Comic-con report of epic . . . epic-ness . . .
I said I'd finish it and I like to keep my word (especially when I make promises to myself). And yes I am processing the stuff from last year even now (the dinner photos). No one is going to read all this . . .
Panel photos are now uploaded to the SDCC photoset, they should be in order now (I think I fixed it?), so I'd recommend opening that up while you read.
WEDNESDAY
Got in Wednesday this time, for Preview Night. I got in pretty early afternoon, so I was glad to be able to check in right away; though I had to get the room switched because it smelled of smoke. >_o I had been planning to use the afternoon (Preview Night doesn't start till 6PM) to work on beading stuff I brought with me, but when I got to the room I was so tired I thought I was going to die. I know I was awake and had the TV on, but I can't remember what I was watching . . . something about Neo-Nazis in prison trying to kill each other but that was only for a few minutes . . . Then got the call that the rest of the people were in and we were meeting for dinner, they were already at Dick's Last Resort. Turned into a very long walk because I got . . . well I'm still claiming I wasn't lost, I thought that streets named after letters would be in alphabetical order, without non-lettered streets in between (thank you Gaslamp district). I'm not sold on that place, I know the surly waitstaff is supposed to be a gimmick, but I was not thrilled when the chicken ripped through the paper and fell to the bottom of the bucket where it was very hard to eat (does anybody remember the game "Don't Break the Ice"?).
Dropped stuff off at the hotel room and headed to get badges. Got to love the complete LACK of lines at SDCC if you time it right (especially if you are pre-reg). Scan the barcode, get the badge, grab the program books and goodie bag, done. The Exhibit Hall was still pretty crowded, considering, but obviously not nearly as bad. In hindsight I really should have used the time to pick up some of the limited stuff, but it was a lot easier to get pics of the booths with fewer people around. Seriously, though, WHY did I not raid the Squeenix booth? All that stuff sold out by Thursday afternoon! Next year I'm just buying the stuff and putting it on eBay (at retail, that's not scalping). Maybe I could pay for keeping something that way. I guess the forms must have been a pre-order type thing and that's why none of the items are on eBay yet (they've already sold out on the JP site). Those dang FFIII Trading Arts figures . . . TOO CUTE and I haven't even played that one.
Um, I don't remember Wednesday night?
THURSDAY
Got up, went to the con center, went to check in at the Masquerade desk. Found out they had an incorrect home number and had been trying to reach me. >_< (Though I wonder why they didn't email me again?) Threatened spanking, however, did not materialize.
PARAMOUNT PANEL: got in line errrr maybe 10:45? For 12:15 panel, yes. The section of the line I was in was, alas, out in the relatively hot sun. But the reg line was much worse - all the way down the convention center, past the Paramount line, around the side, and up the back. Fortunately for us, we weren't outside for that long - maybe half an hour - before they started letting people into Hall H. (Hall H, for reference, is the biggest space - capacity about 5,000?). Got a big Paramount shopping bag at the door; didn't realize how good it was until I got sitting down! Paramount treats you right. The only thing that would have improved it is perhaps some food - Hot Rod energy bars? They were selling Stargate Atlantis water (which I never got a bottle of, darnit), so why not. I got a seat in the second section, just a couple rows from the aisle, center section but on the right aisle. Pretty damn good for Hall H considering that most of the front center is press and studio VIP.
Hot Rod: I admit I wasn't planning to see this movie but the extended scene they showed was entertaining. These guys were also responsible for the "Lazy Sunday" video (which I have seen), and "Dick in a Box" (which I know only by rep). The guy in front of me recognized the plant, but I didn't catch the name - someone from their online show? The people asking questions all seemed to be diehard fans, so I didn't catch much aside from yes, they are planning to do more music videos. They seemed like the slightly socially awkward guys you like hanging out with anyway because they're entertaining.
Stardust: Nothing particularly enlightening at the Stardust panel section over what was already said last year. Of course, the movie is coming out next week. They did show an extended scene with special effects (everything was in-camera last year) - I believe it was pretty directly from the book (the inn trap), though it's been a while since I've read it. I'll have to see how I feel about the film; I'm definitely looking forward to it a lot, but there was an awkwardness to the clip that I noticed last year also. In that footage, I figured it was lack of effects; but it was still there. Personally, I have to come out against (generally speaking) casting big stars in fantasy films. MOST of the time, I think it works better with unknowns. In these scenes, it was the bit parts that stood out. *shrug* Like I said though, just knee-jerk reaction to it, I'll withhold judgment for the whole film.
Beowulf: They made Neil Gaiman leave the stage after Stardust and come right back out again for Beowulf lol. Again, it was brief; a teaser trailer, comments on the fact that the cast was actually their "bullshit casting" (dream casting of huge stars you figure you'll never get), and Neil and his co-writer discussed how the script arose out of their collaboration, particularly as far as dealing with bridging the gap between the first and second segments of the original story. (If you've read Beowulf, the epic is disjointed - the first half is the young man, the second, the old king; basically it's a first and third act with no second.) The film is "historically" notable because it will be the widest ever 3D release - in three different formats, no less. They described it as the "blow your mind version", the "really blow your mind version" and the "your head explodes" version as I recall. XD We'll see. The teaser trailer was attractive, but it was not a 300-style graphic violence bonanza (this may not be a bad thing). Personally I'm a fan of the Beowulf story, if you can be a fan of an ancient Viking epic (o_O), so it will be interesting.
"Monstrous": I can't call it anything else because I'm not writing out J.J. Abram's Mysterious Monster Project or somesuch nonsense. He talked about going on a trip to Japan (I believe with his young son?) and thinking that America needs a Godzilla - except not Godzilla. The teaser, of course, is promising, though I think it's definitely a teaser and may not represent the way the film is done. Personally, I'm still having trouble with movies that involve large parts of NYC getting trashed (maybe especially because they always shoot down by my brother's place >_o), so I'm not as hyped as I could be. Also, I hope our dear J.J. does not fall into the trap of some OTHER young moviemakers who had a not entirely dissimilar career . . . (Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich. Though I suppose we could also bring up James Wong and Glen Morgan. Maybe being just one person will work out for him.)
Iron Man: Yeah, I'm not really a comics fan, I know next to nothing about Iron Man. I was figuring when just the director came out (dude, he was hyper) we weren't going to get much. But, we actually got a proper trailer, which laid out the plotline quite well for someone who had no clue. It's still early, he pointed out that only the last two shots were CG work. I much prefer physical effects anyway, and the physical effects with Stark's initial suit design were pretty badass; it actually looks like it could be pretty cool. I suppose if you're picking someone to make a comic book movie, you want them to be someone who acts like a 9 year old kid . . . I haven't seen his other movies (Zathura bombed big time but I heard good things about Elf), but he was pretty good in that one episode of Monk? lol.
Spiderwick Chronicles: YAY PHIL TIPPETT. *coughs* Is SFX fangirl even a category? Uh, anyway, only know the books by reputation, though I have read the "Field Guide to Fairies" (I almost bought them the other day but it was $40 for the set, think I may use the library). The main commentary was about the origin of the books, and how the authors felt about having gotten to see an initial cut of the film the day before (very excited to see their characters come to life). The director didn't comment much, but did say that when he first read the books he was thinking "gee this is really big print" but that he became totally engrossed because it seemed like something that could be completely real. I was glad to hear him say that when he did the film, he wasn't trying to make a children's film. (The best children's films usually kind of aren't if you actually think about it.) After that, Phil Tippett walked us through the entire effects process of doing one scene (conceptual art, maquettes, storyboards, etc), complete with the "running through the forest with cardboard cutouts" part.
Indiana Jones 4: ABOUT BLOODY TIME guys how long have you been working on the script? Long enough that I started a draft of my own based on the rumors, in high school. ^^; But I didn't think we were going to get a live broadcast from the set! That was very exciting. No one was sure if they had any video/audio on their end, but everyone cheered like prepubescent fanthings anyway when Spielberg popped up on that giant screen. I have to say, I was a little alarmed seeing Harrison Ford; if I say "he looks OLD!" it seems very insensitive but . . . it's not that "gee guess they didn't have work done" type of old, I thought he seemed very frail and unhealthy old. :| It was more a feeling of being concerned for someone you haven't seen in a while, that they might be sick. He seemed much older than Leonard Nimoy did, and Nimoy is in his late 70s? I suppose it's probably the strain of the shooting; I'm sure they're not going easy on Indy or him, or that he would want them to besides . . . anyway, I always wondered why they didn't bring back Marion Ravenwood's character, and apparently so did they, since she's back. I do hope John Rhys-Davies gets a bit part at least.
Star Trek: I haven't been closely following the news about the new Star Trek. I wasn't very into the more recent films, and I even assumed they'd be using the Enterprise cast, which doesn't interest me. They taunted us a little by saying that Kirk was not yet cast (including some comments about how they had to have a script that was good enough for Bill, which I can't help but wonder - was that sarcasm?). They actually asked the audience for suggestions. Then they brought out Zachary Quinto and officially announced him as the young Spock, just before announcing that Leonard Nimoy will also be returning to the Spock role (bets on wacky time travel plot?). Quinto seemed pretty in awe to be up on stage with Nimoy, who looks fantastic by the way, and seemed quite enthused about the project. We got a "live long and prosper" from him when he left. :3
At this point I imagine everyone's ass was asleep and their minds relatively blown. It took ages to get out of the room and then everyone was stuck in a massive traffic jam with the reg line. I ran into two folks I had dinner with the night before, though, and talked with them while we moved along very slowly. Made it up to Ballroom 20, but it was still rather early for Lost and the room wasn't very full so I decided to swing by the Fulfillment Room to get my Paramount posters before heading to the Lost panel, which at that point had no line.
