Avatar cosplay at the Supanova pop-culture convention: a report

[ISV Venture Star]

Anyone reading the thread I started in the cosplay subforum will be aware that I was working on an Avatar costume for a big sci-fi/pop-culture/cosplay expo called Supanova. This expo takes place in Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney and Perth- Brisbane is one of the biggest, with around 20,000 people visiting over a three day period from Friday through Sunday. This year I was one of them! Having never been to one of these events before I had no idea what to expect. It proved to be (as you would imagine) a very enjoyable way to indulge in escapist fun and a great way to meet excitable, geeky people in elaborate costumes- as well as a few of the actual people from the films and TV shows that generate so much fan activity.

So, I was working on an Avatar costume. How did it go? In truth... I wasn't satisfied with it. OK at a distance, not so great close up. Got a lot of positive feedback on it though. Here's one of the better pics:



Here's a pic that reveals the close up flaws:
Avatar creature, Supanova 2011 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Here's an video that gives a good overview of the event but an unflatteringly close up view of the prosthetic. Meant to say fìtsenge lu awngeyä but messed up the pronunciation a bit... was really tired at that point.

I'm confident that it can be improved upon for next time though. On Saturday and Sunday those in costume got to go up on stage for the costume competition This was immediately preceded by several hours queued up in a non air-conditioned basement- a real test for those of us in more complex costumes. I came on after a nice girl in a Yoshi get-up.

YouTube - Supanova Brisbane 2011 - Cosplay Skit/Competition Part 5

What I meant to say (but my nerves mangled it a bit): tsun tivok oe ayngahu Supanovati a fì'u prrte' le oeru nìtxan. Eywa ayngahu.
I was planning to do a whole skit with video about being a member of the Avatar program assigned by Dr. Augustine to teach the audience (as fellow RDA employees) to recognize a few important Na'vi phrases like 'rä'ä ska'änga fayut!' and 'pxiset zene hivum nga' in order to avoid any incidents... but in the end the costume took so long I didn't have time to work on it I would have put in an out of character bit at the end about the plight of the Xingu river people as well. Ah well, maybe next time...


So, the actors! I got to talk to Dileep Rao (Max Patel) and got his signature and had a photo taken with him! He's a really great guy! Asked him if they'd filmed any part of his slashcutter bit for the deleted 'The Avatars Attack' scene, and he said no. He also said that JC was going to work a lot of the deleted scenes into the plot of the next film. Did consider getting a photo taken with Dileep giving the finger to the camera.

Other non Avatar related things included: getting Katee Sackhoff's signature (Starbuck in BSG), and playing a special preview version of Duke Nukem Forever.

Shout out to all my fellow Supanova cosplayers out there, whatever you were wearing; you're amazing crazy people and your efforts put mine to shame. I saw so many awesome things that providing a highlights list would be way too exclusive. If you want to see some photos of the costumes check the list on the first post of this thread.

[Fighter-of-Wars]

Epic.

Good job on your costume and if given the time I'm sure it would of been perfect.

[Human No More]

Honestly, it looks quite well done to me, especially with actually having the prosthetic, although I guess the person who does it themselves is always going to be more critical.

Glad you had fun though

[Pa'li Makto]

You had a lot of courage to get up there tsmukan. I hope you go back next year and have an even better time!

[ISV Venture Star]

Won't have to be next year- they're doing another full size event in November, complete with Christopher Lloyd! They're also starting a new Gold Coast Supanova from April.

Supanova EXPLODES in 2012! | Supanova Pop Culture Expo

[Pa'li Makto]

Ohhh woah!! That's brilliant news!! Next time lucky with the scit and cosplay aye.