ORC 2007
With the cancellation of ELF, we got the impression that this could be the last of Creation's LOTR conventions. On the other hand, this year's ORC had the largest list of Lord of the Rings cast since 2005 (albeit not all scheduled as guests):
Billy Boyd, David Wenham, Andy Serkis... plus Sala Baker, Henry Mortensen, Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom, and Dominic Monaghan.
Thursday: Travel day
* The things you remember when subjected to nine hours in a plane (with two stopovers)...
The manufacturer that packages the peanuts served on a Southwest Airlines flight is King Nut Companies. Their slogan is "King's Delicious Nuts". I'll leave it at that.
* There was no pre-reg on Thursday, which was a bit of a bummer. But at least we could blame it on the hotel for double-booking.
Friday: Music day
* My roommates and I took a tour of the Warner Brothers studios. The first stop was at the museum, which has a Harry Potter exhibit on the second floor. Lots of costumes and props from the films, including a giant She--er, I mean, Aragog... ;)
The rest of the tour was interesting from a technical standpoint--a look behind the scenes--but not that much to write home about. Unless you're a Gilmore Girls fan or something.
Meanwhile, back at the con...
* Adam, I've noticed, has more of a radio voice. And Brian (is it Brian or Ryan?) is the auctioneer from hell. There is no resolution to not spend any more money that he can't get you to break. And also a shoutout to Valerie, because she's the coolest woman on that staff. And to Chris, and to James C., just because.
* Elwood sends his apologies once again, and promises to show up next year.
* What is this? A good music video at ORC? What a concept!
"Burning Heart"--a vid by Avalon--was a masterful use of footage and music. There were maybe one or two clips that I wouldn't have allowed in there--but that's just the worthless opinion of yours truly, self-confessed music video snob. The vid was stirring and brilliant. And as good as the other vids were (more than one good music video at ORC??)... none of them could really hold a candle to this one.
* Doug Adams (again, the music columnist, not the English author) gave us two excellent panels on the music from the films. On the second panel, he gave examples of how different themes can be connected, and even played for us a piece that was cut from ROTK and replaced with sound effects (in the scene where Frodo stands on the edge and debates whether to throw the ring into the fire or keep it for himself).
It's an eerie, disturbing piece--even more so than the chains on piano wires of the Isengard theme--and it signals the culminating point of the ring's existence; the moment when all its power comes to the fore. The piece combines several of the Ring themes (IIRC, it's the "history of the ring", the "seduction of the ring" and the "evil of the ring"). The previously-unpublished piece will be included in the ROTK Complete Recordings box set.
Ok, start your players, gather your CDs; there'll be a quiz at the con... :)
[I don't have the Complete Recordings yet, so I'm going from the single-CD releases. Times are according to my ipod, so YMMV.]
Brief overview of some of the themes for The One Ring
"The history of the ring" (in the film, listen for it when the ring changes hands)
1. Two Towers: @ 30 seconds into "Foundations of Stone".
2. Two Towers: @ 2:54 into "The Leave Taking"
3. ROTK - @ 32 seconds into "A Storm is Coming" (and again @ 1:38).
"The seduction of the ring" ("false purity"--as opposed to the "true purity" of the theme heard when the moth appears; both themes sung by a boys choir)
1. FOTR - Opening (first 30 seconds or so) of "The Treason of Isengard"
2. FOTR - Opening (first 30 seconds or so) of "Amon Hen"
3. Two Towers - about 4 minutes and 40 seconds into "The Forbidden Pool"
4. ROTK - @ 2:16 into "A Storm is Coming" (combined with "evil of the ring"--see below)
"The evil of the ring"
1. FOTR - @ 1:13 into "The Shadow of the Past"
2. Two Towers - @ 1:50 into "The Uruk-Hai"
3. Two Towers - @ 0:24 into "The Black Gate is Closed"
4. ROTK - About 2:16 into a "A Storm is Coming", you'll hear the "seduction" theme (on strings) and "evil of the ring" theme (on woodwinds?) played together, intertwined...
