With the likes of NFCC which is now running twice yearly at the Metro radio arena and smaller conventions happening throughout the year.
Comic book and film conventions have been around since its first inception in the 1960s in New York it wasn’t till the 1980s where fans would dress up as their favourite characters and cosplay typically of the sci-fi variety (then called costuming) was born.
So have you ever thought of donning your batman cape or perhaps making your own costume of you favourite character and getting yourself along to a convention?
It all started for me when I saw iron man all I wanted was to have my own iron man helmet but I could not find one anywhere so I searched the internet and looked into making my own, I was surprised to find a whole community of people who also had an interest in making film props and documented their builds on a forum called the RPF. This is where I learned how to make my first prop. Fast forward to 2014 and NFCC my first ever convention, i’ve heard of them in the likes of America and wanted to see what it was like, there was hundreds of people all dressed up from my favourite films and tv shows I was amazed.
“What should I expect at a convention?” Well a convention is a place to browse anything from comics, computer games to figures there are a lot of stalls to look at and buy from. There are a selection of celebrities to get an autograph from and have a chat with or even a picture with for a fee. Also a lot of people in costume to get photos with, cosplay competitions and talks on various subjects that you can watch and get involved with.
“Do I need to make my own costume?” You don’t have to go in costume if you don’t want to, but you can if you want to give it a go, you can also hire them or alternatively get a costume/prop maker to commission one, that’s where people like me come in, since attending conventions in costumes I made myself a lot of people ask me if I can make either props of costumes for them of course I happily oblige. I make about 3 to 4 props a month over here at mutant props from swords to spider man suits and I enjoy the whole process of it, making something out nothing using any materials I can find you really have to think and problem solve to get your desired item.
If you would like any information on costumes or props head over to my Facebook page: www.facebook.com/mutantprops
Interested in attending a convention?
NFCC at metro radio arena is a excellent place to start they are on in March and November, a larger section of dates will be on the Consett Magazine website.
