Supanova 2007 Report
Finally, I'm posting up my con report. Tired with having it sitting in Semagic, I finished it off just now.
The beginning of the day was rather hectic as I met my older brother and his friend at the station. However, we met at the wrong station, having thought that it connected to the right line and had to catch another train to reach one that linked to Olympic Park. I was pretty worried for while that we wouldn't get there in time for the Nick Brendon Q&A at 1 pm. However, we got to the Dome at about 12:15 where I was surprised that there was no ticket line. You just went through the turnstile and paid for entry (which was only 20 bucks, totally reasonable) and got stamped on your wrist.
With the extra time, we decided to wander around the stalls and salivate at all of the merchandise we wanted but couldn't have. The Dome was a pretty cool venue, plenty of room and it had a nice atmosphere. The stalls were in the main ground area with the cafeteria in an adjoining room. The Q&As took place in rooms above the main area that were reached by climbing a flight of stairs to a weird balcony type area. Don't worry about my terrible explanation, there'll be an explanatory photo later on. Near the entrance, there was a pretty cool display of R2-D2s that were made by fans. It was totally geeky but kinda awesome.
The R2 models on display in an Imperial Occupied Zone. A poor Jawa is wrapped up in the the tape on the bottom left.
In the centre of the Dome a wrestling ring had been erected with wrestlers doing their stuff in it. I didn't bother watching too much of it but it looked pretty staged, although still fun. We didn't have much time so buying crap and playing games was postponed for a quick tour of the place to find stuff we wanted to look at. There was some pretty sweet Doctor Who merchandise around including these books I randomly took a photo of:
Note the geeky TARDIS tins and model making kits.
I also found a stall selling Buffy figurines that I'll come back to later on. The game stalls were pretty cool. They had a demo of Guitar Hero 3 and Phantom Hourglass and some random Naruto game. My brother played GH3 far too much and I had to drag him away from it regularly. There was a really weird 'Kamehameha Blast-Off' on the stage that I walked past. Volunteers went up on stage to do their own Kamehameha, complete with actions, with the audience deciding who was the best. It was so geeky. We went up to the seminar rooms about 20 minutes early to get good seats. On the way up the stairs, I snapped this pic of the Dome:
The Dome. Pretty awesome huh?
You can see the R2 display I mentioned and the EB Games display. In the off-centre-to-the-top-right-ish (I spent a minute or two trying to figure out how to describe that area...), you can see the wrestling ring. On the left, above the EB display, you can see the Singstar stage which'll become more important later on. It was lucky that we decided to go to the Q&A early to get good seats since it turned out that a lot of other people did as well. We ended up watching the last 15 mins of the Sam J. Jones Q&A, which was relatively boring. I pretty much spent most of the time trying to figure out who the hell he was. Turns out he played Flash Gordon at some point.
The Q&A
When Nicholas Brendon turned up it was pretty goddamn awesome. All of the seats were filled and quite a few people were standing at the back so it was pretty lucky that we got there early.The questions were pretty good. For the first 10 minutes he was using the most ridiculous voice on earth, kind of a weird French/drunk accent with some overly gesture-y hands thrown in. It was goddamn hilarious. The host dude asked him what he had been doing and he replied 'I......have......been......doing....the Criminal Minds......and...I......have....been..............in it.' He actually answered the first few questions with that accent! I'll see if I can upload some of those vids on YouTube.
On to the (slightly more) serious questions.
At least the ones sans ridiculous accents.
I tried videoing and taking photos of the Q&A but the lighting was pretty terrible so they didn't turn out great. Brendon actually commented on the funky green lights that they had behind him. They made his skin look green. He mentioned how he had been cooped up in rooms for a lot of the time.
An example of my terrible photography. I choose to blame it on the lighting.
When asked about who was the better kisser Alyson or Eliza, NB said that he'd want Eliza for a one night stand and Aly for a relationship. Someone asked him whether or not he runs into the other cast much and he said that he lives near Alyson Hanngian so he runs into her a lot. He ran into SMG while shopping in Santa Monica and also bumped into James Marsters when they auditioned for the same role!
