SDCC 2009 Thursday
Basically, the following is a recap just for my own amusement! I finished grading exams early, I collated all my breath cycle data from the last year, and I don't have real classes or homework yet. Thus, I present to you an epically detailed review of Thursday of Comic Con!
I started out Thursday with one ultimate goal: To make it into Hall H in time for the Disney 3D Panel and get to see Tim Burton talk about the upcoming Alice in Wonderland film. Of course, this required getting up atrociously early (at least if you ask Jessica and Rachel) and standing in line with the die hard Twilight fans. I managed to get everyone up and out of the house before 7am, through my incredible persistence and the fact that I might have cried if I didn't get into this panel! Jessica and I took a bit longer to get ready than the Rachel due to having our Avatar cosplays, but we still left the house ahead of schedule!
Parking was simple, and we were not fooled by the dreaded expensive parking garage like last year, and luckily only Rachel had to get her pass, since Jess and I had attended Preview Night before. The Hall H line was long when we got there, but it definitely wasn't even close to 6,000 people long, so I was pretty sure we were going to make it in for the panel! Thus we wasted time in line, and were amused by the guy next to us who honestly thought that Edward ate Bella and the baby at the end of the last book (which is definitely not what happens...).
Classic myspace-esque cosplay photo!
See how excited we are even though it's not even 9 am yet?
Feathers! (clearly there was way to much Ashley/Jessica/Rachel bonding this summer)
The couple of hours in line went by pretty fast, and eventually the line began to move, weaving about in strange patterns. I do have to say that I admired Comic Con staff's ability to move that line so effectively. It was Disneyland levels of crowd control there!
The line trails behind us! as we make our way into Hall H!
The last two years I went to Comic Con I never made it into Hall H, or even tried to get it, so it was quite an accomplishment to even get in! And I was psyched and ready to see Tim Burton, who is my favorite director and has been since forever! Our seats weren't great or anything, and I sort of expected Hall H to be bigger and set up differently, but we settled into seats where we could see the screen easily. My only real complaint is that somehow I always end up sitting behind one of the tallest people at the convention, and due to my own stumpyness this causes problems and interesting camera angles! After settling into Hall H we decided we might as well stay for the Twilight Panel since we all do enjoy the books/movies in a sort of interesting way, plus we didn't have plans until later that afternoon anyways.
When we entered we were also given fancy 3D goggles so we could view the 3D footage. They were pretty neat, and I had to take a picture since we couldn't keep them or anything.
The Disney 3D Panel was awesome. And Tim Burton was just as cool as a figured he would be! I also learned that I would never want to ask a question in Hall H, since your face gets projected onto the huge screens in HD, and that really doesn't seem like a good idea to me. Plus, it just seems awkward in general, especially since people insisted on making it weird with long rambly intro and ridiculous questions. Definitely the most second hand embarrassment I felt this year was listening to college film students ramble at Tim Burton. Not that I would have said anything really intelligent either, but that's exactly why I didn't go ask a question!
Then at the end of the panel, Tim Burton said he was going to bring out his "imaginary friend," and with the shrieks of thousands of girls and guys, Johnny Depp took the stage! First of all, I am so glad this is not the first time I've "been in the prescence" of Johnny Depp or I would have flipped cause seriously I feel as if Johnny Depp needs at least a five minute warning. At the Pirates Premiere I had 16 hours to prepare and all I managed was a handshake and "I think you're really cool" (and a longer imagined statement where I complimented his hat.). Secondly, I once again cursed tall man in front of me who's head was the bane of my existence for this panel! And Lastly, Johnny Depp! Yeah, let's just say Jessica and Rachel were so glad I got them up so early, and I was really glad! It was a whirlwind 2 minutes of Hall H chaos, as people screamed, swooned, snapped blurtastic photos (at least in my case), and twittered their hearts out! Then Johnny and Mr. Burton left the stage and the room settled down (sort of).
Here's some pics:
Tim Burton! (and a bit of tall guy's head! curses!)
I promise you, that blur is the one and only Johnny Depp!
From the giant screen!
