Eligibility:
All participants must be registered members of RustyCon and be in good standing.
Participants must agree to read and follow all RustyCon Masquerade rules and regulations.
How to Enter:
Participants may or pick up an entry form at the convention, from the masquerade director, or from the information desk.
Entries must be turned back in directly to masquerade director, at the convention, or left at the information desk. All entries must be to the masquerade director no later than 3pm Saturday… NO EXCEPTIONS!!
General
Information:
RustyCon is a family friendly event. Content will not go beyond PG-13.
No Offensive language of any kind will be tolerated.
NO NUDITY – real or implied. All costumes must meet Rustycon’s dress code policy.
For Safety reasons the following are not allowed:
No Pyrotechnics or projectiles of any kind.
No live animals except service animals are permitted.
No messy substances- wet, dry, or oily- that may damage another participant’s costume or hotel space including the stage.
No jumping on or off the stage. Use the official stage entrances and exits.
All costumes with electric power need to be self-contained. There will be no access to electrical outlets on stage.
All special effects (ex. strobe lights, fog, etc.) must be approved by the Masquerade director prior to the masquerade. The Masquerade director has the right to deny requests due to safety concerns or building regulations.
Surprise the audience, not the Masquerade staff. If you are planning something completely different, let us know well in advance. All information will be held in the strictest confidence.
Attendance at the pre-masquerade meeting during the convention is mandatory.
Purchased or rented costumes, or costumes that have won Best in Show or Best in Class awards in a world con or a costume con may not be judged for workmanship, but may be entered for stage presentation.
All costumes must be finished prior to the masquerade meeting and judging. Final assembly of large costumes and props and or unexpected, emergency repairs will be allowed.
No costume that has been judged in a prior year for workmanship may be judged again without a significant change. Only the new change to the costume will be judged.
Entrants are presumed to be adults, or under the supervision of one. All judge’s decisions are final. Small children must be under the control of a responsible adult at all times.
Costumes can be no longer than twelve feet, no taller than ten feet, and no wider than six feet.
No live microphones are provided for contestants.
No flash photography is permitted while contestants are on stage or in the backstage area. A designated photo area will be provided for contestant photos after the costume contest.
The Masquerade Director has the right to eliminate any entry from the competition on the basis of taste, danger to the audience, building or you. Violation of any of the above rules, or any other reason deemed sufficient. There will be no appeal.
Every presentation should have a soundtrack; it makes it easier for you to rehearse and time your presentation, adds impact, and focuses the audience’s attention. It can be music, sound effects or something you record yourself such as dialogue. If you don’t provide a soundtrack, we’ll play some generic music.
Our Master of Ceremonies can also read out a script or other text which you can give to us when you register for the Masquerade. We won’t be able to let you speak on stage, so pre-record your words and practice them or give them to the MC to read. Please have it typed or printed clearly in a BIG font so it can easily be read in low light. Without an introduction, the MC will announce only your entry number, division and title at the beginning of your presentation. After your presentation is complete he will read your credits.
In addition to your presentation sound, if you have chosen a piece of music from a CD or music file, please bring the original CD or file with you, we may be able to use it. Please write the track number legibly on the original CD. We will only be able to cue a CD or file to the beginning of a particular track (there is not enough time during the Masquerade to cue within a track). If this is the case for your music, please record it to a separate medium ahead of time.
Turn in your music at either of the mandatory Masquerade Meetings (times to be published in the spring of 2017). We will make every attempt to return your media to you after the Masquerade.
We can accept the following:
Standard audio CD
CD-R (create as a standard audio CD, burn only 1 track, make 2 copies) (preferred)
USB stick
SD card (Secure Digital)
Divisions:
To ensure that Entrants with limited experience do not compete with those Entrants with more experience, skill divisions have been established as such.
Young Fan: Costumers 12 and younger. This is our children’s masquerade. All young participants must have adult supervision.
Novice: Costumers with little to no experience, first time performers and/or have only been on stage a few times, and anyone who has never won an award in a costume contest.
Apprentice: Costumers with some costume making and/or stage experience, have entered costume contests before and may or may not have received an award, but have not progressed to the next skill division.
Journeyman: Costumers with significant costume and/or stage experience. A winner of two “Best of Novice” awards competes as a Journeyman. Anyone winning “Best of Show” at a smaller convention should compete as a Journeyman at Rustycon.
Master/ Pro: Skilled costumers with extensive experience, several awards, professional actors or persons who make their living making clothing or costumes compete as a Master/ Pro. If you have won “Best of Journeyman” twice, you should compete as a Master/ Pro.
Judging:
There are two main areas of the masquerade, Costume judging (or workmanship) and Stage Competition. All entrants will have a stage presentation, either walk-on or skit. Presentations are limited to one minute. For the Stage Competition, costumers will be judged on the effect of their costume as well as their stage presentation. For the Workmanship Competition, costumers will be judged on their skill in the construction of their costume. If you are recreating another costume from another source (anime, book covers, movie chars, etc.) please bring a copy picture of the source image. Workmanship judging is optional, and will be done before the stage competition.