LUCIDMEDIA

Three Days of the Fandom: A Reporters Journal from Fan Expo 2007

Written by Adam A. Donaldson Tuesday, 15 April 2008 04:16

Last year, when I covered the Expo for Lucid Forge I talked to a lot the exhibitors and a few of the special guests. This year, I embedded myself like any typical fan. (Incidentally, I am a typical fan, but in the interest of journalistic integrity or whatever, this is the tact I’m taking.) So I arrived with the throngs on Friday afternoon, taking the long obstacle course like walk from Union Station to the Convention Centre. Let the games (so to speak) begin. The time is nearly 4 pm.

Friday – 4 pm – Arrival

I hit the 700 level of the Convention Centre and head for the Media Room to pick up my press pass. That part was easy, so I make my way to the next escalator, which leads to the convention floor on the 800 level. With the Deluxe pass on my lapel, I’m waved through to go right in rather than lining up with all the suckers with their Basic pass. (Kidding!)

I start exploring, visiting the various retailers and examining their wares. Along the far left hand side of the convention floor was where the WSVG was set-up. Down around the corner to the back where rows of X-Box 360s and other demos. Up front at the entrance were the comic book and toy offerings, which one had to plough through in order to reach the Festival of Fear, Rue Morgue Magazine’s annual tribute to all things macabre in cinema. It was here that I encountered some Guelph friends, the filmmakers of Synn Studios and Lynnvander Productions who’d set up a booth to advertise their efforts like Kill and Four Aces.

Heading further west on the convention floor was the autograph area. A long row of tables was set up for all the expected celebrity guests. Space the Imagination Station personality Jonathan Lyr walked while interviewing Adam West as he was making his way to greet fans. At the tables already signing autographs were Jonathan Frakes ( Riker from Star Trek the Next Generation), George Romero (director of the Dead movies), Greg Nicotero (Make-up artist from Sin City, Kill Bill and Grindhouse), David Prowse (Darth Vader in the Original Star Wars trilogy) and Jake Lloyd (Anakin Skywalker from Episode 1).

Beyond the autograph area was something new for Fan Expo: a convention floor food court with a number of offerings, even Pizza Pizza (so long as you didn’t mind lining up for 20 minutes).

Friday – 6 pm – How to make Star Wars Props and Costumes

After a bite to eat and a flip through some of the comic stacks, I headed back up to the 700 level to take in this unique workshop put on by some of the guys in the 501st Legion. The Legion, for those of you who don’t know, is a group of Star Wars enthusiasts who show their love for the saga by creating extravagantly detailed costumes in which they perform charity work in their communities.

The workshop was designed to be an introduction for those interested in building their own costumes and giving them tips on how to get started in this deeply involving hobby. In attendance were members in costume including a few varieties of Stormtroopers and a Jango Fett (which according the Legionnaires cost between $1000-$2000 to build). Some of the often repeated points in the workshop were the need for patience and a willingness to experiment. Not to mention an open eye as one member of the Legion held up a homemade thermal detonator and enthusiastically told us that he found the guts for the lights and sound in a McDonalds Happy Meal toy.

Friday 8 pm – Intimate and Interactive with Dwight Schultz

When it comes to Trek everybody has a favourite and for a lot of people that’s Star Trek The Next Generation’s Lt. Reginald Barclay as played by Schultz. The man once just known as A-Team madman Murdock found even more cult appeal when in the third season of TNG he played the socially-awkward engineer with Holodeck addiction. Schultz launched into a 45 minute monologue that breathlessly took the fan audience in attendance on a verbally magical ride through the actor’s creation experiences with his two most famous characters.

Schultz said that he was a total Trek nerd as a kid and when his then manager brought him the opportunity to take part in TNG he relished the chance to done the make-up of some out this world alien, only to get the script and find out that he was playing, in his words, a nerd. He talked about how a musician with the New York Symphony gave him the sound of Barclay’s trademark stammer and how during his first day on the TNG set, the episode’s director thought he was playing Barclay “a little too gay.”

From his time on the set of The A-Team, Schultz recalled not a lot of faith coming from that the network, even as the show ranked number one in the ratings. He also remembered how his character, Murdock, was on the bubble and nearly axed until a test audience enthusiastically embraced the man known as “Howling Mad”. Schultz also sadly recalled that the man originally hired to play Face was fired after the pilot was shot.

The last 15 minutes were opened to questions from the audience, and when someone asked about George Peppard, Schultz recalled the fist thing Peppard said to him, “Hello, I’m George Peppard and I’m not a nice man.”

Friday – 8pm – Counting Down with Paul Dini

There was quite a sizeable line outside the room where Paul Dini’s talk was to take place and why not? The man is responsible in part for the Star Wars ‘toons Droids and Ewoks, not to mention Batman: The Animated Series, Superman, Batman Beyond and Justice League Unlimited. Lately though he’s been shepherding DC’s maxi-series Countdown. But the talk in the line-up though was the guy that had in his possession a boxed set of the first season of Heroes, he got it at a vendor downstairs almost five days before it was due to be released.

