wow, where to start?
So...I'm back. Trying to figure out where to start. I guess I'll just fill in any blanks that I left while mini-blogging over my phone (seriously, I can only type so much with a touch screen).
Thursday we woke up bright and early. Both Jeff & I wanted to see the Tron Legacy panel, so we got in line around 7:30 am to wait for the doors to open around 9. See, they don't empty out the rooms after each panel at Comic-Con, so if there is a big even sometime during the day, the room will most likely fill up that morning and just never empty out. Tron was probably one of the bigger events in Hall H that day.
But before Tron was Megamind, the computer-animated cartoon starring Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Jonah Hill, and Brad Pitt. 3D glasses were handed out as we walked into Hall H, so we all got to see the trailer and a clip in 3D before the cast came on stage. In classic Ferrell style, Will stumbled onto the stage wearing his Megamind outfit - complete with blue face paint. He also had a box of donuts and some juice - "oh, I didn't expect there to be this many of you...sharing might be hard". Tina Fey also came on stage with snacks and explained that they were from 7-Eleven and she did use her own money, so if everyone in the room could give her 1/1000 of a cent, she would really appreciate it. Jonah just came on stage like a normal person haha. Then the guy leading the panel teased that there was one more member of the cast - you could hear the crowd gasp with anticipation - then they brought out the cardboard cut-out of Brad Pitt and explained that he couldn't make it. Har-har-har. It was a fun panel, though I have a bad feeling that they sorta gave away the entire movie in the trailer. But if it has enough humor, it still might be worth watching.
Then came the Tron Legacy panel and the 3D glasses were on again for an extended clip from the movie featuring a creepy CGI Jeff Bridges. The cast, director, and creator of Tron came out on stage and the panel was led by Patton Oswalt. I think he was my favorite panel leader because he had this great mix of fanboy and snark in all his discussions. For example, any time a clip from a movie was shown, they warned audience members that no recording was allowed and volunteers were patrolling to look for cameras. When they began to queue up the Tron footage, Oswalt quipped "And you know there is no better way to show how much you honor and respect all of the hard work these people have put into this movie than by posting a shaky, out of focus video on YouTube." Tron was filmed with the latest 3D tech, so I'm actually interested in seeing it in 3D.
As the Tron panel ended, Patton asked the audience, in a voice oozing with sarcasm - "hey, what Disney franchise would you most like to see revived next?" silence "I know, Haunted Mansion!" ???? *runs clip that is voice-over from Haunted Mansion ride* "And who would you like to see DIRECT this movie?" Um? "I KNOW - Guillermo Del Toro!" AAAAAAH! YES!!! Del Toro came out on stage and joked that this was a really big crowd and he only knows 20 words in English and because this is a family friendly convention, he can only use 12 of those words. LOL. Anyway, he assured us that they were going to make a SCARY movie and that he was not returning Eddie Murphy's calls.
After much debate, I opted to head out to the Exhibit Hall and stretch my legs. The next panel I wanted to see was the J.J. Abrams and Joss Whedon conversation, which would be back in Hall H but in another 2 hours. I decided I could make it back in time if I had to. The Exhibit Hall was HUGE and ran the length of the center, which I swear is like 4 blocks long. I walked into the hall, thinking I could find something to do, and was just overwhelmed. I stood there sort of staring, just meandering through the booths. Eventually, I pulled out my notepad with the booth numbers scribbled on it and made my way to the Her Universe booth. Ashley was there and she had all of the shirts on display plus the hats that she had hand-glued crystals to the Star Wars logo. I bought a hat and the red Padme shirt that I had been eyeing up since she posted it on her website. She was so sweet, she offered to autograph my hat. I told her I was a big fan of the clothing line and she asked my name to sign on the hat and I said "Sam" and she was like "Oh Sam Z from Facebook? You have the little cartoony avatar". I was like "OMG WOW! SHE ACTUALLY READS HER FB PAGE?!!?" I was blown away. She really loves this line of clothing. And I can tell you the shirts are UBER soft (oh, and jellibean, she revealed to me that she will be at Dragon*Con so you gotta show her some love).
I went over to the Titan Books booth and grabbed an early copy of The Art of Drew Struzan book, which I was hoping to get signed on Sunday (more on that later). As I walked away from the table, three gentlemen approached me and asked if I would like to be interviewed for a documentary they were making on Mr Struzan. I was like "Sure, why not" and babbled at them about why I love his art work and what it means to me as a fan and how much posters for movies today suck because they are just boring photoshops. I then looked at my phone and realized I better get my butt to the Hall H line or there was no way I would get in for the J.J. and Joss show!
