Wizard World Convention in Chicago

POSTED BY: embers
UPDATED: Monday, September 6, 2004 01:02
VIEWED: 3754
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EMBERS

Friday, August 13, 2004 7:03 PM

I arrived last night and there is a lot of excitement about Joss' appearance here on Saturday & Sunday.
A lot of the people here were in SanDiego
(I wish I had been there, because of course Joss won't be bringing the Serenity crew with him this time).
I had a fun morning, but exhausting.
I got registered and then wandered around the convention:
I saw beautiful orginial drawings of Pogo for sale for $1,500, so I bought a t-shirt.

I saw a lot of comics by new independent artists.

I stood in line for an hour to get Amber Benson's autograph & photo (she is so sweet, she used to play Tara on Buffy).

Tomorrow will be even more crowded and exhausting...(they expect 60,000 people to attend all together).

I couldn't find the Fireflyfans table to save my life,
but a lot of tables haven't been set up yet....

REDCLAIRE

Friday, August 13, 2004 10:59 PM

I'm so jealous! I wish I could go! Keep the updates coming, embers. I read that Joss is the guest of honor, I'm so excited for him!

EMBERS

Saturday, August 14, 2004 5:27 PM

I waited in line for almost 2 hours this morning
but I have my ticket to Joss' Q&A in my hot little hand
evidently the tickets that ran out the most quickly were for autographs
but I should be able to my autograph from Joss tomorrow at the VIP meet & greet
(knock on wood)
I have to say that this convention is VERY difficult
with regard to talks and autographs...
it is all geered for promoting new games & toys
but they are really disappointing the fans who
want to see the guests
(I won't get to see anything of Kevin Smith at all
because the auditorium is tiny and I had to choose between
seeing Joss or Kevin Smith ... no context IMO)

STEVEFRECHETTE

Sunday, August 15, 2004 2:13 AM

I just got back from Wizard World - Chicago where they played the trailer. On that note I have three words for ya...

Oh...my...God!!!!

It was simply amazing! It started with what looked like a bank robbery, Zoe shot out the camera, there was a really badass shot of them all walking very scope-ish, there was a great shot of the ship accelerating in space, The Operative (forget his real name) is seen walking up to Inara at what appeared to be the entrance of a temple, Mal is saying some badass phrase while Jayne gets friendly w/ Vera in the backgroud, Wash uses the "insteresting landing" line, River is hiding under a ceiling clinging to both sides w/ her feet, and then final shot that I remember is of River, on the ground whispering..."Reavers...", very creepy stuff!

All in all I think it was just about 30 seconds, but it seemed too short. And in fact it was funny b/c when they popped in the dvd it was just a little homemade one w/ the title saying "Serenity" and under the video preview was "Comic-Con roll" I believe...

Joss is a great, hilarious, and kind man...an hour was simply not enough.

I actually asked him (for those of you who were there) about the Serenity trailer (he called me as 'You there w/ the Blue Sun shirt'); and he basically said how he needs to finish the movie first obviously, but he just started talking to the marketing people so they're not really sure as of yet. Overall, I was so nervous when I asked that I forgot my real question and just asked that. WHOOPS! Still, an overall humbling experience however~!

btw...for the people that were there, this guy had the nerve to get up and ask Joss to auto his buffy: the musical script and then proceeded to take up more time afterwards by trying to get his address to people that took his picture. ass....NOONE takes my joss time away!

EMBERS

Sunday, August 15, 2004 6:33 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by stevefrechette:
Oh...my...God!!!!

Saturday:
I had to wait almost 2 hours to get a ticket for Joss’ Q&A, by going to that I wasn’t able to get a ticket for anything else on Saturday…including not getting into his autograph line (which also took a ticket, but I’m expecting to get the autograph tomorrow, Sunday). I went to see if a line had formed about 2 hours before Joss’ talk was to begin and I found Raven from the Vulkon board there…so I decided to go ahead and wait and insure that I would be in front for the Q&A (I had spent all day Friday on foot walking around looking at everything, and Saturday was the most crowded day so since my feet hurt, I was happy to go ahead and sit). Around 4:30 they ended the Kevin Smith’s talk and people started clearing out and Joss came up to the hall wanting to duck into the restroom. He accidentally headed into the Ladies’ room…but he was pulled away and as he was redirected to the Men’s room he was heard to say, “I’m the guest of honor, I can go wherever I want.”

I could have sat in the front row, but the dais was a little high, so I decided I preferred back one row on the aisle. I had a great view and took about 20 photos...I'm sure some of them will come out! My notes are rough, so this is NOT a transcript, just my notes and recollections (he actually expanded and said more on many topics but I couldn't write it all down, or remember it all).

--------------------------------------------------
Joss Whedon Q&A at WizardWorld convention in Chicago 8/14th
I apologize for anything that comes out of my mouth, I was filming until 1 am and then flew directly here.
The cast of Serenity are the nicest people I’ve ever worked with, and so talented.
So if the movie sucks it is all my fault.
But keep it to yourself, pretend to like it.
I’m very fragile.

I don’t have a speech but there are musical numbers and juggling…. Well not so much.

Question: What was the most important transition in BtVS for you?
Answer: I could never top Angel turning evil, it was:
‘what it is like to sleep with a man…’
well, what I’ve read it is like…in spite of the British boarding school tradition…

Question about Ats movies?
Answer: there is a chance…but w/the WB regime change, sometimes people try to distance themselves from the old regime. But there is interest at Fox production in making it, there is no firm answer. But it could be shown elsewhere other than the WB.

Question: why did you end Ats as a cliff hanger?
Answer: DON’T CALL IT A CLIFF HANGER!!!!
I’m only answering this one more time…in order to be a good person you never get to stop fighting.

Question: more Fray?
Answer: yes, but it is a question of time, do have more ideas.

Question: Tips on writing to new writers?
Answer: Yes, a tip: ‘write really well.’
I’m bad at tippage. But there are two things about writing:
1. write because you need to, need to write all the time. So that after you finish writing you relax/unwind by writing. There is a difference between someone who ‘can’ write and someone who needs to write.
2. write about something (this sounds really strange)…and not necessarily about a message or a moral, but with content. So that you write about something that fulfills a need.

Question: BtVS cartoon?
Answer: we have 3 minutes animated rough cut in limbo

Question: will you direct X-men III?
Answer: that sounds like a yummy treat, but right now I have other X-men to worry about, the astonishing ones. The drawings are great but I still have to write it well, I thought I could coast.

Question: could you do the dance of Joy?
Answer: I am holding myself up with the podium; I could do the dance of utter exhaustion….
[Joss stand back, strikes a pose, and falls heavily to the floor] – cheers
when Joss stands again he says something about having to work on the middle of that dance.

Question about whether he would want to direct someone else’s script on X-men III?
Answer: I could see collaborating with someone (names most of the

EMBERS

Monday, August 16, 2004 2:18 AM

I'm so sorry I missed the Browncoats table...
I had searched for it on Friday, but on Saturday I was focused on seeing Joss...
I just saw myself in someone else's photo tho:

I'm the one w/the blue hair clip, unfortunately the flash worked better on my hair than on Joss!

KERNELM

Monday, August 16, 2004 2:31 AM

Yep, my camera sucks.

My Wizard World report:
http://kernelm.blogspot.com

EMBERS

Monday, September 6, 2004 1:02 AM

I finally got to my home and scanned in my photo w/Joss...I'll upload it at the BlueSunRoom

When I was in Oakland the only Firefly cast member there was Jonathan Woodward, who is terrific...really fun to talk to
and wishing he didn't get killed in ALL of Joss' shows (LOL)