Once Dini got started inside though, it was down to business. A lot of the talk drifted to the ongoing and lingering questions of Countdown not to mention desire to learn little factoids about BTAS and JLU (mostly, will we ever get anymore of either of those shows).

Dini also talked about how comics bring people together. A fan asked whether it was true that Dini’s wife was a stage magician. Dini said it was and that he met his wife, who goes by the stage name Misty Lee, when she wrote to him about a Zatanna comic he did. If you don’t know what Misty Lee looks like, Google Image her and then Zatanna and you’ll understand why. The rest, as they say, is history.

Saturday – 11 am – Vendor area

Back in Toronto and back at the convention. I head down to the comic vendors and start going over the stacks looking for ideas and books to fill holes in my collection. You could have a thousand dollar bill and you’d still hem and haw about what it is you want to spend it on. Saturday is the busiest day at the Expo, but it’s still early and you can walk from one end of the floor to the other in good time. So I head upstairs for another meet and greet.

Saturday – 12 pm – Chad Vader Presentation

The main theme of this year’s Expo (unofficially) was the recognition of the 30th anniversary of Star Wars. In that spirit, Fan Expo welcomed the men behind one of the best Star Wars parodies online, Aaron Yonda and Matt Sloan, creators of Chad Vader. For those that don’t know, Chad Vader is about the lesser-known younger brother of Darth Vader who works as the day shift manager of Empire Market. All eight shorts that make up the first season were filmed in a supermarket in Madison, Wisconsin. A second season was, again, promised by the guys as they answered questions and showed selections from their DVD. I bought a copy myself on Sunday and had it signed by Sloan for my sister’s birthday in November.

Saturday 1 pm – Intimate & Interactive with Dario Argento

So while the sci-fi side of Fan Expo seemed to honour all things Star Wars, the festival of Fear was giving props to the kings of the splatter feature. Saturday it was Dario Argento’s turn as he was grilled by Rue Morgue’s resident expert Chris Alexander about his life and work. Argento was joined by regular on film victim Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni as he launched into a very vibrant discussion that shows a lighter side to a man who so frequently must battle censors over gore content in his films.

Alexander covered a lot of ground with Argento in the hour of time allotted and that’s even accounting for the fact that the show started 15 minutes late because of all the cameras set up and the fact that Alexander and Cataldi-Tassoni lost Argento in the crowd. Once the show got underway though, Argento discussed he’s humble beginnings as a film critic and how he worked with Sergio Leone on the screenplay for Once Upon A Time in the West.

Naturally, things ended up looking forward as two trailers for The Third Mother, part three in Argento’s Three Mother’s trilogy and follow-up to Suspiria and Inferno, were shown. The Third Mother is appearing, uncut, at the Toronto International Film Festival and from the looks of it; this is going to be an absolute can’t miss for Argento fans and a return to form for this confirmed Master of Horror. At age 68, Argento shows no sign of slowing down and promises to keep making films although he made it clear that he draws the line at ever returning to westerns.

Saturday – 2 pm – Intimate & Interactive with David Prowse and Jake Lloyd

If the Dario Argento talk started late, then the David Prowse and Jake Lloyd started reeeaaalllly late. Almost half an hour late. The two actors, their roles familiar the world over, might otherwise be unrecognizable if you ever saw them on the street. Prowse now walks with a cane and although he’s still in good shape, he’s not his former Vader-sized build. Lloyd, meanwhile, looks like your typical scruffy, skate punk, nerf herder.

Let us not forget that Prowse was also in A Clockwork Orange by Stanley Kubrick so he had more to talk about besides Star Wars, and did. He also talked about his experiences on the Star Wars set including the differences in directing styles between George Lucas and Irvin Kershner. Lloyd, meanwhile, talked about repression, especially when it comes to certain key lines in Episode 1 like “Yippee!”

Saturday – 3 pm – Break time

Three hours of talks and Q&As. Blood sugar low. Need cookie… and coffee.

Line too long… Won’t make it… No, wait, I’ll be fine.

Saturday – 3:15 pm – Intimate & Interactive with Greg Nicotero

Nicotero is a character, inheritor of the gory cap of Tom Savini and the man behind the guts on such films as Grindhouse, Kill Bill, Sin City, Serenity, Hostel, Land of the Dead, The Faculty and From Dusk till Dawn. Nicotero had a lot of great anecdotes, particularly about his experiences filming Land of the Dead in Toronto, which he complimented as a great place to find talented professionals in the prosthetic make-up business. He also offered advise to people wanting to get into the make-up field by telling them to be generalists, but also to be armed with at least one speciality because otherwise you might get lost in that business they call show.

Saturday – 4 pm – Panel and Sneak Peak of 30 Days of Night: Blood Trails

The graphic novel 30 Days of Night almost single-handedly brought back the horror comic. This fall, the film based on that novel will be coming to the small screen from producer Sam Raimi and starring Josh Hartnett, Melissa George and Danny Huston. Preceding the film’s release on October 19th though, is a prequel internet series called Blood Trails. In attendance to discuss the micro-series was not only cast and crew members from co-production of Ghost House Productions and Fearnet.com, but also 30 Days of Night creator Steve Niles.