He also talked about how he really enjoyed the character dynamic between Spike and Xander while they were roomies (which I'm sure made some slashers weep with joy!) and loved Fyarl Giles, especially since he could see ASH underneath the make up. However, he also said that there weren't any pranks on set because they was always too much work. Someone shouted out "Was Sarah a bitch?" when he said that everyone was great. He chuckled a bit and somewhat awkwardly replied, saying that Sarah was really professional and 'had to be in every scene'. I'm pretty sure that I've read that response from another con report from another Buffy actor though... I'm guessing that SMG wasn't really a bitch, just kinda cold.
Anyway. I found out that Kelly Donovan (Nick's twin brother for those who don't know. And if you don't, shame on you!) was apparently his stunt double for the later seasons! He said that he had a lot of fun acting with Kelly in the Replacement. During an episode shoot, Kelly damaged his shoulder and had to go to hospital. The producer apparently fired him while he was there and had to be convinced to rehire him! I kinda suck at story telling since NB made it seem quite a bit funnier...
A closer, yet equally crappy shot. You can see the weird lights in the background.
It seems that none of the cast teased Aly about 'that one time at Band Camp' after she was in American Pie. How on earth anyone could resist mentioning the words 'flute' or 'band camp' when around her I don't know. He said that his favourite eps were 'Hush' and 'Restless' (he was pretty bad with episode titles so the crowd supplied them pretty often). 'Restless' just cause he got to recreate Apocalypse Now and he really liked the stairs scene with the heart-ripping-out.
The screen with Nicholas Brendon's name on it. Not sure why I snapped this...
He also talked about an episode (people said 'Teacher's Pet' but I thought it was 'Welcome to the Hellmouth') where he was skateboarding (ergo me thinking WTTH) and ran into a pole. In the first take, he was wearing a tonne of rings cause he thought 'that's what Xander would do!' and they all went flying. Which must've been embarrassing as hell. Someone asked him to do the Snoopy Dance, which he did with great aplomb. My brother didn't quite get it but it still found it funny. Someone also asked him to sing and he took the longest time trying to remember the lyrics for 'I've Got A Theory'. The whole crowd (including me) cheered when he got them right. He apparently got the 'Wicca good and love the earth' verse down in the first take, which is quite the achievement.
When the Q&A finally ended, everyone applauded as he left. Amusingly, he exited out of the wrong door and had to be called back by the host guy so he could leave out of the VIP door. I have no idea how he did that when it was his second Q&A at Supanova :).
Meeting Nicholas Brendon
As soon as we got out of the Q&A room, my brother and I went off to the signature and photo area. It cost thirty bucks for a photo with NB or an autograph which was kinda a ripoff but I got my brother to pay for it :). We queued up for the autograph first, and I was really really nervous. My brother tried to convince me to say something but my supreme social awkwardness caused me to say 'Thanks' very quietly and run off.
I really should've picked a different photo to use from the ones they gave us. This one was a bit overexposed.
My brother's absolutely terrible photography. You'd think someone whose been using cameras this long could snap a shot...
You'd think that my previous experience would mean that I'd be more social in the photo booth, but no. Instead, I got in and out of there as fast as possible. Next con, I'm going to force myself to be outgoing. Goddamn social awkwardness!
Here I am! They haven't captured me, running like the wind after the photo was taken.
Is that Stall? (lamest pun ever)
After the signing debacle, we went to the café area to eat. The food was reasonably priced as well (as it should be, considering the money they get off the signings!) and I had a burger with chips. It was pretty nummy, and I'm feeling hungry right now, thinking about it.
*quickly goes and grabs a cookie and leftover donut*
Mmmmmm.... donut. According to Semagic, donut is an incorrect spelling. Fine then. Doughnut. Happy?
I just had a conversation with a computer program...
