Comic Con Friday
Jul. 29th, 2008 01:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tenayaFirst off, I came down with con crud on Sunday night. Red, raw, on-fire sore throat. Hurts to swallow, can't talk sometimes. My roomies both have it, too. It's definitely slowed me down.
Con report of SG, Dr. Horrible, Family Guy and Bones:
We got up early, but not early enough. Programming starts at 10am and I remember last year that they let us in around 9am. Well, either things have changed or I remembered wrong. They let people into the building at 7:15am and then you join your cue. They let the panel room cues in at 9ish. We had a friend of a friend that let us cut in line so we weren't too far back for the SG panels, but far enough that I didn't get any decent photos.
As you've heard, Brad Wright introduced RDA as his best friend, and Michael Shanks "My personal favorite actor in the world, very handsome, very talented: Michael Shanks." I sure you've seen the vid of the intros as it is on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9LP5O8_sJo
I thought it odd that Amanda snubbed RDA's hand for a giggle (those jokes always have the chance of being misinterpreted because, how do you know they aren't making a point?) Shanks was gracious with a hand shake to all. Ben ran out, no hand shake but he did kiss Michael. What is it about that man that makes all want to kiss him? Never mind...that's a stupid question. *g* The thumbs up after was quite funny. Also, it looks like Ben caught Michael surprised enough that he puckered back. It's a bit of an automatic response, I think. And then there's Chris Judge who goosed all of them on the butt as he passed them, and all of them jumped, except Michael. I think he must be quite used to goofing off from Chris.
I can write up a transcript later if no one else has done it (please, let someone else have done it!--or I may go to youtube with my wares. ) The crowd responded to all very enthusiastically. Chris looked like a cat who was guarding the canary as he said there'd be an announcement soon about Rage of Angels. Everyone on stage looked very surprised by the huge applause Burn Notice got. I can't remember if it was here, but Brad Wright indicated he was working on another film and the new series, Universe. And Tapping mentioned Sanctuary, and they even showed a teaser for it.
They put together a wonderful tribute to Don S. Davis. It's only been less than a month and his loss is still strongly felt. Chris and Ben looked very upset, while Michael was wiping tears away and seemed very subdued for the rest of the panel. Hopefully, they will include the tribute on the next movie dvd they put out.
RDA is the joker we saw Jack turn into in the later seasons. He told stories about the arctic and I'm wondering if the frozen poo story was to say the stuff freezes as soon as it leaves you? I'm not sure.) Shanks rolled his eyes a lot, and when someone (Martin Wood?) laughingly suggested Chris drop his trousers, they all laughed except for Shanks who leaned forward and told us to notice that Chris was considering it.
I'll put up what pathetic photos I took and see what I can do with the .avis.
Next was the game Stargate Worlds. I still feel very steamed about the other game that was scrapped just as it was ready for release. I don't know much about games but figured if it was online, there must be a financial advantage for MGM to release this one instead. But, the graphics looked cool, there did appear to archeology content instead of just shooting things. The characters are in the program as mentors and I believe all the actors but one are signed to do some voice work on it. Someone asked why women would like this game, and they said they tried to include things they would like, and one can even play it by yourself. I'm a bit more interested in it now. Oh, and they gave out a nice t-shirt with it, and a dog tag.
The SGA panel was a little odd in feeling. I'm sure other people have already written up their notes? After this time, all I'm left with is impressions. Martin Gero seemed charming up in Vancouver doing the set tours, but now he seemed very Hollywood, very polished, very cutting in some responses--the type of attitude that comes with being powerful. Too bad. Joe was very Joe, Jewel didn't contribute much except to notice that one writer, Carl, like to have her kidnapped and taken into the woods. Martin did defend by saying there's not a lot of options to take kidnapped victims to up in Vancouver except the woods. She also got a few questions about Firefly (which got a lot of applause) and seemed embarrassed when one question was addressed to Kayle (sp?) Robert Picardo I'm sure surprised people with how funny he was. Very dry, very quick. I'd seen him before at a Creation Con and he had people rolling in the aisles.
I stayed in this room all day. The next panel was Joss Whedon and was about Dr. Horrible.
A good, detailed Dr. Horrible con report is here: http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=17488
This was the first time I'd seen Whedon. Yet again, I felt like a cog that didn't belong. I'd watched Buffy, Angel and Firefly, and I liked them. But I don't see the worshipping thing myself. Interesting, he didn't have as much attitude as Gero did (and it was a smidgeon of 'tude, not a flood.)
It is interesting how you can always tell who has the power on these panels, the way people stay quiet, and defer to and laugh at the jokes of one person in particular. And interestingly, on most of the panels there was one person who knew how to handle a crowd of thousands with ease, who was aware of the discomfort of his fellow panelists and made them at ease too, who seemed totally aware of crowd, the person asking the question and was quick to assist where ever it was needed. They were quick of wit and seemed quite gentlemanly. In the Dr. Horrible panel, it was Nathan Fillion, in SGA it was Picardo for the most part, for Bones it was David Boreanaz. For SG1, it was almost Shanks, but I notice everyone defered to RDA's joking. I think all of these actors have learned this skill at those Creation Cons.
