Cosplayer Interview: Clive Lee

Welcome to another Cosplayer Interview. This week we are showcasing a cosplayer of mecha stature ~ Clive Lee.

If you ever have done a search on Gundam cosplay, you would of had to seen his stunning cosplays. If anyone can bring your Gundam mecha dreams to life, this is the guy to do it - hands down.

This isn't all the cosplay that he does however. He has also completed some stunning cosplay of characters from Gurren Lagann, Code Geass, Macross Frontier and Sengoku Basara. I think my fav of course is Nobunaga Oda from Sengoku Basara which is a great anime.

Without further delay, lets get to the interrview!

What is your name and where do you reside?

My name is Clive Lee a.k.a. miragecld and I reside in Singapore, a small island in Southeast Asia.

What first started you on the road to cosplay?

It all started with my senior in my University’s anime club showing me photos of his cosplay in a cosplay event. I got interested and decided to attend the event with a costume and took my first step to become a cosplayer.

How do you choose which characters you will Cosplay?

I will choose a character based on my passion for the character, character design, and how challenging the costume is to make.

Which do you most enjoy cosplaying – Mecha or Character and why?

Ans: I equally enjoy cosplaying both Mecha and Character because I think that they are challenging in different ways and I would love to expose myself to more aspects of cosplay. However, I have been stereotyped as a “Gundam cosplayer” by other people.

From your list of Gundams and Zaku’s, which was the hardest to contruct and why?

From my list, Unicorn Gundam is the hardest to construct because it deviated from my usual approach to make mechas. The light boxes I installed in different parts compromised the structural stability of the costume. It took me an extremely long time to figure out how to go about making the costume.

I see that many of your cosplays have internal lighting. How much of an issue was it to have them light up in numerous locations? What was your internal power source as I can imagine it may have gotten hot?

It is not really an issue to install the lights as I am just using simple knowledge about electrical circuits I learned in school. I used small 9 volt batteries to power the LED lights. LED lights or cold lights, emit heat that is negligible to be felt by the human skin and hence it is not much of a problem.

I saw that you have a nice write up for your Mecha Cosplays. Are you planning on expanding this series and maybe get it published?

I do have intention of expanding this and getting it published. I hope that it can reach a wider audience and encourage them to cosplay mecha as well.

I saw that you have also been a Judge for some of the cons. How does it feel being on the other side of the table and what do you look for when judging?

I feel really privileged to be a judge and I enjoy watching the cosplay performances upfront without obstruction of my view. I am quite particular when I judge and I will scrutinise the finishing of the costume (e.g. fineness of the edges of armour pieces, seams and tension of cloth costume…e.t.c.) in terms of craftsmanship and stage techniques and direction in terms of performance.

When not cosplaying, what do you do?

When not cosplaying, I design casual games, play console games, watch anime, J-drama.

For any aspiring cosplayers a little shy, what words of wisdom do you have for them to get started?

Take it easy and attend cons like any other people, just that in costume. They can also try going for private photo shoots as a starter. Cosplay is not just about going to public events.

Where can we catch more of your Cosplay at?

I have a Facebook cosplay page where I will constantly update information about my cosplay, tutorials, and appearances. I also have a deviantART account where I will upload my some of my cosplay photos.

I have to ask this as I thought it was an awesome way to get married. 

How did everyone take to you having a cosplay wedding instead of a more traditional one? Why so many character changes for the celebration – I think I counted 4 which is pretty amazing?

People think it was a very interesting concept and the guests enjoyed themselves with photo sessions and stage showcase of their costumes. My guests are encouraged to attend in costume as well but of course there were some who were not very sporting. But I guess they felt left out in the end when majority was in costume.

I had 5 character changes from the morning ceremony to the banquet in the evening.

Here is a Shout Out to our Photographers: 

Adrian Zhang  | Studio Dhika  |  alafista  |  Van Lim |  Anthony Tang
 

Some Additional Cosplay Photographs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I want to thank Clive Lee for taking the time to write to me and to the Photographers for the great photos that you get to see here today.

Want to be my next interviewed COSPLAY STAR or know someone that you want to recommend? Drop me a line a bluedrakon (at) gmail (dot) com!