Yes, the lines were too long, but the networking and collaborative spirit were high. Yes, the stabbing deflated the pop culture party of the year, but having a teenager run up to me to return a $10 bill that dropped from my pocket made it all better. Yes, the Starbucks counter was under-staffed, but the San Diego resturants more than made up for it. (Can you say tapas, Sangria, and real Spanish Flamenco dancers? The perfect antidote to an overstimulated day!)
But this… this picture says it all:
ComicCon Cosplay Bathroom Touchup
Right before stepping into the NBC/Universal Writers on the Verge Panel (more on that in a later post), I side-stepped into the ladies room. When I saw these ladies all in the midst of Cosplay (that’s costume-play for you great unwashed), I couldn’t help but ask if I could take a photo.
Forget the Joss Whedon panels, the Nathan Fillion steamy readings of Castle’s latest best-seller. Forget networks and studios trying to outdo each other with swag bags so big that their only future purpose is to be stuffed in the back of some closet collecting dust.
It’s the people, stupid. Plain and simple. The joy of costumes, of fellow aficionados of anything from anime to Dexter to the latest and greatest comic books. OK, yes…ComicCon is a marketing department’s wet dream.
But it’s also a place to play, have fun, and experience sensory overload.
And yes, you should come next year – EVERYONE needs to experience San Diego ComicCon at least once in their life!
The Emmy nominations came out today and of course, there’s much to be excited about – from Dexter to Glee to Good Wife and whatever series floats your particular boat. And yes, there’s plenty of the traditional “eye candy” (e.g. pretty actors/sets/costumes) to look at in all those shows.
But there’s an entirely different type of ‘eye candy’ worth considering – and that’s the Outstanding Special Visual Effects For A Series. I’ve only see 5 out of the 8 in question, so if this seems like a biased post, my apologies. That said, in each case, the FX were excellent. In many cases, breathtaking. The FX became as much a part of the storytelling process as the actors/sets/costumes, etc. They embellished the story. Added to the emphasis of ‘what’s at stake.’
For those of you not keeping score, here’s VFX highlights from those nominated series I’ve seen (clearly, the science fiction shows – I’m afraid I’m a bit remiss on the modern dramas):
STARGATE UNIVERSE VFX Nominations: Stargate Universe • Air • Syfy Stargate Universe • Space • Syfy
In its fledgling stage, this series has stumbled, sure. It’s also had some excellent high points. That’s how first seasons work. Extreme highs and disappointing lows. However! The one area this series has not disappointed on is bring a sense of wonder back into the franchise. That’s been true across the board – from writing to set design and in this case, to some extraordinary aliens designed by the same house which brought you District 9. These creatures emoted, terrified, and haunted not just the characters, but the viewers as well. It’s a long way from the rubber masked aliens of old. It’s also worth pointing out that VFX isn’t just about aliens and space battles, it’s about the subtle tweaks that make us buy into extraordinary situations. Mark Savela, VFX Supervisor for SGU, gives an excellent account over on Gateworld on some of the work done on the Space episode. Give it a read.
CAPRICA VFX Nominations: Caprica • There Is Another Sky • Syfy
Another series in its fledgling year – and very worth watching! No, it’s not Battlestar Galactica — in fact, its better and even more disturbing. And while the episode most likely got nominated for its VR environment in Caprica City, my favorite effect of the entire series is the slow pans across Zoe where we see her as her Avatar, as a Cylon, and then as an Avatar again. It’s Frankenstein meets the Electra Complex and the sight of that pan will keep you up all night, highly disturbed! Go on, watch the nominated episode on Hulu and see for yourself:
Talk about fledglings – this pilot for FOX never made it passed a one time showing (on July 4th last year, I believe). Too bad, too. While there were some clunky elements, it was a pilot for crying out loud! Penned by Ron D. Moore (ST: Deep Space Nine, Battlestar Galactica, Caprica), it’s a shame this series never got out of the gate… but then, we’ve all learned the hard way that FOX doesn’t care much for Science Fiction (cough, cough – Firefly and Dollhouse, anyone?) Although the full episode isn’t available online, you can watch this fantastic launch sequence thanks to YouTube. And yes, it has a definite 2001 quality to it that might pull it out of dark horse status in the Emmys and give it the award it deserves.