After that excitement, we settled in for a few panels and waited for Twilight. In between panels I saved our row of Hall H from a giant green bug with nasty pinchers. It had crawled into someone's bag during the wait outside, and then chose to reappear near Jessica's feet. Due to my biology background and habit of picking up strange bugs whenever I see them, I was chosen to return the bug to the outside world. This basically involved me picking the bug up and carrying him out of Hall H, which was quite an ordeal. You aren't suppose to leave Hall H and get back in without having to wait in the epic line again, but I had to release the bug. Thus I spent the time between panels explaining to various volunteers why I had to leave for a few minutes to release the bug. I didn't want to kill it, and the staff seemed to understand, although I scared of few of them when I presented the bug to them and explained my mission. Eventually one of them announced in his walkie talkie thing, "Let the Toph out and back in. She's releasing a bug!" which was beyond amusing. The volunteers at the door gladly let me outside, and I was able to deposit the bug in a safe looking planter, and return to Hall H, with a few scrathces on my hand from the bug's pinchers! My row was eternally grateful and I definitely earned Comic Con good deed points, which I redeemed multiple times that weekend!
The Twilight Panel was not nearly as insane as it seemed last year, and there was minimal awkward questions from the audience. We discussed the fidgetiness of Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart and their inability to fully answer a question, the charmingness of Jacob's actor, and the hilarity of the new director who seems to be taking himself not that seriously, and that is a very good thing because taking Twilight seriously only ends in pain and bad boyfriend choices.
The whole panel! (tall guy has left the building!)
The most eloquent person on the panel. Rachel thought he was quite keen and we declared ourselves Team Jacob's Actor, but not really cause he's like twelve.
And then we left Hall H, picking up a lovely girl/werewolf/vampire love triangle New Moon postcard on our way out.
This is when I parted ways with the loverly Rachel and Jessica to find a quiet place to have a meeting. Yup, I had to find a quiet place at Comic Con, and conduct a phone interview for a scholarship that I applied for. Basically, I ended up sitting on the convention steps in a 3 pound wig trying to convince an interview panel that I was a very serious student who had solid plans for my reasearch and could really use some money. It was without a doubt the weirdest interview ever, and I someone wanted me to pose for a picture halfway through (I tried to politely tell them no, and they seemed a wee bit peeved!). Apparently it went okay, since I got the scholarship, but I certainly didn't think it went well at the time.
I then realized that I needed to burn off some excess energy, so I went through a stroll through the Exhibit Hall, which was surprisingly uncrowded. Was hit on as Toph, which happens more than one would think, by multpile awkward guys, picked up some raffle tickets for me and Jess at the Dark Horse booth, and strolled by the Ugly Dolls again. Luckily, I did all my major shopping this year at Preview Night since I learned the hardships of carrying things around all day last year. I then decided it was time to try to rejoin Jessica and Rachel, who were trying to get into the Psych and Dexter panels in Ballroom 20, but was waylaid by a large Avatar cosplay group for a bit.
By the time I made my way to Ballroom Twenty it was about an hour until the Dexter panel started, and I figured I wouldn't make it in, but was going to give it a shot anyways. I was nearing the entrance of Ballroom 20, and was about to ask the elderly volunteer where the end of the line was, when she turned to me and said, "Hold on one second sweetie." I didn't object, and waited patiently as she let a group of people in, and then she turned to me and ushered me into the room as well. It was confusing, but I first thought that perhaps there was no line or something, but then I noticed a huge group of people being let in after me. I quickly found a seat for the rest of the Psych Panel (which was quite amusing), and with a few texts to Rachel and Jessica, I realized that the line was actually quite long, and I had somehow accidently cut the entire line. Rachel then decided that the lady thought I had been separated from my parents, and thus let me in to rejoin them. This began the many jokes of Ashley using her good luck, large eyes, and twelve-year old appearance to get special treatment at Comic Con.
The day ended with the awesome Dexter Panel and one last stroll through the Exhibit Hall!
Dexter Panel was Killer! (har har)
Our daily visit with one Cloud Strife and Sephiroth!
Hanging with the most misunderstood character in Lord of the Rings!
