The 2012 Gallifrey One Report: Pre-Con
Hey Gang,
Whew. Another year come and gone. Where does the time go? Having sufficiently recovered enough on my sanity and sleep I'm finally ready to get to the serious blogging about that grand event we all lovingly know as Gallifrey One! My sum up: My best Gallifrey yet - a convention of mini-crisis and near saves (much like a Classic Doctor Who 4 parter with cliffhangers really) but all in all everything worked out and I had an utterly smashing good time. Yet again, if you've never been and you're a Doctor Who/Torchwood/Sarah Jane fan I urge you to set the time and money aside and GO.
More Pics and info
Pre-Con:
My Pre-Con was busier than usual with quite a varied and multi-level workload for the con. First I planned and arranged moderators for the nine or so Cosplay Track panels in the Scottsdale Room and Cosplay Hall. Then I had to do the usual round of what costumes to bring, which I would wear and which I would loan out to be worn by others.
Speaking of costumes, due to timing/finances I had to put aside my Season 14/Pyramids Tom Baker costume aside again this year to focus on the super awesome-cool monster making project with Paul Salamoff - the Morbius Monster! (For those who haven't seen it- Check out the Classic 4th Doctor Serial The Brain of Morbius - 'nuff said).
Morbius! - Photo by Scott Sebring
This process was both fun and hard work plus very educational for me on much more complex monster building then I'd tried before. This process started back in Mid-November 2011 and didn't truly finish until a few days before the con in Mid-Feb. The actual build time though was about 9 solid days altogether. I've already blogged about this and don't feel the need to recap it too much here but to read the entire documented process on how we made the costume please check out the Morbius Build Diary in nine parts:
The Morbius Monster Build Diary
http://honorarydoctor.livejournal.com/12258.html
http://honorarydoctor.livejournal.com/13135.html
http://honorarydoctor.livejournal.com/13496.html
http://honorarydoctor.livejournal.com/15297.html
http://honorarydoctor.livejournal.com/15545.html
http://honorarydoctor.livejournal.com/15946.html
http://honorarydoctor.livejournal.com/16293.html
http://honorarydoctor.livejournal.com/16703.html
http://honorarydoctor.livejournal.com/17730.html
Restoring the TVM TARDIS Console
The 2nd large and very special project I was involved in was the cleaning/restoration of the 1996 TVM TARDIS Console as well as helping to arrange (with the combined efforts of Paul Salamoff, Brian Uiga, Shaun Lyon and Robbie Bourget) that it would actually make it's appearance AT the con to be seen by fans! This was very complicated and labor intensive process that began in late October 2011 and didn't finish until literally the day before the convention. It was a long road, but definitely worth it in light of this Gallifrey being the big TVM Cast reunion convention! Again, I already blogged about the entire restoration process from start to finish so I won't recap. If you've missed it and want to read about it- check out my six part blog of how we restored this iconic prop for this year's Gallifrey below:
Chameleon Circuit: The TVM TARDIS Console Restoration Log
http://honorarydoctor.livejournal.com/14419.html
http://honorarydoctor.livejournal.com/15833.html
http://honorarydoctor.livejournal.com/16448.html
http://honorarydoctor.livejournal.com/16946.html
http://honorarydoctor.livejournal.com/17188.html
http://honorarydoctor.livejournal.com/17557.html
Restored Console
As an extra bonus to the TARDIS Console, I was also working diligently behind the scenes to arrange with a UK fan contact (who wishes to remain anonymous) to have the TVM original costumes (including the "hero" McGann, the "hero" McCoy and the Master's Robe) brought over to be put on display either next to the Console or in the Cosplay Hall. We worked very hard last minute to make this happen but sadly it all fall apart in the 11th hour and seemed not to be. A bummer but hey sometimes you can't make everything happen right?
Also on the 11th hour was Vickie's (aka flibbertyjibbitz) costume. A Female Eldrad from the Hand of Fear WAS on the cards but finances and time dicatated the work on this would have to be temporarily shelved for a future Gally. Vickie was then inspired by our recent viewing of the Ambassadors of Death (and my vocalized desire to see the cool space suited Ambassadors done as cosplay) to actually put on of these retro 70's spacesuit 'aliens' together in a record single week of prep!!!!! It helped that there was some leftover one-way mylar and vinyl material for the visor and belt from the Movellan project. Muslin was cheap (and easy to dye grey) and easy to hand quilt-stitch into rows. The grey boots were on sale dirt cheap, the gloves were dishwashing gloves turned inside out for the grey look, and the helmet was previously bought dirt cheap at a Western costume sale (painted matching grey). The chest/belt components were assembled by Scott which were just hardware sink tubing and block of wood painted grey held in placed with fishing line. Voila- simple, effective and cheap cosplay.
