Ildar Bocillus about Star Wars and macho in armor

MOSCOW STARTED exhibition of interactive entertainment "Igromir". Within its framework this year, for the first time, “Russian Comic Con” is held - a congress of fans of pop culture from comics to gadgets and, not least, cosplayers - masters of reincarnation in their favorite characters. Many do it professionally, and someone just comes in the original image for the sake of entertainment and meeting with like-minded people. Cosplay has long been a mass phenomenon all over the world, and in Russia its popularity is only growing every year. We talked with six characters, for whom cosplay has become an important part of life, about their characters, about how they regularly dress in a costume, why they do it and how it changed them.

Friends have always considered me to be a Star Wars fan: they gave them themed toys, picked up the appropriate postcards — even the pictures on social networks always hang them. Then I was given a helmet for my birthday, I was very happy and became interested in costumes. Then my friends and I had the idea to make an online store dedicated to Star Wars. All this was at the level of a hobby and in no way connected with my main job. I do quality control in a big company. Our store grows and develops, it would be ideal if one day it became my main business. This is one of the components of a person’s happiness - so that a hobby also brings wealth. With the advent of the helmet and the store, I began to explore the range. I found out that the costumes are very different in appearance, quality and price, and ordered the best option. The costume was made to order in England at Shepperton Design Studios. Its owner Andrew Ainsworth was involved in creating costumes for the very first Star Wars. The costumes that they now sell are made from the very original forms that were once used for the film. Ainsworth had a lawsuit with Lucas for the first time in the States and later in Europe, but he defended his right to issue a storm trooper suit - helmet and armor. In England, then, a real boom in the production of storm trooper suits began, because there it is legal - the company does not pay royalties to Lukas, but as far as I can tell, pressure is still on Ainsworth. I am very concerned about the quality of the costume. I aspire to the level of "costuming" - maximum authenticity. That there were no seams and rags. My costume is not a fancy dress for $ 100.

In the world there are fan organizations "501st Legion", "Rebels" and "Mandalorian Mercs". About two years ago, the 501st Legion and the Rebels appeared in Russia, and the Mandalorians were in the process of establishing their structures. I do not belong to any of them. In the Russian "501st" I was not accepted for personal reasons. In any fandom, there is a situation that someone has time to take the place of power: someone has better suits, someone started to engage earlier - in general, there is a split within the community.

In the armor is difficult to sit down, hard to run, the helmet has a limited view. Perhaps, therefore, in the film, attack aircraft are not very accurate.

I am primarily interested in the history of costumes, how everything was created, and the characters in the film. There are heroes who appeared in the frame for a few seconds, but were subsequently overgrown with stories and prequels. I am amazed by the fans: there is such a Wilrow Hood - a man in an orange suit, with an ice cream maker, who in the film runs along the corridor in literally one and a half seconds. He was later included in the expanded Star Wars universe, and he had a lot of fans. Now his fans arrange entire flash mobs: they run around in a chain with these ice-cream machines at various events, copying his gait, characteristic antennae.

My first was a white attack suit, he is a favorite. This is already a classic, although white imposes restrictions on operation - it gets dirty and scratched faster. Black suit became the second. I do not think that the attack aircraft is a faceless character. I looked at the first "Star Wars" as a child in a video salon and came out with round eyes. For all my life I remembered attack aircraft and AT-AT - then I thought it was walking tanks. At the same time, I was always amazed by the unrealistic light swords. Hand on heart, they are just beautiful dances with glowing sticks, they have very little to do with killing as overcoming the enemy. In attack aircraft is not very comfortable to fight armor. It is difficult to sit in it, hard to run, climb, go down the stairs. The helmet has a limited overview, probably, therefore, in the film, attack aircraft are not very accurate. When I received the parcel with the first suit - white, I opened the box and was a little disappointed. You see beautiful pieces of plastic laid out on the table, and they do not make an impression that corresponds to the money for which they were bought. But it is necessary to wear a suit and look at yourself in the mirror - and the expenses immediately seem justified. I was greatly impressed by the emotions of others when I first put on a suit and went out to seem like strangers. Then I finally understood why all this is needed. Someone walks in a suit for self-realization, someone - to raise self-esteem. Suppose a person in life is not macho. Here he put on a suit of attack aircraft, a helmet, he is not visible and not heard there, but he is at once a tough knight in shining armor. For me, this is primarily a charge of energy and emotions of others. The first reaction in people is usually skeptical - what kind of clowning! Are you an animator or something like a clown walking somewhere? But the attitude changes immediately when people see the costume live: immediately they involuntarily blur in a smile, their eyes begin to shine. What can we say about the children. I give joy to people.

I am 38 years old. My daughter was delighted when I put on a suit. My wife has not yet seen me live - she carefully avoids this shame :). The family, perhaps, hoped that all this would end, but gradually everyone was inclined to believe that my hobby was normal. In Russia, cosplay is the missing part of the culture; I do not know whether this is good or bad. In other countries, the movement is much more widely developed. This year I am participating in the Comic Con. I will walk in costume for the festival, be photographed with everyone. In 2013, I had the premiere of a black attack aircraft on the Igromir - shadow trooper, and I was shocked. First, because of how many people came to the exhibition. Secondly, because of so much attention to me. On my first "Igromir" I could not walk, because the crowd was surrounded and everyone asked for a photo. When I began to study costumes, I began to watch movies differently. I have complaints about the new parts of Star Wars - they lack realism, too much computer graphics, special effects, not a single clone costume was created for filming. But I pin my hopes on the seventh episode: judging by the information leaking into the network, the creators took into account the opinions of fans and there will be many dolls and props that can be touched and which looks realistic. Now I am making a Mandalorian costume, their distinctive detail is a helmet with a T-shaped visor. Mandalorians were Jango Fett and Bob Fett, the latter for some reason especially like girls. I am not very interested in Vader's cosplay. There are two important points. The first is the authenticity of the costume, and the second is the image that the person creates. In the case of Vader, it seems to me that it is very important to create an image. On the one hand, you should have a body similar to Vader. Still, the performer of the role was a bodybuilder, tall and broad-shouldered, he inspired awe with one of his silhouette, in addition to armor, helmet, voice and breathing. I for this at least do not have enough growth. And I do not want to do a parody of Vader.

Photographer: Alexander Karnyukhin