Comic-Con 2009
When K-9 was shooting back in the summer of 1988 in San Diego, I spent about 2 weeks on the set. One weekend morning, I woke up at the hotel where the crew was staying, and bleary-eyed wandered downstairs to catch some breakfast. When I stepped out of the elevator into the lobby, I found myself surrounded by a few hundred weirdos — people dressed up like Star Wars characters, Star Trek characters, superheroes, and God knows what. I poked a Storm Trooper dude next to me.
“What’s this?”
“Comic-Con.”
Well, it’s safe to say that since Hollywood and the comic book business got in bed together, Comic-Con has become one of the must-attend events related to the movie business. When writer-directors like Joss Whedon (Firefly, The Dollhouse) and J.J. Abrams (Star Trek, Lost) appear at Comic-Con, they are treated like gods. Movie studios produce slick teaser trailers of future projects to sink their marketing claws into every fan boy in attendance.
In other words, it’s a freaking zoo.
Even with a depressed economy, this year’s event looks to be the biggest yet. Having grown so big, it long ago moved from the hotel where I was staying to the San Diego Convention Center, this year’s event, which runs from Thursday, July 23 — Sunday, July 26, is already sold out. And along with all the previews and autograph sessions and sci-fi / fantasy / graphic novel testosterone, there’s actual stuff about storytelling. Sessions like these:
10:00–11:00 Heroes, Villains, and Dramatica Archetypes — Stories are populated with heroes, villains, sidekicks and more. Story development expert Chris Huntley (Dramatica Story Theory) discusses what makes them tick and how to use them in your stories. We’ll explore the basics then go beyond simple character archetypes and create far more interesting, complex characters!
10:00–11:30 Comic-Con Film School Session I: Preproduction and Screenwriting — For the sixth year in a row, Comic-Con returns with a four-day, hands-on, nuts and bolts class on how to make a movie for very little money, using available video technology and desktop postproduction software. Whether you’re shooting your first Lord of the Rings fan film, or that story about the leather-clad girl who hunts zombies, this course will take you from script to DVD, so that you too can enter your own movie into the CCI-IFF. In this first class, learn the specifics of pre-production on the cheap, including screenwriting, casting, scheduling, location scouting, crewing-up, getting equipment for nothing, and so on. Panelists include Valerie Perez (producer/star of Paula Peril — Trapped in the Flames and Tears of the Dragon, a Lara Croft Fan Film), Nick Murphy (director, Tears of the Dragon), Michael Scott (director, Ryan vs. Dorkman), and Sean Rourke (writer/director, 1st Person Shooter).
1:30–2:30 Avatars, Icons, and Antiheroes — The new hero is the anti-hero: twisted fairy tale icons, magicians turned hitmen, and avatars of both Good and Evil are cold-blooded killers and worse in the pages of these writers’ imaginations. Moderator Diana Gill (executive editor of Eos Books) leads a discussion on this phenomenon with Kevin J. Anderson (Enemies & Allies), Brom (The Child Thief), Richard Kadrey (Sandman Slim), Vicki Pettersson (City of Souls), S. J. Day (Eve of Chaos), and Holly Black (Ironside).
3:30–4:30 J. Michael Straczynski: Professional Writing — Ideas are a dime a dozen. Executing those ideas (instead of assassinating them) is what separates pro from wannabe. But only you know what steps you need to take to get there, so if you show up for this talk, bring questions to ask J. Michael Straczynski, who has created a massively successful cross-platform writing career in movies, television, comics, and print.
4:30–5:15 Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus — Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of both Comic-Con and Monty Python, we welcome the sole American Python, the great animator and director Terry Gilliam (Time Bandits, Brazil, 12 Monkeys) to introduce you to his new film starring Christopher Plummer, Johnny Depp, Heath Ledger, Colin Farrell, Jude Law, Verne Troyer, Tom Waits, and Lily Cole. Dr. Parnassus is a fabulous anachronism, touring the streets of modern-day London in a horse-drawn carnival wagon accompanied by his beautiful daughter, devoted dwarf, and neophyte barker. On stage Parnassus plays a holy man whose Imaginarium can realize the innermost fantasies of all who dare to enter. Backstage, he is a drunkard, a gambler who centuries ago lost a wager with the Devil and must now pony up with his daughter once she turns sixteen. Tomorrow. Yet, there may still be hope for the Doctor and Valentina in the person of Tony, a well-dressed amnesic they rescue from a perilous fate and invite into their world of unrelenting magic and possibility.
5:30–6:30 Writing for the Computer Gaming Industry — Great storytelling forms the foundation for immersive games that emotionally draw players into a gaming universe. Veteran game writers Neal Hallford (Betrayal at Krondor, Dungeon Siege), Chris Avellone (Knights of the Old Republic, Neverwinter Nights II), Anne Toole (The Witcher), Wynne McLaughlin (Star Wars: The Old Republic, Command & Conquer: Renegade), Haris Orkin (Call of Juarez 2: Bound In Blood), and John Zuur Platten (F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin, Ghostbusters) engage in a lively discussion of their art. Moderated by Jana Hallford (co-author of Swords & Circuitry: A Designer’s Guide to Computer Role-Playing Games).
And that’s just from Thursday. There are at least 50 other sessions that day alone.
Those of you lucky enough to attend Comic-Con, good for you. For the rest of us schlubs, fortunately we have blogs like “Trust Me, It’s A Geek Thing!” where last Friday blog-host Terrance posted this. And of course “First Showing” which has these posts. In fact, one of my co-workers is going to attend CC, so I’ll lean on him for some inside scoop.
Comment Archive