Vickie shows off her Ambassador of Death costume in progress
Some other last minute errands to accomplish was ordering some new business cards (much cheaper and easier to distribute than last year's flyers) for the dw_cosplay comm and various other web costume resource links for Dr. Who. I picked them up simply and cheaply at this awesome place for thos elooking to make postcards/business cards and the like: http://gotprint.net/g/welcome.do
dw-cosplay link cards arrive for the con
Also super last minute was the idea to do ribbons for this year to get in on the Ribbon trading fun we all had the year before. We mostly aimed for these to tie in to our skits again and planned to hand most of them out Sat and Sun. I ordered them yet again from http://www.marcopromotionalproducts.com/ The Ribbons were as follows: Not Cool Guys, the SDCC 2011 Doctors (mainly for us), Paradise Towers Cutting Edge Cleaners and a Pool to Die For, My Adipose is Bigger Than Yours, Holy Adipose Batman!, Morbius He Only Wants to be Friends, Can You Withstand the HUG of morbius?, I won a date with a Jagaroth on the Companion Game!, and Androids - A Cybermen Family Sitcom Upgrade your Laughter Thursdays on ABC! Everyone seemed to enjoy them though it became clear many new fans hadn't SEEN Paradise Towers or the Brain of Morbius. Also on the subject of Ribbons - if ANYONE has an "ACTION BY HAVOC" Ribbon- that was Awesome! and if you have any left please comment or PM me as I wanted one!
Ribbons arrive!
Beyond all of the above the other big undertaking was planning Masquerade entries. With Morbius, I knew I would be competing for once and not strictly doing a closing exhibition skit. Also I had two friends making two rather marvelous costumes (a 2006 era Cyberman and a Giant Adipose) that wished to compete and they asked me to whip up some skits for them. I jumped at the chance since I knew they would be fun and it meant along with my own 70's Cyberman costume (which had technically never competed before though it had been seen on stage at prior Gallys) and our mutual friend Jay's 80's Cyberman costume, that they could all be seen together as a very impressive group. I'd also been roped in to help my friend Sarah aka minervamoon on her Sarah Jane tribute skit as the 4th Doctor. Lastly there was still our annual matter of coming up with a exhibition only closing skit. So. Yeah. 5 skits. It was a LOT to do.
Spare Morbius costume brain for stage prop
Now I knew pretty much going into Gally 2012 that yet again we wouldn't be doing any kind of Masque half-time show as Charlie Ross was rightfully booked for this slot fairly early on. However, planning 4-5 skits meant I could treat this as a 'dry run' for such an event and help me work out the bugs in planning/casting/rehearsing multiple skits and make sure we could keep up the quality of the previous 3-4 years of presentations we'd been doing. My original intent was to see if these 5 could be grouped together toward the end which would allow me to write transitional bits between them and create a mildly cohesive Monty Python/Kids in the Hall effect but logistics between a couple of costume changes and the necessity of letting the Hosts call out the entries (especially those competing) obviously derailed this notion.
Dead Cybermat for the Cyberman sitcom- courtesy of electrical tape
I'll get more into the skits when I get to the Masque on Sat but suffice to say with everything else going on, finding time to write these skits, then record the Voice Over, edit the tracks into complete pieces with music and SFX plus building in time for rehearsals with those of us that are local to SoCal was very tricky. Lesson learned: if we do this again in any fashion we back plan in more TIME into the calendar. As it stood, most of the audio was ready (minor last minute tweaks aside) by Feb 1st and we had about 2 weeks to cram in a few rehearsals for each of the 4 main skits. The Sarah Jane Tribute was originally to be handled by Sarah and likely would have to be rehearsed the night before as many of the cast were so spread out. Although it turned out this was not to be, as Sarah cancelled this SJS tribute skit about a week or two before the convention citing problems with some of the key props (although much of the audio had been recorded). It was a nice piece and we hope it'll make it in the Masque next year.
Because we'd built up a good rapport and confidence from the Gally/Masque staff we were granted a time extension for the closing skit and the use of live mikes. We were REALLY thankful for this and hope this can be repeated again next year as nothing can replace the live rapport between a performer and the audience especially when you're locked into the timing of something pre-recorded start to finish.
Mocking up a Solon costume out of the Bond Villain look
Now with all the writing/recording/editing/rehearsing there was extra props and costumes that needed to be added. Luckily Kevin aka oldewordsmith recommended some help on the Morbius skit to fill out our 'cast.' Scott aka scott_sebring agreed to be our 4th Doctor, Sarah agreed to be our Sarah Jane, my friend Aubrey agreed to be Solon and I was Morbius. Kevin roped in friends Amanda Cohen and Rachel Ashley-Lovelace as 2 Sisters of Karn and April Mazzoco as Condo. The last three thankfully were handling their own costumes/props and did a great job (including the Hook hand and torches!). At a very late stage, thanks to a suggestion from Jay, we added a Storybook reader to the skit played in Mr. Rogers fashion by my friend Erik aka steedonfilm.