Surrounded by Ugly Dolls!
All in all, it was the greatest start to Comic Con, and there was more to come!
I started out Thursday with one ultimate goal: To make it into Hall H in time for the Disney 3D Panel and get to see Tim Burton talk about the upcoming Alice in Wonderland film. Of course, this required getting up atrociously early (at least if you ask Jessica and Rachel) and standing in line with the die hard Twilight fans. I managed to get everyone up and out of the house before 7am, through my incredible persistence and the fact that I might have cried if I didn't get into this panel! Jessica and I took a bit longer to get ready than the Rachel due to having our Avatar cosplays, but we still left the house ahead of schedule!
Parking was simple, and we were not fooled by the dreaded expensive parking garage like last year, and luckily only Rachel had to get her pass, since Jess and I had attended Preview Night before. The Hall H line was long when we got there, but it definitely wasn't even close to 6,000 people long, so I was pretty sure we were going to make it in for the panel! Thus we wasted time in line, and were amused by the guy next to us who honestly thought that Edward ate Bella and the baby at the end of the last book (which is definitely not what happens...).
Classic myspace-esque cosplay photo!
See how excited we are even though it's not even 9 am yet?
Feathers! (clearly there was way to much Ashley/Jessica/Rachel bonding this summer)
The couple of hours in line went by pretty fast, and eventually the line began to move, weaving about in strange patterns. I do have to say that I admired Comic Con staff's ability to move that line so effectively. It was Disneyland levels of crowd control there!
The line trails behind us! as we make our way into Hall H!
The last two years I went to Comic Con I never made it into Hall H, or even tried to get it, so it was quite an accomplishment to even get in! And I was psyched and ready to see Tim Burton, who is my favorite director and has been since forever! Our seats weren't great or anything, and I sort of expected Hall H to be bigger and set up differently, but we settled into seats where we could see the screen easily. My only real complaint is that somehow I always end up sitting behind one of the tallest people at the convention, and due to my own stumpyness this causes problems and interesting camera angles! After settling into Hall H we decided we might as well stay for the Twilight Panel since we all do enjoy the books/movies in a sort of interesting way, plus we didn't have plans until later that afternoon anyways.
When we entered we were also given fancy 3D goggles so we could view the 3D footage. They were pretty neat, and I had to take a picture since we couldn't keep them or anything.
The Disney 3D Panel was awesome. And Tim Burton was just as cool as a figured he would be! I also learned that I would never want to ask a question in Hall H, since your face gets projected onto the huge screens in HD, and that really doesn't seem like a good idea to me. Plus, it just seems awkward in general, especially since people insisted on making it weird with long rambly intro and ridiculous questions. Definitely the most second hand embarrassment I felt this year was listening to college film students ramble at Tim Burton. Not that I would have said anything really intelligent either, but that's exactly why I didn't go ask a question!
Then at the end of the panel, Tim Burton said he was going to bring out his "imaginary friend," and with the shrieks of thousands of girls and guys, Johnny Depp took the stage! First of all, I am so glad this is not the first time I've "been in the prescence" of Johnny Depp or I would have flipped cause seriously I feel as if Johnny Depp needs at least a five minute warning. At the Pirates Premiere I had 16 hours to prepare and all I managed was a handshake and "I think you're really cool" (and a longer imagined statement where I complimented his hat.). Secondly, I once again cursed tall man in front of me who's head was the bane of my existence for this panel! And Lastly, Johnny Depp! Yeah, let's just say Jessica and Rachel were so glad I got them up so early, and I was really glad! It was a whirlwind 2 minutes of Hall H chaos, as people screamed, swooned, snapped blurtastic photos (at least in my case), and twittered their hearts out! Then Johnny and Mr. Burton left the stage and the room settled down (sort of).
Here's some pics:
Tim Burton! (and a bit of tall guy's head! curses!)
I promise you, that blur is the one and only Johnny Depp!
From the giant screen!
