THE CRAFTSMANSHIP OF PERFORMANCE: “LUCINA’s RESOLVE” (2015)
Photo by AZ BunbunmaruIn this series, I’ll be discussing the work that’s gone into each of my masquerade skits. My hope is that this will not only be a useful resource for other performers, but will help the wider competition community gain an a better appreciation for the work that goes into a performance.
There’s no better place to start than with my first real masquerade skit! A lot of what I practice and preach when it comes to performance to this day all started here, and it was all done on instinct, not on experience, which I think makes it all the more impressive.
THE PERFORMANCE
Competition: SabotenCon 2015 Masquerade
Skill category: Journeyman
Character and series: Lucina, Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Solo drama skit
Time limit: 2 minutes 30 seconds
Awards: Li Kovacs’ Judge’s Award (no performance-only awards were available at this competition)
Inspiration
Lucina’s major plot point is that she is sent back in time by Naga, god and leader of the Divine Dragons, to prevent The Bad Ending. Lucina disguises herself as Marth, the legendary Hero King and her ancestor, to hide her identity.
This moment is described in the game, but not really shown, which gave me the idea for the skit. The way I constructed the costume also allowed me to have a transformation moment on stage, where I donned the Marth disguise in real time (more on that below).
Script Writing
This is when I began using in-game text directly in scripts, or to inspire parts of the script. While I am a skilled writer, fiction and character writing do not come easily to me, so using key phrases and terms from the source material is a huge help. If I remember correctly (this was over ten years ago after all!), I found a wiki that had all of her lines in the game and printed them out. Then I went through and highlighted key words and phrases to use in the script that would help it feel endemic to the character and the source material.
This is also when I discovered that I could use voiceover to bring other characters into a solo performance. Doing an exposition dump solo monologue can be difficult to make entertaining — even having one other character can really help move things along. (This is why I will always argue that solo performances are much harder!) If I remember correctly, Lucina does receive the directive from the dragon god Naga, so adding her to the skit through voice over was the natural and obvious choice.
I also referred to Naga not by name, but as “the Divine Dragon” so as to not complicate the script too much. As I said earlier, having multiple characters can really help move things along, but it’s also important to keep the skit clear and concise by not introducing more characters, terms, and concepts than necessary. It’s not Naga herself that is important here, but her status/powers as a god. The title of “Divine Dragon,” combined with her bodiless, ethereal voice helps quickly convey the important information that this character has a strong influence and otherworldly powers. It’s a small detail and a lot of thought put into just two lines in the entire script… but when you have limited time and resources with which to effectively convey a story, these details matter!
Audio + V.O.
Features my dear friend, voice actress Kailey Williams as Naga. I don’t like my voice and I’m not the best actress, but I am a very big believer in doing as much of my own voice acting as possible for skits. It’s the cheapest and most flexible option, and it’s really the only acting practice I ever get. That being said, I do recognize my limitations, especially when it comes to my range. If I need an additional voice for a skit that absolutely needs to sound different from my own, that’s when I’ll bring in someone else. I knew Kailey could do a deep, sexy, commanding voice better than I ever could, and she absolutely nailed it.
The background music is “Quinn and Valor” from League of Legends. This is probably the luckiest I’ve ever gotten with skit music — I was listening to it in the car one day and realized how perfectly it followed a short three act performance with themes of hope, hesitation, and bravery. I don’t recall making any edits to it since it was so perfect, but I must have as the original song is longer than the skit LOL. I definitely didn’t chop it up as much as I’ve done with other skits.
If you’re not sure where to start when looking for skit music (and the competition rules allow you to use copyrighted audio), video game soundtracks are a great place to start because the songs are meant to be interesting, thematic, and memorable without being intrusive. They also are often meant to play on a loop which can make them easier to edit to suit your performance. League in particular is a great starting point because you can find something to suit almost any mood thanks to all the tracks they have for specific characters and skins.
Directing and audio engineering was done by by KaitoAIDA, my then-boyfriend, now-husband. We had to re-record one of my lines in the hotel room (I don’t remember why), so he brought his whole PC tower with him (he didn’t have a laptop at the time) and I recorded while crouched under the hotel room desk, covered by a big, heavy blanket. This does work pretty well in a pinch LOL.
Set, PROPS, AND QUICK CHANGES
This was waaaaaaay before background video was as common as it is now, and I wanted a way to visually drive home how huge an inspiration Marth was to Lucina. Fortunately, I had some wonderful friends who could provide an illustration and print it out big enough to be impactful on stage.
Meag Mark created the illustration and Rachsaysmer (who was also one of my stage ninjas) printed it out for me on a massive printer she had access to. I believe we rigged it for the first time backstage (the audacity of youth lmao) using duct tape and PVC pipe and it rested on a card table draped with blue satin.
The table also served as the resting place for my pauldrons, sword, and cape when not in use. Speaking of…
Photo by AZ Bunbunmaru
My obsession with using rare earth/neodymium magnets also started here, though they were all originally intended just to rig parts of the costume for normal wear — not to facilitate the performance.
The cape and body suit have magnets in them to help keep the cape in place/not choke me.
The pauldrons also attach to more magnets sewn to the shoulders of the body suit. This was originally because I knew the straps wouldn’t be enough on their own, but it ended up being a great stage effect too.
The mask attaches to magnets sewn into either side of my wig.
As you can see in the recording, this all ended up working really well for the performance! I’d never had to rig any costume pieces like this before so I’m still very impressed with Baby Lulu for figuring this all out.
Quick changes can be a challenge for solo performances. Without another person or a background video to hold the audience’s attention on stage, they can end up feeling painfully slow. Though I do wish mine had been a little faster here, the story lent itself really well to doing the quick change in view of the audience, which helped its inclusion feel more natural and less awkward.
Photo by AZ Bunbunmaru
Takeaways
What did I learn?
Competing solo doesn’t mean doing everything alone. Collaborate with your friends!
Use VO to add another character to a solo performance
Steal from the source material’s script to write your own
MAGNETS
League of Legends BGM is a great resource for skit music
What would I do differently?
More thoughtful blocking and purposeful motions. I was definitely guilty of aimlessly wandering the stage, which is a common rookie mistake. Aside from key moments, I didn’t plan out my movements and you can tell LOL.
Tighten up the script and story. I don’t think I intentionally used the entire allotted time, but this was definitely before I had enough experience to know that you don’t need to.
What am I most proud of?
Even though it’s a decade old, I still think this is a very solid Journeyman performance. It’s funny to look back on this skit as the blueprint for the performer I am today, because I put it together without any of the technical know-how I now approach performances with. It’s a nice reminder that I have a solid set of instincts for what makes a good performance.
Cast and Crew
Cerulean Draco
constructed belt buckles
KaitoAIDA
audio editing and engineering, wonderful and supportive partner
Kailey Williams
voice of Naga
Luluko
cosplay construction, script writing, voice of Lucina
Meag Mark
Marth illustration
Rachsaysmer
printing Marth illustration on her bigass printer, stage ninja, emotional support
Thiinyx and Tarasque Productions
helped with woodworking for Falchion