Unused Condo 'caveman forehead' from Vickie's make-up stash
Jay provides clear chairs for the Exhibition and Morbius Skits
Everyone mostly took care of thier own wardrobe or borrowed mine, but for Solon (because all of my cash was being spent on Morbius) had to be done more about feel, less about accuracy, and all about the cheap. I ended up taking our first 'retired' Hartnell wig from 2008 and spraying it black. Then recycling our comedy K9 goatee/mustache (which I know most people barely registered before anyway) from the Monster Society of Evil Skit the previous year. I had a Blofeld/Dr. Evil style costume I bought on the cheap from It's a Wrap as a possible Halloween costume the year before which we quickly removed the buttons and closed it smooth with some velcro to give it more of a Solon look (despite it being grey and not brown). We added some dress shoes, dish/surgeon gloves, spare facemask and the spare unused 1st attempt brain from our Morbius head (as a prop) and we were rockin' it Philip Madoc style. Total out of pocket Gally expense for this - $10.00 (for a few cans of wig spray paint).
The Wig as it looked for the 2008 Hartnell Costume
The new Solon wig after 2 cans of wig spraypaint
Lastly there were the props. My GF Teri deigned some nifty posters around my text for the Morbius and Exhibition skits which I had blown up, foam backed and then mounted on wood/frames. The Morbius sign though needed extra work to make it sturdy (and add the craft wire and wall mount suction cups for the Mind Bending) so Paul Salamoff helped me structurally re-make it sound so it wouldn't fall apart on stage. Big thanks goes out to him for the help on that one! (a minor last minute save!)
1st Try at Mindbending suction cups- much too small
Cutting suction cups to improve the Mind bending look
2nd try with better wall mount suction cups- much better
Morbius and Companion game sign props
My friends Malaki and his wife Christina made their own Cyberman and Adipose costumes. Both are pretty much made out of Mattress or L-200 type foam (yes even the Cyberman helmet!) and are quite impressive. The Adipose is covered in fabric with some dark dome/lenses for the eyes with foam feet built around inner boots. The interior system of holding the Adipose shell in place without too much shifting or wobbling took a lot of trial and error to get right. Our friend Jay's 80's Cyberman included purchased pieces from the UK (Helmet, chest unit, gun) which were spruced up and repaired a bit to bring it up to spec. Then they added some painted ski gloves, moon boots and a painted/textured pilot's suit to complete the look.
Rehearsing the Cyberman Sitcom Skit
Kevin Coppa put together a rather fabulous Scaroth, Last of the Jagaroth costume for the Masquarade which we quickly decided had to be part of our closing skit. I'll talk more about the mask a bit later, but his suit was a linen suit ebay buy (and not true 70's polyester) and he added a Mona Lisa Painting by taking a promotional flyer with the painting image he got for free in the mail and adding an old looking frame he bought around it. A case of the frame indeed costing more than the painting!
The giant Adipose in mid-construction
Inside the adipose
Rehearsing the Adipose skit
Also for the Adipose skit we didn't have a Donna in our group so I had to recruit one and luckily Jennifer aka purplenerd12 came through for us with a Partners in Crime Donna costume to boot. Finally Micheal, our Delgado Master, added some practical effects to our Adipose skit but rigging up a super photo-flash gun in his inside sleeve to be button activated behind his TCE to show the Polarity reversing feedback/explosion which would enlarge the Adipose. It was impressive in person but sadly I don't think it read as well on stage.
Adipose Stress toy- provided by ceejay10 to be used as the 'regular' Adipose in the skit
Adipose and Ood- match up?
A lot of coordinating, work and effort went into these skits. Kevin Coppa went the extra mile by being present with skype for our Exhibition and Adipose rehearsals (as he lives out of state) which I feel helped a lot in terms of refining dialogue and making the final rehearsals at Gallifrey run smoothly.
So! With all that prep going in in different areas I was getting a bit busy and stressed out... but you know in a good, I love-this-show-too-much kinda way. This brings up to Thursday before Gally.
I mentioned this was the convention of last minute saves? Well last minute save #1- The Truck! The month prior to the con I had called in a favor with a friend of a friend to supply a truck for us to use to transport the TARDIS Console as well as Morbius, Paul's Dalek and basically anything else on the slightly large unwieldy side (like the skit signs) to be brought down to the LAX Marriott from Burbank. About 2 weeks prior to the con (about the same time our Ride Tones sound drive fried on us before that too got a last minute save!) I found out he wasn't able to get the truck and it was a no-go.