5. ROTK - Of course, "Minas Morgul" is a lot of "evil" (pun intended), plus a hint of the 5/4 of the Isengard theme, but the basic theme can be heard on the opening 35 seconds, and @ 57 seconds into "Minas Morgul".
6. ROTK - Opening 30 seconds of "Cirith Ungol" (very basic, just the bare notes on woodwinds)
I may have missed a few instances... you know, in-between pretending to work and all...
* We got to see the first segment (FOTR) of the documentary by Costa Botes. It seemed odd to me how many people didn't get it. They expected to see more of the cast interviews that we've seen ad infinitum in the Extended Editions. It seemed logical (to me at least) that the whole point of having Costa following the crew around with the camera, was precisely so we could see more of the "unsung heroes" of Weta. Besides, there were plenty of between-takes antics with the cast.
* The Brobdingnagian Bards. Really, is there anyone who can say that three times fast (besides Andrew McKee)? Their show is a lot of fun. Although, if I hear "Wild Mountain Thyme" once more, I might hurl...
* Beecake played at The Hotel Cafe Friday night. That's where Viggo, Orlando, and Dominic went to see them, we heard (sadly, I had no transportation, so I'm only going by what most of us heard the next day). Sala Baker and Henry Mortensen showed up for the performance at the convention Saturday night.
[ETA: Shox (from World Without Sundays) was also in attendance at the Friday night gig.]
Saturday: Party day
* While we weren't looking, Billy Boyd became "a regular" at the Creation cons, and the charity breakfasts are now as much a staple as the cash bar at the evening parties. Billy, and his Loons, are taking every opportunity to give back to the community, raising funds for a lot of worthy causes. For this year's auction, there were a lot of Beecake items, including autographed CDs, t-shirts, a drumhead (the most sought-after item) and a portrait of Billy drawn by Beecake drummer John Crawford, an artist in his own right.
* In the main auditorium, Billy got his hour on stage to ham it up as usual. There was a speculative discussion on angel wings that got way out of control... :)
Ali and baby Jack made an appearance.
* David Wenham is as lot more charming in person than I remember him being ( Comic-con 2004). When he sat on the director chair on stage he mentioned feeling like he was on "Inside the Actor's Studio" (which prompted someone to ask, "what's your favorite curse word?")
David referred to the filming of "300" as the fittest he's ever been. (I think they had three different trainers for the cast)...
* Beecake treated us to just about every song on their EP CD, except the one I was looking forward to most of all ("Kick the door"). But the moving, soulful covers of Drunk and Lilac Wine more than made up for it. We also got to hear new songs, such as "Lost direction".
* The dessert party could do with some live music, I think. Although if we had to choose between that and a guest appearance... I'm sure we'll keep the guest, thanks. One thing, though: please bring back the chocolate fondue fountain. Pretty please...
Andy Serkis showed up and did the table-by-table thing. Really classy of him, especially since he had just flown in and we weren't even expecting him until the next day.
Sunday: "Last call..."
* "Tolkien Animated!", or as it became known around the con, "Sunday morning cartoons". Carlene, Cliff and John put together an interesting presentation of selected scenes from the Bakshi and Rankin/Bass animated films. Some of the scenes were played back-to-back with their counterparts from the Peter Jackson films, for the purpose of comparing and contrasting. Plus, the two versions of "Where there's a whip, there's a way"...
Of course this being Sunday morning cartoons, Cliff and Carlene showed up with plushies and blankets (and a box of Froot Loops); and I saw at least one person in their pajamas...
* The screening of "Ringers: Lord of the Fans" was fun. We got a running commentary from director Carlene Cordova, producer/interviewer Cliff Broadway and assistant editor John Welch. Fans gave a shout-out as they saw themselves on the screen. (Other fans. I yelped and covered my face. I also realized I'm on screeen a lot longer than the three seconds I estimated.)