Back to the topic! Anyway, we ventured out again, into the sea of pretty, pretty things. I found a Doctor Who poster and some figurines (Martha, Cat Nun, The Doctor, Judoon, Daleks and Cybermen from memory) but they were like $40-$60 for one and I didn't feel like spending even more money. I eventually found a store selling Buffy figurines and, without even seeing their selection, decided to buy one. Here're the ones I remember:
* Parting Gifts Wesley
* Some S4 Wesley (Apocalypse Nowish?)
* OMWF Anya
* A Hawaiian shirt double with Doomed Spike and Sense & Sensitivity Angel, I think.
* Chosen Willow
* Chosen Kennedy which I nixed straight away.
* The Ring Angel
* Orpheus (?) Faith (all I remember is the kickass crossbow she had)
It turned into a tie between Orpheus Faith (cause of the costume and weapons), OMWF Anya (the costume, associated moment and accessories) and Chosen Willow (the associated moment, the excellent sculpting and did I mention the frigging Slayer Scythe?). I picked Willow because of the aforementioned SCYTHE! Which is really cool.
My brother and I wandered around a bit more and got a few photos of some cool cosplay. Some of the costumes were bloody awesome! I tried snapping a pic of some guy dressed as Snape, but it didn't turn out as well as I had hoped. There was a guy walking around with a Naruto headband that I recognised from the Buffy Q&A...
Boba Fett! My brother commented on how far away I am from Boba. It's not my fault I can't judge distances!
A normal Stormtrooper, a female one (which my brother insists on being Leia) and a Deserttrooper.
I made sure to get closer to Mario so that my brother would stop complaining.
My brother and I played two games of Singstar and a stage they had set up. Whether or not we actually caused a lack of people at the point or if it was just a coincidence is debatable. The disc had a few 90s songs and we ended up singing The Dandy Warhol's 'Bohemian Like You' (which made me realise how I know none of the lyrics) and Evermore's 'It's Too Late'. I actually got closer to beating my brother with the second song cause he barely knew it. I now know that hearing your own voice sing is very discomfiting.
We wandered over to the EB stall because my brother had an overwhelming need to play Guitar Hero 3 (which was apparently an early preview). While we were there, we snapped this deeply geeky photo (pose suggested by my brother):
Oh noes! Don't kill me, I'm not a Moblin, honest! Yes, I'm a total dork
I wandered around for a bit by myself while my brother played GH (about 5 bloody times, having to line up every time). There wasn't really many interesting things once I had exhausted the TV area. I played the Phantom Hourglass demo a little and marvelled at the controls. I popped in at the King's Comics stall but couldn't find anything I liked cause I'm chiefly a Buffy comic fan and there were none there.
The Nickies
My brother and I tagged along with his friend to the Nicki Clyne Q&A even though neither of us watched Battlestar. We caught the end of the Wolf Creek director (whose name escapes me) Q&A. Despite my never having seen BG, she was interesting and very funny. Halfway through, Nick Brendon popped in to listen to the Q&A and asked some pretty funny questions. I can't really remember many of the questions because they weren't as important to me as the Buffy ones.
More of my photography. She looks kinda Satanic this time round.
At the end, they announced that Nicki and Nicky would have a Singstar battle (dubbed the Battle of the Nickies) in fifteen minutes which made me really happy. It's kinda funny how I happened to go to the NC and NB Q&As and play Singstar.
I waited at the Singstar stage for the Battle and had when they came on they were great! They sang Tainted Love and another song which name escapes me. Nicki Clyne was a lot more into the performance while Nicholas Brendon was a much better singer. He stayed at double her points the entire game!
This is not a witty caption.
Sing!>
After they finished their battle, we left. It was already past 6 so we left for the station. On the way, we snapped a pic of a guy made up as Freddy Krueger. Despite never having seen the Nightmare on Elm Street, there was sufficient cool factor to snap this:
Heh, Freddy Krueger retires from murder sprees and begins a career in horticulture.
So that was the end of the day... Here are some links to YouTube videos that I couldn't embed for some reason...