American Dad and Family Guy was next. I was amused and a little shocked with how sexual the humor was. Stuff that would get censored from a living person when by unchallenged for the animated characters. And Seth MacFarlane obviously wields a great deal of power judging how closely everyone watched him. Seth Green was there and the two Seth's had a mutual admriation society going. For American Dad, they had a reading of one chapter of script, then showed the next chapter crudely drawn, then gave us a more polished final scene. Very interesting.
Bones had David Boreanaz, Michaela Conlin, Tamara Taylor and John Francis Daley. David made sure everyone had a full glass of water in front of him. He'd also drop into character (he went on a funny rant about England so I guess Booth didn't care for England. "Sweets" seemed so much like his character, but maybe that was just me. Like most other panels, they started with the season opener teaser, but then showed act 1, and then act 2. I was starting to wonder if we were gonna see the whole show! One odd tidbit had to do with the diner. They had to give up the chinese food place in the first season to get access to New York street and that got them the diner. This coming season, they were going to move those scenes into a bar. They didn't say why they had to give up the diner though.
I should have taken notes. Oh well. From there, back to the hotel, and dinner. I did finally get a nice photo of the buses that had Continuum and Dexter ads. I'll put them up on photo bucket later.
Con report of SG, Dr. Horrible, Family Guy and Bones:
We got up early, but not early enough. Programming starts at 10am and I remember last year that they let us in around 9am. Well, either things have changed or I remembered wrong. They let people into the building at 7:15am and then you join your cue. They let the panel room cues in at 9ish. We had a friend of a friend that let us cut in line so we weren't too far back for the SG panels, but far enough that I didn't get any decent photos.
As you've heard, Brad Wright introduced RDA as his best friend, and Michael Shanks "My personal favorite actor in the world, very handsome, very talented: Michael Shanks." I sure you've seen the vid of the intros as it is on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9LP5O8_sJo
I thought it odd that Amanda snubbed RDA's hand for a giggle (those jokes always have the chance of being misinterpreted because, how do you know they aren't making a point?) Shanks was gracious with a hand shake to all. Ben ran out, no hand shake but he did kiss Michael. What is it about that man that makes all want to kiss him? Never mind...that's a stupid question. *g* The thumbs up after was quite funny. Also, it looks like Ben caught Michael surprised enough that he puckered back. It's a bit of an automatic response, I think. And then there's Chris Judge who goosed all of them on the butt as he passed them, and all of them jumped, except Michael. I think he must be quite used to goofing off from Chris.
I can write up a transcript later if no one else has done it (please, let someone else have done it!--or I may go to youtube with my wares. ) The crowd responded to all very enthusiastically. Chris looked like a cat who was guarding the canary as he said there'd be an announcement soon about Rage of Angels. Everyone on stage looked very surprised by the huge applause Burn Notice got. I can't remember if it was here, but Brad Wright indicated he was working on another film and the new series, Universe. And Tapping mentioned Sanctuary, and they even showed a teaser for it.
They put together a wonderful tribute to Don S. Davis. It's only been less than a month and his loss is still strongly felt. Chris and Ben looked very upset, while Michael was wiping tears away and seemed very subdued for the rest of the panel. Hopefully, they will include the tribute on the next movie dvd they put out.
RDA is the joker we saw Jack turn into in the later seasons. He told stories about the arctic and I'm wondering if the frozen poo story was to say the stuff freezes as soon as it leaves you? I'm not sure.) Shanks rolled his eyes a lot, and when someone (Martin Wood?) laughingly suggested Chris drop his trousers, they all laughed except for Shanks who leaned forward and told us to notice that Chris was considering it.
I'll put up what pathetic photos I took and see what I can do with the .avis.
Next was the game Stargate Worlds. I still feel very steamed about the other game that was scrapped just as it was ready for release. I don't know much about games but figured if it was online, there must be a financial advantage for MGM to release this one instead. But, the graphics looked cool, there did appear to archeology content instead of just shooting things. The characters are in the program as mentors and I believe all the actors but one are signed to do some voice work on it. Someone asked why women would like this game, and they said they tried to include things they would like, and one can even play it by yourself. I'm a bit more interested in it now. Oh, and they gave out a nice t-shirt with it, and a dog tag.
The SGA panel was a little odd in feeling. I'm sure other people have already written up their notes? After this time, all I'm left with is impressions. Martin Gero seemed charming up in Vancouver doing the set tours, but now he seemed very Hollywood, very polished, very cutting in some responses--the type of attitude that comes with being powerful. Too bad. Joe was very Joe, Jewel didn't contribute much except to notice that one writer, Carl, like to have her kidnapped and taken into the woods. Martin did defend by saying there's not a lot of options to take kidnapped victims to up in Vancouver except the woods. She also got a few questions about Firefly (which got a lot of applause) and seemed embarrassed when one question was addressed to Kayle (sp?) Robert Picardo I'm sure surprised people with how funny he was. Very dry, very quick. I'd seen him before at a Creation Con and he had people rolling in the aisles.
