KING

We did the characters of of Canada and **** or and it we just did the the highlights were all, which was then they have two confrontations. So we did. The bikes were for fan service. Then we had we combined these two two confrontations.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

I still can't visualise. You've got the bike there.

DR EMERALD KING

I'm getting there, getting it ohh and then we finished off with the final mutation.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

So wow. So when titsu mediates that scene, why now?

DR EMERALD KING

He takes, yeah. Yeah. So Amy had three different arms, so there was the metal arm. There was a small mutant arm and then there was a giant mutant arm. That we put in a box to that had its own box.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Kidding. What material I mean was that like an inflatable material? Was it like? A school.

DR EMERALD KING

I inflatable. Is it really interesting?

DR CRAIG NORRIS

DR EMERALD KING

But it was it was a whole heap of pool noodles and all different fabrics, so we wanted it to be a really shiny for the stage and there are rules about Gore and about making a mess of the stage for other people who come on. And so we had lots of sequins and lycra and lots of of skin toned thing. Things then we went up to the Hobart Tip shop and got lots of.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

DR EMERALD KING

Hobart Tips are, you know it's coming. If I'm talking about cosplay, I'm talking about the hot tip shop. Um, lots of wires and we used washing machine hoses and then Amy alert. Electronics and circuiting and she actually programmed in little movable servers, so the skin actually crawled and moved and is absolutely disgusting.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

And I'm getting.

DR EMERALD KING

There's an amazing textile art. List um, who have on Instagram so I should be able to find her name, but she does these beautiful incredible kinetic dresses. Um. Her name is Lisa Jiang. Um, and she does these incredible like silk dresses, and then they all move and kind of mutate over the body, right? So we were really inspired by that because it is uncanny valley, these these beautiful garments and they just kind of quiver and move by themselves and. And yeah, stunning, but also really, really gross. So that was the arm.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

DR EMERALD KING

So that was Amy's luggage. My luggage I had, um, all of our event costumes. I had my Canada bike suit and then I had a a suitcase. That was just the rest of the stage props, so we had an Olympic throne because not only was the Paris Olympics happening at the same time, but Akira is set before the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Right. Yeah, it's a real Grand 0.

DR EMERALD KING

Yeah. And that's and that's the main reason. So this is the second time that we've done this kit. We didn't earlier version in 2019 and came second and 2019 was like it was just when Tokyo had been announced. So we knew that it was coming perfect. So yeah, we we predicted the covered pandemic with our Akira skit in mid 2019.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

See, that's an omen. You should.

DR EMERALD KING

We should done it. He in we we we close code.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Realising the forces you were tampering with. What if the line from Jurassic Park? You were so. Keen to see if you could. You never asked if you should.

DR EMERALD KING

We should, yeah.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Uh. Wow. Wow. So yeah, I mean again, it's it's remarkable to see it in person, but then the whole logistics in the background going up to it, there's a memo watching, reading on a Reddit post, which was, um, you know, it was this photo of justice before you go through security at an airport and it must have been some cosplay. I've read it and it's a photo of one of the bins and it was there were four fantastic looking samurai swords like in their scabbards that had just been put in the bin and the comment was something like, you know, the the point of last regret or something where where, you know, obviously in this case has a cost player you've you've packed cosplay equipment including. Toward that's for your cosplay. And then of course, you've hit a security checkpoint.

DR EMERALD KING

I mean that that used to be travelling between here and mainland. Cons for me must be horrible horror stories of.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Having to to to. Get rid of a cosplay object because the spirit is just said no.

DR EMERALD KING

So there's about 10 years of me going backwards and forwards, I've lost a.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

What have you lost?

DR EMERALD KING

Here, super Sailor Mars fire bow.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Ohh this is like a a bow an archery bow.

DR EMERALD KING

The everything you made it made out of cardboard and archery. Bow that looked like it was in flames. I only had what was the discussion there. Carry on.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Like you, you had it in your check in Lugano.

DR EMERALD KING

I only had. Only had carry on so on the way up I had had my my costume with a bag and then I had.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Can you grab rides? This is where it happened, carrying on.

DR EMERALD KING

The bow in pieces wrapped up in in birthday paper and it was fine going up.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

So this was from like Hobart.