I was sitting in the back section but nearer the front of it, and then this mother and her son sat down near me and I looked over and they had Stardust screening passes they were looking at. So I asked where they got them, and she told me they had just started passing them out in the exhibit hall. It was still like 45 minutes before Lost, and the room wasn't full. She knew it was the Paramount booth and I knew it was nearly directly below us so I decided to take a risk and dart off at full speed. I checked with security before I left and he said I just had to be back before 5. I managed to get into the exhibit hall, get two passes, and get back out and back upstairs in less than 10 minutes, where I proceeded to get incorrect info about how to get back in and was shuffled into a long line. I was in the line for a few minutes before I finally got near a security guy and asked him what I should do, since now they were saying the room was full and not everyone would get in. He sent me back to the exit door, where the first security guard did that "staring at you suspiciously" thing and then waved me in, where I was stopped by the guy who told me I could come back in asking me for my pass. @_@ At this point I'm like "80" and he goes "nah I'm just kidding". >_>;;; WHY do they love to do this with me? Last year they were asking me for secret passwords.
I found another seat but it was further back, though I'm glad that someone called out to me that there was an open seat (there are often single seats but it's really hard to tell what's being held or not). I looked at the Stardust passes while I waited for the panel to start; they had an RSVP number, and it turned out one pass was supposed to be for two people so when the couple next to me asked where I got it I gave them one of mine.
LOST PANEL
Whenever you write that, it winds up looking like the punchline to a joke . . . "well if your panel is lost, you better go and find it!" . . . or something. Anyway the panel consisted of just Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse this year. Honestly, they didn't say very much, compared to last year (which apparently included a few slip-ups). Of course, I think that was completely intentional - they had little hotel desk bells with them, one for each; they explained that if either started to say too much they'd ring the other out. Which they did several times, including one question they couldn't say anything at all to. Most people wanted to know about mobile content and game stuff and how it tied in/would tie in with the series. The game looks like it might be kind of cool, the exclusive for this was a clip of that. They did say that the flash forward sequences do not represent the end of the series; and talked a little about how knowing exactly how many episodes they had left was helping them set up the ending. Our one real piece of news was that Michael will be coming back - as a regular, not just in random flashes. They also showed a pretty funny clip of some of the writers talking which included a moment of silence for the Others who get no love (the random characters XD).
After that I headed back to the hotel because my parents had called to tell me that they'd been using the tracking info on the box with my costume and it had arrived. I ran up to the hotel room and dropped off my stuff, then went back down to the business center to get it. They said they'd bring it up to the room so I went BACK upstairs to wait for it. I wanted to go straight to the mall theater to try to get into Stardust (not until 9 but I'm not stupid enough to think people wouldn't line up) but anyone who wanted to go had to drop off their stuff at the hotel room first so I had to settle for examining some of the box contents. Then rush over towards the mall, getting stuck behind a really long freight train trying to cross the tracks . . .
MISSION: STARDUST (FAILED)
Once we reached the mall we had to find the theater, which I'd never bothered to notice. I really should take a pic of the mall, it's all crazy levels and staircases that go nowhere; trying to navigate through it is somewhat like the Escher staircase sequence at the end of Labyrinth. Someone called out "HEY DOLL PEOPLE", I have no idea how this girl remembered us completely out of context, but she did, lol (and I can't associate her with a username) . . . she told us where the theater was and said there wasn't any point. We ran into another couple on the way there, who didn't know us but randomly asked if that was where we were going; they said they had gotten their passes from a retailer in the mall and that they must have given out a million of them. Apparently some of the people had been in line "all day" (I'm not sure how, if they started giving out passes around 4PM), and at that point they had some kind of ticket that had been given out that was entry and there weren't any more. I went up to the line anyway just to find out more info, because one of those people had what I think was a third kind of pass . . . I realize now that the RSVP system (which I figured was bogus) was highly likely a popularity gauge - the trick was to find out how many people wanted the passes enough to consider using them, not to get people into an advance screening for buzz. It turns out our roommates separately tried to get in to it also and also failed.
So, we got dinner instead. Then the mall ate large amounts of time trying to find a pair of shoes, and a belt for me (I was having um technical difficulties with my pants) . . . we got back to the hotel room around 9PM, to discover our roommates . . . were already asleep. Making plans to work on my costume problematic.
Finally decided to move out to the hallway, where I got harassed by a random security guy. (Do I have a SIGN on my forehead?) I've had problems with hotel security at other conventions insisting that you're not allowed to be in the hallway . . . at this point I was by myself so . . .
Security guy: *walks up and STARES* . . . do you have a room in this hotel?
Me: Yes, it's right there. *proceeds to explain why I'm outside*
Security guy: . . .
Me: *starting to panic* *explains more, somewhat extraneously* So that's why I'm out here. *guy still says nothing and stands there* . . . is that okay?
Security guy: *long pause* Yeah, that's okay. Just don't see arts and crafts in the hallway that often. *leaves*
>_<;;;
So we worked in the hallway until . . . I dunno around 12 or 1, at which point I kind of caved to stress and fatigue and decided to go to bed.
FRIDAY
Friday the plan was to get up early. I found out the day before that I had to email files to the hotel's business center in order to print them - and I still needed a completed costume photo to finish the masquerade registration. But the access had expired, it was only 24 hours and I really didn't want to pay $9.95 again, so I went out in search of the Starbucks I thought I'd seen behind the hotel. Turns out there wasn't one. I found what seemed to be a free access point, but it worked for about five seconds and then refused to work again. Apparently the only other way to print is if you have a thumb drive, which I don't. Finally I had to go back up to the room and pay for it.
The roomies got up so I worked for a little while on the costume, trying to leave just enough time to get downstairs, pick up the printout, and get it to the masquerade desk before the Pixar short films panel. Fortunately, I managed to do this, in spite of the business center being slow and claiming at first that I hadn't sent them any email.
I actually was considering ditching Pixar and going to the Reaper premiere, partially so I could stake out in the Stargate panel room, but it had been cancelled/moved and I didn't really want to sit in the room for over two hours before the first panel.
PIXAR SHORT FILMS
The Pixar panel, however, started a good half hour late for no apparent reason. Adding to this, they decided to show their clip stuff first - instead of bringing out the LIVE GUESTS. They will be releasing a DVD of all Pixar's short films to date in December, and they screened the documentary which will be included on it about the studio's history. The documentary was great, though I actually saw some of Pixar's stuff really early on anyway because we used to get these laserdiscs of computer animation . . . anyway they ran that, then the three shorts that the guests were involved with, BEFORE bringing them out, so they only had about fifteen minutes for questions. So they spent most of the panel on stuff we either had seen or were going to see when we bought the DVD. ^^; As a result I don't really have anything to pass on, sorry . . . just that you should get the DVD if you like Pixar.
STARGATE: SG-1 MOVIE
Yeah, so, I admit that I didn't know they'd already shot the dang thing. I'm not good at following news unless I'm REALLY into a series. Anyway, I suppose this is mostly for shadrad who isn't actually in the country at the moment . . . but the movie is called "The Ark of Truth" and does in fact concern finding another ultimate weapon (no really this time it's ACTUALLY Ultimate!) to destroy the Ori for good. They made it pretty clear that they're planning to do more movies, as well, and there was a hint of another spinoff series being planned (??). I suppose you will have to take my word for it but Gary Jones (Walter) is one of the best panel moderators at the con; he's funny and always gets people talking about something interesting. Love for people who play random secondary characters. Ben Browder made a hell of an entrance, came out and climbed up on the table to holler at the crowd and show off his t-shirt like he'd just won the Super Bowl. Chris Judge doesn't really have to *do* anything to be larger than life.
The question and answer session was mostly, strangely enough, questions about dealing with the military in regards to the series. Personally I had a question I wanted to ask and figured the Sci-Fi VP programming wouldn't be interested in hearing . . . but it was disappointing that no one asked ANYTHING about the Ori plotline. They basically didn't come up at all, and that was the entirety of season 10 and the plot of the movie! The best part was the discussion of shooting in the Arctic which I think was brought up by Gary Jones . . . Chris Judge apparently refused to go in the first meeting where they were talking about practical concerns, like being warned that "to a polar bear, we're all upright seals". Apparently he felt that he would appear more seal-like than the rest of the cast. He got out of what Amanda Tapping and Ben Browder had to do - a long shot of them walking on ice, parts of which were much thicker than others, listening to the loud cracking and creaking. But he did have to do location shots in Canada somewheres on a mountain - they dropped him off in a helicopter and then had to fly around him to get shots; apparently he nearly got clipped by a runner.
There were two questions from military types who wanted to know about military content in the series. Mostly that discussion was about how military guidelines affect character interactions. Apparently a recent episode featured Walter being referred to just as "Walter", and they got a firm letter from someone in the military requesting that they refer to him with the appropriate title and "show the respect his title commands". Relating to the other person's question, Martin Wood (I think?) said that they had in fact used the same establishing shots of the outside of the real Cheyenne Mountain for the first 7 seasons. When they went back to shoot more, they had a lot of volunteers to be "random soldiers walking by" and were given a tour by the . . . err, base commander, I guess? He said that they had kind of a problem with everyone who came for the tours asking where they keep the Stargate. So, he shows them a door that says "Stargate Command". What's behind the door? "Brooms." XD
One guy got told he was at the wrong panel for asking what one of the writer/producers (Robert Cooper I think) had against doctors, since he's killed two of them (one in SG-1, one in Atlantis). He had a pretty good backup, though, from a bunch of people waving tiny Scottish flags - there were several women passing them out, they had a little drawing that said "Save Carson" on it (the aforementioned doctor from Atlantis whose character was killed off). Also a good ten minutes was wasted by some guy who SOMEHOW got past the pre-screening who wanted to sing a song about Stargate - and got Amanda Tapping to take pity on him.