Nicholas Brendon's Snoopy Dance
Nicholas Brendon Q&A P1
Nicholas Brendon Q&A P2
Battle of the Nickies: Little Respect
Battle of the Nickies: Tainted Love
The beginning of the day was rather hectic as I met my older brother and his friend at the station. However, we met at the wrong station, having thought that it connected to the right line and had to catch another train to reach one that linked to Olympic Park. I was pretty worried for while that we wouldn't get there in time for the Nick Brendon Q&A at 1 pm. However, we got to the Dome at about 12:15 where I was surprised that there was no ticket line. You just went through the turnstile and paid for entry (which was only 20 bucks, totally reasonable) and got stamped on your wrist.
With the extra time, we decided to wander around the stalls and salivate at all of the merchandise we wanted but couldn't have. The Dome was a pretty cool venue, plenty of room and it had a nice atmosphere. The stalls were in the main ground area with the cafeteria in an adjoining room. The Q&As took place in rooms above the main area that were reached by climbing a flight of stairs to a weird balcony type area. Don't worry about my terrible explanation, there'll be an explanatory photo later on. Near the entrance, there was a pretty cool display of R2-D2s that were made by fans. It was totally geeky but kinda awesome.
The R2 models on display in an Imperial Occupied Zone. A poor Jawa is wrapped up in the the tape on the bottom left.
In the centre of the Dome a wrestling ring had been erected with wrestlers doing their stuff in it. I didn't bother watching too much of it but it looked pretty staged, although still fun. We didn't have much time so buying crap and playing games was postponed for a quick tour of the place to find stuff we wanted to look at. There was some pretty sweet Doctor Who merchandise around including these books I randomly took a photo of:
Note the geeky TARDIS tins and model making kits.
I also found a stall selling Buffy figurines that I'll come back to later on. The game stalls were pretty cool. They had a demo of Guitar Hero 3 and Phantom Hourglass and some random Naruto game. My brother played GH3 far too much and I had to drag him away from it regularly. There was a really weird 'Kamehameha Blast-Off' on the stage that I walked past. Volunteers went up on stage to do their own Kamehameha, complete with actions, with the audience deciding who was the best. It was so geeky. We went up to the seminar rooms about 20 minutes early to get good seats. On the way up the stairs, I snapped this pic of the Dome:
The Dome. Pretty awesome huh?
You can see the R2 display I mentioned and the EB Games display. In the off-centre-to-the-top-right-ish (I spent a minute or two trying to figure out how to describe that area...), you can see the wrestling ring. On the left, above the EB display, you can see the Singstar stage which'll become more important later on. It was lucky that we decided to go to the Q&A early to get good seats since it turned out that a lot of other people did as well. We ended up watching the last 15 mins of the Sam J. Jones Q&A, which was relatively boring. I pretty much spent most of the time trying to figure out who the hell he was. Turns out he played Flash Gordon at some point.
The Q&A
When Nicholas Brendon turned up it was pretty goddamn awesome. All of the seats were filled and quite a few people were standing at the back so it was pretty lucky that we got there early.The questions were pretty good. For the first 10 minutes he was using the most ridiculous voice on earth, kind of a weird French/drunk accent with some overly gesture-y hands thrown in. It was goddamn hilarious. The host dude asked him what he had been doing and he replied 'I......have......been......doing....the Criminal Minds......and...I......have....been..............in it.' He actually answered the first few questions with that accent! I'll see if I can upload some of those vids on YouTube.
On to the (slightly more) serious questions.
At least the ones sans ridiculous accents.
I tried videoing and taking photos of the Q&A but the lighting was pretty terrible so they didn't turn out great. Brendon actually commented on the funky green lights that they had behind him. They made his skin look green. He mentioned how he had been cooped up in rooms for a lot of the time.
An example of my terrible photography. I choose to blame it on the lighting.
When asked about who was the better kisser Alyson or Eliza, NB said that he'd want Eliza for a one night stand and Aly for a relationship. Someone asked him whether or not he runs into the other cast much and he said that he lives near Alyson Hanngian so he runs into her a lot. He ran into SMG while shopping in Santa Monica and also bumped into James Marsters when they auditioned for the same role!