I priced out a back-up option and was about to go with this til we realized that a) said back up option didn't have a lift gate which was ESSENTIAL for moving this console and b) the logistics of the renal/return and working the con just wasn't going to work. So plan C- another friend of a friend had access to a large 24' lift gate truck and agreed to help us out. All seemed well until we found out this could not be guaranteed until day of pick-up. We couldn't take the chance of a last minute booking getting in our way (and in the end we did the right move as this 3rd option fell through regardless). FINALLY thanks to a recommendation from Brian Uiga, we found a trucking company nearby who could work within our set budget, had a large enough truck with a lift gate and agreed to pick up the console on Thursday evening. We locked this in a scant 2 days prior. Unfortunately, this company did not work on Sundays. We couldn't keep the Console at the Marriott overnight Sunday (as Gallifrey loses access to the ballrooms at 11PM that night) for a Monday morning Pick-up. We were stuck. But it was a problem we were going to have to work on as the weekend progressed as we had too much else to finish up by Thursday.
Thursday Night load-up
Anyway after a bunch of last minute errands, snack purchasing, packing, loading up the car and we made it to Paul's house for the loading. The truck arrived early and we readied the now restored console for loading along with Morbius and the Dalek. It was a little tricky securing it for the ride down and making sure nothing could ding or scratch it but we had this complete in about a half hour. We loaded a few last things in Paul's car for his table as well as a few things in Teri's Car and we all departed for the LAX Marriott!
Once at the Marriott, load-in was fairly stirght forward thanks to the help of Tadao and Robbie. We learned as we got there that we would not be sharing the Fan Room with Tara Wheeler and her TARDIS as we learned she was not attending Gally at all. While we could have made the space work with her TARDIS, this actually turned out to be a big blessing in disguise. This allowed us much more room for comfortable set up for tables, the Console and photography as well as making it easier when the room would need to be closed off for VIP/Guest visits.
Unloading at the Marriott
The only hitch we had with loading the console into the Marriott was that the doors leading from the back/loading dock area into the hotel proper were slightly too small for the width of the console. After much mental puzzling, we finally sucke dit up, recruited about 10 able bodied men and literally had to TILT the console 45 degreees up and literally carry it through the doorway and lay it back down on the base. CRAZY. NAIL BITING. BACK BREAKING. But hey, it worked. So with that final hurdle it was easy peasy to roll it into place in the Fan Lounge and get it set up with the Rotor etc. Paul left his gear to be se tup at his table in the morning. The Console got a lot of early pre-visits from folks who were already checked in and milling around the lobby. I could already tell it was going to be a hit.
Setting up in the Fan Room
Last minute save #2: While in the Fan Room double checking the Console, I ran into said UK Fan Contact and he surprised me by saying not only did he bring a few small costume/prop items for us to see but he had in fact managed to pack the full Paul McGann and Sly McCoy TVM Costumes after all! He wanted to tell me in person just to see the look on my face (which was suitably delighted and astounded)! We agreed on an unofficial off-the-schedule time to meet up and check out the costumes (and spread the word to other cosplayers who could make it) at 5:30PM the next day after my last panel. Huzzah! Score!
Thurs Night Lobbycon
From here I quickly registered and got my badge and Teri's (yay for Thu evening registration). I was happy to see my Cosplay Staff badge picture had been updated (thanks Tadao!). We pulled around, unloaded our car (another 2-cart job) checked into the hotel and got everything in the room. All in all very quick, easy, smooth. I swung through bits of Lobbycon to say hi to Mette & Brian (dressed as the Young Ones!), Sal (saltheref), John Adams (farflav), Chris Erickson (dragoniching) and John Rabon (in a good End of Time Simm Master costume/wig). I also caught up with actioranger on his comedy Who fan films and distributed ribbons to everyone to start trading with those in the Lobby as I guess the ribbons were swapping hands fast and furious already. I quickly amassed about 20 or so (tame for some but pretty good for me!) on the first night.
Thurs Night lobbycon
By now Teri was heading for bed but now that I knew the TVM costumes were going to be at the con and I wanted to show them off nicely. So I decided to drive all the way back home around midnight and picked up my body form. While home I grabbed a few other odds and ends I forgot like my spare scarf (because you should always know where your scarves are), some spare McGann fabric I promised fellow comm member Gement, and a flash drive with extra pictures for the Monster/Villain panel on Sunday. It was tedious but I'm glad I did this. I got back to the hotel at about 2AM after doing a last swing through Lobbycon, a final double check of where I had to be the next day on schedule and then I finally crashed.