STARGATE: ATLANTIS
It took them a really long time to . . . well, I'm not sure what they were doing. Putting out fresh Stargate: Atlantis water I suppose (they were selling it, too, it was "limited edition"). The panel wasn't nearly as lively this year without Paul McGillion; instead most of the interaction was between Amanda Tapping and David Hewlett, though. I can't think of a word to describe it other than "CUTE". >_o It was, though, I couldn't snap fast enough but at one point she leaned her head on his shoulder. It was just adorable. There wasn't too much of note that I remember; I think Sci-Fi has posted video of the panel anyway.
I tried to ask a question but I was in line the whole panel and didn't get up there, though I was fairly close . . . I guess it's as well I was in the line though, there was a woman in a motorized wheelchair in front of me and her brooch fell off. I'm not sure she would have gotten it back if I hadn't seen it right after it fell off. I wanted to ask about the fact that sci-fi usually has very few female cast members, and the Atlantis cast is dominated by women (since the upcoming season will have two new female regulars); was it an accident, or intent, and how is that going to affect the character dynamics? Eh, oh well.
The end of the panel was I guess the finale of the "Save Carson" people's work (there were also a lot of people in Scottish tams, I'm assuming that was related) - a bagpiper. XD Ah, take heed, executives of various things - NEVER underestimate the fans. But it must be kind of a scary time to be a writer! (Incidentally, it was recently confirmed he will be getting a 2-episode arc guest appearance.)
After Stargate I went back down to the exhibit hall to nab some more freebies and look around (it's hard to explain how BIG this is - imagine the dealer's room at Anime Expo, and then imagine five or six of that in a line). I was 99% sure there was no point trying to get into the Neil Gaiman spotlight late. So, I wandered around, got some more swag (though I clearly failed at this, I've seen what people are selling and I have no idea how they got it!), found the wee booth selling the Labyrinth necklaces, and checked out the Anime Ghetto. Then I got one of the ever-popular $4 pretzels (well, $3.75).
EUREKA
I wasn't super early for Eureka, but I couldn't believe the line! Neither could anyone else who was in it or walking by. I guess we all thought we were the only ones watching it. Sample exchange . . .
Lady: "What's this line for?" (Especially popular question at SDCC - I've asked and answered it many times)
Someone in line: "Eureka."
Lady: "REAAALLY." (She seemed surprised but not like, in a bad way.)
One of the things I really respect about SDCC is that people in line tend to be very jovial about it. They're willing to talk to the people around them and never seem angry or cranky about the fact that they're in line - even when it's becoming clear they may not get into the panel. The one exception to this would be the Heroes panel - I saw some people raising holy hell over that one (including someone I know lol), but that was with the security guys, NOT other fans.
Anyway we did a crazy long disorienting back and forth Disneyland snaking line thing. Fortunately the room was larger than the space available for the line, and I was in the middle, second section back. Before the panel started, though, the room was full and there were people along the side walls.
I think I'm the only Eureka watcher on here (;_;), so I won't ramble too much. The cast was really cute, they seem to have a lot of chemistry. It's always interesting seeing what parts of actors are just like their characters - and what parts are totally different. I don't feel like I have trouble separating the two any more, but you always have some moment in a panel where there's an expression or something that is such a surprise, when it's something the character does . . . I think that's kind of exciting for fans; I'm used to anime, where there's no real-world equivalent of the person; you have to accept that they can only exist in the confines of the show. With live action, I guess it's often harder for people, since you can see the person standing right there - you can maintain some illusion that it's not a character. But like I said, then it becomes even more exciting, because you can see these pieces of how the character is being created in your mind, right in front of you. It makes the connection that there is with the audience more obvious, I guess - it's not just coming from the writers, or the actors; I think the audience is really part of the collaboration as well, even though there's often not much direct feedback. (But there's more now, I think - there is really a sea change in how audiences are interacting with their entertainment, fueled but not created by the internet, and SDCC is the giant laboratory for that new idea.)
So because of that, you can have something like the last question at the Eureka panel - a kid who must have been like 9 years old asking Joe Morton about how his character was responding to the death of the woman he loves at the end of the first season. TV may not be as passive as we think it is. The actors and staff were clearly pretty surprised and pleased with the huge audience they had (and aware that they had been on the brink of cancellation), so I hope that made an impression on Mark Stern (another Sci-Fi programming VP) as well. He, of course, had to respond to a question about the future of the series . . . so we got the "don't TiVo the show" lecture. He was much less hostile about it than Nora (the other VP) is, but still . . . he says that everyone says, "well I'm not a Nielsen home", but insisted that if you tell your friends that one of them is bound to be. So, okay, which one of you is a Nielsen home? Is there ANY hope of the networks paying more attention to a room full of physical people than a prediction based on a system for assessing an "average" sample which is half a century out of date? YES I AM BITTER. XD; And of course the downside of them having some awareness of the fan base is that now, when a show gets cancelled, they tell us it's our fault.
BABYLON 5: THE LOST TALES
I pulled the ever-popular "move up after a panel" trick and landed about five rows back in the center section for B5, though I was kind of behind the video camera. It was great though because I didn't even have to get out of my seat to get a flashing disco light thingie. XD It was kind of weird being at a B5 panel! It feels like it's been a really long time since the pilot . . . which it has.
JMS was, as always, a complete character. I think you have to have the JMS experience yourself, though you definitely get a taste of it from the way he writes (naturally). I think it'd be easy to interpret him as a bit of an asshole - which I admit I did, the first time I saw him at Wizard World and he came down on a fan (who was being kind of an idiot) . . . but I guess he just gives people a hard time.
The best part of the panel was the actors giving each OTHER a hard time, particularly constant sniping back and forth between Tracy Scoggins and Peter Woodward. I was not really a fan of Tracy Scoggins' character (sorry, I was too into Ivanova), not that I had anything against her . . . anyway I guess the big part of the panel was a stunt they pulled on JMS. One of the DVD extras is a "pitch" to the executives about saving money on future B5 films . . . by doing them with sock puppets. XD So they had the audience and cast pull out sock puppets. Most of the discussion wasn't really about the film, it was more like Story Time with Peter and Tracy lol. They did talk briefly about the fact that the film was done almost entirely against green screen - a real acting challenge, not just because they had to react to things that weren't there, but because they were shooting from multiple angles, which meant the things that weren't there were also MOVING.
I got into line immediately to ask a question but I didn't get to ask it. The guy running the line came back and apologized - he said that they were taking too long on the questions and the person in front of us (the guy sitting next to me was in line with me) was going to be the last one. He sent us back to our seats. But then the last two people had totally lame, short questions - and they go, "okay we'll take two more"! >_< But then it was just chaos, trying to call on people from the audience, and one woman just started shouting out hers (pretty obnoxious), continuing even when JMS was trying to tell her to be quiet. This is especially ironic because she was on some rant about fans saving series and what the fans should do (uh, buy the DVD? They're *already* "bringing the series back"! Not to mention that B5 HAD its full planned run, even if it was only narrowly!).
Anyway it was nice to see the actors and JMS (and hey, Douglas Netter) in person and so close. I'm not sure there's a HUGE family resemblance between Dan and Bruce but . . . (I went to middle school with Bruce Boxleitner's relative, lol. I think Bruce was his cousin, he said they did see each other at family stuff so it wasn't distant. He was a bit mortified that I was a B5 fan.)
FRIDAY EVENING
After B5 I got to meet up with kyubikitsy and co., wrapping up their one crazy day at SDCC, and in turn waiting for waynekaa. I win, I spotted him first XD lol. Alas we couldn't hang out for long since they had to catch a train. But waynekaa came with us to the mall to get some dinner, and then in search of a McDonald's (which is listed in the program book, but has closed). I still think the idea of keeping chicken nuggets around for 12 hours or so before eating them is really unappealing. @_@;
I took care of a few random costume things while the roomies were still awake, and then sat on the floor for Friday night into Saturday morning trying to finish the beading. The thing about beading is, it's much easier than most things you could have to do on a costume - but it's not completely mindless and it's very slow. The bead strings are randomized, but not random; but I also didn't want there to be an obvious repeating pattern. So there are pattern segments instead; kind of like a DNA strand, I guess. lol. I finally decided I wasn't going to make it without SOME sleep though so I went to bed for about two hours.
SATURDAY
I'd thought I might be able to get up early enough to finish what I wanted to do and get over to the con center in time to drop off the Dresden Files fliers (Saturday is the busiest day - I didn't have that many so I was hoping that was the best time to leave them, and the other time I tried, I couldn't get anyone's attention to take them!) and make the Pushing Daisies premiere before the masquerade orientation. But, I would have had to be super-frantic to do it and the way the lines had been the day before, I didn't want to get over there and find out I couldn't get in anyway.
