TORCON 3 MASQUERADE NEWSLETTER

All Masquerade entries must preregister, either by mail or at the convention.

Mailed-in entry forms must be post-marked by July 20, 2003. Contestants must check in at the Masquerade desk at the convention by 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 30th, 2003. Contestants attending on Sunday day-passes see information below.

Registration at the convention will take place Friday, August 29th, from 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., and on Saturday, August 30th, from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Late entry forms, submitted after August 30th at 1:00 p.m., will not be accepted.

Original Contestant Signatures are Required
Masquerade entry forms must be signed by all contestants. Entry forms will not be accepted by e-mail or fax. If some members of your entry will not be at the convention until Sunday August 31st, they can go to the Masquerade desk between 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., where the original Masquerade entry forms will be available for their signatures.

Masquerade Contestants Using Sunday Day Passes
Contestants attending the convention on Sunday day passes may mail in their signed entry forms by July 20, 2003, or drop off their entry forms at the Masquerade desk by 1:00 p.m. on Saturday August 30th. If you are not attending the convention until Sunday and have mailed in your Masquerade registration, or you are having a friend drop off your entry form, you must provide a phone number where you can be reached on Saturday. We need to confirm your entry information and advise you of your Sunday rehearsal time if necessary.

Presentation Time Limits
Any entry of one to four contestants will be allowed a maximum of one minute (60 seconds) on stage. Entries with five or more contestants will be allowed 1.5 minutes (90 seconds). Any additional time extensions must be approved by the Masquerade Director, and will only be granted for very good reasons. Any set-up time required for your entry is not counted in your allotted presentation time. It is also important to note that you do not need to use all of your allotted time.

Introductions, Music and Sound
The MC for the 2003 Worldcon Masquerade is Mr. Gordon Rose. If you have any special introduction for the MC to read, please have it typed or printed clearly so he can easily read it. If you do not supply 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 announce your credits.

There will not be any microphones provided for the contestants. No microphones will be allowed onstage, nor may any contestant directly address the audience. If you have narration or dialogue included with your presentation it must be recorded on a tape or CD.

If you have an introduction, music or sound effects to accompany your presentation, record it on a standard cassette tape or CD. It is strongly advised that you bring two copies of your tape or CD in case of any problems encountered with the original. Make sure you label the tape with your name, costume title, and the correct side to be played. For a CD write the track number to be played legibly on the CD.

If the sound runs longer than your presentation (e.g., a commercial CD) or must be cut on cue, please be very specific as to when to cut. The usual cue is to fade the sound as the entrant leaves the stage. It is best, when you want the sound to end at a specific point on a CD, to record the material you want onto a recordable medium such a cassette, or self-burned CD.

Do not submit valuable or rare original CDs or cassette tapes. Copy on to a standard cassette tape or self-burned CD.

Submit one copy of your CD or cassette tape to Masquerade registration by Friday at 9:00 p.m. Bring the other copy to Masquerade technical rehearsal, and backstage with you on the night of the Masquerade. If there are any problems with your original copy it should show up at the rehearsal, but it is always best to have a back-up copy with you during the Masquerade.

Stage and Rehearsals
At this time we do not know if the preferred entrance will be from the left or right. There will not be any center front entrance or exit, and there will not be a runway. Additional information, such as stage dimensions, will be provided as it becomes available.

Technical rehearsals are planned for Sunday. This rehearsal is not for the contestants to perfect their entry, it is for the technical and backstage crew to see what you will be doing on stage. Please rehearse your presentation in advance of the convention.

Junior contestants will present first. Other entries which include children may request to go on next if they do so at the time of registration. If there are any special circumstances that would affect your place in line (such as running a bid party), please discuss them with the Masquerade Director when you checkin at the convention. The Masquerade Director will attempt to comply with your requests, but cannot guarantee placement.

Size Limits for Masquerade Costumes
Due to the layout of the convention centre, and the availability of large rooms, the masquerade green room will be located on the lower level of the centre, while the main room is located on the second floor. Access to the stage area and back to the green room will be by two large freight elevators.

We request that you construct your costume and props so that they can fit through the doors to the green room and onto the freight elevator.

The door from the green room to the corridor leading to the freight elevator is: height 9 feet 6 inches, and width 5 feet.

The freight elevators are: door size - height 9 feet, and width 11 feet 6 inches. The interior size of the elevators is 11 feet 6 inches X 13 feet 6 inches.

Please construct your costumes accordingly.

Photography and Video Taping
Christine Mak will be in charge of our fan photo area. There will be three areas: available light, video taping and flash photos. You must contact Christine in advance of the convention to reserve space in the fan photo area. There may be a limited number of spaces available at the convention, but only if they are not all booked in advance.

