by Leah Stone
There are not many things that I would consider getting up at six in the morning on a weekend for. However this weekend I made an exception. Why? Because this week I was going to my very first Comic Con!
It was rather humorous to see the looks on the faces of the public as they were passed by droves of people in costume, half of which I didn’t even recognise. They must have been wondering what on earth they had walked into. But it was a truly awesome sight for my eyes to behold. I’m pretty sure I did say a couple of times ‘I am with my people now’ whilst looking around, wide eyed. There was Doctors to Loki’s, Princess Peach to Princess Bubblegum, and everything in between.
There are not many things that I would consider getting up at six in the morning on a weekend for. However this weekend I made an exception. Why? Because this week I was going to my very first Comic Con!
It was rather humorous to see the looks on the faces of the public as they were passed by droves of people in costume, half of which I didn’t even recognise. They must have been wondering what on earth they had walked into. But it was a truly awesome sight for my eyes to behold. I’m pretty sure I did say a couple of times ‘I am with my people now’ whilst looking around, wide eyed. There was Doctors to Loki’s, Princess Peach to Princess Bubblegum, and everything in between.
The main hall was packed. You may think that’s an over exaggeration, but we were literally packed in like exuberant sardines. There were hundreds of stands and stalls, ranging from merchandise, to comic books, to anime and manga, video games, and any other geeky wares that people would love to get their hands on. I first headed to the Vidfest section, where I met the amazing Tomska. Tomska is a YouTuber who is the creator of the ASDF movies (I recommend you look them up, I grew up with them, hilarious) who was such a nice guy, and I also managed to give him my business card (score!) I then went on to have a picture with Kai Owens, who plays Rhys Williams in Torchwood. He was absolutely lovely (and didn’t make me pay £15 for a photo.) However, it did seem to be a bit of a rip off to have to pay £15 for an autograph. But I guess hardcore fans would be willing to pay anything.
The first panel I went to was Haven, a supernatural drama, based loosely on Stephen King’s book The Colorado (2005) which has now recorded four seasons since its pilot in 2010. The show follows FBI Agent Audrey Parker and her partner Nathan Wuornos as they face against ‘The Troubles,’ a plague of supernatural inflictions, that have occurred at least twice in the town of Haven, Maine, and have taken away Nathan’s sense of touch.
Emily Rose (Audrey Parker) and Lucas Bryant (Nathan Wuornos) were both on the panel, where they discussed the “huge bits of little bits” of nudity in Season Four. And frequently making the crowd life as they bounced off of each other and making terrible puns/jokes; talking about their friendships, which they say are the main reason that they come back each season. When asked about their favourite moment on set, Emily replied “There were some pretty weird moments this season” and that she had to be “rigged in a weird wetsuit” in the newest season, which shot warm water into her wetsuit, which, when opened, made it “expand like Veruca Salt," whilst Lucas shot himself in the groin on set. When asked about their favourite trouble, Lucas discussed his lease favourite trouble, “these little creatures called Douens, which are basically small, fairy like creatures that steal little kids away.” “My daughter is five, and by some accident manages to watch some of this episode and is now completely unable to be any further than one foot away from either me or her mother.” He then proceeds to show us a picture his daughter drew of the Douens. Emily’s favourite was from the time travelling episode in Season 3. We also learn that Lucas would love for his character to play guitar, and Emily wanted hers to play piano, in order to include some of their personal pastimes.
Their final announcement is that Haven has been put up for “a potential nomination for the People’s Choice Award” and then proceeded to record the audience saying “Vote For Haven” for a video, whilst ordering a man with a balloon to run up and down the theatre for effect. So I highly recommend voting for Haven at the People’s Choice Awards in the “Favourite Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Show” category.
Emily Rose (Audrey Parker) and Lucas Bryant (Nathan Wuornos) were both on the panel, where they discussed the “huge bits of little bits” of nudity in Season Four. And frequently making the crowd life as they bounced off of each other and making terrible puns/jokes; talking about their friendships, which they say are the main reason that they come back each season. When asked about their favourite moment on set, Emily replied “There were some pretty weird moments this season” and that she had to be “rigged in a weird wetsuit” in the newest season, which shot warm water into her wetsuit, which, when opened, made it “expand like Veruca Salt," whilst Lucas shot himself in the groin on set. When asked about their favourite trouble, Lucas discussed his lease favourite trouble, “these little creatures called Douens, which are basically small, fairy like creatures that steal little kids away.” “My daughter is five, and by some accident manages to watch some of this episode and is now completely unable to be any further than one foot away from either me or her mother.” He then proceeds to show us a picture his daughter drew of the Douens. Emily’s favourite was from the time travelling episode in Season 3. We also learn that Lucas would love for his character to play guitar, and Emily wanted hers to play piano, in order to include some of their personal pastimes.