So I left early enough to drop off the fliers and go to the masquerade orientation. None of that is really interesting; I did wind up having to change some stuff on my form because they were checking to make sure everyone's paperwork was done and the guy checking mine said I really should put something down for the MC to say and also there was a section on the craftsmanship form about points of interest or something (like "charm point" I guess hah). So I took care of that. They also had the woman there from last year who did the Corpse Bride costume that won, who was supposed to be answering questions; it didn't seem like that many people were asking her anything so I stopped to ask her whether she had any trouble getting on and off the stage again since she had a long train on that dress. That was helpful I think.
I'd originally intended to try the Heroes panel after the orientation; but I took one look at the line and knew there was no way in hell I was getting in. So, I headed back to the hotel.
That amounts to a pretty significant amount of time that I can't fully account for what I was doing . . . since we headed back over to the convention center a little before five, when the roomies came back and were heading that way also and offered to help carry things. I know I had to figure out which bead strings on the armor were going where, since they're all magnetized, and I put masking tape on them with letters and made a diagram so I could put them on easier when we got there. And packing took a while . . . but I'm still not sure what I was doing that whole time. XD; I'm sure it wasn't interesting anyway. The only thing I know is I didn't get anything to eat or take a nap. :|
We were at the backstage area a little before five, but apparently the room wasn't open or something . . . we were waiting to be let in for kind of a long time; it seems like it must have been at least 20 minutes. They were assigning people to den mothers but I'm still not sure what was going on . . . anyway we did finally get in and sent to a dressing room, but they were doing signups for the makeup people and it was a question of not being fully in costume . . . they also had indicated that they didn't have enough dressing rooms so you were supposed to get things on and then vacate to the green room, but the majority of my costume was stuff that there was no way they could do makeup with it on . . .
I don't know, it's time to segue into sparse detail for the most part. After we got to the con center I sort of felt like I was totally dazed and remembering it sort of feels like remembering a weird dream you had. :< I did eat while I was waiting, pretzels and a bag of mini-carrots (well, it's still food), and I got everything as together as I could . . . but time kept passing and passing and I didn't get called for makeup, and this lady kept calling deadlines, but my den mother wasn't around so he obviously wasn't looking for me . . . after they finally called me for makeup, he did show up, and at that point I figured since I had missed the deadline that I had missed judging but he was like "no it's ok" . . . so we finally got the other pieces basically on and then got down to the green room because they needed to take a polaroid . . .
Then they were actually STARTING the masquerade and we were trying to fix the boot tops, which were on not quite right and also apparently after I made the minor changes to the top part I must not have tried walking because it was really difficult and then the nail glue bottle was empty and we were trying double-sided tape that wasn't working and with the headpiece on I couldn't really move my head at all and I just got really nauseated, I dunno if I was going to pass out or what.
So now we get miraculous editing and we'll just skip ahead to the fact that I did go on stage. I was behind a nice guy in an Iron Man costume (it was really cool, the hands and chest lit up). I have no idea who was behind me because I couldn't turn around to see them, I was really concerned I'd take someone's eye out with the horns, if not get them with the armor (can't turn head = no peripheral vision of how far the armor stuck out). There were stairs on both sides of the stage, which was challenging, but fortunately they had staff to help people also. This is actually the only time in my life I've done a walk-on (I'm just totally not counting the Pop Shock thing, that was the masquerade version of karaoke) . . . I'm not sure how I did but I tried to get close enough to the front of the stage and make sure that I showed the whole costume. They weren't kidding about not being able to see the audience; you just sort of have the impression there is one but the lights in front are brighter than average.
After you get off they give you another handler who takes you out to the photo area, which I knew about since our roommate last year was volunteering and had that job. It was good to be back behind Iron Man for a while so I talked to him while we waited. The stairs up to the stage were super narrow, so that was pretty hard . . . the press area is a small elevated stage, they have maybe 30 photographers (I assume you have to press credentials to be in that area) and a guy whose job it is to basically tell the costumer(s) which way to face or to turn your head to make sure everyone gets what they need. That was nice since I'm used to, should you acquire more than one photographer at a time, trying to figure out who's taking shots when and turning yourself accordingly so no one just gets your back. Then there was a lady doing an interview, which was optional, but she seemed awfully enthused . . . so I did that, and then thought it was over, but there was another row of (less l33t?) photographers and camera people. I didn't want to spurn them, but by then the front of the headpiece was causing an incredible stabbing pain in the center of my forehead and I really wanted to get it off.
I kind of don't remember most of after that . . . went back to the green room, got sitting down, headpiece off, and some water . . . talked to the 10th Doctor and met Ramen from Ramen and Rice . . . basically my brain and my body just shut down though I did watch most of the masquerade. Then there was what seemed like an interminably long time, in spite of filler martial arts thing, waiting for the judging.
I don't really know what I was thinking about it, probably wasn't really at all at that point, but they called my entry number. They don't tell you what you won, just get you up and lined up in the hallway. Some girl came over (honestly she was in costume and I have no recollection what it was) to tell me that she thought they hadn't called me and she was going to tell me that she thought I should have won something if I hadn't . . . which was very nice.
That process was pretty long too; I was behind the guy who did the cool giant robot (he told me the whole thing was held together with zip ties, which I think is plain brilliant). I realized that the ones they were calling first were the company awards, and as we were getting ready to go up I was thinking, they're out of company awards at this point. What the heck did I win? I was never craftsmanship judged. It was very strange going out on stage as they were announcing what I'd won. Phil Foglio is taller in person. I had the presence of mind to shake his hand, but he had to tell me to turn to the audience - he hold me to bow but I wound up doing some kind of wacky curtsey because that was all I could manage with the headpiece. Probably looked like a dumbass but even though I couldn't really see, I had the sense that there was basically no one in the audience by then (maybe I just thought so, don't know).
Then it was a repeat of the previous photo thing . . . two ladies came up to me about the costume who had what I think were costumers guild badges. After that I think it was just like, getting things off and then an immensely long time trying to get them packed up well enough to take back to the hotel. I'm not really sold on this whole only wearing the costume in the backstage area concept, if it was a small con where you were in the same hotel maybe but when you're three blocks away . . . I know it had to have been after midnight by the time we left. Then we walked the wrong way with the stuff and had to walk back the other way to get the shuttle - which wasn't really helpful, since we had to walk about the same distance as it would have been to the hotel and then go on the shuttle's circuit since it's a one-way route and our hotel is the first stop *before* the convention center. Friendly bus driver though . . .
The entire area of the lobby and flooding into the outside of our hotel was totally packed with people - apparently the thing I heard about our hotel being networking central for young industry professionals was true. Some guy with a beer asked us if we party. (Yes, with our suitcase and giant box.) When we got back to the hotel room I could tell I was about five minutes from not being able to remain upright so basically I just went straight to bed.
SUNDAY
Sunday contained nothing of much interest. lol. Got up, had to pack the costume box of stuff that was being shipped back, and the suitcase. I was able to ship the box from the business center so that helped; checked suitcase and went back to the con center. I wandered around the exhibit hall a little more, considered getting in line to meet the Power Rangers but didn't. I got massively brutalized by the crowd in one aisle which was NOT fun so I got to the doll panel late. It was really crowded and I thought about just leaving but I tried to take photos, until my camera battery went - and the replacements were, for some reason, not charged. Felt fed up and just sat in the hallway for a while, and then we got a call that our ride was already there so made a mad dash over to the hotel so he wouldn't have to wait for us. Had a nice chat with the hosts before and after dinner, watched some Stargate: Atlantis on TV. Dinner was excellent. They went to bed early so then it was random net usage, and I started processing photos. Played with the cat and a laser pointer, which was far more entertaining that it should have been. XD Took a shower.
MONDAY
Got up, packed up last random items, had breakfast, went outside to wait for the cab . . . and wound up stuck out there for like an hour and a half waiting for it to come. :P It never did. It's complicated but the hosts have a friend who has a friend who runs a cab company - but the guy completely flaked out and the friend once removed had to come get us instead. And, of course, at that point, we'd both missed our flights. It was not a relaxing morning. Fortunately I got standby on the next flight without a charge, and it did give me time to have lunch . . . chinese salad and then I got some frozen yogurt . . . then time to say goodbyes since we were in separate terminals that didn't connect. I got called up fairly early before the departure time and got a boarding pass so that was good, and it turns out the San Diego airport actually has Cherry Coke, for which they win at life.
Um . . . the end. lol.
Random people I saw:
~ Kevin Murphy: in the exhibit hall, I heard someone say "excuse me, Kevin" to the guy in front of me in a Hawaiian shirt (he proceeded to tell him that he liked his book etc), and I recognized his voice when he answered. I "followed" him for a while actually, not on purpose, he really did happen to be going the same direction as me XD; Whoo Tom Servo.
~ Pauly Shore: outside the Sails Pavillion. I'm NOT sure it was him, but I did see a l33t-type badge (different color) and it wouldn't be that much of a surprise.
~ guy from Gwar: actually, I thought he was a cosplayer. I saw this guy in a really elaborate costume, with two costumed chicks in tow. I thought about going up to him to ask if he was cosplaying Gwar, but I couldn't figure out why there were two women . . . uh, anyway, I talked to my roommate later and it WAS the guy from Gwar. I guess he was cosplaying himself.
Noel Clarke (Mickey from new Doctor Who): Right after seeing Kevin Murphy I was looking at the US release Doctor Who toys and there was I could have gotten an autograph, but I couldn't think of anything to say to him. ^^; ("I wasn't particularly hoping your character would die"?)
