Performance Critique: ACC 2018 Single Performance

While it's still fresh in my mind, I would like to critique my own single performance from Day 1 of the previous event. Ash has noted some of the flaws, and I'm here to flesh them out further. What really helps to do this is a video recording of my performance; I was going to initiate this myself, but the call to perform was so sudden that I couldn't request a friend to record. Fortunately, a fellow cosplayer, competition participant, and friend took the initiative to record the performance, though he was also caught off guard with the performance announcement and missed the first few moments. Much of the rest of the performance is intact, however, and open for criticism.

First, because of the rush to perform, I had completely forgotten that I still had my event pass hanging on me, which I should have stowed away prior to the performance. I realized this within a couple of moments when my performance began; I tried my hardest to ignore it, but it still interfered slightly with the opening moments. Perhaps the fall at the beginning of the performance lost some naturalness as well.

Note the hanging pass.

Another thing that possibly detracted from the performance was the fact that I kept messing around with my cap, mostly during the latter part of the performance. I also missed the cue to turn the cap around before the "defense". In a perfect world, the cap would stay on as needed, but this isn't one. Next time, maybe I should let the cap lie where it may, but still find appropriate moments to put it back on.

I kept futzing with my cap.

A big thing with this performance is that Pikachu has to move about for the "turning point". However, my Pikachu isn't actually motile - it's a doll, and therefore inanimate. Another friend suggested that this performance is best accompanied with a background video, but alas, this particular competition didn't warrant the use of one. I could also enlist the help of a "black man" (stage hand dressed in black) to move Pikachu, but then this wouldn't be a single performance. I thought I still had to move Pikachu around and I tried to do it in the most subtle way possible.

If only Pikachu could move...

For all the flaws in the performance, there were a few things that seemed to go right. Pikachu did land on the floor after the throw in the right orientation (though on the opposite side) for the next part. And then for the final flourish, my Poké Ball pose seemed perfectly timed. But in the end they couldn't save my performance.

One of the things that went right.

By the way, these images are all frames from the video of the performance that my friend so graciously recorded. Eventually, I'd like to post the entire video on YouTube in a complementary channel for this blog, but that will have to wait. This would also open up the performance for wider and deeper critique than what I have posed here. In any case, I'd like to have as many recordings of my performances as possible so that I'm able to analyze and critique on them myself... and let others do the same, especially for further ones to come. I stand to appreciate both cosplay and Pokémon more in this way.

One year ago: Keychains!