After that excitement, we settled in for a few panels and waited for Twilight. In between panels I saved our row of Hall H from a giant green bug with nasty pinchers. It had crawled into someone's bag during the wait outside, and then chose to reappear near Jessica's feet. Due to my biology background and habit of picking up strange bugs whenever I see them, I was chosen to return the bug to the outside world. This basically involved me picking the bug up and carrying him out of Hall H, which was quite an ordeal. You aren't suppose to leave Hall H and get back in without having to wait in the epic line again, but I had to release the bug. Thus I spent the time between panels explaining to various volunteers why I had to leave for a few minutes to release the bug. I didn't want to kill it, and the staff seemed to understand, although I scared of few of them when I presented the bug to them and explained my mission. Eventually one of them announced in his walkie talkie thing, "Let the Toph out and back in. She's releasing a bug!" which was beyond amusing. The volunteers at the door gladly let me outside, and I was able to deposit the bug in a safe looking planter, and return to Hall H, with a few scrathces on my hand from the bug's pinchers! My row was eternally grateful and I definitely earned Comic Con good deed points, which I redeemed multiple times that weekend!
The Twilight Panel was not nearly as insane as it seemed last year, and there was minimal awkward questions from the audience. We discussed the fidgetiness of Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart and their inability to fully answer a question, the charmingness of Jacob's actor, and the hilarity of the new director who seems to be taking himself not that seriously, and that is a very good thing because taking Twilight seriously only ends in pain and bad boyfriend choices.
The whole panel! (tall guy has left the building!)
The most eloquent person on the panel. Rachel thought he was quite keen and we declared ourselves Team Jacob's Actor, but not really cause he's like twelve.
And then we left Hall H, picking up a lovely girl/werewolf/vampire love triangle New Moon postcard on our way out.
This is when I parted ways with the loverly Rachel and Jessica to find a quiet place to have a meeting. Yup, I had to find a quiet place at Comic Con, and conduct a phone interview for a scholarship that I applied for. Basically, I ended up sitting on the convention steps in a 3 pound wig trying to convince an interview panel that I was a very serious student who had solid plans for my reasearch and could really use some money. It was without a doubt the weirdest interview ever, and I someone wanted me to pose for a picture halfway through (I tried to politely tell them no, and they seemed a wee bit peeved!). Apparently it went okay, since I got the scholarship, but I certainly didn't think it went well at the time.
I then realized that I needed to burn off some excess energy, so I went through a stroll through the Exhibit Hall, which was surprisingly uncrowded. Was hit on as Toph, which happens more than one would think, by multpile awkward guys, picked up some raffle tickets for me and Jess at the Dark Horse booth, and strolled by the Ugly Dolls again. Luckily, I did all my major shopping this year at Preview Night since I learned the hardships of carrying things around all day last year. I then decided it was time to try to rejoin Jessica and Rachel, who were trying to get into the Psych and Dexter panels in Ballroom 20, but was waylaid by a large Avatar cosplay group for a bit.
By the time I made my way to Ballroom Twenty it was about an hour until the Dexter panel started, and I figured I wouldn't make it in, but was going to give it a shot anyways. I was nearing the entrance of Ballroom 20, and was about to ask the elderly volunteer where the end of the line was, when she turned to me and said, "Hold on one second sweetie." I didn't object, and waited patiently as she let a group of people in, and then she turned to me and ushered me into the room as well. It was confusing, but I first thought that perhaps there was no line or something, but then I noticed a huge group of people being let in after me. I quickly found a seat for the rest of the Psych Panel (which was quite amusing), and with a few texts to Rachel and Jessica, I realized that the line was actually quite long, and I had somehow accidently cut the entire line. Rachel then decided that the lady thought I had been separated from my parents, and thus let me in to rejoin them. This began the many jokes of Ashley using her good luck, large eyes, and twelve-year old appearance to get special treatment at Comic Con.
The day ended with the awesome Dexter Panel and one last stroll through the Exhibit Hall!
Dexter Panel was Killer! (har har)
Our daily visit with one Cloud Strife and Sephiroth!
Hanging with the most misunderstood character in Lord of the Rings!
Surrounded by Ugly Dolls!
All in all, it was the greatest start to Comic Con, and there was more to come!