Their final announcement is that Haven has been put up for “a potential nomination for the People’s Choice Award” and then proceeded to record the audience saying “Vote For Haven” for a video, whilst ordering a man with a balloon to run up and down the theatre for effect. So I highly recommend voting for Haven at the People’s Choice Awards in the “Favourite Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Show” category.
The next panel I went to see was Warehouse 13, a sci-fi comedy that will be airing its final season in 2014. It follows Myka Bering and Pete Lattimer, two U.S Secret Service agents who are assigned to Warehouse 13, a secretive place for supernatural artefacts, located in South Dakota, with Artie Nielsen in charge. The team expands to include Claudia Donovan, who is their assigned technology expert, and Steve Jinks, and go on assignments to retrieve missing artefacts and explore reports of new ones.
At the panel was Eddie McClintock (Pete Lattimer) Saul Rubinek (Artie Nielsen) and Kelly Hu (Dr. Abigail Cho, a psychotherapist.) They talk about the show ending, with great humour and personal insights into their opinions on the show itself and where they are going next (with Saul taking the lead in the talking and not just the lead role in the show.)
When asked about their favourite memory, they all agreed with the shooting of the last episode of the show, Eddie showing his “employed/unemployed” physique and Saul doing a great impression of Eddie getting emotional.
Saul (when talking about Kelly joining the team): “She did one of the hardest things that any actor has to do. She came on to the series after three and a half seasons, and after an amazing character was killed, and she had to walk on to the set, where we were all used to each other… within the first hour, she got it, and was able to join that company.”
Kelly, in reply, stated “it was like walking into an insane asylum.”
Unable to really talk about whom was killed and Kelly replaced (I won’t say who, but you can look it up), they talk about how it had an effect on them. Eddie then decided to take over the job of the interviewer and picked out people from the crowd to ask questions. They talked about their favourite artefacts, Kelly complimented the props department on their speedy work and Saul had a conversation with one of the technicians, before saying the best artefact was the audience, and how it brought people together.
At the panel was Eddie McClintock (Pete Lattimer) Saul Rubinek (Artie Nielsen) and Kelly Hu (Dr. Abigail Cho, a psychotherapist.) They talk about the show ending, with great humour and personal insights into their opinions on the show itself and where they are going next (with Saul taking the lead in the talking and not just the lead role in the show.)
When asked about their favourite memory, they all agreed with the shooting of the last episode of the show, Eddie showing his “employed/unemployed” physique and Saul doing a great impression of Eddie getting emotional.
Saul (when talking about Kelly joining the team): “She did one of the hardest things that any actor has to do. She came on to the series after three and a half seasons, and after an amazing character was killed, and she had to walk on to the set, where we were all used to each other… within the first hour, she got it, and was able to join that company.”
Kelly, in reply, stated “it was like walking into an insane asylum.”
Unable to really talk about whom was killed and Kelly replaced (I won’t say who, but you can look it up), they talk about how it had an effect on them. Eddie then decided to take over the job of the interviewer and picked out people from the crowd to ask questions. They talked about their favourite artefacts, Kelly complimented the props department on their speedy work and Saul had a conversation with one of the technicians, before saying the best artefact was the audience, and how it brought people together.
And what was their hardest scene?
Eddie’s hardest was filming the last episode of the final series, when he did start to cry, being an emotional person, after which Jack Kelly (executive producer) said “okay, let’s do another one, but with a little less crying.”*insert Saul’s brilliant impression of Eddie crying here.* Saul agreed that his hardest was also that episode, where he talked about the part he had to play in the episode and reminiscing about the pilot, getting choked up himself. Kelly’s hardest was trying to be serious during a shot, when just before Eddie had just told her a story that was making her laugh (we were unfortunately not allowed to listen to the story because of children in the room.)
The questions then moved on to their future careers. Eddie at the moment is staying at home to make up time with his kids. But he does have a film out, A Fish Story that you guys should all go and check out. Saul is in a double episode or Person of Interest, as well as spending time writing. Kelly is the star in a new video game (which she cannot talk about, though Eddie suggests that maybe that’s because it’s pornographic) in first person.