DR EMERALD KING

Is it from Hobart to Melbourne?

DR CRAIG NORRIS

DR EMERALD KING

I flew up on a 6:00 AM flight to go to Melbourne mini Animania in 2009.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

DR EMERALD KING

We did a skit based on Doctor Who. Ohh wow, we won.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Best skit, and this is like a cross play Sailor Moon meets Doctor Who thing. No, no.

DR EMERALD KING

We had this theory that sailor Pluto, if she's a time guardian that makes her a time.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

DR EMERALD KING

DR CRAIG NORRIS

At and it's canonical.

DR EMERALD KING

So it was a yeah, it we we took the Time Lord mythos and we turned it into a a Sailor Moon law.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

That's fantastic.

DR EMERALD KING

When a price beer coming back, I had this bow um and.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Was it still in the birthday wrapping?

DR EMERALD KING

No, no by side.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Dropping that with friends, watching it for him.

DR EMERALD KING

The the rafting at the rapping had gone and I was walking through holding it and somebody's like, well, you've gotta check it because there's wire in it and I'm like, I'm not waiting with why I like supporting the structure, but everything was still there's no way that it could come out.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

And there was wire, right, it's kind of. And beautiful.

DR EMERALD KING

Um, this is back in the day. When you, if you, if you were going into Melbourne the you had like the real bottleneck of scanning before you got to the lounges. So I'm walking. Through and they're like, well, you've got to check it. It will be hundreds of dollars and I'm like I'm not. I'm not paying for checked luggage for a. Piece of cardboard.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Right. Yeah, cause you hadn't paid already. For tick luggage and.

DR EMERALD KING

DR CRAIG NORRIS

That's where they airport right then.

DR EMERALD KING

And so I'm like he, he like you, just put it in the bin. And I was. I was over it. Completely was like just put it in the bin.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Alright, yeah. You were. So it sounded. Like you were in a mentally healthy space though. You you could let go of it.

DR EMERALD KING

Ohh yeah, but like it's it's got to the point where I at that stage I had lost. I made an emerald dis gravity say about Captain Harlock gravity Sabah that never made it home.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Wow. So Captain Harlock M around us.

DR EMERALD KING

That that got that got binned cause it couldn't it? It looked like a gun. It looked like a sword gun, so that that didn't come home.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

DR EMERALD KING

But it was fine going up. What else have I lost?

DR CRAIG NORRIS

I mean, I mean and that would be like the first time would be devastating that kind of like all those hours sunk into creating this object. And this is the one that you had exhibited here at University of Tasmania in the library.

DR EMERALD KING

DR EMERALD KING

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

So Heather, I guess it did have a public performance and engagement. Yeah. Live.

DR EMERALD KING

Yeah, she, she. She lives on. If I was still the same sizes. True many, many years. Ago, like the costume, still completely wearable, it hasn't degraded in anyway shape or form. But yeah, I mean, at that stage I and I still do I make a lot of my props out of cardboard because particularly in the late 2000s, umm, before you could get thermoplastic down here before people had discovered close. Olivier. Eva foam and everybody started using that cardboard like I think my gravity Sabre was made out of pizza boxes.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Yeah. Yeah. And then it it presents strongly, right?

DR EMERALD KING

Yeah ohh this this thing was beautiful.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

DR EMERALD KING

Like I I can do a lot with cardboard and in fact um, there's actually been a bit of a resurgence in using cardboard for particularly in remote remote areas, remote areas away from Europe and North America, where it's much easier to get materials. So I'm a big. A big voice about using trash and recyclable things, yes. So you know we, we've we've made a costume out of 20 metres of Thai silk that came from the tip shop.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Yeah. Intention.

DR EMERALD KING

I'm talking about making props out of pizza boxes, and then you've got people like spicy Thai Senate from Widow workshop in New Zealand. So you will have seen his work in things like the Power Rangers movie and so love and Thunder and wow, you know, he an incredible guy. We just met. Hang out in Wellington as deadly little class players and then he got a job at Weta and he still was there 10. Later. Um. Yeah. So he's just recently rediscovered cardboard and and how you like the joy of taking a waste product and making it really cool. So he made a full U King of Angmar set of AMA from the Lord of the Rings, um out of material and cardboard, which is incredible. And he's taking it to events in like a basil and in Europe. Um and it's just cause order.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

And it's just come. There must be so inspiring to see. Do you come across these on YouTube? Are there easy exchanges of information or is this like you're part of a particular forum?