The premise for the series is based on the New Orleans portion of the original graphic novel, the portion cut from the movie script so that the action was more contained in the Alaskan town Barrow, where a month of darkness lures a group of vampires that turn the town’s residents into an all you can eat buffet. Everyone involved seems enormously enthusiastic about the project, but fans will be able to judge for themselves when Blood Trails premieres on Fearnet.com on September 13th.

Saturday – 5 pm – Vendor area

It’s nearly closing time on Saturday, so the retailers are getting out their magic markers to slash prices. I start diving in the discount bins and come up with about 60 comics for $30. Heading over to another location I get 60 per cent off some choice Ultimate Marvel titles. I must say, I’m feeling pretty good about myself. The back upon by bursting backpack sits is another story.

Saturday – 6 pm – Breaking into Comics with Greg Pak

There’s usually a seminar like this at every Fan Expo, last year it was lead by Geoff Johns, maestro of the DC Universe, this year, giving us the lowdown is Greg Pak, commander-in-chief of World War Hulk. The room was packed, but no offence to Greg Pak he wasn’t telling me stuff that didn’t already know. One last thing I want to check out before calling it a day.

Saturday – 6:20 pm – Intimate and Interactive with Charisma Carpenter

Another packed room, but it just goes to show you the power of Buffy ten years after the show launched on the now defunct WB network. I know for a fact that the season 8 of Dark Horse’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer comic is the number one seller at my local comic book store. Carpenter was treating the crowd with the usual Buffy anecdotes and cheers were raised at the prospect of her playing Wonder Woman in the perpetually defunked film based on the DCU’s first lady and Amazonian warrior. A little tired and a little weighed down by my cache of funny books, I silently slid out a back door and made my way back to the subway.

Sunday – 11:30 – Back at it

The convention floor isn’t as crowded as the day before, but it’s still incredibly busy. I get my Chad Vader, I check out some of the markdowns and then I head up to see an I&I with a Star Trek icon. The lines already a mile long and there’s so much Starfleet brass there you’d think it was an Academy graduation ceremony.

Sunday – 12 pm – Intimate and Interactive with Jonathan Frakes

The man called ‘Number 1’ was jovial and surprisingly athletic as he greeted a full house of Trekkers. He stood up at the front and bounced back and forth like he was doing a stand-up comedy routine (which, I guess he kind of was) as he launched into a story about his first con where the purchase of $65 Picard figure, or any of the old Galoob TNG figures, got you a Riker figure for free.

After such a self-deprecating opening, Frakes launched into a number of hilarious stories from the TNG set, including a Patrick Stewart take of Julie Andrews, spending hours dipped in a putrid combination of Metamucil and printer’s ink for “Skin of Evil” and his and Michael Dorn’s alleged attempt to microwave Marina Sirtis’ dog. Also, apparently, the serious thespians of The Next Generation were a pretty rowdy crowd to keep control of.

But Frakes also talked candidly about the fate of Star Trek post TNG and how he had high hopes for the new film being made by JJ Abrams and his cohorts from Lost. He also personally took credit for discovering Katherine Heigel when she starred on the Frakes produced alien teen saga Roswell and freely joked about how his guest appearance on Lois & Clark got him no regard from his kids.

All-in-all, I think that this was the best I&I. Frakes is an excellent personality and he made an hour with Dwight Schultz look like a day with Ben Stein.

Sunday – 1 pm – Marvel talk with CB Cebulski

CB Cebulski put himself up as an expert on all things Marvel as a small, but dedicated group of friends peppered him from all corners of the interest in the Marvel U. He mentioned that series like Omega Flight and his own Losers title as well as other similar successful minis that came out in 2007, may be followed up with something more ongoing in the near future. I asked about the future of Runaways beyond Joss Whedon and he said that Terry Moore and Humberto Ramos are taking over the title later this year.

Sunday – 2 pm – Intimate and Interactive with Malcolm McDowell

Let’s face it, this man is a legend. He was the lead gang banger in A Clockwork Orange, he killed Captain Kirk and he’s now slipped on the paranoid trench coat of Dr. Loomis in Rob Zombie’s Halloween remake. But on this day, McDowell was getting taken for a ride through his acting past, working under Lindsay Anderson on If… and Oh, Lucky Man. The moderator also got McDowell to talk about one his more infamous films, Caligula, saying that if he didn’t take the bad scripts then he’d have only done five films rather than 125. Continuing along McDowell’s career chronology, he talked about Time After Time and how he found it a relief to not be playing Jack the Ripper in the time travel movie that pitted HG Wells against the Ripper in 1970s San Francisco. There was only a little bit of time left over for Q&A, but I doubt you’ll find a person in that packed house who walked away unsatisfied at the I&I’s conclusion.

The time now is 3 pm, and I’m due back in Guelph by 6 pm for a meeting with a group of fellow first-time filmmakers to talk about the progress on our films. So with heavy heart and heavy eye-lids, I leave the Fan Expo floor for the last time. See you in 2008, you wacky costumed anime guys.