I know I should have a wrap-up of some kind, but most of the shout-outs would go to people who don't read this journal anyway. XD; Maybe just ask me about it.
Panel photos are now uploaded to the SDCC photoset, they should be in order now (I think I fixed it?), so I'd recommend opening that up while you read.
WEDNESDAY
Got in Wednesday this time, for Preview Night. I got in pretty early afternoon, so I was glad to be able to check in right away; though I had to get the room switched because it smelled of smoke. >_o I had been planning to use the afternoon (Preview Night doesn't start till 6PM) to work on beading stuff I brought with me, but when I got to the room I was so tired I thought I was going to die. I know I was awake and had the TV on, but I can't remember what I was watching . . . something about Neo-Nazis in prison trying to kill each other but that was only for a few minutes . . . Then got the call that the rest of the people were in and we were meeting for dinner, they were already at Dick's Last Resort. Turned into a very long walk because I got . . . well I'm still claiming I wasn't lost, I thought that streets named after letters would be in alphabetical order, without non-lettered streets in between (thank you Gaslamp district). I'm not sold on that place, I know the surly waitstaff is supposed to be a gimmick, but I was not thrilled when the chicken ripped through the paper and fell to the bottom of the bucket where it was very hard to eat (does anybody remember the game "Don't Break the Ice"?).
Dropped stuff off at the hotel room and headed to get badges. Got to love the complete LACK of lines at SDCC if you time it right (especially if you are pre-reg). Scan the barcode, get the badge, grab the program books and goodie bag, done. The Exhibit Hall was still pretty crowded, considering, but obviously not nearly as bad. In hindsight I really should have used the time to pick up some of the limited stuff, but it was a lot easier to get pics of the booths with fewer people around. Seriously, though, WHY did I not raid the Squeenix booth? All that stuff sold out by Thursday afternoon! Next year I'm just buying the stuff and putting it on eBay (at retail, that's not scalping). Maybe I could pay for keeping something that way. I guess the forms must have been a pre-order type thing and that's why none of the items are on eBay yet (they've already sold out on the JP site). Those dang FFIII Trading Arts figures . . . TOO CUTE and I haven't even played that one.
Um, I don't remember Wednesday night?
THURSDAY
Got up, went to the con center, went to check in at the Masquerade desk. Found out they had an incorrect home number and had been trying to reach me. >_< (Though I wonder why they didn't email me again?) Threatened spanking, however, did not materialize.
PARAMOUNT PANEL: got in line errrr maybe 10:45? For 12:15 panel, yes. The section of the line I was in was, alas, out in the relatively hot sun. But the reg line was much worse - all the way down the convention center, past the Paramount line, around the side, and up the back. Fortunately for us, we weren't outside for that long - maybe half an hour - before they started letting people into Hall H. (Hall H, for reference, is the biggest space - capacity about 5,000?). Got a big Paramount shopping bag at the door; didn't realize how good it was until I got sitting down! Paramount treats you right. The only thing that would have improved it is perhaps some food - Hot Rod energy bars? They were selling Stargate Atlantis water (which I never got a bottle of, darnit), so why not. I got a seat in the second section, just a couple rows from the aisle, center section but on the right aisle. Pretty damn good for Hall H considering that most of the front center is press and studio VIP.
Hot Rod: I admit I wasn't planning to see this movie but the extended scene they showed was entertaining. These guys were also responsible for the "Lazy Sunday" video (which I have seen), and "Dick in a Box" (which I know only by rep). The guy in front of me recognized the plant, but I didn't catch the name - someone from their online show? The people asking questions all seemed to be diehard fans, so I didn't catch much aside from yes, they are planning to do more music videos. They seemed like the slightly socially awkward guys you like hanging out with anyway because they're entertaining.
Stardust: Nothing particularly enlightening at the Stardust panel section over what was already said last year. Of course, the movie is coming out next week. They did show an extended scene with special effects (everything was in-camera last year) - I believe it was pretty directly from the book (the inn trap), though it's been a while since I've read it. I'll have to see how I feel about the film; I'm definitely looking forward to it a lot, but there was an awkwardness to the clip that I noticed last year also. In that footage, I figured it was lack of effects; but it was still there. Personally, I have to come out against (generally speaking) casting big stars in fantasy films. MOST of the time, I think it works better with unknowns. In these scenes, it was the bit parts that stood out. *shrug* Like I said though, just knee-jerk reaction to it, I'll withhold judgment for the whole film.
Beowulf: They made Neil Gaiman leave the stage after Stardust and come right back out again for Beowulf lol. Again, it was brief; a teaser trailer, comments on the fact that the cast was actually their "bullshit casting" (dream casting of huge stars you figure you'll never get), and Neil and his co-writer discussed how the script arose out of their collaboration, particularly as far as dealing with bridging the gap between the first and second segments of the original story. (If you've read Beowulf, the epic is disjointed - the first half is the young man, the second, the old king; basically it's a first and third act with no second.) The film is "historically" notable because it will be the widest ever 3D release - in three different formats, no less. They described it as the "blow your mind version", the "really blow your mind version" and the "your head explodes" version as I recall. XD We'll see. The teaser trailer was attractive, but it was not a 300-style graphic violence bonanza (this may not be a bad thing). Personally I'm a fan of the Beowulf story, if you can be a fan of an ancient Viking epic (o_O), so it will be interesting.
"Monstrous": I can't call it anything else because I'm not writing out J.J. Abram's Mysterious Monster Project or somesuch nonsense. He talked about going on a trip to Japan (I believe with his young son?) and thinking that America needs a Godzilla - except not Godzilla. The teaser, of course, is promising, though I think it's definitely a teaser and may not represent the way the film is done. Personally, I'm still having trouble with movies that involve large parts of NYC getting trashed (maybe especially because they always shoot down by my brother's place >_o), so I'm not as hyped as I could be. Also, I hope our dear J.J. does not fall into the trap of some OTHER young moviemakers who had a not entirely dissimilar career . . . (Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich. Though I suppose we could also bring up James Wong and Glen Morgan. Maybe being just one person will work out for him.)
Iron Man: Yeah, I'm not really a comics fan, I know next to nothing about Iron Man. I was figuring when just the director came out (dude, he was hyper) we weren't going to get much. But, we actually got a proper trailer, which laid out the plotline quite well for someone who had no clue. It's still early, he pointed out that only the last two shots were CG work. I much prefer physical effects anyway, and the physical effects with Stark's initial suit design were pretty badass; it actually looks like it could be pretty cool. I suppose if you're picking someone to make a comic book movie, you want them to be someone who acts like a 9 year old kid . . . I haven't seen his other movies (Zathura bombed big time but I heard good things about Elf), but he was pretty good in that one episode of Monk? lol.
Spiderwick Chronicles: YAY PHIL TIPPETT. *coughs* Is SFX fangirl even a category? Uh, anyway, only know the books by reputation, though I have read the "Field Guide to Fairies" (I almost bought them the other day but it was $40 for the set, think I may use the library). The main commentary was about the origin of the books, and how the authors felt about having gotten to see an initial cut of the film the day before (very excited to see their characters come to life). The director didn't comment much, but did say that when he first read the books he was thinking "gee this is really big print" but that he became totally engrossed because it seemed like something that could be completely real. I was glad to hear him say that when he did the film, he wasn't trying to make a children's film. (The best children's films usually kind of aren't if you actually think about it.) After that, Phil Tippett walked us through the entire effects process of doing one scene (conceptual art, maquettes, storyboards, etc), complete with the "running through the forest with cardboard cutouts" part.
Indiana Jones 4: ABOUT BLOODY TIME guys how long have you been working on the script? Long enough that I started a draft of my own based on the rumors, in high school. ^^; But I didn't think we were going to get a live broadcast from the set! That was very exciting. No one was sure if they had any video/audio on their end, but everyone cheered like prepubescent fanthings anyway when Spielberg popped up on that giant screen. I have to say, I was a little alarmed seeing Harrison Ford; if I say "he looks OLD!" it seems very insensitive but . . . it's not that "gee guess they didn't have work done" type of old, I thought he seemed very frail and unhealthy old. :| It was more a feeling of being concerned for someone you haven't seen in a while, that they might be sick. He seemed much older than Leonard Nimoy did, and Nimoy is in his late 70s? I suppose it's probably the strain of the shooting; I'm sure they're not going easy on Indy or him, or that he would want them to besides . . . anyway, I always wondered why they didn't bring back Marion Ravenwood's character, and apparently so did they, since she's back. I do hope John Rhys-Davies gets a bit part at least.
Star Trek: I haven't been closely following the news about the new Star Trek. I wasn't very into the more recent films, and I even assumed they'd be using the Enterprise cast, which doesn't interest me. They taunted us a little by saying that Kirk was not yet cast (including some comments about how they had to have a script that was good enough for Bill, which I can't help but wonder - was that sarcasm?). They actually asked the audience for suggestions. Then they brought out Zachary Quinto and officially announced him as the young Spock, just before announcing that Leonard Nimoy will also be returning to the Spock role (bets on wacky time travel plot?). Quinto seemed pretty in awe to be up on stage with Nimoy, who looks fantastic by the way, and seemed quite enthused about the project. We got a "live long and prosper" from him when he left. :3
At this point I imagine everyone's ass was asleep and their minds relatively blown. It took ages to get out of the room and then everyone was stuck in a massive traffic jam with the reg line. I ran into two folks I had dinner with the night before, though, and talked with them while we moved along very slowly. Made it up to Ballroom 20, but it was still rather early for Lost and the room wasn't very full so I decided to swing by the Fulfillment Room to get my Paramount posters before heading to the Lost panel, which at that point had no line.