* Sideshow had two panels where they talked about the work they do--and showed off the art that comes of it. They gave away Eowyn helms to just about anyone... Cool people those Sideshow guys; and just as geeky as any of us (better looking though :)
* Another staple of this con (good thing, too): The Hindi sisters came back, this time with two dance numbers: "Too sexy", and "White and nerdy". Very cool as always.
* The Q&A's with the cast are slowly but surely getting better, less puerile. But the one with Andy Serkis was the best by far. It was intelligent and insightful, with a healthy dash of humor. I felt proud to be part of that audience.
[Well... except for that drunken fool who kept shouting "say My Precious!" at various intervals. Some of us wanted to drill him a new one. Good on Andy for ignoring him.]
At the request of the audience, Andy spoke at length about his filming experience (not only LOTR, but Kong also) before taking questions. During the Q&A, one of the attendees from Japan commented about the storytelling tradition, where the storyteller had to play every character in the story. She asked Andy how many characters he could play at once. This eventually led to a hilarious bit between Andy, Smeagol, Gollum, Kong, and Andy's cat (who became the inspiration for Gollum's voice, all the while trying to cough up a hairball).
At one point Andy mentioned stopping by the Art Show and admiring the creativity of the fans. (That earned him even more points... :)
He was very humble, constantly giving credit to PJ and the Weta Digital team for the success of his performance. But the fans turned it right back to him; because there's just so much that the director or the special effects can do. The talent still has to be there to begin with. He was the only guest to get a standing ovation.
* Upgrades: I dawdled long enough before the thought hit me... this time they were just "in town"... next time they could be on stage. By the time I turned in my form (because it's first come first served, not by current seat), there was no better seat for me. My new neighbor, however, got upgraded to the front row...
I heard from quite a number of people who were planning (or at least considering) going to D*con. Yay... :)
That always takes the edge off the post-con blues. Keeping in mind that you'll meet these friends again is always comforting...
Pictures
Billy Boyd, David Wenham, Andy Serkis... plus Sala Baker, Henry Mortensen, Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom, and Dominic Monaghan.
Thursday: Travel day
* The things you remember when subjected to nine hours in a plane (with two stopovers)...
The manufacturer that packages the peanuts served on a Southwest Airlines flight is King Nut Companies. Their slogan is "King's Delicious Nuts". I'll leave it at that.
* There was no pre-reg on Thursday, which was a bit of a bummer. But at least we could blame it on the hotel for double-booking.
Friday: Music day
* My roommates and I took a tour of the Warner Brothers studios. The first stop was at the museum, which has a Harry Potter exhibit on the second floor. Lots of costumes and props from the films, including a giant She--er, I mean, Aragog... ;)
The rest of the tour was interesting from a technical standpoint--a look behind the scenes--but not that much to write home about. Unless you're a Gilmore Girls fan or something.
Meanwhile, back at the con...
* Adam, I've noticed, has more of a radio voice. And Brian (is it Brian or Ryan?) is the auctioneer from hell. There is no resolution to not spend any more money that he can't get you to break. And also a shoutout to Valerie, because she's the coolest woman on that staff. And to Chris, and to James C., just because.
* Elwood sends his apologies once again, and promises to show up next year.
* What is this? A good music video at ORC? What a concept!
"Burning Heart"--a vid by Avalon--was a masterful use of footage and music. There were maybe one or two clips that I wouldn't have allowed in there--but that's just the worthless opinion of yours truly, self-confessed music video snob. The vid was stirring and brilliant. And as good as the other vids were (more than one good music video at ORC??)... none of them could really hold a candle to this one.
* Doug Adams (again, the music columnist, not the English author) gave us two excellent panels on the music from the films. On the second panel, he gave examples of how different themes can be connected, and even played for us a piece that was cut from ROTK and replaced with sound effects (in the scene where Frodo stands on the edge and debates whether to throw the ring into the fire or keep it for himself).