So, I sat in the grass for an hour, reading my Drew Struzan book and realizing that I hadn't eaten anything but a scone since 7am and it was almost 4...meep. But I couldn't leave the line! So I scarfed down a little granola bar and waited. Luckily, enough people cleared out after the "RED" panel that I was able to get in for all of J.J. and Joss. It was a great panel, listening to those two talk about their projects and their philosophies on movies. One of my favorite moments was when they were asked whose work was inspiring them now. J.J. listed a few random people. Joss said the movie that he keeps watching over and over is Star Trek and he said it scares him because it's SO GOOD and now he has to make Avengers and he freaks out thinking about how it needs to be as good as Star Trek. You could tell J.J. was just touched. I swear he wiped away a tear. I was like "aaaaw".
After that, I realized if I didn't eat something I would collapse. So I wandered across the street from the Con and found The Old Spaghetti Factory. I told the hostess I was alone and she said I could just take a seat outside if I didn't feel like waiting. So I sat on the patio and had a nice big bowl of pasta and meatballs. I'm sitting there stuffing my face and I see someone walked up the street and they look REALLY familiar. As he gets closer, I realize it's Aaron "Chief Tyrol" Douglass so I wave at him. He smiles and wiggles his fingers back at me and I start to feel pretty good about myself. Though I soon realize that I've probably eaten too quickly. I pay the bill and meander up the street where Bioware has teams of people handing out fliers to try out the new Dead Space II and Dragon Age II demos they have running in another hotel. I find the hotel and plop myself down in front of the Dead Space II demo. I start to play but realize pretty quickly that the combo of having just eaten my first meal of the day + total darkness + focusing on moving images on screen make my tummy unhappy. I play just long enough then get up before I spew meatballs everywhere.
I went back to the Con and found the Dr Horrible Sing-a-long, which was being hosted by the California Browncoats. It's always a blast to belt out Dr Horrible songs with a bunch of other fans. Perfect way to end my first day at SDCC.
I'll type up Day 2 tomorrow as I am exhausted!!!! :)
Thursday we woke up bright and early. Both Jeff & I wanted to see the Tron Legacy panel, so we got in line around 7:30 am to wait for the doors to open around 9. See, they don't empty out the rooms after each panel at Comic-Con, so if there is a big even sometime during the day, the room will most likely fill up that morning and just never empty out. Tron was probably one of the bigger events in Hall H that day.
But before Tron was Megamind, the computer-animated cartoon starring Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Jonah Hill, and Brad Pitt. 3D glasses were handed out as we walked into Hall H, so we all got to see the trailer and a clip in 3D before the cast came on stage. In classic Ferrell style, Will stumbled onto the stage wearing his Megamind outfit - complete with blue face paint. He also had a box of donuts and some juice - "oh, I didn't expect there to be this many of you...sharing might be hard". Tina Fey also came on stage with snacks and explained that they were from 7-Eleven and she did use her own money, so if everyone in the room could give her 1/1000 of a cent, she would really appreciate it. Jonah just came on stage like a normal person haha. Then the guy leading the panel teased that there was one more member of the cast - you could hear the crowd gasp with anticipation - then they brought out the cardboard cut-out of Brad Pitt and explained that he couldn't make it. Har-har-har. It was a fun panel, though I have a bad feeling that they sorta gave away the entire movie in the trailer. But if it has enough humor, it still might be worth watching.
Then came the Tron Legacy panel and the 3D glasses were on again for an extended clip from the movie featuring a creepy CGI Jeff Bridges. The cast, director, and creator of Tron came out on stage and the panel was led by Patton Oswalt. I think he was my favorite panel leader because he had this great mix of fanboy and snark in all his discussions. For example, any time a clip from a movie was shown, they warned audience members that no recording was allowed and volunteers were patrolling to look for cameras. When they began to queue up the Tron footage, Oswalt quipped "And you know there is no better way to show how much you honor and respect all of the hard work these people have put into this movie than by posting a shaky, out of focus video on YouTube." Tron was filmed with the latest 3D tech, so I'm actually interested in seeing it in 3D.