DR EMERALD KING

I mean, I spy. I mean, Santa just published his stuff on Instagram. He's got a fairly large following. He did message me the other day saying I'm gonna try out. TikTok. So he once he wants to grow his following, but you know, but he he guests around. He was at hollow map in the states at the end of last year. He is a regular guest at Fantasy Basil in Europe. Um, you know any? And he's a professional caused by our in the sense that he works at wetter and makes costumes. Yes, in New Zealand. So he said.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

That's her fascinating pathway of professionalisation.

DR EMERALD KING

Ohh yeah yeah yeah. And particularly in New Zealand, in Australia, we've never really had rules about Pro cosplay and what that means, but the competitions in New Zealand have always had a a prohibition on professional costumiers on people who work at wetter from entering those kind of of competitions which. I mean, when you're in Wellington it makes a lot of sense because you know there was one that you know that there there's a joke based from the original filming of the Lord of the Rings days that if you were over 6 foot and felt you would get kidnapped to become an elf extra.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Cause you I mean yes. So your background is you weren't in New Zealand at the University of.

DR EMERALD KING

Victoria University of Wellington. So I went over there. That was my first job when I finished my PhD at UTAS, there were three positions advertised in the entire world for Japanese. To specialist and Vicki, Unity wanted a Japanese literary person, so they took me. But I mean I I say this and I think I was having a conversation with our Phd's here at UTAS and how very the PhD path has become. So I have been in the game under the officially clocked into mid career. Craig, I'm officially mid career.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

DR EMERALD KING

Dead. But you know, I was only on the job market for six months, which nobody's nobody. Nobody's on only on the job market for six months. It's it's impossible. It's ridiculous and I know of other scholars who I think are the Japanese is much better or their native speakers, or their writing is so much better than mine. And you know, there's been on the market for years, but I just happened to have a very nice special day of Japanese that. And that was a joke and I got it. And I was in. I was in Wellington for five years. I came back here as a visiting scholar for a bit. Um got invited to events and conferences in Hong Kong at the Comics Museum, the. Yeah, but yeah, I was mostly just in Wellington at the time when they were finishing pickups for The Hobbit, which was really cool.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Yes. So that's because yes, it's it's a, it's a New Zealand is a space that you we have ideas of its media fantasy making environment. But you were there for a while. So yeah, it's. It provides a certain insight into what that cultural difference is between Australia and New Zealand. Cause in particular, I'd love to dig into this kind of want. The experience of cosplays from your perspective in Australia and New Zealand, given that I guess the the one of the reasons to bring you in is that you. You're about to head off to the Wellington cosplay photo festival in New Zealand, and as you're saying, there are differences between Australia New Zealand space.

DR EMERALD KING

I mean, I think one thing that particularly in angle Anglophone cosplay studies and I I I would like to call myself an expert in anglophone caused by studies both as somebody who does it and who, somebody, somebody who critiques it is that a lot of the time it's a very much a US English voice and there's an assumption that all cosplay is the same. But it's not. There are very much regional differ. Others. I was really surprised by how much of a difference there is between cosplay and Australia and cosplay and New Zealand. Even though we've had, we've we have a history of international competitions. So Armageddon before the Christchurch earthquake they used to run, they used to host events in Australia as well as in New Zealand. Now they only host events in New Zealand. Armageddon is arguably the biggest event in New Zealand. It started off as a training. Event and now it's a popular culture event for all things.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Yeah, looking there must be a lot of envy from the Australian side towards the cultural trajectory in New Zealand's on in terms of you know, I mean I guess in the popular imagination, Peter Jackson and Lord of the Rings since that, yes, cultural zeitgeist moment.

DR EMERALD KING

Yes and no, because you've got to think of all of the Marvel films they filmed.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Australia look they are, but they don't seem to have the. Same cultural parent.