He also talked about how he really enjoyed the character dynamic between Spike and Xander while they were roomies (which I'm sure made some slashers weep with joy!) and loved Fyarl Giles, especially since he could see ASH underneath the make up. However, he also said that there weren't any pranks on set because they was always too much work. Someone shouted out "Was Sarah a bitch?" when he said that everyone was great. He chuckled a bit and somewhat awkwardly replied, saying that Sarah was really professional and 'had to be in every scene'. I'm pretty sure that I've read that response from another con report from another Buffy actor though... I'm guessing that SMG wasn't really a bitch, just kinda cold.
Anyway. I found out that Kelly Donovan (Nick's twin brother for those who don't know. And if you don't, shame on you!) was apparently his stunt double for the later seasons! He said that he had a lot of fun acting with Kelly in the Replacement. During an episode shoot, Kelly damaged his shoulder and had to go to hospital. The producer apparently fired him while he was there and had to be convinced to rehire him! I kinda suck at story telling since NB made it seem quite a bit funnier...
A closer, yet equally crappy shot. You can see the weird lights in the background.
It seems that none of the cast teased Aly about 'that one time at Band Camp' after she was in American Pie. How on earth anyone could resist mentioning the words 'flute' or 'band camp' when around her I don't know. He said that his favourite eps were 'Hush' and 'Restless' (he was pretty bad with episode titles so the crowd supplied them pretty often). 'Restless' just cause he got to recreate Apocalypse Now and he really liked the stairs scene with the heart-ripping-out.
The screen with Nicholas Brendon's name on it. Not sure why I snapped this...
He also talked about an episode (people said 'Teacher's Pet' but I thought it was 'Welcome to the Hellmouth') where he was skateboarding (ergo me thinking WTTH) and ran into a pole. In the first take, he was wearing a tonne of rings cause he thought 'that's what Xander would do!' and they all went flying. Which must've been embarrassing as hell. Someone asked him to do the Snoopy Dance, which he did with great aplomb. My brother didn't quite get it but it still found it funny. Someone also asked him to sing and he took the longest time trying to remember the lyrics for 'I've Got A Theory'. The whole crowd (including me) cheered when he got them right. He apparently got the 'Wicca good and love the earth' verse down in the first take, which is quite the achievement.
When the Q&A finally ended, everyone applauded as he left. Amusingly, he exited out of the wrong door and had to be called back by the host guy so he could leave out of the VIP door. I have no idea how he did that when it was his second Q&A at Supanova :).
Meeting Nicholas Brendon
As soon as we got out of the Q&A room, my brother and I went off to the signature and photo area. It cost thirty bucks for a photo with NB or an autograph which was kinda a ripoff but I got my brother to pay for it :). We queued up for the autograph first, and I was really really nervous. My brother tried to convince me to say something but my supreme social awkwardness caused me to say 'Thanks' very quietly and run off.
I really should've picked a different photo to use from the ones they gave us. This one was a bit overexposed.
My brother's absolutely terrible photography. You'd think someone whose been using cameras this long could snap a shot...
You'd think that my previous experience would mean that I'd be more social in the photo booth, but no. Instead, I got in and out of there as fast as possible. Next con, I'm going to force myself to be outgoing. Goddamn social awkwardness!
Here I am! They haven't captured me, running like the wind after the photo was taken.
Is that Stall? (lamest pun ever)
After the signing debacle, we went to the café area to eat. The food was reasonably priced as well (as it should be, considering the money they get off the signings!) and I had a burger with chips. It was pretty nummy, and I'm feeling hungry right now, thinking about it.
*quickly goes and grabs a cookie and leftover donut*
Mmmmmm.... donut. According to Semagic, donut is an incorrect spelling. Fine then. Doughnut. Happy?
I just had a conversation with a computer program...