Going back for the Body Form
Part II (Friday) of the Gallifrey One 23 Con Report continues here:
http://dw-cosplay.livejournal.com/1266629.html - Friday
http://dw-cosplay.livejournal.com/1269496.html - Saturday
http://dw-cosplay.livejournal.com/1269711.html - Saturday Night / Masquerade
http://dw-cosplay.livejournal.com/1274194.html - Sunday
-Honorarydoctor
Whew. Another year come and gone. Where does the time go? Having sufficiently recovered enough on my sanity and sleep I'm finally ready to get to the serious blogging about that grand event we all lovingly know as Gallifrey One! My sum up: My best Gallifrey yet - a convention of mini-crisis and near saves (much like a Classic Doctor Who 4 parter with cliffhangers really) but all in all everything worked out and I had an utterly smashing good time. Yet again, if you've never been and you're a Doctor Who/Torchwood/Sarah Jane fan I urge you to set the time and money aside and GO.
More Pics and info
Pre-Con:
My Pre-Con was busier than usual with quite a varied and multi-level workload for the con. First I planned and arranged moderators for the nine or so Cosplay Track panels in the Scottsdale Room and Cosplay Hall. Then I had to do the usual round of what costumes to bring, which I would wear and which I would loan out to be worn by others.
Speaking of costumes, due to timing/finances I had to put aside my Season 14/Pyramids Tom Baker costume aside again this year to focus on the super awesome-cool monster making project with Paul Salamoff - the Morbius Monster! (For those who haven't seen it- Check out the Classic 4th Doctor Serial The Brain of Morbius - 'nuff said).
Morbius! - Photo by Scott Sebring
This process was both fun and hard work plus very educational for me on much more complex monster building then I'd tried before. This process started back in Mid-November 2011 and didn't truly finish until a few days before the con in Mid-Feb. The actual build time though was about 9 solid days altogether. I've already blogged about this and don't feel the need to recap it too much here but to read the entire documented process on how we made the costume please check out the Morbius Build Diary in nine parts:
The Morbius Monster Build Diary
http://honorarydoctor.livejournal.com/12258.html
http://honorarydoctor.livejournal.com/13135.html
http://honorarydoctor.livejournal.com/13496.html
http://honorarydoctor.livejournal.com/15297.html
http://honorarydoctor.livejournal.com/15545.html
http://honorarydoctor.livejournal.com/15946.html
http://honorarydoctor.livejournal.com/16293.html
http://honorarydoctor.livejournal.com/16703.html
http://honorarydoctor.livejournal.com/17730.html
Restoring the TVM TARDIS Console
The 2nd large and very special project I was involved in was the cleaning/restoration of the 1996 TVM TARDIS Console as well as helping to arrange (with the combined efforts of Paul Salamoff, Brian Uiga, Shaun Lyon and Robbie Bourget) that it would actually make it's appearance AT the con to be seen by fans! This was very complicated and labor intensive process that began in late October 2011 and didn't finish until literally the day before the convention. It was a long road, but definitely worth it in light of this Gallifrey being the big TVM Cast reunion convention! Again, I already blogged about the entire restoration process from start to finish so I won't recap. If you've missed it and want to read about it- check out my six part blog of how we restored this iconic prop for this year's Gallifrey below:
Chameleon Circuit: The TVM TARDIS Console Restoration Log
http://honorarydoctor.livejournal.com/14419.html
http://honorarydoctor.livejournal.com/15833.html
http://honorarydoctor.livejournal.com/16448.html
http://honorarydoctor.livejournal.com/16946.html
http://honorarydoctor.livejournal.com/17188.html
http://honorarydoctor.livejournal.com/17557.html
Restored Console
As an extra bonus to the TARDIS Console, I was also working diligently behind the scenes to arrange with a UK fan contact (who wishes to remain anonymous) to have the TVM original costumes (including the "hero" McGann, the "hero" McCoy and the Master's Robe) brought over to be put on display either next to the Console or in the Cosplay Hall. We worked very hard last minute to make this happen but sadly it all fall apart in the 11th hour and seemed not to be. A bummer but hey sometimes you can't make everything happen right?
Also on the 11th hour was Vickie's (aka flibbertyjibbitz) costume. A Female Eldrad from the Hand of Fear WAS on the cards but finances and time dicatated the work on this would have to be temporarily shelved for a future Gally. Vickie was then inspired by our recent viewing of the Ambassadors of Death (and my vocalized desire to see the cool space suited Ambassadors done as cosplay) to actually put on of these retro 70's spacesuit 'aliens' together in a record single week of prep!!!!! It helped that there was some leftover one-way mylar and vinyl material for the visor and belt from the Movellan project. Muslin was cheap (and easy to dye grey) and easy to hand quilt-stitch into rows. The grey boots were on sale dirt cheap, the gloves were dishwashing gloves turned inside out for the grey look, and the helmet was previously bought dirt cheap at a Western costume sale (painted matching grey). The chest/belt components were assembled by Scott which were just hardware sink tubing and block of wood painted grey held in placed with fishing line. Voila- simple, effective and cheap cosplay.