DR EMERALD KING

Well, yeah, they they don't have the the flavour that Lord of the Rings and Zena have.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

I mean, Mad Max is kind and crocodile Dundee. If we thinking of Australian soft power that has a tangent to this.

DR EMERALD KING

No, I I I would argue that even now, Priscilla has has more.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Priscilla more totally I I put Priscilla in there as well.

DR EMERALD KING

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Yeah, you're exactly right. But again, the Marvel stuff and the same with the matrix stuff that was filmed.

DR EMERALD KING

Yeah, that was filmed.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Here at the Star Wars stuff.

DR EMERALD KING

Here it doesn't have the flavour, it's it's the equivalent of duping of using using Toronto to do.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

DR EMERALD KING

New York, right?

DR CRAIG NORRIS

It's one of the things about New Zealand Lord. Of the rings. That works as a fiscal.

DR EMERALD KING

It's and they capitalised on it and they still capitalise on it. Say goodbye too many years later.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Yeah. For, for, for ill and good.

DR EMERALD KING

DR CRAIG NORRIS

But it does mean yes, it does mean no for cosplay and the sense of a professional community as you're saying, it comes up in interesting ways.

DR EMERALD KING

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Whereas in Australia you you're saying that there's no, it's not like an Olympic space where you can't be a professional to be at the Olympics, right? That's that's one of the things, right?

DR EMERALD KING

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. So in in New Zealand.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

New Zealand distinction is.

DR EMERALD KING

There's that distinction has always been made. So I.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Is that it's that it is that difference?

DR EMERALD KING

I think I think, I think it is the, the, the, the presence of industry.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

I mean, as we're saying, there's no industry here, but it doesn't have that conversation with.

DR EMERALD KING

But it's only it's only really in Brisbane.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Founder. Doesn't.

DR EMERALD KING

Hmm, it's not as widespread. It's not as yeah, but.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Cause that's where the Marvel stuff is.

DR EMERALD KING

I think, Chris. Vegas Brisvegas brisney land. I I was expecting it to be. Much. Similar, and admittedly this is the, you know, this is a perspective that is now a decade out of date. But when I first went to New Zealand, I was struck by in Australia. We've always had a real performance culture and a real skit culture. That's not the same now because competitions have changed and they're only real performance. A competition that either country has is the world cosplay summit. There has been attempts to bring it back so so at the beginning of last year we had the first round of the ECG in Australia.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

The CCG was alright. Well, cosplay competition is the big Global 1, centred in Japan, right?

DR EMERALD KING

Big Global 1 centres in Japan, 40 nations. Yep.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

That's you got people from America, France.

DR EMERALD KING

And then ECG used to be the used to be the extreme cost.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

He CG stands for.

DR EMERALD KING

No, used to be the European cosplay gathering and then there are a bunch of us who annoyed since like the organiser in France.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Nothing cause again. Sounds. Euro.

DR EMERALD KING

Yeah, we were like, hey, Australia's and Eurovision, we can we be an ECG, can we can we and they did it for one year. So I got to help. Um, revise the rules for the Australian round and they got. To judge the. First Australian ECG round and then our team Australia went over and they came third.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Wow, that's big. Yeah.

DR EMERALD KING

Which was huge. They did so well and Speaking of of taking props overseas and travelling light, they they made their set from their giant nobody props from so they got the giant novelty novelty cheques and then they cut them up.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Ohh this weather is.

DR EMERALD KING

And made made their set out of their giant nobody cheques. Um, because there their life they made out of.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

So. What's that? Was this that they? Made me think so.

DR EMERALD KING

They they did a genshin impact fight scene set in a forest, and so they had an illustrated background with snow and fire and creepy trees. And then in the foreground they had some creepy trees.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Cause I guess yeah. Something for listeners to understand about these cosplay photo festivals. While this is not a photo festival, this is an actual tournament.

DR EMERALD KING

A skit competition? Yeah.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Is that it's more than dressing up. Yes, it's much more than.

