I Don’t Wanna Play Riker: panel review #3

Spiner discussed being offered the role of Riker as well as Data, something I did not know…

Boy, Brent Spiner is just a delightfully snarky, entertaining presenter, ain’t he? I had a great time seeing Friday’s Spotlight on Brent Spiner panel (more of a celebrity interview type event than a panel per se). It was really cool to see him and to hear about his work, both Trekkian and beyond…

One very lovely moment happened when the noise from the other big theatre recurred often enough in the beginning that he asked the host who was next door. She replied, “Garrett Wang” (another Star Trek actor). He rolled his eyes and moaned, “Oh, great…” garnering much laughter from his audience.

Then Wang himself runs in onstage real quick, almost genuflects to Spiner, apologizes to him and asks him to forgive those from his audience coming in late to Spiner’s–it wasn’t their fault, etc….very cute moment. After Wang leaves, Spiner says “I don’t know him.” 

One thing he did say which surprised me was about how easy it was to play Data, because he pretty much had free reign, in that there was no such thing as “Oh, a robot would never do THAT”…something that never occurred to me, acting-wise. 

From Pajamas to God: panel #2 review

when asked why they liked their job, one said she liked going to work in her pajamas. The next actor talked about how much he thanks God for his work. The next actor then said, “Wow, we just went from pajamas to God.”

I’ve been interested in voice acting for a long time, lovely lurkers (don’t ask me why I’ve never gotten involved in that particular branch of theatrical arts, bc you know I’d be awesome at it), and so imagine my delight when a panel came up later on Friday at DCC that featured voice actors from things we all know. The panel was called “Meet the Actors Behind the Voices.”

The panel began with the assembled actors reading a little script concocted for them for the event. It was a little scene of superheroes and a gung ho hopeful sidekick talking in a green room. It was…okay.

They then progressed to talking about their careers and answering audience questions, and I have to say that across the board, I did not attend one panel where the audience Q&A was unbearable. I don’t know that I heard one drawn out non-question the whole weekend. Anyway,

It was really neato to see these folks, hear them at work, and hear them talk about their work. And as DCC is centered around Pop Culture Classroom, thereby themed around kids and young geeks, I’m sure this panel inspired the up and comers in the audience even more than they did me.

Closing note: What’s up with Andrea Libman’s chipmunk voice? The woman has made a career out of squeaking…

The Fight is the Story v. 3.0: panel #1 review

the big blue bear greets all the geeks

Day One of Denver Comic Con was lovely–what a good way to nerd out for a weekend. Hereby is the first of several recounts of my panel experiences at this year’s con.

Noon on Friday was the first panel I enjoyed. I enjoyed it because I was on it–the panel was called: “From Aquaman to Zatanna: using comic books in the classroom.”

Oddly, neither one of us presenters on the panel really focused on that topic. I modified what is now my 3rd annual Fight is the Story presentation to adhere more to fit under that aegis, but….yeah. Well, the small audience left by the time I presented were very into it, and we had some good conversations surrounding especially the inefficacy of the big lightsaber fight at the end of Episode 1. 

Star Wars Episode 1, you guys. You know the one I mean. The one where there’s no reason for the fight to be happening, the one where nobody is trying to do anything to anyone else? That one.

As a closing note: what is it about academia that makes for people reading their scholarly papers aloud, verbatim, instead of presenting them in an engaging manner? I know what you’re thinking: “But Jenn, not everybody is theatrically trained like you. In fact, very few are.” Yeah, that’s true, but….yeah. 

All Lightsabers, All the Time

To mollify you as you wait for my DCC reports, lovely lurkers, please to enjoy this amalgam of ALL THE LIGHTSABER FIGHTS FROM STAR WARS! woo!

What Happened at Denver Comic Con

Posts aplenty to come, lovely lurkers.

Denver Comic Con

I’m presenting both on Friday and Sunday this weekend at Denver Comic Con, lovely lurkers. If you’re local or travelling nerds, come heckle me and buy me pints of Snapericot Ale.

I’ll also give y’all a daily rundown of the shtuff I enjoy when I’m not presenting, so stay tuned. Well I mean a rundown of the daily stuff. I can’t guarantee a daily post. Yanno.

Panel #1: From Aquaman to Zatanna (I’m doing a shortened version of my presentation The Fight is the Story.)

I’ll be talking about this fight in both my panels. The fight is the story. This one ain’t.

Image 

5 Reasons Sherlock Fans Should Watch The Jeremy Brett Series

My latest two cents’ worth for Sherlock’s Home.

Sherlocks Home

Written by Prof. Jenn

Many lovers of Sherlock are reluctant to see the merits of Elementary, and many more find it hard to watch. Me, I enjoy it as a fun weekly thing, though I do understand such sentiments. But you’d be hard-pressed to argue that the original British Holmes series, starring Jeremy Brett (Sherlockian circles nickname it ‘the Granada series’ to distinguish it), is anything other than one of the most stellar Sherlock Holmes adaptations you’re likely to find.

The Granada series is in fact my favorite Sherlock adaptation, despite its flaws. Though the series has been (ostensibly) yoinked from YouTube, it is still readily available at most libraries, and for purchase on DVD. The following is why (in my professional opinion) this series is worthy of sitting on your shelf next to the Sherlock boxset.

5. The Acting

There are two actors who play Watson in this series

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Denver Comic Con 2016

You asked for it, lovely lurkers; you got it. The deets re: my presentations at this year’s Denver Comic Con, happening this weekend.

I’ll be there all weekend, for one thing. DCC is a big deal for me as a geek but is also tinged with heartbreak too because of cumulative years of personal stuff (wanna know? Buy me a pint down there and we can talk), so I plan on walking around and having no money to buy things and trying to keep it together. That’s when I’m not presenting. But this year, I’m presenting twice!

JENN’S PANELS:

1) Friday at noon I’m on a panel called From Aquaman to Zatanna, the topic of which is comics in the classroom. I’ll be talking about story structure in scenes of violence. This is a panel for the academic branch of Pop Culture Classroom, called Page 23.

2) Sunday at 11am I will be presenting SOLO!!! Yes, that’s right folks: my presentation called The Fight Is The Story was accepted by DCC proper and I’ll be talking fight scenes in stories, fights as stories themselves, and will share my Genrification system of fight style diagnosis. And if I can figure my tech out, I’ll show a bunch of clips and dissect them.

I am psyched and I am already getting nervous. Come heckle me and then buy me a Snapericot ale after and nerd-rage with me about Star Wars, yeah?

From last year’s DCC: I am holding my own as a Redshirt with Jonathan Alexandratos.

Random Movement Pic

Guest fight from Colorado Ren Faire, 1996. Rapier and dagger. (That’s two of his weapons, but, well.) <–name the quote!

Retrospective Review #7: The Empty Hearse

My latest retro-review for Sherlock’s Home.

Sherlocks Home

Written by Prof. Jenn

As a reminder: I am writing these as RETROSPECTIVE reviews, so I will be discussing reveals, resolutions of cliffhangers, ends of plots, etc. If you are reading these reviews without having seen the eps, a) what is wrong with you?? Go watch them now! and b) these reviews are not for you till you’ve seen them.

It’s rare that the makers of a TV series have such intense interactions with their fanbase, and also unusual to find shows with the level of rabid fans that Sherlock boasts. From erotic fanfiction to conspiracy theories to #setlock on Twitter, the fans of this show have their own ways they want things to go, and will spare no word count (or technology) to express it. This can be positive, as is seen to an extent in this episode, because the fans feel a part of the creative process of…

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