It's an eerie, disturbing piece--even more so than the chains on piano wires of the Isengard theme--and it signals the culminating point of the ring's existence; the moment when all its power comes to the fore. The piece combines several of the Ring themes (IIRC, it's the "history of the ring", the "seduction of the ring" and the "evil of the ring"). The previously-unpublished piece will be included in the ROTK Complete Recordings box set.
Ok, start your players, gather your CDs; there'll be a quiz at the con... :)
[I don't have the Complete Recordings yet, so I'm going from the single-CD releases. Times are according to my ipod, so YMMV.]
Brief overview of some of the themes for The One Ring
"The history of the ring" (in the film, listen for it when the ring changes hands)
1. Two Towers: @ 30 seconds into "Foundations of Stone".
2. Two Towers: @ 2:54 into "The Leave Taking"
3. ROTK - @ 32 seconds into "A Storm is Coming" (and again @ 1:38).
"The seduction of the ring" ("false purity"--as opposed to the "true purity" of the theme heard when the moth appears; both themes sung by a boys choir)
1. FOTR - Opening (first 30 seconds or so) of "The Treason of Isengard"
2. FOTR - Opening (first 30 seconds or so) of "Amon Hen"
3. Two Towers - about 4 minutes and 40 seconds into "The Forbidden Pool"
4. ROTK - @ 2:16 into "A Storm is Coming" (combined with "evil of the ring"--see below)
"The evil of the ring"
1. FOTR - @ 1:13 into "The Shadow of the Past"
2. Two Towers - @ 1:50 into "The Uruk-Hai"
3. Two Towers - @ 0:24 into "The Black Gate is Closed"
4. ROTK - About 2:16 into a "A Storm is Coming", you'll hear the "seduction" theme (on strings) and "evil of the ring" theme (on woodwinds?) played together, intertwined...
5. ROTK - Of course, "Minas Morgul" is a lot of "evil" (pun intended), plus a hint of the 5/4 of the Isengard theme, but the basic theme can be heard on the opening 35 seconds, and @ 57 seconds into "Minas Morgul".
6. ROTK - Opening 30 seconds of "Cirith Ungol" (very basic, just the bare notes on woodwinds)
I may have missed a few instances... you know, in-between pretending to work and all...
* We got to see the first segment (FOTR) of the documentary by Costa Botes. It seemed odd to me how many people didn't get it. They expected to see more of the cast interviews that we've seen ad infinitum in the Extended Editions. It seemed logical (to me at least) that the whole point of having Costa following the crew around with the camera, was precisely so we could see more of the "unsung heroes" of Weta. Besides, there were plenty of between-takes antics with the cast.
* The Brobdingnagian Bards. Really, is there anyone who can say that three times fast (besides Andrew McKee)? Their show is a lot of fun. Although, if I hear "Wild Mountain Thyme" once more, I might hurl...
* Beecake played at The Hotel Cafe Friday night. That's where Viggo, Orlando, and Dominic went to see them, we heard (sadly, I had no transportation, so I'm only going by what most of us heard the next day). Sala Baker and Henry Mortensen showed up for the performance at the convention Saturday night.
[ETA: Shox (from World Without Sundays) was also in attendance at the Friday night gig.]
Saturday: Party day
* While we weren't looking, Billy Boyd became "a regular" at the Creation cons, and the charity breakfasts are now as much a staple as the cash bar at the evening parties. Billy, and his Loons, are taking every opportunity to give back to the community, raising funds for a lot of worthy causes. For this year's auction, there were a lot of Beecake items, including autographed CDs, t-shirts, a drumhead (the most sought-after item) and a portrait of Billy drawn by Beecake drummer John Crawford, an artist in his own right.