DR EMERALD KING

So. A skit competition is 2 1/2 minutes to three minutes in UM. You're more Europe and Anglophone countries in China and Taiwan and Hong Kong, it's a little bit different and there's been some really interesting work on that. But for countries who have been influenced by things like the world Cosplay summit, a skit competition is 2 1/2 to three minute. This um with a props and their varying rules for the props. So what cosplay summit states that you can have three large set pieces weighing no more than 10 kilos, 2 metres and 10 centimetres by two metres and 10 centimetres by a metre?

DR CRAIG NORRIS

And those restrictions are good, right?

DR EMERALD KING

Those restrictions are.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

I mean, everybody stop.

DR EMERALD KING

There's there's a reason for the rules, and one thing I really enjoy doing is reading through different cosplay event rules and going like, hmm, I wonder who did a dumb thing. Why is that role there?

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Ohh what are some dumb things that you've?

DR EMERALD KING

I'll come. I'll come back to that cause I really wanna get a what a cosplay skit is. So you have you you have your three props, you're allowed to have as many hand held props as you can. And then in addition to making you know, beautiful Costa. Mums, often with quick changes or weapons or fight choreography, you'll have a voice over and you'll have a fully animated backing video and then in the case of Odd Cosplay summit they brought in in 2021 that all of your audio has to be royalty free, which means that you either need to find royalty free sound effects and music, or you need to have somebody like my cosplay partner Amy, who is a musician and she made she scored. Umm Akira, sounding like music inspired by Akira so that we could actually have that kind of gamelan.

DR EMERALD KING

Throw that that, that iconic Akira music without having the iconic Akira music.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Gee. Yeah, cause that really ups the created stakes in terms of if you can't just do that heavy leaning on, you know, here's the John Williams score from Star Wars because playing is a Stormtrooper.

DR EMERALD KING

Yeah. Yeah. So if. Yeah.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Done. Instead, you've got to. Do something within the realms of avoiding copyright. But evoke. Yep, that to be adjacent to.

DR EMERALD KING

So, so the motor, the modern competition caused player. If I think of somebody like, um, then Priya and Vai, who represented us at ECG and came third, they had. Machine embroidery that they digitise. Used, programmed and then spent hundreds of hours and thousands of metres of thread in broad like using their like programme. They programming their machines to embroider. They had 3D printed props, which is again C ID and then printing the prop and then putting it together and then sanding off print lines and then finishing it. So it looked like metal. They also had leather work. Then Priya learnt how to cobble shoes. So your modern day Cos player is somebody who is doing computer assisted design. They are fabricating things out of 3D printing. They are using embroidery machines. They are doing weak work. The current trend in weeks is to make a week from scratch.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

It's really remarkable.

DR EMERALD KING

It's insane and that. And now, yeah, the latest thing that people are learning is wigs from scratch and shoemaking.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

And this is because you can't really. Get store bought for what you want.

DR EMERALD KING

It started off with. You can't really get store bought and then your technical competitions. Um usually have a baseline of 80% made by.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

The wearer right? Also, within the rules there are requirements.

DR EMERALD KING

This is always. It's also within the rules, and then that goes up to something like like 90% made by the way, where in something like C2E2, which is the crown.

DR EMERALD KING

Central Crown Cosplay Championships and takes place at Chicago. I think that's all the seas and the ease, but anyway, but that so world Class Place Summit says that it's the biggest. Competition in the world because it has the most countries. C2E2 says that it's the biggest competition in the world because. It has the most precise.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Ohh well, you know you're in a right competition environment where there are two vying entities, right?

DR EMERALD KING

DR CRAIG NORRIS

I mean that says it's hot, but it's.

DR EMERALD KING

But if we're talking about ingenuity and and the development that's happening, the winner of C2 E Do last year. Is a guy from England. What is your name? I wanna call it cause he he he like me uses his actual name for cosplay right? Um.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

That's a decision.

DR EMERALD KING

Which? Yeah, which is a decision that we that we make. I throwed him recently so I should be able to.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Find him. Because many people would start this journey as a fan and with maybe a forum identity that's a avatar and a pseudonym.

DR EMERALD KING

And yeah, definitely in the in the 90s when we were going online, there was normally known you were using your actual name online. In um.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Well, it's always a space that's already got nearly both feet in the fictional.