I stayed in this room all day. The next panel was Joss Whedon and was about Dr. Horrible.
A good, detailed Dr. Horrible con report is here: http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=17488
This was the first time I'd seen Whedon. Yet again, I felt like a cog that didn't belong. I'd watched Buffy, Angel and Firefly, and I liked them. But I don't see the worshipping thing myself. Interesting, he didn't have as much attitude as Gero did (and it was a smidgeon of 'tude, not a flood.)
It is interesting how you can always tell who has the power on these panels, the way people stay quiet, and defer to and laugh at the jokes of one person in particular. And interestingly, on most of the panels there was one person who knew how to handle a crowd of thousands with ease, who was aware of the discomfort of his fellow panelists and made them at ease too, who seemed totally aware of crowd, the person asking the question and was quick to assist where ever it was needed. They were quick of wit and seemed quite gentlemanly. In the Dr. Horrible panel, it was Nathan Fillion, in SGA it was Picardo for the most part, for Bones it was David Boreanaz. For SG1, it was almost Shanks, but I notice everyone defered to RDA's joking. I think all of these actors have learned this skill at those Creation Cons.
American Dad and Family Guy was next. I was amused and a little shocked with how sexual the humor was. Stuff that would get censored from a living person when by unchallenged for the animated characters. And Seth MacFarlane obviously wields a great deal of power judging how closely everyone watched him. Seth Green was there and the two Seth's had a mutual admriation society going. For American Dad, they had a reading of one chapter of script, then showed the next chapter crudely drawn, then gave us a more polished final scene. Very interesting.
Bones had David Boreanaz, Michaela Conlin, Tamara Taylor and John Francis Daley. David made sure everyone had a full glass of water in front of him. He'd also drop into character (he went on a funny rant about England so I guess Booth didn't care for England. "Sweets" seemed so much like his character, but maybe that was just me. Like most other panels, they started with the season opener teaser, but then showed act 1, and then act 2. I was starting to wonder if we were gonna see the whole show! One odd tidbit had to do with the diner. They had to give up the chinese food place in the first season to get access to New York street and that got them the diner. This coming season, they were going to move those scenes into a bar. They didn't say why they had to give up the diner though.
I should have taken notes. Oh well. From there, back to the hotel, and dinner. I did finally get a nice photo of the buses that had Continuum and Dexter ads. I'll put them up on photo bucket later.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-30 12:35 am (UTC)PS. I hope you feel better soon, and no big aftershocks.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-30 07:17 am (UTC)Thanks for reading the report. I wish they'd seated Shanks next to RDA, but we knew Tapping would get that seat.
I haven't felt a single aftershock. Fingers crossed.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-30 03:46 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-30 07:14 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-30 11:03 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-30 11:59 pm (UTC)Luckily, I don't have to work until Friday night so I've staying close to home.
I've got some .avi of the panels but they are like over 300mgs. Do you know of a free/easy to use program that will convert them down to under 100mgs so I can put them on youtube?
Thanks!
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-31 07:37 am (UTC)Windows Movie Maker, which comes as part of the Microsoft package with any recent Windows operating system, should be able to reduce your avis down to manageable sizes. Do you know how to use it? I can walk you through if you want.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-31 11:18 pm (UTC)Thanks!
(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-01 02:22 am (UTC)Open Movie Maker. It's normally in the programmes/accessories folder if you have XP. I've got Windows Media Centre XP Pro, and it's just sitting in the programmes folder by itself.
Now, you want to import your avi without MM cutting it up, so go file -> import into collections and browse to where your avi is stored. Once you've selected it, uncheck the box that says "create clips for video files" and then hit the import button. MM should import the file into the project area.
Then drag the file into the timeline at the bottom. If you have a storyboard showing, click on "show timeline." Make sure it's in the video track and hard up against the left hand side.
Now you're ready to render it. I make Windows Media files when I'm uploading to YouTube. First check YouTube's FAQ's to see what the file size restrictions are. Then go file -> save movie file. Choose to save it to My Computer and click next. Name your file, and below that, pick a location on your hard drive for it to save to. Click next. You should now be at the movie setting section. Click the "other settings" options. You'll have a dropdown menu of all the different formats you can render to. Have a play - each time you select one, the expected final file size will show in the bottom right of the box. Just keep clicking on different options until you get an acceptable file size. Then click next and it will convert and save your file, which you should then be able to upload to YouTube.
If your aspect ratio comes out wonky (you can see that in the preview pane) you can adjust it in the Tools section under the advanced tab. Hope that helps!
(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-01 02:32 pm (UTC)I pushed to get that commentary done last night but I will be attempting your instructions on my next night off. :)
(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-22 11:03 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-22 11:33 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-31 02:48 am (UTC)(sending hugs)
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-31 11:21 pm (UTC)