TECHNICAL

Essential Timeline of a Masquerade

The basic sequence of events for a Masquerade proceeds something like this (dramatically simplified).

Well Before the Event

• Event is planned and announced (date, time, and location)
• Rules are announced
• Judges are selected
• Technical requirements are submitted to the hosting event and announced (if possible)

Entry signups may begin

• Shortly before the event (same or previous day)
• Entry signups continue and then close
• Rehearsals, if any, take place
• Run order of the entries is determined

The show itself

• Entries assemble
• Entries are put in order
• Final review of entry requirements (script, etc.)
• Backstage workmanship judging takes place
• Audience is seated for the show
• CURTAIN! (the show begins)
• Entries are presented to the audience
• Judges retire to deliberate
• (Something takes place to entertain the audience while the judges deliberate)
• Judges return
• Awards are announced

After the show

• Complete list of entries and all award winners is compiled and published (preferably with photos)
• Any remaining certificates or prizes are prepared and delivered to entrants
• Archival material (photos/video/etc.) is prepared and delivered to the hosting event, the ICG Archivist, and any other individuals who should receive the material.

Facilities

Stage Design

The Masquerade Director is responsible for providing entrants with quality technical support. They should publish what technical aspects and amenities are available to entrants, as well as stage dimensions and accessibility accommodations as soon as possible. It is good practice to provide these details and, when available, a diagram of the stage layout, on the event website and social media as applicable.

Safety

Stage design should consider the safety of entrants, staff, crew, and audience.

Masquerade Directors should remember that most entrants are amateur performers, and many will likely be both nervous and unfamiliar with backstage practices. Large costumes present additional challenges to planning for safety: Costumers with large costumes should contact the Masquerade Director in advance to discuss their needs and possible accommodations (including storage and any mobility issues) so that reasonable efforts can be made to ensure the safety of the costumer, Masquerade staff, other entrants, and spectators.

• Walkways should be clear of obstruction.
• If using a raised stage, the edges should be clearly marked with lights, glow tape or other clear demarcation.
• Safety crew (“pushers and catchers”) should be positioned to assist entrants with their stage entry/exit and in case someone gets too close or, worse, stumbles from the edge of the stage.

Staging Large Costumes

Reiterating from the section on judging: a large costume is defined as a costume that exceeds or extends past the size of the costumer’s normal body. Large costumes include designs such as form-fitted costumes with wings, a large suit of foam or thermoplastic armor, a mechanized battle mech or robot, or an immense dragon with puppetry. The Masquerade Director will need to make careful logistical decisions before the Masquerade and take potential risks, navigation, staging, and judging requirements into careful consideration.

Staging of large costumes can be a daunting task; If the following recommendations are incorporated into the Masquerade rules and entrant information (disseminated before the competition), it will be easier to accommodate large costumes.

The Director may wish to encourage entrants with large costumes to bring their own handler familiar with the specific requirements of their entry. It may also be necessary to bring the workmanship judges to the costume rather than bringing the costume to them. If the entrant has not brought a handler with them to help navigate the stage environment, a volunteer other than the one assigned to that costumer’s group of entries (i.e. the den parent) should be assigned to them to ensure that they are accommodated appropriately and can enter and exit the stage area safely. Handlers can also assist with providing documentation to the judges or communicating answers if the costume impairs communication with the costumer.

Additional rehearsal time may be necessary to ensure that the entrant is able to accurately navigate the stage without assistance while wearing or otherwise manipulating a large costume. The Masquerade Director may decide that the costume can only be presented offstage to accommodate its size or to meet safety requirements.

Large costumes should not be disqualified simply because of their size, but should be displayed, presented, and judged appropriately in a way that ensures all participants, audience members, and judges are safe. If there is no way to present a costume safely to the audience within the physical/legal limits of a show, the costume should be barred. (For instance, a flying or floating costume using rotor or lighter-than-air technology might not be allowed because safety or facility liability limitations prevent it from being accepted for the show.)

Accessibility and Accommodation

Stages should be accessible to people with mobility difficulties. If possible, stage dimensions and access points should be available ahead of the Masquerade so that the costumer’s individual needs may be determined and accommodated appropriately, based on the nature of their mobility and/or limitations of their costume (size, vision impediment, etc.).

It is good practice to allow costumers to explain their needs and then find a way to address them, rather than assume that a specific accommodation will work. Disabilities, like costumes, do not come with cookie‐cutter solutions. The costumer will be the best judge of what will and will not work for them to access the stage safely.

Technical and Stage Crew

Though some Masquerades provide custom lighting cues, individualized soundtracks, and backdrop video projection to support the entries, a Masquerade does not require complicated and expensive theater tech.

