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Dara Defreitas Cosplay Interview

Dara Defreitas Cosplay Interview

 

Article by: Geek Girl Jenn Marvel

Hey guys/gals, Jenn Marvel here, I got to chat with another one of my favorite cosplayers Dara Defreitas Cosplay and asked her some questions. Here's what she had to say...

Dara Defreitas Cosplay Interview
Photo by Peter Fiornio | Edit by BossLogic Inc

JENN: Hey Dara, thanks so much for chatting with me, first I'll start off by asking you How long have you been cosplaying?

DARA:  I started cosplaying in 2007!

JENN:  Awesome, what is your background in cosplay/media industry?

DARA: Just been into video games since I was about 13 and have always loved dressing up. I used to write for GamePro.com's sister site, GameGirl.com and did gaming reviews for a tv show called, Interactive Entertainment

JENN: Oh very cool!! What kinds of cosplays do you do generally?

DARA: Anything and everything!! I do favor strong, bad ass, armored characters - male or female! I love genderbending and cross-playing. I also do group cosplay's with friends as much as possible!

Dara Defreitas Cosplay Interview
Photo by Glynnis Mutch | Featuring Peter White

JENN:  I love armor, and genderbend/rule 63 cosplays, so much fun as well as getting opportunities to work with other cosplayers is definitely an awesome experience. How and when did you start cosplaying?

DARA: Back in 2007, I went to the second ever Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo. My friend really wanted to make a High Elf costume from Warhammer Online and she asked me if I would make a costume as well. So I played the game a bit and decided I loved the look and evil ways of witch elves.. Looking back I can't believe I wore that costume as my very first one - it was so revealing!! I guess it helped to just jump right in with something like that first!  So yeah, I was absolutely hooked after that!

JENN: I hope one day I can go to other cons outside of Ontario, The only con outside of Ontario I've been to is San Diego Comic con.  What are some of your interests that help influence or inspire your passion for cosplay? 

DARA: A passion for dressing up and playing video games. I love that with cosplay I can go one step further from playing or watching a character to completely becoming that character in real life! When I'm feeling uninspired as well I will go look at my cosplay friend's pages and look at their costumes and progress and I will be recharged and ready to work on my costumes!

JENN: I totally am obsessed with going to other cosplayers pages and constantly being in awe of their work. Its totally inspiring seeing others creativity and their amazing idea's and take on characters.  How did you learn to sew/fabricate?

DARA: I am awful at sewing, so I tend to do a lot more armored costumes with less fabric, when I do need fabric pieces, my talented pal (facebook @Creations by Caiti) Caitlin helps me out! Online resources have been great - there's this tutorial from years and years ago that is still first in google search when you type in "craft foam tutorial", and I still use that tutorial to this day!  Now I tend to reference Kamui Cosplay and Punished Prop's tutorial e-books!

Dara Defreitas Cosplay Interview
Photo by Vicky Lau of Vivid Vision

JENN: Online is amazing for resources and tutorials/learning material you can pretty much look up anything you wanna make and there's at least 1 tutorial for it.   E books are amazing too. I am a big fan of the RPF.  Do you have any sort of routine, or checklist when you go about making/putting together a cosplay?

DARA: Pretty much just gathering a lot of reference images...then the rest is I just eyeball and yolo everything :P

JENN:  Short and sweet, I like that. I do the same kinds of things sometimes I make lists for things but I do the same for the most part. How long does it usually take you to complete a cosplay start to finish, generally?

DARA: When I was in university it was hard to work on costumes as much as I really wanted to so it would take months and months to finish one project. Now it takes about a month, depending on the costume!

JENN:  I hear you on that, I hardly have time to work on anything either work life cosplay takes a back seat to all that.  What would you say your favorite cosplay you have done so far?  And what is your dream cosplay?

DARA: My latest one, Scorpion! (Injustice Gods Among Us) and Sylvanas Windrunner from World of Warcraft!

Dara Defreitas Cosplay Interview
Photo by Vicky Lau of Vivid Vision

JENN: I love your Scorpion cosplay!! Do you have any advice for someone who is new to cosplay or thinking about getting into cosplay?

DARA: Just take each thing day-by-day with your costume. Never be afraid to ask other cosplayers questions - from my experiences, MOST of them are more than willing to help! Tutorials are definitely your best friend! There's always going to be different ways to do things, so it's a matter of really finding out what works best for YOU! Have fun with it, be kind to other cosplayers :)

JENN: Good advice!!, What is your favorite convention to attend and why?

DARA: Biased, but I love my hometown con, Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo! It is always such a blast and I have been attended since it began in like '06... To see how it has grown from one room with like a couple hundred attendees to 100,000 is so exciting. The organizers are amazing and there are always great costumers and guests! What with living in this city all my life and being really prominent in the geek community, I know so many people that attend... It's like being at one giant party where all my friends are invited!

JENN:  Awe thats awesome! I'd love to attend that con it sounds like fun, I really want to go to Vancouver Fan Expo too one year. What is one of your most memorable moments as a cosplayer?

DARA: Winning the first contest I've ever entered in 2012 at the Calgary Comic Expo with my first big armor build, a Demon Hunter from Diablo III!

Dara Defreitas Cosplay Interview
Photo by Patrick Latter Photography

JENN: That's awesome,  What are your hopes or goals for the future, as a cosplayer?

DARA:  Just to be able to continue traveling to as many cons as possible, maybe being a guest one day :O:O! Most importantly, travelling and meeting new friends along the way. That is my favourite thing about cosplay and cons - I have met and become really good friends with so many people at cons. I really am blessed to call them my pals :)

JENN:  You're such a sweetheart. Ok, final question,  What does being a geek girl mean to you?

DARA:  That I'm just a person that likes geeky stuff and pop culture. Male, female... Unicorn... I want to withhold and fight for this community to be INCLUSIVE, not exclusive!! :D Let your geek flag fly my friends!! 

Lightning round:
fav movie: Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels 
fav tv show: Game of Thrones
fav game: Counter Strike 1.6 yooo
fav novel: Dragonlance Chronicles 
fav comic: (Marvel) Onlaught saga!!!
fav material(for cosplay): EVA Foam!
fav character: Oh lawd that's so hard!!!  Carnage (Marvel)
fav cosplayer: Senpai, Kamui Cosplay

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January 24 2015



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