DR EMERALD KING

Yeah. Ohh, we are we going back there, Craig? Alright, I can't ohh pop that I was on a podcast. I was on a podcast. Just after him, there we go. Um. Cosplay Crunch podcast. Come on, savage, save me. Um. Anyway, this guy one with because you learnt how to electroplate phone.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

We'll put something in show notes. So you've got foam and you're putting metal finish on top of it.

DR EMERALD KING

He was gold plating fun.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

DR EMERALD KING

DR CRAIG NORRIS

How do you get to bond?

DR EMERALD KING

Nobody has done exactly.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

I am no chemist, but I imagine there's a bonding problem.

DR EMERALD KING

Matthew Matthew Barry is his. Name and I wanna call him Barry. Say. But that was just his surname. Yeah, he developed a process for electroplating phone.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Wow. So we're talking Oppenheimer level kind of.

DR EMERALD KING

So we're talking like we're talking cutting edge science being used in. This. Bobby.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Yeah, because, yeah. So the the the story will be told down through the ages of Gee. How did we get this metal on the phone? And it's like well.

DR EMERALD KING

And it all comes down to this. And there's this really interesting fan archival work happening because we can trace it back to the reason that everybody makes their AMA in a certain way is because of 1 tutorial that was put up in the night.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Mother, what is it? Ingenuity. Rights.

DR EMERALD KING

Cheese and everybody does it that way because that was like, so there are these rule.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

DR EMERALD KING

Um, Al Qaida work. It's cause everything in close play like a lot of fandom areas is so ephemeral. If we think of the sites that were up in the early 2000s, like Angel Fire is gone, so you know, nobody's keeping a record of this stuff. There's cosplay and America set out. He was a photographer and he's published self published 3 volumes of caused life photography and he's been achieving a lot of this stuff on Instagram with showing um photos taken on film cameras from the early 2000s and. Yeah, but there's very few people doing this archival work.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

And that matters because you know, in, in, in years to come, decades to come in terms of how these past moments get referred to or have a bearing on the present. If there's no tangible. Lived experience. That's documented, they can just can't get forgotten.

DR EMERALD KING

DR CRAIG NORRIS

DR EMERALD KING

Just and and we've we've seen this in some places, so up until the pandemic, it got really popular to give out cosplay business cards or cost.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

DR EMERALD KING

So like you have like your, you're like a a cosplay photo on one side and then your information on the other side and you'd go around and you give them out at conventions to kind of like if you had your photo taken by somebody, you'd give them your card so that they could find you again.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

DR EMERALD KING

And vice versa, if you were guesting and you didn't have much, it was. A really easy thing to do about.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Which is very old fashioned, right?

DR EMERALD KING

Yeah, like this kind of.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Very kind of three mobile phone.

DR EMERALD KING

Yeah, business card. Thing that got completely forgotten. Um, you know the late twenty 10s and it's slowly making a resurgence.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

So how do people know who they've? Met about these cards.

DR EMERALD KING

I I maybe there's instant tick tock follows. I don't know.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

It is such a crisis I find in some ways, when you have so many advantages of a digital landscape, but websites disappear still, right?

DR EMERALD KING

Websites disappeared, yeah.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

And and if you've got it into some proprietary website provider, that proprietary website provider can also fool. Yeah. And it's it's it's um, I.

DR EMERALD KING

Yeah, you can go and then and then if we're talking about cosplay that you know cosplay's take up space, I'm very lucky that I have a partner.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

I mean, I've forgotten.

DR EMERALD KING

Who he before I came back back home from New Zealand, he. Me and my dad, Doc dock out. Ohh underneath our house so I literally have a home in how a Hobbit hole.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Like a bomb shelter. Vibe. Or ohh several holds much.

DR EMERALD KING

Of a hole, as much you know.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Then sponge shoulder.

DR EMERALD KING

They're there. There are chandeliers in there and bookcases and nice nice polished floating wood floors.

DR EMERALD KING

It's quite nice, dear. So they made a room for me to to keep a lot of my stuff. And then there's stuff up at my parents as well. So I'm really fortunate that I'm in a place where I can store.