I was sitting in the back section but nearer the front of it, and then this mother and her son sat down near me and I looked over and they had Stardust screening passes they were looking at. So I asked where they got them, and she told me they had just started passing them out in the exhibit hall. It was still like 45 minutes before Lost, and the room wasn't full. She knew it was the Paramount booth and I knew it was nearly directly below us so I decided to take a risk and dart off at full speed. I checked with security before I left and he said I just had to be back before 5. I managed to get into the exhibit hall, get two passes, and get back out and back upstairs in less than 10 minutes, where I proceeded to get incorrect info about how to get back in and was shuffled into a long line. I was in the line for a few minutes before I finally got near a security guy and asked him what I should do, since now they were saying the room was full and not everyone would get in. He sent me back to the exit door, where the first security guard did that "staring at you suspiciously" thing and then waved me in, where I was stopped by the guy who told me I could come back in asking me for my pass. @_@ At this point I'm like "80" and he goes "nah I'm just kidding". >_>;;; WHY do they love to do this with me? Last year they were asking me for secret passwords.
I found another seat but it was further back, though I'm glad that someone called out to me that there was an open seat (there are often single seats but it's really hard to tell what's being held or not). I looked at the Stardust passes while I waited for the panel to start; they had an RSVP number, and it turned out one pass was supposed to be for two people so when the couple next to me asked where I got it I gave them one of mine.
LOST PANEL
Whenever you write that, it winds up looking like the punchline to a joke . . . "well if your panel is lost, you better go and find it!" . . . or something. Anyway the panel consisted of just Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse this year. Honestly, they didn't say very much, compared to last year (which apparently included a few slip-ups). Of course, I think that was completely intentional - they had little hotel desk bells with them, one for each; they explained that if either started to say too much they'd ring the other out. Which they did several times, including one question they couldn't say anything at all to. Most people wanted to know about mobile content and game stuff and how it tied in/would tie in with the series. The game looks like it might be kind of cool, the exclusive for this was a clip of that. They did say that the flash forward sequences do not represent the end of the series; and talked a little about how knowing exactly how many episodes they had left was helping them set up the ending. Our one real piece of news was that Michael will be coming back - as a regular, not just in random flashes. They also showed a pretty funny clip of some of the writers talking which included a moment of silence for the Others who get no love (the random characters XD).
After that I headed back to the hotel because my parents had called to tell me that they'd been using the tracking info on the box with my costume and it had arrived. I ran up to the hotel room and dropped off my stuff, then went back down to the business center to get it. They said they'd bring it up to the room so I went BACK upstairs to wait for it. I wanted to go straight to the mall theater to try to get into Stardust (not until 9 but I'm not stupid enough to think people wouldn't line up) but anyone who wanted to go had to drop off their stuff at the hotel room first so I had to settle for examining some of the box contents. Then rush over towards the mall, getting stuck behind a really long freight train trying to cross the tracks . . .
MISSION: STARDUST (FAILED)
Once we reached the mall we had to find the theater, which I'd never bothered to notice. I really should take a pic of the mall, it's all crazy levels and staircases that go nowhere; trying to navigate through it is somewhat like the Escher staircase sequence at the end of Labyrinth. Someone called out "HEY DOLL PEOPLE", I have no idea how this girl remembered us completely out of context, but she did, lol (and I can't associate her with a username) . . . she told us where the theater was and said there wasn't any point. We ran into another couple on the way there, who didn't know us but randomly asked if that was where we were going; they said they had gotten their passes from a retailer in the mall and that they must have given out a million of them. Apparently some of the people had been in line "all day" (I'm not sure how, if they started giving out passes around 4PM), and at that point they had some kind of ticket that had been given out that was entry and there weren't any more. I went up to the line anyway just to find out more info, because one of those people had what I think was a third kind of pass . . . I realize now that the RSVP system (which I figured was bogus) was highly likely a popularity gauge - the trick was to find out how many people wanted the passes enough to consider using them, not to get people into an advance screening for buzz. It turns out our roommates separately tried to get in to it also and also failed.
So, we got dinner instead. Then the mall ate large amounts of time trying to find a pair of shoes, and a belt for me (I was having um technical difficulties with my pants) . . . we got back to the hotel room around 9PM, to discover our roommates . . . were already asleep. Making plans to work on my costume problematic.
Finally decided to move out to the hallway, where I got harassed by a random security guy. (Do I have a SIGN on my forehead?) I've had problems with hotel security at other conventions insisting that you're not allowed to be in the hallway . . . at this point I was by myself so . . .
Security guy: *walks up and STARES* . . . do you have a room in this hotel?
Me: Yes, it's right there. *proceeds to explain why I'm outside*
Security guy: . . .
Me: *starting to panic* *explains more, somewhat extraneously* So that's why I'm out here. *guy still says nothing and stands there* . . . is that okay?
Security guy: *long pause* Yeah, that's okay. Just don't see arts and crafts in the hallway that often. *leaves*
>_<;;;
So we worked in the hallway until . . . I dunno around 12 or 1, at which point I kind of caved to stress and fatigue and decided to go to bed.
FRIDAY
Friday the plan was to get up early. I found out the day before that I had to email files to the hotel's business center in order to print them - and I still needed a completed costume photo to finish the masquerade registration. But the access had expired, it was only 24 hours and I really didn't want to pay $9.95 again, so I went out in search of the Starbucks I thought I'd seen behind the hotel. Turns out there wasn't one. I found what seemed to be a free access point, but it worked for about five seconds and then refused to work again. Apparently the only other way to print is if you have a thumb drive, which I don't. Finally I had to go back up to the room and pay for it.
The roomies got up so I worked for a little while on the costume, trying to leave just enough time to get downstairs, pick up the printout, and get it to the masquerade desk before the Pixar short films panel. Fortunately, I managed to do this, in spite of the business center being slow and claiming at first that I hadn't sent them any email.
I actually was considering ditching Pixar and going to the Reaper premiere, partially so I could stake out in the Stargate panel room, but it had been cancelled/moved and I didn't really want to sit in the room for over two hours before the first panel.
PIXAR SHORT FILMS
The Pixar panel, however, started a good half hour late for no apparent reason. Adding to this, they decided to show their clip stuff first - instead of bringing out the LIVE GUESTS. They will be releasing a DVD of all Pixar's short films to date in December, and they screened the documentary which will be included on it about the studio's history. The documentary was great, though I actually saw some of Pixar's stuff really early on anyway because we used to get these laserdiscs of computer animation . . . anyway they ran that, then the three shorts that the guests were involved with, BEFORE bringing them out, so they only had about fifteen minutes for questions. So they spent most of the panel on stuff we either had seen or were going to see when we bought the DVD. ^^; As a result I don't really have anything to pass on, sorry . . . just that you should get the DVD if you like Pixar.
STARGATE: SG-1 MOVIE
Yeah, so, I admit that I didn't know they'd already shot the dang thing. I'm not good at following news unless I'm REALLY into a series. Anyway, I suppose this is mostly for shadrad who isn't actually in the country at the moment . . . but the movie is called "The Ark of Truth" and does in fact concern finding another ultimate weapon (no really this time it's ACTUALLY Ultimate!) to destroy the Ori for good. They made it pretty clear that they're planning to do more movies, as well, and there was a hint of another spinoff series being planned (??). I suppose you will have to take my word for it but Gary Jones (Walter) is one of the best panel moderators at the con; he's funny and always gets people talking about something interesting. Love for people who play random secondary characters. Ben Browder made a hell of an entrance, came out and climbed up on the table to holler at the crowd and show off his t-shirt like he'd just won the Super Bowl. Chris Judge doesn't really have to *do* anything to be larger than life.
The question and answer session was mostly, strangely enough, questions about dealing with the military in regards to the series. Personally I had a question I wanted to ask and figured the Sci-Fi VP programming wouldn't be interested in hearing . . . but it was disappointing that no one asked ANYTHING about the Ori plotline. They basically didn't come up at all, and that was the entirety of season 10 and the plot of the movie! The best part was the discussion of shooting in the Arctic which I think was brought up by Gary Jones . . . Chris Judge apparently refused to go in the first meeting where they were talking about practical concerns, like being warned that "to a polar bear, we're all upright seals". Apparently he felt that he would appear more seal-like than the rest of the cast. He got out of what Amanda Tapping and Ben Browder had to do - a long shot of them walking on ice, parts of which were much thicker than others, listening to the loud cracking and creaking. But he did have to do location shots in Canada somewheres on a mountain - they dropped him off in a helicopter and then had to fly around him to get shots; apparently he nearly got clipped by a runner.
There were two questions from military types who wanted to know about military content in the series. Mostly that discussion was about how military guidelines affect character interactions. Apparently a recent episode featured Walter being referred to just as "Walter", and they got a firm letter from someone in the military requesting that they refer to him with the appropriate title and "show the respect his title commands". Relating to the other person's question, Martin Wood (I think?) said that they had in fact used the same establishing shots of the outside of the real Cheyenne Mountain for the first 7 seasons. When they went back to shoot more, they had a lot of volunteers to be "random soldiers walking by" and were given a tour by the . . . err, base commander, I guess? He said that they had kind of a problem with everyone who came for the tours asking where they keep the Stargate. So, he shows them a door that says "Stargate Command". What's behind the door? "Brooms." XD
One guy got told he was at the wrong panel for asking what one of the writer/producers (Robert Cooper I think) had against doctors, since he's killed two of them (one in SG-1, one in Atlantis). He had a pretty good backup, though, from a bunch of people waving tiny Scottish flags - there were several women passing them out, they had a little drawing that said "Save Carson" on it (the aforementioned doctor from Atlantis whose character was killed off). Also a good ten minutes was wasted by some guy who SOMEHOW got past the pre-screening who wanted to sing a song about Stargate - and got Amanda Tapping to take pity on him.