When asked how they would have finished the show, Eddie talks about how the news was broke to him, that everyone gets killed off and that it would be nice and smooth. “I don’t usually get killed in shows, I kill the shows” Eddie observed.
The final question, “If you could be any other character from the show, who would you be?” Eddie said he would be Kelly’s character, purely because she had a shower scene where she checks herself in the mirror, leading to a conversation about them having to sign a sexual harassment contract before they started filming. It was an extremely amusing end to the panel.
Eddie’s hardest was filming the last episode of the final series, when he did start to cry, being an emotional person, after which Jack Kelly (executive producer) said “okay, let’s do another one, but with a little less crying.”*insert Saul’s brilliant impression of Eddie crying here.* Saul agreed that his hardest was also that episode, where he talked about the part he had to play in the episode and reminiscing about the pilot, getting choked up himself. Kelly’s hardest was trying to be serious during a shot, when just before Eddie had just told her a story that was making her laugh (we were unfortunately not allowed to listen to the story because of children in the room.)
The questions then moved on to their future careers. Eddie at the moment is staying at home to make up time with his kids. But he does have a film out, A Fish Story that you guys should all go and check out. Saul is in a double episode or Person of Interest, as well as spending time writing. Kelly is the star in a new video game (which she cannot talk about, though Eddie suggests that maybe that’s because it’s pornographic) in first person.
When asked how they would have finished the show, Eddie talks about how the news was broke to him, that everyone gets killed off and that it would be nice and smooth. “I don’t usually get killed in shows, I kill the shows” Eddie observed.
The final question, “If you could be any other character from the show, who would you be?” Eddie said he would be Kelly’s character, purely because she had a shower scene where she checks herself in the mirror, leading to a conversation about them having to sign a sexual harassment contract before they started filming. It was an extremely amusing end to the panel.
The third panel was for the UK drama series in its first year, By Any Means, following a clandestine unit that treads the fine line between law and justice. The team includes leader Jack Quinn, Jessica Jones, TomTom Tomkins, the guy with the technological know-how, and Charlie O’Brian, an ex-copper. Helen Barlow sends the team on these escapades to right the wrong. By Any Means often playing the criminals at their own game, in a similar style to the TV series Hustle. The interviewer summing it up as “Ocean’s Eleven fighting crime.”
On the panel was Warren Brown (Jack) Elliot Knight (Charlie) Shelly Conn (Jessica) and Andrew Lee Potts (TomTom.)
The panel starts off discussing the moral aspect and how the characters deal with that, considering that some of the stuff the team gets up to isn’t exactly legal. Warren summed it up well stating “At the end of the day it’s about the end justifying the means.” Elliot says that his character, Charlie, being an ex-policeman tries to be careful about what side of the law they are on and often questions what they are doing. Shelly says her character likes the thrill of the chase, and that it doesn’t matter what happens as long as it brings justice. Andrew says TomTom believes in his team and what they are doing and doesn’t really worry about the moral aspect as long as it brings justice.
When asked about the audience of the show and how it can go from being light hearted to very dark; Elliot explains that there is a good balance between the two, it’s not just light hearted but not just dark, and that the series finale brings everything together.
“What is your favourite show/series that you have all been in?”
Elliot: “Well I haven’t really got much choice. So Sinbad.”
Shelly: “I guess I enjoyed Terra Nova.”
Warren: “For me, apart from By Any Means, I would say Luther!”
Andrew: “For me its Primeval and Alice.”
The next question is on Helen’s role in the government, and the interviewer refers her to like “Charlie from Charlie’s Angels.” And when questioned on which episode has stuck in their memory, they all seem to agree with the series finale, but TomTom also mentions an episode where he gets to put on an accent.
For the final question, they are asked about how their character compares to themselves. Shelly says her character is way cooler than she is, Elliot says Charlie is whom he wants to be more like, and Andrew says his character has girly hair so of course they are nothing alike. But unfortunately, we did not get to have them on the panel for long because Warehouse 13 went beyond its time slot and it took them a while to get there.
On the panel was Warren Brown (Jack) Elliot Knight (Charlie) Shelly Conn (Jessica) and Andrew Lee Potts (TomTom.)
