Cosplayers from all over Norway to Fredrikstad Sci-Fi Festival – Dagsavisen
Whose: Trine Pedersen (31)
What: Cosplay teacher at Hardanger Folkehøgskule
Why: Holds panel on cosplay and folk high schools at Fredrikstad Sci-Fi Festival this weekend
What is cosplay?
– It means that you make costumes associated with either comics, film universes, books, or you can come up with your own characters.
Why do it?
– There are slightly different reasons, but at least in a folk high school setting it is to learn different types of crafts. Many people want to perform with their costume, learn theater techniques and the like. And to be another characters.
And then you meet at conventions? What is it and what happens there?
– Conventions are a common arena where cosplayers can gather, and everyone has common interests. There are various lectures, such as the one I will give. But there are also competitions, and where you can show off your costumes and performances you have rehearsed. There are many different activities!
[ Travle dager for «Karen Øltapper» i Gamlebyen (+) ]
Are there any rules about who or what you can dress up as?
– No, it is completely free what you want to dress as. You can also twist it a bit. If you are a girl and want to cosplay a boy, or vice versa. It is a very open environment, with no age limit. It is very common.
There’s more to it than just dressing up?
– Yes, I would say that. A lot is in the craft, but you also go to all these events, you have a photoshoot, which is very popular. They are very active on social media, and you see a greater desire to share what you are doing with different plans.
Who is it as a cosplayer?
– Those as coplayers, they are very typical associated with nerd culture, as it is so popularly called. People who are interested in fantasy play, among other things, Dungeons and Dragons, related to larping (a form of role-playing, editor’s note) and such things. It’s a lot different!
It’s huge in the United States. Is there more and more of it in Norway too?
– Yes absolutely. This goes back quite a bit. I started cosplaying in 2009. From the start of cosplay, it has been getting really big. There are many large events taking place around Norway. There is also a large convention in Sweden, once a year, where Norway, Finland, Sweden and Denmark send representatives to a large competition.
So maybe it’s a bit on the way away from being a weird subculture?
– There were probably many who experienced it as very strange in the beginning. Notice it at the folk high school as well. Where I work, there is quite a gap between the type of lines we have, but often the students who do not go to cosplay think it looks strange. Then they get very excited when they hear more about it, get to try on costumes and stuff. It is a more and more accepted culture. I think it’s because many people take it so seriously. It is a form of expressing one’s own creativity.
[ Ei heks i vår tid ]
Why do you need a cosplay line at folk high schools then?
– In an everyday life, you do not always get to play cosplay as much as you want. And often during the winter season, large parts of con-Norway are quite dead. If you go to a folk high school, you first get to pursue a hobby that you enjoy a lot. And you get a bigger learning curve. We have well-trained teachers in various subjects. You meet like-minded people with the same interests, and it’s like being at a small convention for a whole year. We have to cosplay lines. One that is open to everyone to apply for, and a second-year line with more advanced theory and practice.
What makes you happy?
– Having something to go to, a meaningful everyday life, a job, a home, you make everyday life go around. It makes me happy!
Which book has made the biggest impression on you?
– It is a book by an author Patrick Rothfuss, «Wise man’s fear».
Oh, I LOVE it!
– Is it true! So fun! My husband and I use to give it to someone as a Christmas present, it’s so good! Absolutely fantastic, devours you completely so you forget the surroundings.
Totally agree! What do you do when you go out?
– Then I usually lie on the couch, and do nothing!
[ Live (25) starter eget dansekompani: – Langt tilbake i tid var dans en helt integrert del av samfunnet ]
Is there anything you regret?
– There are probably certain opportunities that have come in life that you have not taken, because you have not been lucky. In retrospect, one thinks that “oh, I should just do that.” Been an experience richer.
What superpower would you like to have?
– Then it would have been to be able to fly. I’ve dreamed about it so many times, you get a certain sense of what it would be like, but then you know you’ve never experienced it.
Who was your childhood hero?
– I actually think my big brother, actually. He was very quiet, but he was always there when I needed him. I looked, and still look, very up to him!
Who would you rather be stuck in the elevator with?
– Snusmumrikken first of all! Senua from Hellblade, and… Now I think fast through all my fandoms here! Yes! Quotas from Patrick Rothfuss’s books.
Fit nerd!
– Yes!
[ Stella Zwart: – Jeg vil bli som mamma og pappa ]