Plan to publish the following tech specifications ahead of time if possible: The extent of the technical amenities for a Masquerade, and preferred audio format(s) (and video, if applicable), and method of delivery to the tech crew, as well as the level of stage crew/helpers who will be available to assist with entries’ entrances, exits, and any prop or stage placement/removal.

Some entries may prefer to bring their own non-costumed crew, handlers or “stage ninjas” to assist them with their specific needs backstage or for their entry. Planning in advance to accommodate such helpers can make the show run more smoothly.

Green Room/Participant Lounge

The Green Room or Participant Lounge is a backstage/offstage area where the Masquerade entrants assemble before the show begins, and possibly where they wait while the judges deliberate.

An ideal Green Room has space for everyone and their props, with seating to accommodate them, drinking water, and access to restrooms for the entrants.

The Green Room should have a straightforward path to the location where entrants will enter the stage, ideally with a door that can muffle noise that might carry from the Green Room.

Most large ICG-style Masquerades organize the entries into “dens” of around 10-12 entrants in the Green Room, with a backstage volunteer (“den parent”) to monitor them for problems and make sure they know when to get into line to go on stage. A den might comprise a single large group entry, or 8-10 solo entries.

A well-laid-out Green Room can also provide a space for the workmanship judges to examine the entries backstage.

Depending on the Masquerade’s budget, entrants very much appreciate light non-messy snacks and a regularly refreshed water station. The staff should be sure to have straws available for entrants in complex makeup/masks/headgear.

The Green Room is also a good location for a small backstage costume repair station.

If the location is sufficiently spacious, the Official Photography station can be placed in the Green Room, as well.

Photography

Official Photography

Collecting a visual record of all the entries in a Masquerade makes it possible to create and maintain an archive of the event. Digital photography technology means that those images can be available almost immediately after the event.

Selecting a photographer with the skills and experience to cope with the wide variety of costumes they may encounter in front of their camera, and an assistant to help the costumers pose appropriately makes the process run more smoothly.

The best arrangement is to have an area set aside with adequate lighting and a good neutral background that each entry visits in turn as part of the flow of the Masquerade. An alternative is to have a photographer staged in the audience with a clear shot of the stage to capture each entry during its presentation. This will not capture the detail that photos taken in a dedicated photo area can achieve.

The technical specs for lighting and background will depend on budget, space, and available power in that space. A simple well-lit corner with a neutral wall can be adequate if budget is limited.

Fan Photography

Many attendees of a Masquerade will be interested in taking photographs of the entries, which the ICG refers to as Fan Photography.

If space permits, setting up an area with lighting and a neutral background for fan photographers as part of the traffic flow for an entry will be appreciated by those photographers. We recommend entries visit any fan photography area after they have finished their stage presentation. It is important to have at least one volunteer to “wrangle” the flow of contestants through fan photography so that all entries get through the process in a timely manner.

Regrettably, there have been incidents of inappropriate behavior on the part of some photographers in Fan Photography areas, and/or misuse of the images they have taken. Costumers should always have the option to opt out of posing for Fan Photography, and Masquerade Directors must be prepared to eject or bar photographers who fail to demonstrate proper restraint and respect for costumers.

An alternative to constructing a Fan Photography Area off stage is to bring the entries back out on stage while the judges deliberate so fans may shoot photos from the audience. This entails a different sort of wrangling to ensure that all the costumes get a turn in front of the cameras, and that the photographers all get an opportunity to shoot.

Photography from the Audience During the Show

The Masquerade Director may choose whether to permit available light photography from the audience during the actual entry presentations on stage. We note that almost every audience member now carries a high-resolution camera in their pocket via their smartphones, so banning all photography outright is unlikely to succeed.

Absolutely No Flash Photography should be permitted during the performance. Camera flashes can disorient the contestants, disrupt the lighting of the show, and even trigger seizures in sensitive individuals. For basic safety and comfort reasons, only available light photography should be permitted. The MC should announce this before the first costume enters the stage.

The Masquerade Director may choose whether to designate a specific area in the audience for photographers who wish to take less casual photos. If so, information on how to sign up for a space in that area must be published in advance. Reasonable restrictions on equipment and behavior to ensure said photography does not diminish the experience of the rest of the audience should be included in that information, and those restrictions enforced.

If recorded music is being played, licensing restrictions may limit the right to video record a show which includes such music. Those restrictions must be made clear to the audience to avoid fines and penalties. This is another reasonable announcement for the MC to make before the show begins.