Back to the topic! Anyway, we ventured out again, into the sea of pretty, pretty things. I found a Doctor Who poster and some figurines (Martha, Cat Nun, The Doctor, Judoon, Daleks and Cybermen from memory) but they were like $40-$60 for one and I didn't feel like spending even more money. I eventually found a store selling Buffy figurines and, without even seeing their selection, decided to buy one. Here're the ones I remember:
* Parting Gifts Wesley
* Some S4 Wesley (Apocalypse Nowish?)
* OMWF Anya
* A Hawaiian shirt double with Doomed Spike and Sense & Sensitivity Angel, I think.
* Chosen Willow
* Chosen Kennedy which I nixed straight away.
* The Ring Angel
* Orpheus (?) Faith (all I remember is the kickass crossbow she had)
It turned into a tie between Orpheus Faith (cause of the costume and weapons), OMWF Anya (the costume, associated moment and accessories) and Chosen Willow (the associated moment, the excellent sculpting and did I mention the frigging Slayer Scythe?). I picked Willow because of the aforementioned SCYTHE! Which is really cool.
My brother and I wandered around a bit more and got a few photos of some cool cosplay. Some of the costumes were bloody awesome! I tried snapping a pic of some guy dressed as Snape, but it didn't turn out as well as I had hoped. There was a guy walking around with a Naruto headband that I recognised from the Buffy Q&A...
Boba Fett! My brother commented on how far away I am from Boba. It's not my fault I can't judge distances!
A normal Stormtrooper, a female one (which my brother insists on being Leia) and a Deserttrooper.
I made sure to get closer to Mario so that my brother would stop complaining.
My brother and I played two games of Singstar and a stage they had set up. Whether or not we actually caused a lack of people at the point or if it was just a coincidence is debatable. The disc had a few 90s songs and we ended up singing The Dandy Warhol's 'Bohemian Like You' (which made me realise how I know none of the lyrics) and Evermore's 'It's Too Late'. I actually got closer to beating my brother with the second song cause he barely knew it. I now know that hearing your own voice sing is very discomfiting.
We wandered over to the EB stall because my brother had an overwhelming need to play Guitar Hero 3 (which was apparently an early preview). While we were there, we snapped this deeply geeky photo (pose suggested by my brother):
Oh noes! Don't kill me, I'm not a Moblin, honest! Yes, I'm a total dork
I wandered around for a bit by myself while my brother played GH (about 5 bloody times, having to line up every time). There wasn't really many interesting things once I had exhausted the TV area. I played the Phantom Hourglass demo a little and marvelled at the controls. I popped in at the King's Comics stall but couldn't find anything I liked cause I'm chiefly a Buffy comic fan and there were none there.
The Nickies
My brother and I tagged along with his friend to the Nicki Clyne Q&A even though neither of us watched Battlestar. We caught the end of the Wolf Creek director (whose name escapes me) Q&A. Despite my never having seen BG, she was interesting and very funny. Halfway through, Nick Brendon popped in to listen to the Q&A and asked some pretty funny questions. I can't really remember many of the questions because they weren't as important to me as the Buffy ones.
More of my photography. She looks kinda Satanic this time round.
At the end, they announced that Nicki and Nicky would have a Singstar battle (dubbed the Battle of the Nickies) in fifteen minutes which made me really happy. It's kinda funny how I happened to go to the NC and NB Q&As and play Singstar.
I waited at the Singstar stage for the Battle and had when they came on they were great! They sang Tainted Love and another song which name escapes me. Nicki Clyne was a lot more into the performance while Nicholas Brendon was a much better singer. He stayed at double her points the entire game!
This is not a witty caption.
Sing!>
After they finished their battle, we left. It was already past 6 so we left for the station. On the way, we snapped a pic of a guy made up as Freddy Krueger. Despite never having seen the Nightmare on Elm Street, there was sufficient cool factor to snap this:
Heh, Freddy Krueger retires from murder sprees and begins a career in horticulture.
So that was the end of the day... Here are some links to YouTube videos that I couldn't embed for some reason...
Nicholas Brendon's Snoopy Dance
Nicholas Brendon Q&A P1
Nicholas Brendon Q&A P2
Battle of the Nickies: Little Respect
Battle of the Nickies: Tainted Love