DR EMERALD KING

Nearly 20 years worth of costumes, but a lot of people you know if you think. Because players started off the 1213 years old, if they move out of home, they're not going to be able to take that stuff with them. Their first costumes are probably going to be either bought from Taobao or very poorly may they're not going to make with stand anything. And and then you know, if you're say you're living in Melbourne at the moment and you're needing to move house every single year because you're renting and like, there's cosplay is the first thing to go.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Yeah, it's interesting. There's a certain practicality. Yeah, that confronts the again, the wonderful head of engagement in bringing the fictional into the real. Yet sometimes that real can also be the.

DR EMERALD KING

That there there's a there's real consideration. So we're talking about imagined worlds and fantasy identities, and you know, one thing that I Rage Against in cosplay studies is the assumption that all costs players are doing this to escape reality. Because the reality is so very present in everything that a coldplayer does.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Yeah. Look, I mean, I I'm always reminded about. Yeah, there was one many years back forestry campaign here in Tasmania that I was told about where they were using um the the the Ghost figures from Mononoke Hime the. Not the.

DR EMERALD KING

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Yep. Anyway, you know, these real politicisation of fictional characters. So yeah, politics and and costume.

DR EMERALD KING

Everything is political. Yeah, every single thing is political. You know, if we're talking about Cosby photo festivals, so we have the first one starting off, been around 2018-2019, there's 2 events in Europe. We have pixel manner in Poland and it will Volta in Italy I believe. And then we have a bunch of Australians to go along to that and a bunch of new. Zealanders.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

DR EMERALD KING

In Italy. So they went to the Poland event in Poland. See, it's a pixel mania starts off in Poland and Italy with Pixmania in Poland, and it'll Volta in Italy. It'll Volta is great because it's like these four, like tiny mediaeval towns that come together and they're just like you pay us €20, you get bored, you get these castles to run around in, go take photos.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

DR EMERALD KING

It's incredible, but yeah, we had a bunch of Australian signals that event, we get a bunch of New Zealanders to go up to that event, including importantly little noise photography.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

DR EMERALD KING

She comes back and she's like, I could do this in Wellington and that's how the Wellington photo fest starts.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Wow. See. OK. So yes, okay. So bring it back to the Wellington photo fest. It's very significant if we're talking about archiving. I mean, as someone from the outside, it seems like these photo festivals are also documenting moments in time.

DR EMERALD KING

DR CRAIG NORRIS

And um, you know, the the costume as well as the locations that are there. So take us through what the Wellington constantly photo festival entails. There's. Is there competition or is it just his locations on a map and we can help facilitate locations?

DR EMERALD KING

Pretty yeah, pretty much it's it's a, it's. So it's two days of official of official shooting time but.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

Yes, let's unpack that up.

DR EMERALD KING

Yeah, official shooting time is when the event takes place, usually in around white hanky dairy white, tangy day weekend.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

What does official shooting time?

DR EMERALD KING

And of course, this is a tangy. My with all of the politicisation of territori of White Tanya is going to be very big. Um, but it's.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

And for people that don't know this, this is, you know, obviously we've just come from Australia Day invasion day.

DR EMERALD KING

DR CRAIG NORRIS

DR EMERALD KING

DR CRAIG NORRIS

This this, this does this. Does this speak to a same political tension?

DR EMERALD KING

So to to we teach treaty. Has been held up and politicised as the model for treaty outside of new. And inside of New Zealand it was a document that had a Maui, a rail translation and an English translation. Um, the Ely, the cheat, the Maori chiefs signed the Mahdi version. The British dignitaries signed both the English version and the Mahdi version, and they were both chucked in a draw for about 10 years and ignored until they could be, like rolled out and used to make laws. That were useful for the white colonisers. But what is in the principles of this Treaty is ownership thing and governance for the Maori people and an agreement between Ellie and their representatives and the Crown. So it goes above New Zealand parliament. It goes above the British Parliament and it's an agreement between equals. It's an agreement between chiefs and what the, as I understand it, the current movement that is meant to make it fairer, according to a bunch of. A bunch of what? **** hair Suit Bros um. Because it's it's unfair to the white people.

DR CRAIG NORRIS

So we have this very political moment. Yep. And there's gonna be cosplay.

Transcript continued here:

Recent Posts

Cosplay, Culture, and Media: A Chat with Dr Emerald King

Comments

bottom of page