Vickie shows off her Ambassador of Death costume in progress
Some other last minute errands to accomplish was ordering some new business cards (much cheaper and easier to distribute than last year's flyers) for the dw_cosplay comm and various other web costume resource links for Dr. Who. I picked them up simply and cheaply at this awesome place for thos elooking to make postcards/business cards and the like: http://gotprint.net/g/welcome.do
dw-cosplay link cards arrive for the con
Also super last minute was the idea to do ribbons for this year to get in on the Ribbon trading fun we all had the year before. We mostly aimed for these to tie in to our skits again and planned to hand most of them out Sat and Sun. I ordered them yet again from http://www.marcopromotionalproducts.com/ The Ribbons were as follows: Not Cool Guys, the SDCC 2011 Doctors (mainly for us), Paradise Towers Cutting Edge Cleaners and a Pool to Die For, My Adipose is Bigger Than Yours, Holy Adipose Batman!, Morbius He Only Wants to be Friends, Can You Withstand the HUG of morbius?, I won a date with a Jagaroth on the Companion Game!, and Androids - A Cybermen Family Sitcom Upgrade your Laughter Thursdays on ABC! Everyone seemed to enjoy them though it became clear many new fans hadn't SEEN Paradise Towers or the Brain of Morbius. Also on the subject of Ribbons - if ANYONE has an "ACTION BY HAVOC" Ribbon- that was Awesome! and if you have any left please comment or PM me as I wanted one!
Ribbons arrive!
Beyond all of the above the other big undertaking was planning Masquerade entries. With Morbius, I knew I would be competing for once and not strictly doing a closing exhibition skit. Also I had two friends making two rather marvelous costumes (a 2006 era Cyberman and a Giant Adipose) that wished to compete and they asked me to whip up some skits for them. I jumped at the chance since I knew they would be fun and it meant along with my own 70's Cyberman costume (which had technically never competed before though it had been seen on stage at prior Gallys) and our mutual friend Jay's 80's Cyberman costume, that they could all be seen together as a very impressive group. I'd also been roped in to help my friend Sarah aka minervamoon on her Sarah Jane tribute skit as the 4th Doctor. Lastly there was still our annual matter of coming up with a exhibition only closing skit. So. Yeah. 5 skits. It was a LOT to do.
Spare Morbius costume brain for stage prop
Now I knew pretty much going into Gally 2012 that yet again we wouldn't be doing any kind of Masque half-time show as Charlie Ross was rightfully booked for this slot fairly early on. However, planning 4-5 skits meant I could treat this as a 'dry run' for such an event and help me work out the bugs in planning/casting/rehearsing multiple skits and make sure we could keep up the quality of the previous 3-4 years of presentations we'd been doing. My original intent was to see if these 5 could be grouped together toward the end which would allow me to write transitional bits between them and create a mildly cohesive Monty Python/Kids in the Hall effect but logistics between a couple of costume changes and the necessity of letting the Hosts call out the entries (especially those competing) obviously derailed this notion.
Dead Cybermat for the Cyberman sitcom- courtesy of electrical tape
I'll get more into the skits when I get to the Masque on Sat but suffice to say with everything else going on, finding time to write these skits, then record the Voice Over, edit the tracks into complete pieces with music and SFX plus building in time for rehearsals with those of us that are local to SoCal was very tricky. Lesson learned: if we do this again in any fashion we back plan in more TIME into the calendar. As it stood, most of the audio was ready (minor last minute tweaks aside) by Feb 1st and we had about 2 weeks to cram in a few rehearsals for each of the 4 main skits. The Sarah Jane Tribute was originally to be handled by Sarah and likely would have to be rehearsed the night before as many of the cast were so spread out. Although it turned out this was not to be, as Sarah cancelled this SJS tribute skit about a week or two before the convention citing problems with some of the key props (although much of the audio had been recorded). It was a nice piece and we hope it'll make it in the Masque next year.
Because we'd built up a good rapport and confidence from the Gally/Masque staff we were granted a time extension for the closing skit and the use of live mikes. We were REALLY thankful for this and hope this can be repeated again next year as nothing can replace the live rapport between a performer and the audience especially when you're locked into the timing of something pre-recorded start to finish.
Mocking up a Solon costume out of the Bond Villain look
Now with all the writing/recording/editing/rehearsing there was extra props and costumes that needed to be added. Luckily Kevin aka oldewordsmith recommended some help on the Morbius skit to fill out our 'cast.' Scott aka scott_sebring agreed to be our 4th Doctor, Sarah agreed to be our Sarah Jane, my friend Aubrey agreed to be Solon and I was Morbius. Kevin roped in friends Amanda Cohen and Rachel Ashley-Lovelace as 2 Sisters of Karn and April Mazzoco as Condo. The last three thankfully were handling their own costumes/props and did a great job (including the Hook hand and torches!). At a very late stage, thanks to a suggestion from Jay, we added a Storybook reader to the skit played in Mr. Rogers fashion by my friend Erik aka steedonfilm.
