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BSG, Star Trek, Scantly Clad Women, and More...
By: Stephen LackeyDate: Friday, September 14, 2007
Going to conventions always reminds me a bit of going to film festivals. Every time I mention to family members that aren’t into film that my latest film is going to a festival, they always reply with “Oh so you are going to Sundance?” It’s like they don’t get that there are many other festivals out there, and for various reasons, many of those fests are better than Sundance. When I mention that I’m headed to a convention the response from mundanes is “Oh so you’re going to the San Diego Comic Con?” There are other conventions and for various reasons, these other conventions are also better than the most well known Comic Con. There’s a lot of similarity between Comic Con and Dragon Con, the show I just returned from, that takes place annually in Atlanta, Georgia. Both shows feature a heavy Hollywood presence and both shows feature extremely large crowds although San Diego is still a good bit larger than Dragon Con. Dragon Con hasn’t given itself completely to Hollywood though; it still features major comic book track programs, anime, and gaming. It’s truly a multi-genre event with something for just about every kind of fan. There’s also Dragon Con after dark, a time of booze aplenty and clothes a skimpy. Evenings at the con definitely switch to a more S&M sort of Goth oriented feel with lots of ladies in minuscule vinyl outfits and Goth metal bands playing to the wee hours of the morning. My group and I were on hand filming the event and we took it all in, the celebrities, the costumes, the gaming, and the partying. So, here’s a recap of what we saw:
Celebrities
This year Dragon Con featured a huge contingent of stars from the various Star Trek series including Jonathan Frakes (Riker from TNG), Brent Spiner (Data TNG), Gates McFadden (Dr. Crusher TNG), John de Lancie (Q TNG) and Nichelle Nichols (Uhura TOS). All of these guys are seasoned pros when it comes to conventions and they really know how to deliver to the fans during panels and autograph signings. The must see of all of these actors is John de Lancie as he is very funny and he doesn’t seem to be going through a script quite as much as the others. We focused on Nichelle Nichols at the show because she has a role coming up that is pretty exciting, she will be reoccurring in the upcoming season of Heroes. She told us in a brief interview that she will be playing Micah’s grandmother. Initially, the part was only supposed to appear in an episode or two, but now that she has taken it the part has been expanded to run throughout several episodes of the season. She also mentioned that there has been “talk” of her playing a part in the upcoming Star Trek film but at this point, it’s all just talk.
There were a few members of the cast of the new Battlestar Galactica on hand at this year’s Dragon Con too. Jamie Bamber (Apollo), Aaron Douglas (Chief), Richard Hatch (Tom Zarek), and Mark Sheppard (Romo Lampkin). I know many fans, especially the female ones were excited to see Jamie Bamber, but he came off fairly flat and not warm at all in the BSG panel and Aaron Douglas came off a bit sharp. The high points of the panel came from Richard Hatch, who like the Trek stars is a fairly seasoned con guest, and Mark Sheppard who seemed to really be having a good time. We didn’t get much new information from the panel other than the fact that Chief is definitely a Cylon, but not your run of the mill Cylon. This seemed pretty obvious at the end of last season but it wasn’t confirmed in the episode. Douglas said that there will be several episodes that deal with his marriage and his own half Cylon baby. He said that his character is going to get pretty “out there” before the end of the season. One thing was apparent by the end of the panel; all of these guys feel that the series is ending prematurely. Mark Sheppard mentions that he will be wearing a great deal of makeup to age him in the upcoming Bionic Woman series that will also be starring Katee Sackoff.
I may have mentioned what a huge fan of Babylon 5 I am. I was disappointed to see that Claudia Christian didn’t appear in the new B5 film, that we instead were treated to Tracy Scoggins. So, when I heard that Claudia would be appearing at Dragon Con I knew I had to check out her panel. Her panel was easily one of the best panels I’ve attended at a convention. Not only did she talk B5 and her current projects including a reoccurring role on Nip Tuck, but she also put on a really great sort of improve comedy show. She shared stories of making the series and she said she’d be happy to slap on the B5 uniform, as uncomfortable as it was, if creator J Michael Straczynski would just ask her. Apparently, when she decided to leave the series in season five for a break, he was really hurt and is still upset with her today. She tells a story of him discussing with her how he still holds grudges against kids that treated him badly in middle school. Sounds like a true comic book geek to me. She still has hope that they can mend their relationship and she can return to her character in the B5 universe.
Costumes
I have yet to attend the San Diego Comic Con but from the footage that I’ve seen of the event the costume contest looks small. At Dragon Con, there are three major costume contests throughout the weekend and several smaller ones. The major contests included a contest exclusively for professional costume designers, a Dawn look-a-like contest, and the Dragon Con Masquerade. Other smaller contests include a Star Wars costume contest and an anime costume contest. The pro contest is all about the quality of the costume where the masquerade is partly about the quality of the contest and partly about the presentation which usually means overly long and boring cosplaying. Having these multiple contests did mean there was something for everyone. The Dawn look-a-like contest is easily one of the most popular of the contests and it makes sense because the character wears mostly lingerie and she often carries a big a@# sword, which can be appealing to males, and as many women as there were at Dragon Con there were still more males at the show. Dawn is a fantasy character that appears in an independent comic bearing her name. I’d wager that most of the attendees don’t actually read the comic book.
There were two big winners as far as costumes. The first was an eight or ten foot tall Jack from the Nightmare Before Christmas film. The costume wasn’t really as much a costume as it was a giant puppet. Its controller walked behind it dressed from head to toe in black to make him as inconspicuous as possible. Often at Dragon Con, the Masquerade closes with a spectacular costume or group of costumes and this year was no different. The closer and winner for best in show were giant renditions of the main characters from the Wallace and Grommit short films and the Curse of the Were Rabbit film. The costume contests, even with their overly long skits and cheesy hosting dialogue, are a must see.
Overall
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