STARGATE: ATLANTIS
It took them a really long time to . . . well, I'm not sure what they were doing. Putting out fresh Stargate: Atlantis water I suppose (they were selling it, too, it was "limited edition"). The panel wasn't nearly as lively this year without Paul McGillion; instead most of the interaction was between Amanda Tapping and David Hewlett, though. I can't think of a word to describe it other than "CUTE". >_o It was, though, I couldn't snap fast enough but at one point she leaned her head on his shoulder. It was just adorable. There wasn't too much of note that I remember; I think Sci-Fi has posted video of the panel anyway.
I tried to ask a question but I was in line the whole panel and didn't get up there, though I was fairly close . . . I guess it's as well I was in the line though, there was a woman in a motorized wheelchair in front of me and her brooch fell off. I'm not sure she would have gotten it back if I hadn't seen it right after it fell off. I wanted to ask about the fact that sci-fi usually has very few female cast members, and the Atlantis cast is dominated by women (since the upcoming season will have two new female regulars); was it an accident, or intent, and how is that going to affect the character dynamics? Eh, oh well.
The end of the panel was I guess the finale of the "Save Carson" people's work (there were also a lot of people in Scottish tams, I'm assuming that was related) - a bagpiper. XD Ah, take heed, executives of various things - NEVER underestimate the fans. But it must be kind of a scary time to be a writer! (Incidentally, it was recently confirmed he will be getting a 2-episode arc guest appearance.)
After Stargate I went back down to the exhibit hall to nab some more freebies and look around (it's hard to explain how BIG this is - imagine the dealer's room at Anime Expo, and then imagine five or six of that in a line). I was 99% sure there was no point trying to get into the Neil Gaiman spotlight late. So, I wandered around, got some more swag (though I clearly failed at this, I've seen what people are selling and I have no idea how they got it!), found the wee booth selling the Labyrinth necklaces, and checked out the Anime Ghetto. Then I got one of the ever-popular $4 pretzels (well, $3.75).
EUREKA
I wasn't super early for Eureka, but I couldn't believe the line! Neither could anyone else who was in it or walking by. I guess we all thought we were the only ones watching it. Sample exchange . . .
Lady: "What's this line for?" (Especially popular question at SDCC - I've asked and answered it many times)
Someone in line: "Eureka."
Lady: "REAAALLY." (She seemed surprised but not like, in a bad way.)
One of the things I really respect about SDCC is that people in line tend to be very jovial about it. They're willing to talk to the people around them and never seem angry or cranky about the fact that they're in line - even when it's becoming clear they may not get into the panel. The one exception to this would be the Heroes panel - I saw some people raising holy hell over that one (including someone I know lol), but that was with the security guys, NOT other fans.
Anyway we did a crazy long disorienting back and forth Disneyland snaking line thing. Fortunately the room was larger than the space available for the line, and I was in the middle, second section back. Before the panel started, though, the room was full and there were people along the side walls.
I think I'm the only Eureka watcher on here (;_;), so I won't ramble too much. The cast was really cute, they seem to have a lot of chemistry. It's always interesting seeing what parts of actors are just like their characters - and what parts are totally different. I don't feel like I have trouble separating the two any more, but you always have some moment in a panel where there's an expression or something that is such a surprise, when it's something the character does . . . I think that's kind of exciting for fans; I'm used to anime, where there's no real-world equivalent of the person; you have to accept that they can only exist in the confines of the show. With live action, I guess it's often harder for people, since you can see the person standing right there - you can maintain some illusion that it's not a character. But like I said, then it becomes even more exciting, because you can see these pieces of how the character is being created in your mind, right in front of you. It makes the connection that there is with the audience more obvious, I guess - it's not just coming from the writers, or the actors; I think the audience is really part of the collaboration as well, even though there's often not much direct feedback. (But there's more now, I think - there is really a sea change in how audiences are interacting with their entertainment, fueled but not created by the internet, and SDCC is the giant laboratory for that new idea.)
So because of that, you can have something like the last question at the Eureka panel - a kid who must have been like 9 years old asking Joe Morton about how his character was responding to the death of the woman he loves at the end of the first season. TV may not be as passive as we think it is. The actors and staff were clearly pretty surprised and pleased with the huge audience they had (and aware that they had been on the brink of cancellation), so I hope that made an impression on Mark Stern (another Sci-Fi programming VP) as well. He, of course, had to respond to a question about the future of the series . . . so we got the "don't TiVo the show" lecture. He was much less hostile about it than Nora (the other VP) is, but still . . . he says that everyone says, "well I'm not a Nielsen home", but insisted that if you tell your friends that one of them is bound to be. So, okay, which one of you is a Nielsen home? Is there ANY hope of the networks paying more attention to a room full of physical people than a prediction based on a system for assessing an "average" sample which is half a century out of date? YES I AM BITTER. XD; And of course the downside of them having some awareness of the fan base is that now, when a show gets cancelled, they tell us it's our fault.
BABYLON 5: THE LOST TALES
I pulled the ever-popular "move up after a panel" trick and landed about five rows back in the center section for B5, though I was kind of behind the video camera. It was great though because I didn't even have to get out of my seat to get a flashing disco light thingie. XD It was kind of weird being at a B5 panel! It feels like it's been a really long time since the pilot . . . which it has.
JMS was, as always, a complete character. I think you have to have the JMS experience yourself, though you definitely get a taste of it from the way he writes (naturally). I think it'd be easy to interpret him as a bit of an asshole - which I admit I did, the first time I saw him at Wizard World and he came down on a fan (who was being kind of an idiot) . . . but I guess he just gives people a hard time.
The best part of the panel was the actors giving each OTHER a hard time, particularly constant sniping back and forth between Tracy Scoggins and Peter Woodward. I was not really a fan of Tracy Scoggins' character (sorry, I was too into Ivanova), not that I had anything against her . . . anyway I guess the big part of the panel was a stunt they pulled on JMS. One of the DVD extras is a "pitch" to the executives about saving money on future B5 films . . . by doing them with sock puppets. XD So they had the audience and cast pull out sock puppets. Most of the discussion wasn't really about the film, it was more like Story Time with Peter and Tracy lol. They did talk briefly about the fact that the film was done almost entirely against green screen - a real acting challenge, not just because they had to react to things that weren't there, but because they were shooting from multiple angles, which meant the things that weren't there were also MOVING.
I got into line immediately to ask a question but I didn't get to ask it. The guy running the line came back and apologized - he said that they were taking too long on the questions and the person in front of us (the guy sitting next to me was in line with me) was going to be the last one. He sent us back to our seats. But then the last two people had totally lame, short questions - and they go, "okay we'll take two more"! >_< But then it was just chaos, trying to call on people from the audience, and one woman just started shouting out hers (pretty obnoxious), continuing even when JMS was trying to tell her to be quiet. This is especially ironic because she was on some rant about fans saving series and what the fans should do (uh, buy the DVD? They're *already* "bringing the series back"! Not to mention that B5 HAD its full planned run, even if it was only narrowly!).
Anyway it was nice to see the actors and JMS (and hey, Douglas Netter) in person and so close. I'm not sure there's a HUGE family resemblance between Dan and Bruce but . . . (I went to middle school with Bruce Boxleitner's relative, lol. I think Bruce was his cousin, he said they did see each other at family stuff so it wasn't distant. He was a bit mortified that I was a B5 fan.)
FRIDAY EVENING
After B5 I got to meet up with kyubikitsy and co., wrapping up their one crazy day at SDCC, and in turn waiting for waynekaa. I win, I spotted him first XD lol. Alas we couldn't hang out for long since they had to catch a train. But waynekaa came with us to the mall to get some dinner, and then in search of a McDonald's (which is listed in the program book, but has closed). I still think the idea of keeping chicken nuggets around for 12 hours or so before eating them is really unappealing. @_@;
I took care of a few random costume things while the roomies were still awake, and then sat on the floor for Friday night into Saturday morning trying to finish the beading. The thing about beading is, it's much easier than most things you could have to do on a costume - but it's not completely mindless and it's very slow. The bead strings are randomized, but not random; but I also didn't want there to be an obvious repeating pattern. So there are pattern segments instead; kind of like a DNA strand, I guess. lol. I finally decided I wasn't going to make it without SOME sleep though so I went to bed for about two hours.
SATURDAY
I'd thought I might be able to get up early enough to finish what I wanted to do and get over to the con center in time to drop off the Dresden Files fliers (Saturday is the busiest day - I didn't have that many so I was hoping that was the best time to leave them, and the other time I tried, I couldn't get anyone's attention to take them!) and make the Pushing Daisies premiere before the masquerade orientation. But, I would have had to be super-frantic to do it and the way the lines had been the day before, I didn't want to get over there and find out I couldn't get in anyway.
