Get your geek on at DUSA this weekend

Published On Mon 31 Mar 2014 by Grant Hill

Photo opportunity: 2pm on Wednesday, 2nd April at Campus Green, Balfour Place. Organisers will be dressing as famous anime and game characters to help launch this year’s convention.

Cosplaying pokemon and video games characters will strut their stuff at Dundee University Students Association (DUSA) on Wednesday, the precursor to its annual invasion of the proudly geeky.

Organisers of DEE-CON 2014 will mark the coming of Scotland’s largest free anime convention by posing in costume outside DUSA at 2pm on Wednesday, 2nd April. The main event will take place at the Union on Saturday, when around 2000 enthusiasts – the majority in colourful and creative costumes – are expected to descend upon the campus for a day of film screenings, board and video game tournaments, stalls, exhibitions, demonstrations and industry presentations.

Organised predominantly by students and alumni of Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design (DJCAD), DEE-CON is a fundraiser event with all proceeds going towards the animation degree show in May.

“It’s been a lot of hard work putting what we hope will be the biggest and most successful DEE-CON to date together, but I’m sure it’ll all be worth it at the weekend,” said Gary Welsh, one of the event organisers.

“Half-a-dozen of our animators will be cosplaying as various anime related characters like Espeon, a pokemon, and Jak and Daxter, who are game characters, outside the Union on Wednesday to raise awareness of the event and show what fun it can be. People travel large distances just for this event, but even if you’re not an anime fanatic, there will be plenty going on at DEE-CON so come along and join us. Embrace your inner geek.”

Cosplaying, a type of performance art in which participants wear costumes that represent a specific character, usually from fiction, or idea, will be taking place, while professional photographers will be on hand to capture everyone in their costumes.

Coinciding with this year’s event is Dundee Comics Expo, which takes place in the nearby Queen Mother Building. The venue will be full of independent creators showing off their comic book work. The event will also feature guest lectures and special guests.

International Table Top Day also takes place on Saturday, April 5th, and to celebrate this an entire floor of DUSA will be dedicated to competitions in Pandemic, Vanguard and Battlestar Galactica among others.

Another floor of DUSA will be turned over to video games with battle raging on both retro and contemporary consoles. Another new feature for 2014 is the opportunity for school pupils and other keen artists to have their portfolio reviewed by leading figures in the animation and comics industries to help them develop their ideas and skills.

As well as screenings of anime films and shorts throughout the day, features will include a reel of previous animation graduate films and a preview reel of 2014 graduate film clips. The convention will feature an Artist’s Alley where up and coming anime/fan art/comic artists and illustrators can sell their work, promote their businesses and make contacts.

The event will be rounded off with the now-traditional after party, with DJs Momoka and Nanashi battling it out for supremacy of the DUSA dancefloor.

More information about the event is available at:

http://deecon2k14.blogspot.co.uk/   
https://www.facebook.com/DeeCon2k14
https://twitter.com/DeeCon2014

For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk
MOBILE: 07854 953277