* In the main auditorium, Billy got his hour on stage to ham it up as usual. There was a speculative discussion on angel wings that got way out of control... :)
Ali and baby Jack made an appearance.
* David Wenham is as lot more charming in person than I remember him being ( Comic-con 2004). When he sat on the director chair on stage he mentioned feeling like he was on "Inside the Actor's Studio" (which prompted someone to ask, "what's your favorite curse word?")
David referred to the filming of "300" as the fittest he's ever been. (I think they had three different trainers for the cast)...
* Beecake treated us to just about every song on their EP CD, except the one I was looking forward to most of all ("Kick the door"). But the moving, soulful covers of Drunk and Lilac Wine more than made up for it. We also got to hear new songs, such as "Lost direction".
* The dessert party could do with some live music, I think. Although if we had to choose between that and a guest appearance... I'm sure we'll keep the guest, thanks. One thing, though: please bring back the chocolate fondue fountain. Pretty please...
Andy Serkis showed up and did the table-by-table thing. Really classy of him, especially since he had just flown in and we weren't even expecting him until the next day.
Sunday: "Last call..."
* "Tolkien Animated!", or as it became known around the con, "Sunday morning cartoons". Carlene, Cliff and John put together an interesting presentation of selected scenes from the Bakshi and Rankin/Bass animated films. Some of the scenes were played back-to-back with their counterparts from the Peter Jackson films, for the purpose of comparing and contrasting. Plus, the two versions of "Where there's a whip, there's a way"...
Of course this being Sunday morning cartoons, Cliff and Carlene showed up with plushies and blankets (and a box of Froot Loops); and I saw at least one person in their pajamas...
* The screening of "Ringers: Lord of the Fans" was fun. We got a running commentary from director Carlene Cordova, producer/interviewer Cliff Broadway and assistant editor John Welch. Fans gave a shout-out as they saw themselves on the screen. (Other fans. I yelped and covered my face. I also realized I'm on screeen a lot longer than the three seconds I estimated.)
* Sideshow had two panels where they talked about the work they do--and showed off the art that comes of it. They gave away Eowyn helms to just about anyone... Cool people those Sideshow guys; and just as geeky as any of us (better looking though :)
* Another staple of this con (good thing, too): The Hindi sisters came back, this time with two dance numbers: "Too sexy", and "White and nerdy". Very cool as always.
* The Q&A's with the cast are slowly but surely getting better, less puerile. But the one with Andy Serkis was the best by far. It was intelligent and insightful, with a healthy dash of humor. I felt proud to be part of that audience.
[Well... except for that drunken fool who kept shouting "say My Precious!" at various intervals. Some of us wanted to drill him a new one. Good on Andy for ignoring him.]
At the request of the audience, Andy spoke at length about his filming experience (not only LOTR, but Kong also) before taking questions. During the Q&A, one of the attendees from Japan commented about the storytelling tradition, where the storyteller had to play every character in the story. She asked Andy how many characters he could play at once. This eventually led to a hilarious bit between Andy, Smeagol, Gollum, Kong, and Andy's cat (who became the inspiration for Gollum's voice, all the while trying to cough up a hairball).
At one point Andy mentioned stopping by the Art Show and admiring the creativity of the fans. (That earned him even more points... :)
He was very humble, constantly giving credit to PJ and the Weta Digital team for the success of his performance. But the fans turned it right back to him; because there's just so much that the director or the special effects can do. The talent still has to be there to begin with. He was the only guest to get a standing ovation.
* Upgrades: I dawdled long enough before the thought hit me... this time they were just "in town"... next time they could be on stage. By the time I turned in my form (because it's first come first served, not by current seat), there was no better seat for me. My new neighbor, however, got upgraded to the front row...
I heard from quite a number of people who were planning (or at least considering) going to D*con. Yay... :)
That always takes the edge off the post-con blues. Keeping in mind that you'll meet these friends again is always comforting...
Pictures