MASTERPOLYPRAGMON STUDIOS TALKS ABOUT EVERYTHING !

1) Tell us a few words about your team! What do we need to know about it? How many and which members does it consist of?

Masterpolypragmon Studios brings art to life. We are currently creating a fantasy universe in form of a franchise.

This universe consists of stories, which stand autonomously independent and on their own, while at the same time being part of a whole like pieces of a puzzle tied together. Each story is expressed in form of different media.

These media include:

 Comics

  Board Games

  Live action movies / battle choreographies

  Events

  Novels and other literature

  Poems and songs

  Illustrated / animated video stories

Illustrated books

  Videogames

The inspiration and driving force behind all our actions is our love for each art form that each member of the team represents. We all use our skills striving for the best possible result, so that every piece of our universe gets to be a masterpiece. While expanding our franchise, we hire people who also love art, creativity and imagination.

The goal being to raise our level, without limits, both in reality and imagination. Cosplay is a big part of all those actions, because it’s also an art form by itself that brings imagination to life and that can be beautifully combined with all arts.

Regarding the members, the author and owner of the studio is the coordinator of all the activities. For each of his stories, he hires cosplayers, graphic designers, animators, illustrators, voice actors and generally whatever is needed for each piece, in order for them to be processed in all art forms. Jobs can be once per project or consecutive.

Each member participating, is given credit in each post. The author himself never shows his face and does not mention his name. For that reason there are several members each time representing him.

Daria Tretiyakova as the original character Scythe – Art by Natasha Kiyiomi – Photo by Anastasis Michalopoulos

2) When and how did the team start and what led to its establishment? What is the team’s relation with Cosplay?

The first professional act that started the studio, was a big board games event constisting of role-playing games organized by the author before the quarantine. The event included his stories, where 120 people played out his stories in the same world at 15 tables. Cosplayers were hired on his account to act as his characters, while influencing the story according to their dialogues with the players. The event was held through an entrance fee, and all participants that took part were also paid.

This event included cosplayers, crafters and storytellers, something quite rare in other cases, where one gets a chance to work professionally on his hobby.

The event went amazingly well, the place was filled with as many people as it could fit, and many sponsors participated too by providing their products as part of the story and for giveaways.

People were happy and in their words “We do not need fanfares, we want beautiful stories. A very good job was done.” Cosplay, which created the proper atmosphere, was also an important part too.

The team’s relation with cosplay is just that: cosplayers bringing characters to life, making people feel the stories in all their glory.

The quarantine affected the live action part a lot, but there are always ways to work through distance.

Elumia as an original character – Art by Eliso Arts – Photo by Mikaela Z. Moschou

3) The team’s subjects are many. What are those? What kind of characters, sources or types of Cosplays do you choose as your Cosplay? Are those choices based on your personal interests, and if so, when did you take them up before the team’s establishment?

The subjects we deal with were addressed in the first question. There are all kinds of stories in Pragmonverse with many different themes.

The cosplays, however, are all original. The choices are based on the stories of our universe, but the people themselves participate, showing the corresponding interest towards which story they want to be expanded, and what they therefore want to see from the side of cosplays, crafts, sketches and everything related. They are all part of our universe in their own way.

Τhe group’s main member and various others of its members were already involved with all related activities years ago, but the creation of the studio gave the opportunity to pursue all of them professionally.

Devoured Kingdom battle trailer in cooperation with the LARP community – Video by SpirosK Photography

4) Do you consider your involvement with Cosplay, through your team, a hobby or something more serious? How does that define the way you present your work?

Cosplay is naturally a beautiful hobby, and hopefully that will never change. It’s great for people to spend their time on creative things without any specific purpose, profit or anything similar, simply because they and others like it.

As far as the studio’s work is concerned, due to the professional level of each of our activities, it can be considered as something more serious. We have already received lots of commissions, mainly from the USA, asking us to do for them what we do here in Greece, to bring comics, books, manga, and whatever else they assign us, to life.

Since the studio’s special feature is that it combines smart writing with beautiful presentation, with that being the mainstream way in the world at the moment, it determines the way we present our work, our goal being for it to be meticulous and professional.

Blue Hair Veela as the original character Evmenya – Art by Eliso Arts

5) Your team also operates an online store. What can a visitor find there and how do you acquire the items on sale?

The online store was mainly created for the studio’s published comics and books, since its main activity is functioning as a writing company. But every job requires a lot of time and effort to be completed and be perfect.

The objects already listed at the store, are all handmade by our crafters and are objects from the studio’s stories: Posters, chests, embroidery, magic accessories, figures and more. A proper example are the lighters from a story about a group of arsonists, from our recently published story song, “A Demon walks into a Bar”, where lighters were made based on the story, as well as cosplays, and about which a Kickstarter is currently running in order to convert it to live action after the end of their giveaway.

