So on Tiktok when we started, you needed 1k Followers to be able to go live, so to get those followers quickly, we used to go into Grow rooms. A few actually, like Madskilladil, Tilly, Wolfvain, Elliex, Blasianchick and some others. These were probably the earliest rooms we used to go in but since then we have made so many more friends who run those types of streams and they are super useful because they connect you very quickly with a bunch of new people from all over the world.
We got those followers really quickly and now we were in a position to go Live..
Lighting set up, music play lists ready with speakers turned on, prop Pickaxe positioned with Hockey Mask and gloves, ready to be picked up and all put on with back to camera not revealing real face.. Ma ready to control music and also Moderate, making everybody feel welcome.
Ready to go live!
We both took a deep breath, pressed Go Live and quickly shared it up.. Here we go.. OMFG, our numbers were going up and up quickly and people were eating up the vibe. We couldn't believe it.. Ma's vision for our Friday the 13th Jason Voorhees Cosplay Stream had come to life! 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 people... Not sure if it went over 1k Live viewers that first time but looking back, that was one of the best times for both of us. Ma was right! Great idea!
It was a mix of real people and trolls but the numbers were going really high with comments moving so rapidly, you couldn't read them quick enough.. Gifts were coming in thick and fast. When you have a combination of nice positive comments and gifts coming your way, it hypes you up to surprising levels. Mix that with the combination of Dutch courage and the cheeky smoke you may have had and you are pumped up like a maniac!
We decided that I needed to make some violent looking movements to try our best to look like Sean Cunningham's Jason Voorhees, but annoyingly this would lead to being suspended in our early day Lives, so on the one hand you would be over the moon that you were doing really well and thinking you were onto something here but then the suspensions would leave you feeling helpless and unable to go live until able to again.
We planned out our lives a lot and would really go deep. Our strategy was and still is, to set the atmosphere by playing some of the unforgettable Friday the 13th soundtrack music and mix it up with our favourite songs but also to act out scenes. Lighting partnered with sound and music are important here and you need to invest in your stream. In our first live streams we never had a backdrop and if you look back on our Tiktok account you can see what it looked like (scroll right down to the bottom of my account!). Ma would enjoy this stream so much that she would sometimes jump in, put on the Hockey Mask, be Jason too and you can spot her in some of our Counseller vids! They are our shout out vids featuring callers who have duel Lived us. More on those and the amazing friends we've met later but catch them on both of our Tiktok accounts, originaljasonvoorhees and originalpamelavoorhees.. 😁
We bought our first mask off of Amazon or ebay- Midnightdippin AKA Pitbull won that in one of our competitions! We paid a lot for our under (Monster) mask from Etsy which we still use. We'll talk more about our masks, how we paint and decorate them and how the look of our stream has changed in upcoming posts but the next one will be about how we brought Ma into the mix because we thought she could really add to our performance. After all, Pamela Voorhees is integral to the Friday the 13th story and Movies. Everything Jason does, comes from Mother's instructions, Ki Ki Ki, Ma, Ma, Ma... Jason, Mother is talking to you..🥶
But honestly, those first Live streams that we did were so surprising and unbelievable. They opened our eyes up to Cosplay and how enjoyable that is. Allowed us to play our fav's Jason and Pamela who we grew up watching! Would recommend Cosplay to anyone creative and who loves to perform. A super fun project to work on. One thing I would say is to find a character suitable to your size or build and just have fun with it. Also don't take too seriously but just enjoy and try to celebrate that Character you love.
Thanks for taking the time to read our Blog posts!
OriginalJasonandMa 🥶