Monday, July 26

Comic Con wind up

'Isn't that one enough?'

said a bothered looking Mike "Gabe" Krahulik as I hastily set up my video camera and passed the two Penny Arcade figureheads lapel mics. I felt very rude; he has a way of looking at you that makes you feel like you're wasting his time which, in all fairness, I pretty much was.

'Well, I'm doing this all by myself.'

I managed, trying to impress upon them how difficult and probably naive it was to try and film a documentary by myself.

Jerry 'Tycho' Holkins interjected, suggesting that my idea and journey warranted it's own documentary. I already intend to document the whole trip as an attempt at Gonzo-Journalism (basically impossible without a cameraman) and it was gratifying to hear that my premise, at least, was solid. He is much more comfortable on camera, truly personal and immediately friendly.

Just as well I had that second camera, as in my nervous and anxious state I managed to record my feet as I asked questions and then pause the recording each time they answered (obviously thinking I was doing the opposite). Oh well, at least I remembered to turn the mic on. I was further dismayed upon reviewing the footage of Comic Con. The Penny Arcade interview is the best of it and even then only one question provided any valuable or relevant answers. Why? Because I was so nervous I forgot my questions. I rehearsed them all the previous day, but suddenly on the spot before my heroes I just froze up in a most unprofessional fashion. To add insult to injury, one great shot of me from the following day (casually showing my appreciation and sharing a joke with Jerry) was completely rendered unusable by two idiots in the background grinning and thrusting at the camera as if manifest straight from the depths of a Halo 3 online match.

I even had a few great conversations with people about games and being a gamer, but naturally these were all during times that I either hadn't brought my camera or was not allowed to bring my camera.

So I didn't get much footage for the documentary.

But I did have an incredible time.

Ultimately I ended up with a few figures; Cammy (Street Fighter 2: Turbo), Yoko (Gurren Lagann) and Ace (One Piece). I also got the PA book, Brom's latest work 'The Child Thief' and the little Deadspace artbook. I really wanted to get Joe Mad's art of Darksiders as it is probably the best game artbook ever bound, but by Saturday $80 was well out of my price range. I did get to meet him and tell him I was a fan though so that was pretty cool.
Panels wise I saw Nic Cage in his latest stupid movie, but woah it was really him! A live table read of a new episode of The Cleveland show and Futurama, Seth Mcfarlane sang 'Down Syndrome Girl' and didn't make a single mistake, Matt Groening answered the same old Simpsons questions and I became quite interested in watching a tv show called 'Chuck' purely based on the crowd's enthusiasm.
A very special panel was the tribute to Drew Struzan, master of the 80's movie poster. Think of an iconic movie poster and he probably painted it. He was awarded a trophy for recognition of excellence and we provided the standing ovation to match. Three guys presented 20 minutes of a documentary they are making about Drew. It was 100% sit down interviews, mostly with famous directors and actors. They said they were making it without a budget, which made me feel pretty crappy in comparison. All their gear was very pro. What am I doing!?
But my very favourite part of Comic Con was seeing SCOTT PILGRIM vs THE WORLD! Now I usually don't care about lining up for hours just to see an advanced screening, but this was with the entire cast (huge cast...), Edgar Wright (Dir) and Brian Lee O'Malley (Original comic creator) and 900 dedicated fans. I sat next to a girl named Kat who turned out to be from Vancouver. She told me she trusted Edgar Wright, a good sign. There was a huge buzz about the whole thing and every time a piece of game music played, a character made their first appearance or scott defeated an evil ex the entire crowd erupted with cheers an applause. Some of the comedic moments amplified exponentially by the audience in attendance to the point where it was unthinkable to consider any movie funnier than this one right here, right now. Not that it was ever going to have the trouble generating attention that Hot Fuzz or Shaun of the Dead did, but go and see this film as soon as possible. It is incredible! One final thought is that I expected good things from the director because I believed he was capable of blending the real world with the 'gamer' experience in a convincing fashion. I'm glad he managed it so well because it has further inspired my own ideas to make this documentary blended between the real world and the world of games.

What I mean to say is this; while I may not be getting all the footage etc. that I wanted for the doco I have long been toying with the idea of filling in scenes or generating entirely new ones using animation that emulates classic iconic video games. For example: when I first had the idea at work. That moment could be animated a a black and white old-school gameboy zelda game. Other times I can add gamer stuff in using after effects (such as life bars and sims green-diamonds). You may think it sounds lame, but it wont be! I am a fervent gamer so I know what works and what looks like a tv commercial designed buy eejits.

3 comments:

crash said...

write it all down! write it all down write it all down! if it's not on film write it and maybe we can use it later!

Don't worry bro, the life of doco making, you film and film and film and then a small fraction of that is usuable.

There's a documentary this girl did of Tim Minchin, it's like 90 minutes but she spent the better part of four years following him around till she was happy she had enough footage :)

lauren said...

you'll likely bump into them again at PAX, you have the sound of their voices which is awesome ;) and never underestimate palm cards for Q's, because otherwise i'd forget just about everything I had to do ever.

go you! excitement :)

sunny said...

Thanks guys! You are my L/R SRBs!