Unused Condo 'caveman forehead' from Vickie's make-up stash
Jay provides clear chairs for the Exhibition and Morbius Skits
Everyone mostly took care of thier own wardrobe or borrowed mine, but for Solon (because all of my cash was being spent on Morbius) had to be done more about feel, less about accuracy, and all about the cheap. I ended up taking our first 'retired' Hartnell wig from 2008 and spraying it black. Then recycling our comedy K9 goatee/mustache (which I know most people barely registered before anyway) from the Monster Society of Evil Skit the previous year. I had a Blofeld/Dr. Evil style costume I bought on the cheap from It's a Wrap as a possible Halloween costume the year before which we quickly removed the buttons and closed it smooth with some velcro to give it more of a Solon look (despite it being grey and not brown). We added some dress shoes, dish/surgeon gloves, spare facemask and the spare unused 1st attempt brain from our Morbius head (as a prop) and we were rockin' it Philip Madoc style. Total out of pocket Gally expense for this - $10.00 (for a few cans of wig spray paint).
The Wig as it looked for the 2008 Hartnell Costume
The new Solon wig after 2 cans of wig spraypaint
Lastly there were the props. My GF Teri deigned some nifty posters around my text for the Morbius and Exhibition skits which I had blown up, foam backed and then mounted on wood/frames. The Morbius sign though needed extra work to make it sturdy (and add the craft wire and wall mount suction cups for the Mind Bending) so Paul Salamoff helped me structurally re-make it sound so it wouldn't fall apart on stage. Big thanks goes out to him for the help on that one! (a minor last minute save!)
1st Try at Mindbending suction cups- much too small
Cutting suction cups to improve the Mind bending look
2nd try with better wall mount suction cups- much better
Morbius and Companion game sign props
My friends Malaki and his wife Christina made their own Cyberman and Adipose costumes. Both are pretty much made out of Mattress or L-200 type foam (yes even the Cyberman helmet!) and are quite impressive. The Adipose is covered in fabric with some dark dome/lenses for the eyes with foam feet built around inner boots. The interior system of holding the Adipose shell in place without too much shifting or wobbling took a lot of trial and error to get right. Our friend Jay's 80's Cyberman included purchased pieces from the UK (Helmet, chest unit, gun) which were spruced up and repaired a bit to bring it up to spec. Then they added some painted ski gloves, moon boots and a painted/textured pilot's suit to complete the look.
Rehearsing the Cyberman Sitcom Skit
Kevin Coppa put together a rather fabulous Scaroth, Last of the Jagaroth costume for the Masquarade which we quickly decided had to be part of our closing skit. I'll talk more about the mask a bit later, but his suit was a linen suit ebay buy (and not true 70's polyester) and he added a Mona Lisa Painting by taking a promotional flyer with the painting image he got for free in the mail and adding an old looking frame he bought around it. A case of the frame indeed costing more than the painting!
The giant Adipose in mid-construction
Inside the adipose
Rehearsing the Adipose skit
Also for the Adipose skit we didn't have a Donna in our group so I had to recruit one and luckily Jennifer aka purplenerd12 came through for us with a Partners in Crime Donna costume to boot. Finally Micheal, our Delgado Master, added some practical effects to our Adipose skit but rigging up a super photo-flash gun in his inside sleeve to be button activated behind his TCE to show the Polarity reversing feedback/explosion which would enlarge the Adipose. It was impressive in person but sadly I don't think it read as well on stage.
Adipose Stress toy- provided by ceejay10 to be used as the 'regular' Adipose in the skit
Adipose and Ood- match up?
A lot of coordinating, work and effort went into these skits. Kevin Coppa went the extra mile by being present with skype for our Exhibition and Adipose rehearsals (as he lives out of state) which I feel helped a lot in terms of refining dialogue and making the final rehearsals at Gallifrey run smoothly.
So! With all that prep going in in different areas I was getting a bit busy and stressed out... but you know in a good, I love-this-show-too-much kinda way. This brings up to Thursday before Gally.
I mentioned this was the convention of last minute saves? Well last minute save #1- The Truck! The month prior to the con I had called in a favor with a friend of a friend to supply a truck for us to use to transport the TARDIS Console as well as Morbius, Paul's Dalek and basically anything else on the slightly large unwieldy side (like the skit signs) to be brought down to the LAX Marriott from Burbank. About 2 weeks prior to the con (about the same time our Ride Tones sound drive fried on us before that too got a last minute save!) I found out he wasn't able to get the truck and it was a no-go.
