Titans and Youmas

Titans and Youmas

Released this week so far is our Test Drive for the Attack on Titan fanmade web game, featuring Cell Saga and myself, as well as our entire video collection from Youmacon 2013 earlier this month! Enjoy!

[IXI! Digest] Convention of Cosplay - Web Edition 02

[IXI! Digest]
Convention of Cosplay - Web Edition 02

Hi so today I'm interviewing Phil also known as SaintJohn Iron-Bat from Saint John New Brunswick one of four great provinces located in Canada's East Coast.

Dani- First off how long have you been cosplaying and what inspired you to start?

SaintJohn Iron-Bat- I guess the spark ignited in 2008, but my first Cosplay was in 2010 at Hal-Con. I made the Initial Flight Test suit that Stark wore in his garage to prove he could fly. Before this I was a Medieval reproduction Armoursmith, 2008 marked the departure from that towards the Iron Man Project

D- Nice so you decided to try something new and just go for it. What would you say are some of the things that prevent people from cosplaying even if they want to?

S- Yes and no... I became injured after years under the impact shock of the hammer... and when I saw the "Red & Gold" I realized that this would be another materials medium and that I could carry on with armoursmithing... just in a modified fashion. As far as prevention goes, I guess shyness, nervousness about acceptance, especially when dressed up... and of course cash flow.

D- You mentioned acceptance as one and I'm sure you've noticed that lately there is a bit of negativity to what cosplaying is so what does cosplay mean to you?

S- To be absolutely honest, it confuses the hell out of me. I do it with my whole family as what you might almost call a celebration of the North American mythology (I heard Stan Lee call super heroes that once). I treat everyone with respect and try to have kind words for everyone at all levels of costuming. We all started somewhere, right?

D- So speaking of family I noticed you have two boys so what do they think of dressing up and going to Conventions?

S- At first I was concerned that they would be shy and shrink away from the crowds... but that proved unfounded when I realized that they were natural born actors. My oldest son does an absolutely unnerving Ledger-Joker. I also know that they really appreciate having the custom high end suits fabricated for them, as they like to help out in the shop during the planning and construction phases. Even though the Con scene is wonderful, my main focus has become Children's Health Charities such as the IWK and local Hospital visits. Those are the main focus right now, the rest is a here and there sort of thing.

D- So aside from Iron Man and Batman have you cosplayed anyone else? And how do you go about creating your costumes?

S- No, the Iron Man was a 30 month adventure, and sports plus a lot of microprocessor powered SFX. The Dark Knight was put together as an "in-between" suit until the Iron man could be launched. Which incidentally happened on the premiere of Iron Man 3. I have one more for myself that is in the planning phase, but its top secret.

D- Wow so I take it that was your most challenging to do but which one would you say is your favourite?

S- The Iron Man I think... I get the most crazed attention from that, even when the visor goes up. People actually go out of their way to see it. For instance, I was recently invited to do a presentation on microprocessors and programming at my local college. I brought in the suit and stretched their minds to the point where they requested I do a second presentation which was once again packed.

D- Have you gotten any awards for it and if so what was the competition or experience like for you?

S- I actually haven't done a competition since 2010 (won best group). The competition itself was somewhat fun, as I love the energy of the audience when I take the stage. However, I think I'd much rather be simply mingling and having fun with all of my Con buddies. That way there is no competition stress, and let’s be honest here… EVERYONE gets it; otherwise they wouldn’t go through the extraordinary pains of making such elaborate costumes. They’d all be wearing Wal-Mart specials.  At this point, I have been asked to attend events as a guest... So I help with costume judging, panels and photo shoots.

D- But yet you've been asked to speak twice at your local college to a packed room. I'd say that's better than getting an award.

S- The award in 2010 was kind of cool, but I started to get a weird feeling about the nature of it all after that. Watching a certain show on the SyFy channel pretty much killed any desire I once had to do it again.

D- I don't blame you for that the show takes things to the ridiculous extreme*

D- So finally if people wanted to learn more about your work where could they go to get it?

S- I have a small web store and am slowly growing the items I have been making... a lot of it is prototypes and things not currently readily available. http://­pr0ps.storenvy.com/ One thing I'd like to mention is that I don't build commissioned props for financial gain, I do it to finance the costumes for my family, as I don't think it is right for me to use family money to fuel such a potentially expensive hobby.

D- Awesome well that is a wrap on the interview. Thank you so much for taking time to chat about your work and I look forward to what the future has in store for SaintJohn Iron-Bat

S- Thank you, Dani, it was my pleasure.

*Heroes of Cosplay is the show we we're discussing about.

Let's Kick Shell!

Let's Kick Shell!

Since I made you wait all week, I'm putting out all three parts of our new video today - listen to Litrid, OVerkill, Cell Saga, Chuck, and myself plow through the entirety of the arcade iteration of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV - Turtles in Time. Enjoy!

[IXI! Digest] Convention of Cosplay - Web Edition 01

[IXI! Digest]
Convention of Cosplay - Web Edition 01

Hi, it's Dani from IXI Studios, and this is CONVENTION OF COSPLAY- Web Edition. Despite how many cosplayers there are across Canada and the USA it's impossible to interview all of them in person, so we have the web version which will feature all my online interviews. Today's interview features Mahogany, of Mahogany Cosplay, from Canada's capital in Ottawa, Ontario.

NEW SHOW UPCOMING - Maelstrom LIVE

NEW SHOW UPCOMING - Maelstrom LIVE

Awesome news! IXI! Studios is taking our MAELSTROM Show on the road! Live at December Toronto Anime Con, December 15th 2013, we will be debuting MAELSTROM LIVE. Come join us on stage as we take turns watching each other get massacred in either New Super Mario Bros U or New Super Luigi U! The best part is that even if you can't attend, we'll be filming video of the event!

For those interested in attending, here's the Facebook event.

Screw it

Screw it

It's technically Friday so you can have Part 2 now. :D