The panel starts off discussing the moral aspect and how the characters deal with that, considering that some of the stuff the team gets up to isn’t exactly legal. Warren summed it up well stating “At the end of the day it’s about the end justifying the means.” Elliot says that his character, Charlie, being an ex-policeman tries to be careful about what side of the law they are on and often questions what they are doing. Shelly says her character likes the thrill of the chase, and that it doesn’t matter what happens as long as it brings justice. Andrew says TomTom believes in his team and what they are doing and doesn’t really worry about the moral aspect as long as it brings justice.
When asked about the audience of the show and how it can go from being light hearted to very dark; Elliot explains that there is a good balance between the two, it’s not just light hearted but not just dark, and that the series finale brings everything together.
“What is your favourite show/series that you have all been in?”
Elliot: “Well I haven’t really got much choice. So Sinbad.”
Shelly: “I guess I enjoyed Terra Nova.”
Warren: “For me, apart from By Any Means, I would say Luther!”
Andrew: “For me its Primeval and Alice.”
The next question is on Helen’s role in the government, and the interviewer refers her to like “Charlie from Charlie’s Angels.” And when questioned on which episode has stuck in their memory, they all seem to agree with the series finale, but TomTom also mentions an episode where he gets to put on an accent.
For the final question, they are asked about how their character compares to themselves. Shelly says her character is way cooler than she is, Elliot says Charlie is whom he wants to be more like, and Andrew says his character has girly hair so of course they are nothing alike. But unfortunately, we did not get to have them on the panel for long because Warehouse 13 went beyond its time slot and it took them a while to get there.
The final panel I went to was for Under the Dome, a US science fiction drama series based on Stephen King’s novel of the same name, with the second season to air in the summer next year. It tells the story of the people of Chester’s Mill, a small town in Main, where an indestructible, transparent dome covers the town (much like in the Simpsons movie.) It cuts them off from the world, with no technology able to work inside the dome. Whilst people outside the dome try to figure out how to break down the dome, a small group inside the dome try to figure out what it actually is. On the panel was Colin Ford (Joe McAlister) Mackenzie Lintz (Elinore “Norrie” Calvert-Hill) and Samantha Mathis (Dr Alice Calvert.)
The panel starts with the three of them going over who their characters are. Norrie is a delinquent teenager being sent to a school for troublesome kids, and gets trapped inside the dome with her two mothers Alice and Carolyn. Alice is also the only doctor under the dome, a psychiatrist, and so takes over the role of doctor for the town. Joe is Norrie’s girlfriend, and he wants to try and figure out what the dome is.
The first question was what their favourite part of the series was. Colin was very humble, talking about how much he enjoyed working with the cast and how rewarding that is. Samantha agreed, saying how much fun they had and working with Stephen King. Norrie loved the creative licence that Brian Vaughan, the executive producer and show runner, gave them. The first question of the crowd was if their characters had the opportunity to leave the dome, leaving behind family and friends, would they? Mackenzie answered first, saying that upon meeting Joe it would have been hard for her to leave. Colin said he felt like it was Joe’s duty, being a resident of Chester Hill, “to find out what the dome really is.” And Samantha states “Alice would never leave her family.”
There are important questions raised about the portrayal of medical conditions, as in the series Alice has diabetes (however Samantha does not) and both Joe and Norrie have epilepsy (though Colin and Mackenzie do not) and about how they were able to portray these conditions and how to make it realistic.
Samantha: “Of course I did a ton of research online and spoke to a few different people about what kind of diabetes she has… In terms of what happens to your body and how you deteriorate when you are lacking in insulin.”
Mackenzie: “We had an expert on set, Kristen…Colin and I had seizures separately at first and then we had them together…she instructed me.” “Kristen was trying to make us as accurate as possible.”
The panel starts with the three of them going over who their characters are. Norrie is a delinquent teenager being sent to a school for troublesome kids, and gets trapped inside the dome with her two mothers Alice and Carolyn. Alice is also the only doctor under the dome, a psychiatrist, and so takes over the role of doctor for the town. Joe is Norrie’s girlfriend, and he wants to try and figure out what the dome is.
The first question was what their favourite part of the series was. Colin was very humble, talking about how much he enjoyed working with the cast and how rewarding that is. Samantha agreed, saying how much fun they had and working with Stephen King. Norrie loved the creative licence that Brian Vaughan, the executive producer and show runner, gave them. The first question of the crowd was if their characters had the opportunity to leave the dome, leaving behind family and friends, would they? Mackenzie answered first, saying that upon meeting Joe it would have been hard for her to leave. Colin said he felt like it was Joe’s duty, being a resident of Chester Hill, “to find out what the dome really is.” And Samantha states “Alice would never leave her family.”
