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Quick-Fire Community Questions - Round 3: Jessica Kerr (Cosplayer)
By Ashlea Buckley Edited by Colum Blackett
6/8/18
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Ashlea: When did you first become involved in cosplaying?
Jessica: I properly began cosplaying mid 2017 after attending a local convention.
Ashlea: How did you become involved? What made you interested in cosplaying? What/who was your first cosplay?
Jessica: When I attended my first convention, I wore a bought Assassins creed cosplay (Ezio) and I entered my first cosplay masquerade. Everyone was so lovely and I enjoyed learning more about cosplaying and how people made their own from a variety of materials. This is where I decided that I wanted to create my own and feel that sense of pride wearing a cosplay designed by my own hands.
This week on Quick-Fire Community Questions, we interviewed Assassin's Creed Cosplayer, Jessica Kerr!
Ashlea: Hello Jessica, thank you for taking part in round three of our Quick-Fire Community Question series!
We would love to ask you a few questions about your work as a cosplayer and your involvement in the world of Assassin’s Creed. Firstly, could you please tell us a little bit about yourself?
Jessica: Thank you for reaching out to me! My name is Jessica, I'm 23 years old and I'm from the UK. I've only just began my cosplaying adventure with 7 finished cosplays and my most recent one is Kassandra from the upcoming Assassin's creed Odyssey.
Ashlea: How long have you been a fan of Assassin’s Creed? Which game was your favourite? Was this the game that peeked your interest in the brand?
Jessica: I've been a fan of the Assassin's creed franchise ever since I would sneak onto my brothers Xbox to play the first game. After my parents realised I was into gaming they bought me my own console and the first game I wanted was AC 2, the addiction has carried on from there with every new release! AC brotherhood is definitely my favourite from the franchise. Ezio was such a brilliant character and I loved watching him grow into the master of his skills.
Ashlea: Why did you choose to cosplay as Kassandra?
Jessica: After watching E3 and the gameplay of Kassandra I immediately fell in love with her character. She's such a strong, charismatic woman who knows what she wants and so I wanted to bring her character to life.
Ashlea: How easy/difficult was it to make your Kassandra costume? Were there any challenging details or processes involved in creating the finished product? And if so how did you work around these?
Jessica: Kassandra is my 7th cosplay creation so some of the parts of her cosplay were easier than others because of my previous experience such as working with leather. The most time-consuming part of her cosplay I would say would have been to make the underskirt with the straps as this alone took three days to complete and to make sure it fitted properly underneath her chest armour, I think I made about three trial runs with the underskirt before I was happy with the fit.
Ashlea: We understand that some people pour lots of money into making the perfect cosplay costumes and props? How costly can cosplay be?
Jessica: It all depends on what materials you use. I used foam because it was a cheap base for my armour and the fake leather was going to cover it all in anyways. The most expensive part of my Kassandra cosplay was the fake leather itself as I wanted it to look authentic.
Ashlea: I’m sure there are lots of people who will not know the amount of effort and time that goes into making these costumes. How long did it take you to create your Kassandra outfit? What is the most time and effort you have put into your work on any of your projects?
Jessica: When Odyssey was announced at E3 I immediately decided to challenge myself and finish the cosplay on time for London film and comic con so that I could enter her into the competition.
I knew that I wanted to leave my job and so I took the leap and handed in my notice so that I could solely work on Kassandra. I had just under four weeks to complete her so I worked every single day up until the convention. I'd say this cosplay has definitely been the most time consuming one I've created, possibly over 300 hours of work has gone into creating Kassandra and if I never left my job she still would not be finished today.
Ashlea: Did you use many reference images to aid you in the production of your Kassandra costume?
For example, the fan kits released by Ubisoft?
Jessica: As the game has yet to be released there wasn’t a lot of reference pictures to go on except from the ones Ubisoft provided. The statue replicas came in really handy too for the finer details of armour.
Ashlea: What is your favourite piece from your Kassandra cosplay, the piece you are most proud of?
Jessica: My most favourite part of my Kassandra cosplay is the armour bodice. I love the golden details and the studs which stand out against the leather, it's also the first time I've created body armour so I'm really proud of it.
Ashlea: Do you have any plans to wear this at future events?
Jessica: My next confirmed convention will be EGX 2018 so I'll definitely be taking Kassandra to that one. There are a few other comic cons I'd like to attend this year hopefully if I find the funds to go and if I do Kassandra will be attending those too.
Ashlea: How have you found the response to your cosplay? Have you had much of a reaction from fans of the Assassin’s Creed franchise?
Jessica: The response to my Kassandra cosplay has been overwhelming, I didn’t think so many people would be interested in my creation but it just shows you how big the assassins creed community is!
When I entered Kassandra into the London cosplay competition I was awarded an honourable mention from my cosplay inspiration "Kamui Cosplay" who praised my work and even followed my social media's which was crazy! Everyone has been so positive about my Kassandra and I can't wait to get some professionals photoshoots of her soon to show everyone!
Ashlea: What are your future cosplay plans, are there any particular series or characters you have in mind?
Jessica: My next project will be a female version of Kratos from God of War and a female Lich King from World of Warcraft. One day I'd like to create my own Ezio cosplay as it was the first cosplay I've ever worn and I'd like to go full circle with my own hand made version of it.
Ashlea: How excited are you for the release of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey?
Jessica: Super excited! I've not watched any more gameplay footage as I want to fully experience the game for myself. I'll probably be the first in the queue to buy it!
Ashlea: Thank you very much for taking part in our third round of Quick Fire Community Questions, we look forward to seeing more of your great cosplay creations.
Jessica: Thank you, I'm Looking forward to the games release!
You can find Jessica on Twitter and Instagram
You can also support her cosplay projects on Ko-Fi