Verdict is in: Star Wars Celebration - Epic!
Pardon the tardiness, but the last three days of Star Wars Celebration V made me completely speechless....Not really, it was just very late by the time I returned home that I couldn't put coherent thoughts to journal.
Friday was Mark Hamill Day. We waited three hours in line for the chance to see his panel, but it was worth every minute. Poor Jay Laga'aia was the host and couldn't get much of a word in and very few questions. Mark shared some incredible stories. Of course, as he said, he would never be able to beat any member of the audience at trivia because he can't remember the Star Wars details (ie. sand crawler = jawamobile). I also got the chance to meet Sound Designer Ben Burt, who autographed my Wall-E DVD. Earlier in the day, when my writing friend Harry, wicked_swann and I were at the Sounds of Star Wars panel, I had the chance to ask him about creating the sound of the tie-fighters.
Prior to SWCV, wicked_swann and I had decided to bypass The Main Event (aka George Lucas' interview with Jon Stewart) and its simulcasts. We wandered the Exhibit Hall until the start of the Charlie Ross and the One-Man Star Wars Trilogy. If you ever get to see this performance at any Con, I highly recommend it. He does all of the sounds and voices while telling the original trilogy story - with a few footnotes gleened from the prequels. (Who knew Luke and Anakin harnessed the whiny side of the force?) We then split up. I went to hear Producer Gary Kurtz and she went off to The Clone Wars panel.
I hated to see Celebration end today but we went out in style. To start the day, we had a private conversation with voice actor Dee Bradley Baker from The Clone Wars. Then Carrie Fisher cancelled her panel but they opted to re-air Lucas' interview with her introducing it. I am so happy I hopped out of the Ray Park line because Jay pulled 15 minutes out of her, including a monologue of the hologram speech. Ray Park was entertaining as always. I swear that he and Jay should take their act on the road. The day ended with an autograph and photo with Matt Lanter (aka Anakin in The Clone Wars and "Edward Sullen" in Vampires Suck) and a sneak peek of season 3 of the animated series with commentary from Joel Aron and Dave Feloni. The latter should really look into a career in politics because he knows how to skirt a question.
Once I have the chance to process everything I'll post some photos and my own list of things life lessons learned at Star Wars Celebration V. Until then, may the force be with you.
Friday was Mark Hamill Day. We waited three hours in line for the chance to see his panel, but it was worth every minute. Poor Jay Laga'aia was the host and couldn't get much of a word in and very few questions. Mark shared some incredible stories. Of course, as he said, he would never be able to beat any member of the audience at trivia because he can't remember the Star Wars details (ie. sand crawler = jawamobile). I also got the chance to meet Sound Designer Ben Burt, who autographed my Wall-E DVD. Earlier in the day, when my writing friend Harry, wicked_swann and I were at the Sounds of Star Wars panel, I had the chance to ask him about creating the sound of the tie-fighters.
Prior to SWCV, wicked_swann and I had decided to bypass The Main Event (aka George Lucas' interview with Jon Stewart) and its simulcasts. We wandered the Exhibit Hall until the start of the Charlie Ross and the One-Man Star Wars Trilogy. If you ever get to see this performance at any Con, I highly recommend it. He does all of the sounds and voices while telling the original trilogy story - with a few footnotes gleened from the prequels. (Who knew Luke and Anakin harnessed the whiny side of the force?) We then split up. I went to hear Producer Gary Kurtz and she went off to The Clone Wars panel.
I hated to see Celebration end today but we went out in style. To start the day, we had a private conversation with voice actor Dee Bradley Baker from The Clone Wars. Then Carrie Fisher cancelled her panel but they opted to re-air Lucas' interview with her introducing it. I am so happy I hopped out of the Ray Park line because Jay pulled 15 minutes out of her, including a monologue of the hologram speech. Ray Park was entertaining as always. I swear that he and Jay should take their act on the road. The day ended with an autograph and photo with Matt Lanter (aka Anakin in The Clone Wars and "Edward Sullen" in Vampires Suck) and a sneak peek of season 3 of the animated series with commentary from Joel Aron and Dave Feloni. The latter should really look into a career in politics because he knows how to skirt a question.
Once I have the chance to process everything I'll post some photos and my own list of things life lessons learned at Star Wars Celebration V. Until then, may the force be with you.