Contact Christine at email:
pxlbarrel@rogers.com,

or write to her
c/o Barb Schofield,
Box 784, Adelaide St PO,
Toronto, ON Canada M5C 2K1

We will be selling photos of the contestants, digital photos on disk of the contestants, and video tapes of the masquerade. Further details will be provided when they become available.

Junior Division (formerly the Young Fan Division)
Any contestant under 13 years of age at the time of this competition may compete in the Junior Division. The Junior Division is divided into two sub-divisions:

• Junior Self-Made: A Junior contestant who has largely or wholly constructed his/her own costume.
• Junior Adult-Made: A Junior contestant whose costume has been largely or wholly constructed by an adult.

Novice Division
A contestant who has not won a major award at a Worldcon or a CostumeCon Masquerade other than as a Junior costumer. An Honorable Mention or Honored for Excellence need not apply to this count.

Journeyman Division
A contestant who has won fewer than three awards at Worldcons or CostumeCons while competing in the Journeyman Division.

Master Division
A contestant who has won more than three times in the Journeyman Division at Worldcons or CostumeCons, or is a professional in a costume-related business. For the purpose of this competition, a professional is defined as making 50% or more of their income in the costuming business.

Out-Of-Competition Division
The Masquerade is an amateur competition. Purchased or rented costumes may not be entered in competition for awards, but may be shown on stage in the Out-Of-Competition Division. Costumes made for business purposes, theatrical and professional events are not eligible for awards but also may be shown in this Division. In addition, anyone who wants to show their costume in this Division may do so.

Workmanship Judging
Judging for Workmanship Awards will take place backstage prior to the start of the Masquerade. These awards, for excellence in construction, will be given out in addition to the Masquerade awards. You can be judged on your costume or only on a specific piece or prop. Workmanship judging is optional, so please indicate on your entry form if you wish to be included in this judging. Workmanship applies to entries in any of the Divisions, except the Out-of-Competition Division. Quality is quality, no matter the Division, and a beautiful job deserves recognition. Our Workmanship Judge(s) will look for technical skill, finishing, fit, handling of fabric and materials, etc.

Re-Creation Costumes
Re-creation costumes will be judged in the above Divisions with the original costume entries according to the skill and experience of the costumer. Re-creation costumes are costumes copied directly from a live-action or animated motion picture, a television program, a stage presentation, a comic book or strip, or any form of artwork, including book covers. Judges will consider the accuracy of the reproduction, and contestants entering re-creation costumes are advised to provide documentation for the Judges to look at.

Documentation
Documentation can include any pictorial representation of your costume. Provide copies only; do not bring originals. It is strongly recommended that you provide documentation for re-creation costume entries. Documentation can also be provided for original Masquerade entries if you think it will enhance the Judges' appreciation of your costume. If you are entering your costume for workmanship judging, bring two copies of your documentation.

Notes:

1. Worldcon Masquerades do not have an Artisan Division as this was designed for use at regional Masquerades. Contestants who usually enter at the Artisan level should read the above guidelines to determine where they should compete at the Worldcon level. Please contact us if you have any questions.

2. A contestant may always compete in a Division higher than the one they are eligible to enter. Keep in mind that if the contestant wins in this higher Division, they may not return to their old Division in subsequent competitions.

3. Costumes previously entered at CostumeCons, including winning entries, are welcome to compete in the 2003 Worldcon Masquerade.

Masquerade Rules

1. No open flame, fire, flash powder or flash paper is allowed. Sealed electronic flashes are permitted. If you are using a strobe effect please note it on your form so the MC may warn the audience. No pointing of laser pens at the audience or tech crew.

2. No messy substances on stage. If in doubt, ask the Masquerade Directors. The stage must be in as good a condition when you leave as when you enter. If you are leaving something on stage, it must be able to be easily picked up by the stage crew, or bring your own ninjas (helpers).

3. No flagrant nudity. This Masquerade is rated PG-13. There will be children in the audience.

4. The weapons policy of the convention must be followed. Please transport your weapons to and from the Masquerade in a bag or closed container if they do not conform to the convention weapons policy. While weapons will be allowed on stage, they must be checked by our Weapons Master first. All weapons must be sheathed before leaving the stage. No real firearms and no projectile weapons are allowed. If your costume requires a bow, it must be unstrung when you are not on stage.

5. Each person may present only once during the Masquerade. While any individual may compete as many costumes as they like, they can only wear one of them. The others must be on other bodies.

6. Contestants must report to the Masquerade Green Room on time. Report times will be supplied at the convention. Failure to appear or to be ready to go on stage may result in disqualification. Note that Acts of God may, to an extent, mitigate this.

7. The Masquerade Directors reserve the right to eliminate anyone from competition on the basis of taste, danger to the audience or other contestants, or for any other reason deemed sufficient.

8. The Judges may choose not to give a Best-Of-Show Award, a Best-of-Division Award, or may not give out any awards in a division if they do not feel any costumes entered in that division are deserving of an award. The decisions of the Judges are final.