As the Tron panel ended, Patton asked the audience, in a voice oozing with sarcasm - "hey, what Disney franchise would you most like to see revived next?" silence "I know, Haunted Mansion!" ???? *runs clip that is voice-over from Haunted Mansion ride* "And who would you like to see DIRECT this movie?" Um? "I KNOW - Guillermo Del Toro!" AAAAAAH! YES!!! Del Toro came out on stage and joked that this was a really big crowd and he only knows 20 words in English and because this is a family friendly convention, he can only use 12 of those words. LOL. Anyway, he assured us that they were going to make a SCARY movie and that he was not returning Eddie Murphy's calls.
After much debate, I opted to head out to the Exhibit Hall and stretch my legs. The next panel I wanted to see was the J.J. Abrams and Joss Whedon conversation, which would be back in Hall H but in another 2 hours. I decided I could make it back in time if I had to. The Exhibit Hall was HUGE and ran the length of the center, which I swear is like 4 blocks long. I walked into the hall, thinking I could find something to do, and was just overwhelmed. I stood there sort of staring, just meandering through the booths. Eventually, I pulled out my notepad with the booth numbers scribbled on it and made my way to the Her Universe booth. Ashley was there and she had all of the shirts on display plus the hats that she had hand-glued crystals to the Star Wars logo. I bought a hat and the red Padme shirt that I had been eyeing up since she posted it on her website. She was so sweet, she offered to autograph my hat. I told her I was a big fan of the clothing line and she asked my name to sign on the hat and I said "Sam" and she was like "Oh Sam Z from Facebook? You have the little cartoony avatar". I was like "OMG WOW! SHE ACTUALLY READS HER FB PAGE?!!?" I was blown away. She really loves this line of clothing. And I can tell you the shirts are UBER soft (oh, and jellibean, she revealed to me that she will be at Dragon*Con so you gotta show her some love).
I went over to the Titan Books booth and grabbed an early copy of The Art of Drew Struzan book, which I was hoping to get signed on Sunday (more on that later). As I walked away from the table, three gentlemen approached me and asked if I would like to be interviewed for a documentary they were making on Mr Struzan. I was like "Sure, why not" and babbled at them about why I love his art work and what it means to me as a fan and how much posters for movies today suck because they are just boring photoshops. I then looked at my phone and realized I better get my butt to the Hall H line or there was no way I would get in for the J.J. and Joss show!
So, I sat in the grass for an hour, reading my Drew Struzan book and realizing that I hadn't eaten anything but a scone since 7am and it was almost 4...meep. But I couldn't leave the line! So I scarfed down a little granola bar and waited. Luckily, enough people cleared out after the "RED" panel that I was able to get in for all of J.J. and Joss. It was a great panel, listening to those two talk about their projects and their philosophies on movies. One of my favorite moments was when they were asked whose work was inspiring them now. J.J. listed a few random people. Joss said the movie that he keeps watching over and over is Star Trek and he said it scares him because it's SO GOOD and now he has to make Avengers and he freaks out thinking about how it needs to be as good as Star Trek. You could tell J.J. was just touched. I swear he wiped away a tear. I was like "aaaaw".
After that, I realized if I didn't eat something I would collapse. So I wandered across the street from the Con and found The Old Spaghetti Factory. I told the hostess I was alone and she said I could just take a seat outside if I didn't feel like waiting. So I sat on the patio and had a nice big bowl of pasta and meatballs. I'm sitting there stuffing my face and I see someone walked up the street and they look REALLY familiar. As he gets closer, I realize it's Aaron "Chief Tyrol" Douglass so I wave at him. He smiles and wiggles his fingers back at me and I start to feel pretty good about myself. Though I soon realize that I've probably eaten too quickly. I pay the bill and meander up the street where Bioware has teams of people handing out fliers to try out the new Dead Space II and Dragon Age II demos they have running in another hotel. I find the hotel and plop myself down in front of the Dead Space II demo. I start to play but realize pretty quickly that the combo of having just eaten my first meal of the day + total darkness + focusing on moving images on screen make my tummy unhappy. I play just long enough then get up before I spew meatballs everywhere.
I went back to the Con and found the Dr Horrible Sing-a-long, which was being hosted by the California Browncoats. It's always a blast to belt out Dr Horrible songs with a bunch of other fans. Perfect way to end my first day at SDCC.
I'll type up Day 2 tomorrow as I am exhausted!!!! :)