Rehearsal

The Value of Tech Rehearsal

For a smoother, more successful Masquerade, schedule time for technical rehearsal if possible. A key purpose of the tech rehearsal is to assess the safety of whatever the entrants plan to do on stage during their presentation.

Tech rehearsals provide a vital opportunity for entries to work with the Masquerade Director, crew, and MC, to make sure everyone’s needs are documented so they can be met during the show.

Tech rehearsals also provide the tech crew a chance to hear and test any media being used during the show for proper playback on the tech equipment.

The tech and stage crews should mark cues, and the MC should review each entry and mark correct pronunciations and timings as necessary.

Informal Rehearsal Space

Masquerade entries often include groups of costumers who have gathered for the first time at the event itself, or entrants who may not have had sufficient opportunity to practice movement in their entire costume with props. If the masquerade venue has an area which may be set aside for entrants to rehearse their presentations informally, then tech rehearsal can focus on cues and safety rather than blocking of individual entries.

This does require that the space be available for participants’ use for quite some time, which must be figured into a larger event schedule as it is created. If function space is at a premium during the day, but might be made available early in the morning or later in the evening, consider those options.

Arrange a sign-up procedure by which entrants can reserve the space for blocks of time. The basic stage dimensions, entrances, and exits should be marked out on the floor of such a rehearsal space.

Access to power so entrants may play sound for such rehearsals is always appreciated; there is no need to provide more advanced technical support in the space. A location which offers some privacy to avoid early revelation of the entries’ staging is always appreciated.

Pre-Curtain Review

In the event a full rehearsal is not possible, a review backstage can stand in for rehearsal to some degree. The MC can confirm with each entry before “curtain time” (when the show begins) pronunciations and cues are correct, and similarly confirm the entry’s tech requirements. Even with rehearsal, a final brief review can be useful.

Run Order

Once registration of the field of entries for a Masquerade has closed, the Masquerade Director can determine the run order (order in which the entries will appear on stage). If the Masquerade Director has a well-designed entry form that gathers all pertinent information, it’s not hard to set the running order once registration has closed and to tell tech and entrants at tech rehearsal what each entry’s running order number will be..

While one can simply send entries across the stage in registration order or segregate them by Skill Division, with some effort on the run order, the Director can control the overall flow of the show and improve both the audience and participant experience dramatically.

In constructing a running order, a Masquerade Director should look for the strongest entry to close the show but the second strongest to open it and a third strong entry somewhere around the middle of the running order (if possible). The closing entry is to let the audience leave happy or impressed. The opening entry is to catch their interest from the start. The entry in the middle revives interest that may be flagging in a large field of entries.

Putting the Junior/Youth Division first gets the youngest entrants across the stage early and reduces the chance that they will run out of patience/enthusiasm while waiting their turn.

If there is an entry likely to be a great finale to the show, put that entry in the final position.

Avoid putting entries that portray the same character or theme one right after the other (especially if the entries are in different Skill Divisions).

Mix solo and group entries, simple vs complicated presentations, and mix different Skill Divisions in the run order. This will also give the Tech Crew some breathing space between complicated entries.

Mix dramatic, comedic, and simple walk-on style entries, if possible.

Masquerade Directors may feel that large costumes are best presented at the end of the Masquerade; however, it may be very difficult for the costumer to wear the costume through the entire contest. If this is the case, the costumer’s handler (or a Masquerade volunteer) should be available to help the costumer remove pieces as necessary and then put them back on in advance of their appearance on stage to ensure the costumer’s safety and wellbeing.

Reset/Re-Run of Entries

If equipment problems or crew errors interfere with the presentation of an entry, the Masquerade Director and crew should offer the entrants an opportunity to re‐run their entry with corrected lighting and/or sound cues.

Licensing Recorded Media for Use in a Masquerade

The Need for Music Licensing

If recorded media (video and/or audio) will be used during the show, be sure the necessary licensing is in place for the event. In the US such performance licensing is available primarily via BMI and ASCAP; equivalent licensing is available in other regions.

• ASCAP: https://www.ascap.com/help/ascap-licensing
• BMI: https://www.bmi.com/licensing/#licensetools

The cost of such licenses depends on the audience size at the event; if budgeted in advance licensing is not normally prohibitively expensive. If a competition is part of a larger event, such licensing may already be in place for the entire event.

Creating a Video Archive of a Masquerade

A performance license does not grant automatic license to stream or post the performance publicly; that typically requires a more expensive and complicated sync license for all the tracks used in the show.

One may, however, record the show for archival purposes, and, depending on the membership structure of the event, provide copies of that archive to the artists participating in the show.

(Licensing and copyright laws vary around the world; the Masquerade Director must be sure to check the exact legal limitations applicable to their region.