There are important questions raised about the portrayal of medical conditions, as in the series Alice has diabetes (however Samantha does not) and both Joe and Norrie have epilepsy (though Colin and Mackenzie do not) and about how they were able to portray these conditions and how to make it realistic.
Samantha: “Of course I did a ton of research online and spoke to a few different people about what kind of diabetes she has… In terms of what happens to your body and how you deteriorate when you are lacking in insulin.”
Mackenzie: “We had an expert on set, Kristen…Colin and I had seizures separately at first and then we had them together…she instructed me.” “Kristen was trying to make us as accurate as possible.”
When talking about life off-set, Joe explains that they were relocated when they were filming the series and how the cast would spend their free time together, as many of them stayed in the same apartment complex. Mackenzie also tells the story of a prank Colin played on her when he got the whole cast to persuade her that she had to work on her prom night after months of planning. (That does sound a bit mean Colin!)
On the designs front, we find out that they use a mini dome for filming as well as a plexi-glass screen that they had to clean after every take to get rid of hand prints.
Colin: “The special effects were pretty cool!”
We then find out how much like the book the TV series is, and that Samantha’s character wasn’t really in the book so she had to develop the character herself, but the series stuck to the basic storyline but the characters in the series where somewhat different to the characters in the book.
Mackenzie (on the season finale): “In the season finale there’s a lot you find out, you find out more about the dome.” “It’s hard to tell you, it’s very good to watch, I promise.”
And what would they miss the most about the outside world if they were trapped inside the dome in real life?
Mackenzie: “My IPhone.”
Colin: “Yeah, the lack of technology, it doesn’t work in the dome so, if you get too close it will blow up on you so, you know, having technology is something I would miss a lot.”
Samantha: “My loved ones the most.”
The penultimate question is about the weakest links of the characters. Colin says that Joe has no real knowledge of relationships, Norrie gets a bit too passionate and carried away, and Alice forgets to look out for her own health, considering that she has diabetes.
And they finish with what they are doing now on the break. Mackenzie mentions series 2 and that she has returned back to school. They all seem to be glad to have this break to catch up with their friends and family before the next series.
On the designs front, we find out that they use a mini dome for filming as well as a plexi-glass screen that they had to clean after every take to get rid of hand prints.
Colin: “The special effects were pretty cool!”
We then find out how much like the book the TV series is, and that Samantha’s character wasn’t really in the book so she had to develop the character herself, but the series stuck to the basic storyline but the characters in the series where somewhat different to the characters in the book.
Mackenzie (on the season finale): “In the season finale there’s a lot you find out, you find out more about the dome.” “It’s hard to tell you, it’s very good to watch, I promise.”
And what would they miss the most about the outside world if they were trapped inside the dome in real life?
Mackenzie: “My IPhone.”
Colin: “Yeah, the lack of technology, it doesn’t work in the dome so, if you get too close it will blow up on you so, you know, having technology is something I would miss a lot.”
Samantha: “My loved ones the most.”
The penultimate question is about the weakest links of the characters. Colin says that Joe has no real knowledge of relationships, Norrie gets a bit too passionate and carried away, and Alice forgets to look out for her own health, considering that she has diabetes.
And they finish with what they are doing now on the break. Mackenzie mentions series 2 and that she has returned back to school. They all seem to be glad to have this break to catch up with their friends and family before the next series.
And then that was it. After a seemingly long day it felt like it had gone by in a flash. In between the screenings I was able to buy myself some goodies and stop for lunch (though I do recommend buying your own, the food prices are extortionate) and managed to take quite a few pictures of some awesome cosplayers, and although I didn’t understand half of the costumes I loved that so many people got so involved, and put so much time and effort into their consumes and looking the best. It was rather disheartening to walk out of the ExCel Arena into the bitter English weather (it did start to rain) and walking with the crowds of cosplayers, I felt like I was part of a huge family that shared so many of the same passions as me. I tip my fez off to you, event organizers, celebrities, exhibitors, cosplayers, fans, you all did an excellent job and made it one of the most memorable days of my life.
Check outLeah's photos below!
Check outLeah's photos below!
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