I priced out a back-up option and was about to go with this til we realized that a) said back up option didn't have a lift gate which was ESSENTIAL for moving this console and b) the logistics of the renal/return and working the con just wasn't going to work. So plan C- another friend of a friend had access to a large 24' lift gate truck and agreed to help us out. All seemed well until we found out this could not be guaranteed until day of pick-up. We couldn't take the chance of a last minute booking getting in our way (and in the end we did the right move as this 3rd option fell through regardless). FINALLY thanks to a recommendation from Brian Uiga, we found a trucking company nearby who could work within our set budget, had a large enough truck with a lift gate and agreed to pick up the console on Thursday evening. We locked this in a scant 2 days prior. Unfortunately, this company did not work on Sundays. We couldn't keep the Console at the Marriott overnight Sunday (as Gallifrey loses access to the ballrooms at 11PM that night) for a Monday morning Pick-up. We were stuck. But it was a problem we were going to have to work on as the weekend progressed as we had too much else to finish up by Thursday.
Thursday Night load-up
Anyway after a bunch of last minute errands, snack purchasing, packing, loading up the car and we made it to Paul's house for the loading. The truck arrived early and we readied the now restored console for loading along with Morbius and the Dalek. It was a little tricky securing it for the ride down and making sure nothing could ding or scratch it but we had this complete in about a half hour. We loaded a few last things in Paul's car for his table as well as a few things in Teri's Car and we all departed for the LAX Marriott!
Once at the Marriott, load-in was fairly stirght forward thanks to the help of Tadao and Robbie. We learned as we got there that we would not be sharing the Fan Room with Tara Wheeler and her TARDIS as we learned she was not attending Gally at all. While we could have made the space work with her TARDIS, this actually turned out to be a big blessing in disguise. This allowed us much more room for comfortable set up for tables, the Console and photography as well as making it easier when the room would need to be closed off for VIP/Guest visits.
Unloading at the Marriott
The only hitch we had with loading the console into the Marriott was that the doors leading from the back/loading dock area into the hotel proper were slightly too small for the width of the console. After much mental puzzling, we finally sucke dit up, recruited about 10 able bodied men and literally had to TILT the console 45 degreees up and literally carry it through the doorway and lay it back down on the base. CRAZY. NAIL BITING. BACK BREAKING. But hey, it worked. So with that final hurdle it was easy peasy to roll it into place in the Fan Lounge and get it set up with the Rotor etc. Paul left his gear to be se tup at his table in the morning. The Console got a lot of early pre-visits from folks who were already checked in and milling around the lobby. I could already tell it was going to be a hit.
Setting up in the Fan Room
Last minute save #2: While in the Fan Room double checking the Console, I ran into said UK Fan Contact and he surprised me by saying not only did he bring a few small costume/prop items for us to see but he had in fact managed to pack the full Paul McGann and Sly McCoy TVM Costumes after all! He wanted to tell me in person just to see the look on my face (which was suitably delighted and astounded)! We agreed on an unofficial off-the-schedule time to meet up and check out the costumes (and spread the word to other cosplayers who could make it) at 5:30PM the next day after my last panel. Huzzah! Score!
Thurs Night Lobbycon
From here I quickly registered and got my badge and Teri's (yay for Thu evening registration). I was happy to see my Cosplay Staff badge picture had been updated (thanks Tadao!). We pulled around, unloaded our car (another 2-cart job) checked into the hotel and got everything in the room. All in all very quick, easy, smooth. I swung through bits of Lobbycon to say hi to Mette & Brian (dressed as the Young Ones!), Sal (saltheref), John Adams (farflav), Chris Erickson (dragoniching) and John Rabon (in a good End of Time Simm Master costume/wig). I also caught up with actioranger on his comedy Who fan films and distributed ribbons to everyone to start trading with those in the Lobby as I guess the ribbons were swapping hands fast and furious already. I quickly amassed about 20 or so (tame for some but pretty good for me!) on the first night.
Thurs Night lobbycon
By now Teri was heading for bed but now that I knew the TVM costumes were going to be at the con and I wanted to show them off nicely. So I decided to drive all the way back home around midnight and picked up my body form. While home I grabbed a few other odds and ends I forgot like my spare scarf (because you should always know where your scarves are), some spare McGann fabric I promised fellow comm member Gement, and a flash drive with extra pictures for the Monster/Villain panel on Sunday. It was tedious but I'm glad I did this. I got back to the hotel at about 2AM after doing a last swing through Lobbycon, a final double check of where I had to be the next day on schedule and then I finally crashed.
Going back for the Body Form
Part II (Friday) of the Gallifrey One 23 Con Report continues here:
http://dw-cosplay.livejournal.com/1266629.html - Friday
http://dw-cosplay.livejournal.com/1269496.html - Saturday
http://dw-cosplay.livejournal.com/1269711.html - Saturday Night / Masquerade
http://dw-cosplay.livejournal.com/1274194.html - Sunday
-Honorarydoctor