Merlin BFI screening
The Merlin screening at the BFI was awesome. I didn't know what to expect, but the enthusiasm of all the fans was just fabulous. It was a hilarious few hours and I am still a bit high from being in the same room as Katie McGrath and Tony Head!
I went with my friend and fannish acolyte J. I've already hooked her on SPN, she's falling for Buffy, and she got me watching True Blood. I was surprised and pleased she was geeky enough to come to this with me! An unfortunate accident of timing meant that, even though the BFI is about 3 miles from my house, I was at a wedding over 100 miles away yesterday so had to get up super early to make it. After a big night wtih work on Friday too I was feeling really rather fragile!
There was all sorts of fun being had in the foyer: lots of workshops for the kids and a signing line for ALL the actors. I came over all fangirly and took some paparazzi shots but didn't bother to queue for autographs:
The screening itself was awesome. I've reached a pretty zen state with Merlin where I manage not to mind the butchering of the female characters and the dodgy morals. This means I can enjoy the eye candy, high camp and sheer adorableness without mourning what could have been. Episodes 1 and 2 are an awesome two-parter in which they've really stepped it up a gear. They were brilliant to watch on the big screen.
I loved all the fannishness going on in the audience. Everyone was really appreciative of the show - cheering, laughing, clapping, 'aaah'ing. There were cheers every time Ser Leon appeared on screen too, and appropriate responses to all slashy moments (of which, many). J hasn't really watched that much Merlin and is innocent of internet fandom so I think she missed a lot. I had to explain the concept of 'slashdragon' to her!
The epis ended with a preview of the rest of the season and it looks like the usual mix of drama and ridiculousness: can't wait.
They'd had so much demand that they put on a whole other screen showing the premiere. However, having booked in the first wave meant getting the Q&A with the actors! I took a couple of shots but the light was low and I wasn't close to the front.
Katie is so unbelivably awesome - she was really engaging with the fans asking her questions and managing to make up for the silly compere (some BFI dude - the same one who was doing the Q&A for Coraline, I think) mostly ignoring the girls. ASH was really funny - he started giggling when Angel was talking about fanvids. It was definitely "bring your own innuendo". There was nothing particularly groundbreaking but it was all very entertaining.
I'm definitely back in Merlin mode now - yay for September and new telly!
I went with my friend and fannish acolyte J. I've already hooked her on SPN, she's falling for Buffy, and she got me watching True Blood. I was surprised and pleased she was geeky enough to come to this with me! An unfortunate accident of timing meant that, even though the BFI is about 3 miles from my house, I was at a wedding over 100 miles away yesterday so had to get up super early to make it. After a big night wtih work on Friday too I was feeling really rather fragile!
There was all sorts of fun being had in the foyer: lots of workshops for the kids and a signing line for ALL the actors. I came over all fangirly and took some paparazzi shots but didn't bother to queue for autographs:
The screening itself was awesome. I've reached a pretty zen state with Merlin where I manage not to mind the butchering of the female characters and the dodgy morals. This means I can enjoy the eye candy, high camp and sheer adorableness without mourning what could have been. Episodes 1 and 2 are an awesome two-parter in which they've really stepped it up a gear. They were brilliant to watch on the big screen.
I loved all the fannishness going on in the audience. Everyone was really appreciative of the show - cheering, laughing, clapping, 'aaah'ing. There were cheers every time Ser Leon appeared on screen too, and appropriate responses to all slashy moments (of which, many). J hasn't really watched that much Merlin and is innocent of internet fandom so I think she missed a lot. I had to explain the concept of 'slashdragon' to her!
The epis ended with a preview of the rest of the season and it looks like the usual mix of drama and ridiculousness: can't wait.
They'd had so much demand that they put on a whole other screen showing the premiere. However, having booked in the first wave meant getting the Q&A with the actors! I took a couple of shots but the light was low and I wasn't close to the front.
Katie is so unbelivably awesome - she was really engaging with the fans asking her questions and managing to make up for the silly compere (some BFI dude - the same one who was doing the Q&A for Coraline, I think) mostly ignoring the girls. ASH was really funny - he started giggling when Angel was talking about fanvids. It was definitely "bring your own innuendo". There was nothing particularly groundbreaking but it was all very entertaining.
I'm definitely back in Merlin mode now - yay for September and new telly!