All crafts are a way of advertisement and art sharing at the same time. And a sample of work, since many companies – and individuals – from all over the world assign work to us asking for the complete package, while being already able to see what we can provide for them as well. Since everything is handmade, we can do any kind of customization someone wants and use them creatively in ads.

Obviously, any person willing to support our studio and who likes these items, is welcome to buy whatever he likes, with their cost in Greece being much cheaper, since there are no shipping costs. This is done by sending a message on our pages and one of our members will then deliver the order in person.

However, the owner himself does not want to get involved in any local existing market. For example, when the crafters asked him if they should create ears too, he  was naturally against it. Εverything in Pragmonshop is unique, not affecting sales of anyone else in Greece.

Pragmonshop online shop product advert

6) Tell us in detail about your collaborations so far and the projects that have emerged on behalf of your team. What else can we expect from you in the future?

The work we do is rarely seen on a professional level in Greece. So far, many people from abroad have seen our work and asked for the whole package:

  Voice acts for their stories

  Animations, creation of their works’ characters, as well as 3d prints

  Motion comics from their manga as an advertising trailer

  Cosplays ( of course ) of their characters, with live action clips of their stories

  Creation of their props for use in the aforementioned clips, and to later send them for their own use

The way we bring our art to life, our main job will always be to bring others’ art to life too. And it’s not just the monetary part, since we and all the participants are enjoying it. We made many people, be it members of the studio or not, enjoy the whole process as illustrated fantasy characters, animations and figures, and we all like to be part of a universe and share it by sharing art itself and providing joy to people.

Christiana Thanou as an original amazon character – Presenter and marketer of the currently running Kickstarter campaign “A Demon walks into a Bar”

7) Do you think roleplaying is a key part of a Cosplayer or do you think it’s something practically inapplicable?

Roleplaying is absolutely essential. It is one half of “cosplay”, literally and figuratively.

Bringing a character to life requires acting out his temperament, because each character has many depths that can be explored.

Creating a suit is a beautiful way to bring the surface of a character to life. Roleplaying too on top of that is a great way to deepen a character.

Erin Weiss as the original character Lighterella – Art by Dimitris Roussos

8) Is there any important or funny experience that made an impression on you during your team’s involvement with Cosplay?

The most important thing about cosplay is to have a good time. All these years, we had many important and funny experiences. So many that it is difficult to choose even one. Being in the cosplay community we meet people with common interests and passions, bonding together, either for company during cons, or fitting well with some of them, sharing friendships, beautiful moments and much more.

Illustrated video clip of the currently running Kickstarter campaign “A Demon walks into a Bar”

9) Are you looking for people who are interested in becoming part of your team or participating in its events in some way? If so, what do they need to know about that matter?

Yes, especially as more jobs arise. There are always jobs for:

Cosplayers, regardless of gender, body type, and any other trait. And our characters are original, and the companies / individuals we work with from all over the world have their own original characters. Clearly, make up works wonders, but so far the author has done an amazing job in always choosing the right person for each role, which suits him perfectly, as shown in the results

Voice actors, to play their character in animations and illustrated audiobooks. It could be the cosplayer himself or someone else who is an actor, singer or someone with talent

  Crafters for item creations

  Definitely more people to deal with content management and marketing & presentation of the studio’s work. It’s too much to deal with for one person.

The rest is not pure cosplay, but all the artists, illustrators, animators, game developers and so on ( work details at the studio’s pages ) and those who want to contribute are welcome.

We accept all levels, and if there is passion and will, we accept many beginners who are willing to be trained by doing paid work, while raising their level.

Jobs are either occasional or continuous. With no schedule, and in many cases with no deadlines.

Anyone wishing so can send a message to the studio’s pages with samples of their respective talent’s work.

Description of the original character Evmenya, the protagonist of the upcoming illustrated audiobook, “The Varmint and the Nymph”

10) Is there something else you would like to share with our readers?

It’s our pleasure that we made something creative and beautiful, which at the same time gives work to many people in our community. We are also glad that it succeeded and that we are already doing work globally.

What we want to say: Don’t give up on your dreams, since it’s realistic to achieve them. There are ways, and anyone with the right patience, perseverance, process and passion, can find a way to make their own dream a reality.

Funny clip

KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN “A DEMON WALKS INTO A BAR” IS UP !

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As already mentioned, the team’s new Kickstarter campaign titled “A Demon walks into a Bar” has just began. Its goal being the upgrade of the illustrated video clip of the story story “A Demon walks into a Bar”, as well as to enable Masterpolypragmon Studios to upgrade its equipment and contribute to its expansion, so that it can continue to share its art with people and give jobs, occasional or permanent, to more people, related to cosplays, crafts and any other talents that can be utilized! Find it HERE !

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