So I left early enough to drop off the fliers and go to the masquerade orientation. None of that is really interesting; I did wind up having to change some stuff on my form because they were checking to make sure everyone's paperwork was done and the guy checking mine said I really should put something down for the MC to say and also there was a section on the craftsmanship form about points of interest or something (like "charm point" I guess hah). So I took care of that. They also had the woman there from last year who did the Corpse Bride costume that won, who was supposed to be answering questions; it didn't seem like that many people were asking her anything so I stopped to ask her whether she had any trouble getting on and off the stage again since she had a long train on that dress. That was helpful I think.
I'd originally intended to try the Heroes panel after the orientation; but I took one look at the line and knew there was no way in hell I was getting in. So, I headed back to the hotel.
That amounts to a pretty significant amount of time that I can't fully account for what I was doing . . . since we headed back over to the convention center a little before five, when the roomies came back and were heading that way also and offered to help carry things. I know I had to figure out which bead strings on the armor were going where, since they're all magnetized, and I put masking tape on them with letters and made a diagram so I could put them on easier when we got there. And packing took a while . . . but I'm still not sure what I was doing that whole time. XD; I'm sure it wasn't interesting anyway. The only thing I know is I didn't get anything to eat or take a nap. :|
We were at the backstage area a little before five, but apparently the room wasn't open or something . . . we were waiting to be let in for kind of a long time; it seems like it must have been at least 20 minutes. They were assigning people to den mothers but I'm still not sure what was going on . . . anyway we did finally get in and sent to a dressing room, but they were doing signups for the makeup people and it was a question of not being fully in costume . . . they also had indicated that they didn't have enough dressing rooms so you were supposed to get things on and then vacate to the green room, but the majority of my costume was stuff that there was no way they could do makeup with it on . . .
I don't know, it's time to segue into sparse detail for the most part. After we got to the con center I sort of felt like I was totally dazed and remembering it sort of feels like remembering a weird dream you had. :< I did eat while I was waiting, pretzels and a bag of mini-carrots (well, it's still food), and I got everything as together as I could . . . but time kept passing and passing and I didn't get called for makeup, and this lady kept calling deadlines, but my den mother wasn't around so he obviously wasn't looking for me . . . after they finally called me for makeup, he did show up, and at that point I figured since I had missed the deadline that I had missed judging but he was like "no it's ok" . . . so we finally got the other pieces basically on and then got down to the green room because they needed to take a polaroid . . .
Then they were actually STARTING the masquerade and we were trying to fix the boot tops, which were on not quite right and also apparently after I made the minor changes to the top part I must not have tried walking because it was really difficult and then the nail glue bottle was empty and we were trying double-sided tape that wasn't working and with the headpiece on I couldn't really move my head at all and I just got really nauseated, I dunno if I was going to pass out or what.
So now we get miraculous editing and we'll just skip ahead to the fact that I did go on stage. I was behind a nice guy in an Iron Man costume (it was really cool, the hands and chest lit up). I have no idea who was behind me because I couldn't turn around to see them, I was really concerned I'd take someone's eye out with the horns, if not get them with the armor (can't turn head = no peripheral vision of how far the armor stuck out). There were stairs on both sides of the stage, which was challenging, but fortunately they had staff to help people also. This is actually the only time in my life I've done a walk-on (I'm just totally not counting the Pop Shock thing, that was the masquerade version of karaoke) . . . I'm not sure how I did but I tried to get close enough to the front of the stage and make sure that I showed the whole costume. They weren't kidding about not being able to see the audience; you just sort of have the impression there is one but the lights in front are brighter than average.
After you get off they give you another handler who takes you out to the photo area, which I knew about since our roommate last year was volunteering and had that job. It was good to be back behind Iron Man for a while so I talked to him while we waited. The stairs up to the stage were super narrow, so that was pretty hard . . . the press area is a small elevated stage, they have maybe 30 photographers (I assume you have to press credentials to be in that area) and a guy whose job it is to basically tell the costumer(s) which way to face or to turn your head to make sure everyone gets what they need. That was nice since I'm used to, should you acquire more than one photographer at a time, trying to figure out who's taking shots when and turning yourself accordingly so no one just gets your back. Then there was a lady doing an interview, which was optional, but she seemed awfully enthused . . . so I did that, and then thought it was over, but there was another row of (less l33t?) photographers and camera people. I didn't want to spurn them, but by then the front of the headpiece was causing an incredible stabbing pain in the center of my forehead and I really wanted to get it off.
I kind of don't remember most of after that . . . went back to the green room, got sitting down, headpiece off, and some water . . . talked to the 10th Doctor and met Ramen from Ramen and Rice . . . basically my brain and my body just shut down though I did watch most of the masquerade. Then there was what seemed like an interminably long time, in spite of filler martial arts thing, waiting for the judging.
I don't really know what I was thinking about it, probably wasn't really at all at that point, but they called my entry number. They don't tell you what you won, just get you up and lined up in the hallway. Some girl came over (honestly she was in costume and I have no recollection what it was) to tell me that she thought they hadn't called me and she was going to tell me that she thought I should have won something if I hadn't . . . which was very nice.
That process was pretty long too; I was behind the guy who did the cool giant robot (he told me the whole thing was held together with zip ties, which I think is plain brilliant). I realized that the ones they were calling first were the company awards, and as we were getting ready to go up I was thinking, they're out of company awards at this point. What the heck did I win? I was never craftsmanship judged. It was very strange going out on stage as they were announcing what I'd won. Phil Foglio is taller in person. I had the presence of mind to shake his hand, but he had to tell me to turn to the audience - he hold me to bow but I wound up doing some kind of wacky curtsey because that was all I could manage with the headpiece. Probably looked like a dumbass but even though I couldn't really see, I had the sense that there was basically no one in the audience by then (maybe I just thought so, don't know).
Then it was a repeat of the previous photo thing . . . two ladies came up to me about the costume who had what I think were costumers guild badges. After that I think it was just like, getting things off and then an immensely long time trying to get them packed up well enough to take back to the hotel. I'm not really sold on this whole only wearing the costume in the backstage area concept, if it was a small con where you were in the same hotel maybe but when you're three blocks away . . . I know it had to have been after midnight by the time we left. Then we walked the wrong way with the stuff and had to walk back the other way to get the shuttle - which wasn't really helpful, since we had to walk about the same distance as it would have been to the hotel and then go on the shuttle's circuit since it's a one-way route and our hotel is the first stop *before* the convention center. Friendly bus driver though . . .
The entire area of the lobby and flooding into the outside of our hotel was totally packed with people - apparently the thing I heard about our hotel being networking central for young industry professionals was true. Some guy with a beer asked us if we party. (Yes, with our suitcase and giant box.) When we got back to the hotel room I could tell I was about five minutes from not being able to remain upright so basically I just went straight to bed.
SUNDAY
Sunday contained nothing of much interest. lol. Got up, had to pack the costume box of stuff that was being shipped back, and the suitcase. I was able to ship the box from the business center so that helped; checked suitcase and went back to the con center. I wandered around the exhibit hall a little more, considered getting in line to meet the Power Rangers but didn't. I got massively brutalized by the crowd in one aisle which was NOT fun so I got to the doll panel late. It was really crowded and I thought about just leaving but I tried to take photos, until my camera battery went - and the replacements were, for some reason, not charged. Felt fed up and just sat in the hallway for a while, and then we got a call that our ride was already there so made a mad dash over to the hotel so he wouldn't have to wait for us. Had a nice chat with the hosts before and after dinner, watched some Stargate: Atlantis on TV. Dinner was excellent. They went to bed early so then it was random net usage, and I started processing photos. Played with the cat and a laser pointer, which was far more entertaining that it should have been. XD Took a shower.
MONDAY
Got up, packed up last random items, had breakfast, went outside to wait for the cab . . . and wound up stuck out there for like an hour and a half waiting for it to come. :P It never did. It's complicated but the hosts have a friend who has a friend who runs a cab company - but the guy completely flaked out and the friend once removed had to come get us instead. And, of course, at that point, we'd both missed our flights. It was not a relaxing morning. Fortunately I got standby on the next flight without a charge, and it did give me time to have lunch . . . chinese salad and then I got some frozen yogurt . . . then time to say goodbyes since we were in separate terminals that didn't connect. I got called up fairly early before the departure time and got a boarding pass so that was good, and it turns out the San Diego airport actually has Cherry Coke, for which they win at life.
Um . . . the end. lol.
Random people I saw:
~ Kevin Murphy: in the exhibit hall, I heard someone say "excuse me, Kevin" to the guy in front of me in a Hawaiian shirt (he proceeded to tell him that he liked his book etc), and I recognized his voice when he answered. I "followed" him for a while actually, not on purpose, he really did happen to be going the same direction as me XD; Whoo Tom Servo.
~ Pauly Shore: outside the Sails Pavillion. I'm NOT sure it was him, but I did see a l33t-type badge (different color) and it wouldn't be that much of a surprise.
~ guy from Gwar: actually, I thought he was a cosplayer. I saw this guy in a really elaborate costume, with two costumed chicks in tow. I thought about going up to him to ask if he was cosplaying Gwar, but I couldn't figure out why there were two women . . . uh, anyway, I talked to my roommate later and it WAS the guy from Gwar. I guess he was cosplaying himself.
Noel Clarke (Mickey from new Doctor Who): Right after seeing Kevin Murphy I was looking at the US release Doctor Who toys and there was I could have gotten an autograph, but I couldn't think of anything to say to him. ^^; ("I wasn't particularly hoping your character would die"?)
I know I should have a wrap-up of some kind, but most of the shout-outs would go to people who don't read this journal anyway. XD; Maybe just ask me about it.