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Vampire Ball 2, day 1
Oct. 2nd, 2011 10:43 amTalks:
Some of these guys are so much better than others. So, Georges Jenty (comic artist), Nick Brendon (Xander) and Mark Metcalf (The Master) were up first. Georges is a regular and very outgoing. Loves talking about his craft. Love it when there's some banter going on. Not only does it make the stars seem more approachable, but encourages a bit more cheekiness from the questions.
Julie Benz and Clare Kramer were next. Quick questions. The general to-ing and fro-ing.
Decided I'd pop in on the True Blood talk. Sometime actors are just interesting even if you don't know the show. Sadly they questions were very much True Blood focussed. That's fair enough. They're here for fans of the show after all.
Last talk was Keith Szarabajka and J August Richards. Keith Szarabajka is a great guest. Old school thesp, with a pretty decent career, full of stories and anecdotes. J August Richards held his own. Can listen to these guys talk for ages.
Pics:
Have discovered best way to get photos is full manual. Manual shutter (1/25), manual aperture (as low f number as possible), manual focus. Autofocus just doesn't work in a dark room with bright spots in the background. Focuses on heads in front of the crowd. Manual focus is fiddly on a compact but I like the Canon SX series because they at least allow this.
Quiz and fancy dress:
Vampire Quiz. Not very interestingly done. 100 questions in 26 minutes displayed on a screen. Mostly of the "Name the actor, character and show. Yeah - my horror knowledge sucks. Got a couple of the music ones because they were sci-fi based.
Masquerade was less than an hour late! Amazing. As usual, showed vids while we waited for the various things to get sorted. Was rather impressed by this lipsync of Pink's Raise Your Glass at LFCC.
I love the masquerade at Starfury. Nobody takes it too seriously. There's been a decreasing number of entries at Eastercons and Worldcons over the years. I suspect this is because it's all a bit too intimidating for an amateur. The entries here were ranged from the clearly recognisable, and fun, to some serious effort. Someone did a fantastic Subway Spike (Fool For Love, flashback episode where Spike talks about the two slayers he's bagged). Not only was the outfit perfect - including metal bar - but the guy got the attitude just right!
Party:
I dressed as generic vampire. Have switched to smaller fangs. They're much better. Vampire top tips: "Scarecrow" fangs have a really good colour match with teeth. Not cheap but quite affordable. The smaller ("subtle") ones make it possible to drink and to talk without lisping. I use polymorph thermoplastic as a moulding tool because it's so much less hassle than mixing the denture paste they come with. The really great thing is that if it goes horribly wrong, you can just dunk them in hot water and try again.
Still woke up at 6:30. Convinced my brain that I was tired enough to go back to sleep. Woke up a 8:45. Yay! That's a good 6 hour's worth of sleep, at least.
Estimation of hotel has gone up slightly. Firstly, coffee isn't Nescafe (yay for only slightly evil Kenco), secondly, breakfast buffet has eggs cooked to order. I like poached eggs, and those who like fried eggs get them done how they like rather than cooked in a batch and then kept warm as they slowly turn to rubber.
Some of these guys are so much better than others. So, Georges Jenty (comic artist), Nick Brendon (Xander) and Mark Metcalf (The Master) were up first. Georges is a regular and very outgoing. Loves talking about his craft. Love it when there's some banter going on. Not only does it make the stars seem more approachable, but encourages a bit more cheekiness from the questions.
Julie Benz and Clare Kramer were next. Quick questions. The general to-ing and fro-ing.
Decided I'd pop in on the True Blood talk. Sometime actors are just interesting even if you don't know the show. Sadly they questions were very much True Blood focussed. That's fair enough. They're here for fans of the show after all.
Last talk was Keith Szarabajka and J August Richards. Keith Szarabajka is a great guest. Old school thesp, with a pretty decent career, full of stories and anecdotes. J August Richards held his own. Can listen to these guys talk for ages.
Pics:
Have discovered best way to get photos is full manual. Manual shutter (1/25), manual aperture (as low f number as possible), manual focus. Autofocus just doesn't work in a dark room with bright spots in the background. Focuses on heads in front of the crowd. Manual focus is fiddly on a compact but I like the Canon SX series because they at least allow this.
Quiz and fancy dress:
Vampire Quiz. Not very interestingly done. 100 questions in 26 minutes displayed on a screen. Mostly of the "Name the actor, character and show. Yeah - my horror knowledge sucks. Got a couple of the music ones because they were sci-fi based.
Masquerade was less than an hour late! Amazing. As usual, showed vids while we waited for the various things to get sorted. Was rather impressed by this lipsync of Pink's Raise Your Glass at LFCC.
I love the masquerade at Starfury. Nobody takes it too seriously. There's been a decreasing number of entries at Eastercons and Worldcons over the years. I suspect this is because it's all a bit too intimidating for an amateur. The entries here were ranged from the clearly recognisable, and fun, to some serious effort. Someone did a fantastic Subway Spike (Fool For Love, flashback episode where Spike talks about the two slayers he's bagged). Not only was the outfit perfect - including metal bar - but the guy got the attitude just right!
Party:
I dressed as generic vampire. Have switched to smaller fangs. They're much better. Vampire top tips: "Scarecrow" fangs have a really good colour match with teeth. Not cheap but quite affordable. The smaller ("subtle") ones make it possible to drink and to talk without lisping. I use polymorph thermoplastic as a moulding tool because it's so much less hassle than mixing the denture paste they come with. The really great thing is that if it goes horribly wrong, you can just dunk them in hot water and try again.
Still woke up at 6:30. Convinced my brain that I was tired enough to go back to sleep. Woke up a 8:45. Yay! That's a good 6 hour's worth of sleep, at least.
Estimation of hotel has gone up slightly. Firstly, coffee isn't Nescafe (yay for only slightly evil Kenco), secondly, breakfast buffet has eggs cooked to order. I like poached eggs, and those who like fried eggs get them done how they like rather than cooked in a batch and then kept warm as they slowly turn to rubber.