V
VFX Nominations: V • Pilot • ABC
One last series – and again, in its fledgling year. This reinvention went the SyFy channel’s Sanctuary route with mostly green screen composites for the onboard sequences. Sadly, it seems the Sanctuary folks (with a budget one third the size of V) got the compositing better than V – a major network series! Hello, can you say, “Add shadows, you nimwit!” On the flip side, I dug the exteriors of the ships. There’s something about walking down 5th Ave in NYC — Starbucks in hand – and glancing up only to see a lizard queen alien grinning down at you, contemplating if you’ll go better with a good Chianti or a nice Riesling.
V has suffered from holding back too much, dragging out minutae we really don’t care about (Thorn Birds, anyone?). The season finale, however, did pull itself together and raise the stakes – both story-wise and visually). Too bad “Red Sky” (see below courtesy of Hulu) wasn’t nominated instead of the pilot.
Apollo has a new home over at A5 Films Website.
The film was shot in the winter of 2008 and has since been screened at several festivals around the world including the Athens, Greece Science Fiction Film Festival. Written & directed by Bryan Manning, Produced by Caleb Copeland, Executive Produced by yours truly.
The Premise: Apollo Sylvan searches for the sunrise in an abandoned theater as his wife, Diana, trades herself for a chance to escape. A tale of stale love in a forgotten city where the sun is lost behind the clouds of pollution.
For those of you joining us at Timegate for the screening (Saturday, May 29th @ 6pm), here’s a trailer to whet your appetite:
I’ll be a guest at the Timegate Con during Memorial Day Weekend and as you can tell fromthis recent interview, I’m getting excited to go!
The great thing about writing is that it’s just me, my imagination and a computer (typewriter, paper & pen, sometimes even crayons on a wall!).
The downside of writing is that it’s just… me.
While most of the time, this sort of solitary mode is awesome – no distractions means being able to think out MY stories, MY characters – but there’s times (and I’m pretty certain every writer goes through this) where I have bouts of hesitation, uncertainty, or downright concerns (ok, let’s be honest here – the word is FEAR) that my work is either subpar or out of touch with what readers and/or viewers want.
Enter the con (convention, conference – you say potato, I say…). For me, it’s an opportunity to recharge, be it with fellow genre aficionados or other writers. It also gives me an opportunity to teach writing at various workshops outside of the university system and yes, I’m definitely one of those souls who learns as much from teaching as I do from learning. Cons such as ContextSF- (Late August – Columbus, OH) give me a chance to both teach AND learn as they run writing workshops day and night and oftentimes have agents and/or editors who will critique your work.
Of course, there’s also the fandom cons like the infamous San Diego Comic Con where you get to just kick back and join in the fun. I love these kinds of cons because they remind me of what sparked my love of story in the first place. While the madness of CosPlay (that’s Costumes for you great unwashed) is great fun, as is the sneak peeks of upcoming films and new TV series are fun, as is the talks and seminars with writers, publishers, producers, directors, actors, etc., my favorite part of the fandom cons have to do with spur-of-the-moment discussions with strangers who share my same excitement for a given franchise or a particular novel, comic book, film… the list goes on. It’s moments like these where I remember who I’m trying to write for and why.
Next up for me is an entirely new type of fandom con – I’ll be guesting at Timegate – a Doctor Who/Stargate convention in Atlanta, GA (Memorial Day Weekend). While I’m looking forward to joining in on the panel discussions (example: Stargate Universe: The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly), and discussing my upcoming Stargate SG-1 novel (Four Dragons), I’m also excited because they’ve requested a screening of APOLLO – the short science fiction film I exec produced a while back.
But what I’m most looking forward to is sitting with fellow fans, learning about what they love about Who and Stargate, and more importantly, what they love about reading and watching story in all its shapes and sizes.
Now, Science Fiction is my thing… so obviously I look for cons that either focus on the writing or reading or watching of the genre. But that doesn’t mean it’s the only genre with cons aplenty. If you’re looking for a con, a great place to start is Shaw’s Guide to Writers Cons.
And if, by chance, you decide to head to Timegate, look me up – I’ll be the one with the biggest grin on their face. Just like this:
STARGATE UNIVERSE
Of course, there’s also the fandom cons like the infamous 
And if, by chance, you decide to head to Timegate, look me up – I’ll be the one with the biggest grin on their face. Just like this:
