FedCon XXI, Düsseldorf, May 20, 2012
On Sunday, May 20, I boldy went to my very first SciFi convention, the FedCon in Düsseldorf.
It was a spontaneous decision and I didn’t know if I would get a day ticket, as all the weekend tickets and Saturday day tickets had been sold out. However, I was lucky and got a ticket for € 40 (about 50 dollars) that granted admission and got me a complimentary Star Trek baggy with 13 DVDs in it. That was all 10 Star Trek movies (except for the Abrams flick) and some extras. Thankfully, I had never bought the movies on DVD, so that was value for money! Then I strolled though the halls, had a look at all the Star Trek memorabilia and watched the celebrities signing autographs in the main hall. Shatner was not there, he had a separate room.
Click thumbs to embiggen:
This photo reminds me of "Night of the Living Trekkies". I wonder why.
Autograph Session:
I had lunch at the airport and waited for the panels to start.I found myself a good seat at the gallery, as all six front rows in the main hall were reserved for “Gold-Ticket” VIPs. While sitting and waiting I got a bit of a bad conscience because everyone back home thought I was sitting in my study grading exam papers. ;)
The first panelist was Felicia Day, who’s apparently known for Buffy, Supernatural, The Guild and a lot of online gaming. I’d never heard of her, but she was fun to listen to. Next was Garrett Wang (known as Harry Kim on ST Voyager), both Master of Ceremony and panelist, and Walter Koenig, who has grown old for sure!! Actually, he made fun of his age, and they both got some roaring laughs.
Shatner entered the stage with no further delay and continued with what he had started the night before. I don’t know what questions had been asked the previous evening, but to me it seemed as if he turned every question to make it suit one of his often heard stories, like the one about summer camp, the shooting of Star Trek V etc. I caught myself feeling a bit bored, maybe because I had seen, heard and read those stories far too often.
Then the questions turned out to be more refreshing and some of his answers got quite philosophical. There was no roaring laughter, but I think he did a good job. He was relaxed, focussed and friendly, and obviously very routined in these things. His answers were all very long-winded, so he could not take too many questions, but at least he boldly ignored the “Last Question!!” sign until Garrett Wang entered the stage to announce the closing ceremony.
When he said that we were the best audience ever, it sounded like a buzzword, but I didn’t mind. I’m looking forward to attending Destination Star Trek in London, which will host all five ST Captains. Anyone else going?
Here’s a more detailed account on the Shatner panel:
One of the first questions was about a sequel of Free Enterprise. Shatner is willing to do it, but apparetly, they neither have a proper script nor any money yet. He talked about independent films in general and I felt reminded of “Shoot or be Shot!” Then another guy asked him if he had watched “Fanboys”, but he hadn’t. End of question.
There was that question what he aspired at the age of 20, which led him to his summer camp story and that he had always wanted to be an actor since he was six. Same when he was 20. Same today.
Then a small girl wanted to know what his favorite movie was, and he said “Star Trek V”, because he learned so much about making compromises, talking about all the difficuties he encountered and why this was not a good film. Couldn’t he have mentioned another movie? Maybe one he wasn’t in? One he watched as a kid? One that was actually good?
Another girl sent greetings from her mom and talked about his latest album “Seeking Major Tom”, then “Has Been” and his singing careeer in general. After a while he interrupted her, wondering if there was a question buried in her remarks. She stated that he couldn’t sing and asked how and why he pursued a singing career. He admitted that he was no singer and that the idea was rooted in the melody of Goethe’s or Shakespeare’s verse. That he wanted to combine Shakespeare and popular music to create something new like “The Transformed Man”. That Leonard and him were the only two actors that had two songs on “Golden Throats” and were ridiculed for that …that Ben Folds heard his songs and contacted him for his project “Fear of Pop”…that he got a Headbangers Award…
One man asked Shatner about the most important person or development in the last decade. That was a hard one. Shatner tried to distinguish between different fields, whether technology, politics, philosophy, without being specific. Then he named Steve Jobs, and I was like: Noooooooo, not another Apple disciple. But thankfully, he only took him as an icon for the quickly changing world of IT and nanotechnology. While technology has been developing so fast, there has been no or little progress in philosophy. He thinks that there’s a discrepancy and that’s why he has no answer to that question.
Videotaping was strictly forbidden. So this is all I got:
The final question was about the future of Star Trek (Koenig got a similar one) and Shatner was very diplomatic, saying that J.J. Abrams was a talented director, who had given us great TV shows and that Star Trek had taken a new direction. That the new movie was the most successful in terms of money, that the upcoming movie would surely have a lot of action, SFX and eye candy, but that he [Shatner] would certainly have no part in the new ST universe.
Koenig was even more critical about the new movie, he thought that Star Trek had become all action and special effects, but that the original show was about people. He hopes that Abrams does not forget about that, because that’s what the audience wants to see.
Applause.
