Executive producer, Joe Russo, talked to us about all the latest and greatest things happening at Starburns Industries, producers of Mary Shelley’s Frankenhole.
Joe discusses working with stop motion versus CG, the challenges of working with stop motion, the big dream of Starburns Industries, why he likes Long Beach Comic Convention over other conventions, other projects the company is working on, and the process of finding the right voice for a series.
Angus Oblong is an interesting person. If you saw him on the streets, I’m not sure you’d recognize him right away. I say that because he wore his usual face paint at the Long Beach Comic Convention.
Many of you may be more familiar with his series, The Oblongs, which was recently salvaged by Adult Swim, purveyors of once under-appreciated works like Family Guy and Futurama.
Angus Oblong talks about making art for his own amusement and offers indispensable advise for aspiring artists. I was admittedly intimidated by his appearance despite the fact I really felt a connection with his art. I wish I could have spent more time asking him questions but I was clearly unprepared for the man I met. Take a look below.
Discover more about Angus Oblong: twitter
his site
We talked briefly with Brian Buccellato at the 2011 Long Beach Comic Convention where he discussed The Flash’s appeal, DC’s slow output of movies, and who he’d pick to star and direct in The Flash movie reboot.
Learn more about Brian Buccellato: twitter
his blog
I won’t lie. I was scared to ask Miracle Laurie for a few minutes of on camera Q & A. She’s tall, attractive, dresses well, and I didn’t know a thing about her. Luckily that didn’t matter to David, who was bold enough to push me out of the nest like a confident mother bird.
Miracle Laurie was kind and patient enough to answer a few questions with us. She discusses her character on Dollhouse, what drew her to the role, challenges of portraying the character, the geek in her wanting to play Wonder Woman, thoughts on 3D, what makes Comikaze different from other conventions, masks freaking her out, Goodnight Burbank, The First Ride of Wyatt Earp, working with Alan Cummings, a ukulele cover band she’s in with her husband, Uke Box Heroes, her favorite songs to cover, and the need for a physical keyboard on her phone.
Freelance comic artist, Chris Moreno, gave us a few minutes to talk about his latest project: Zombie Dickheads. It’s a unique twist on the zombie apocalypse where some zombies DON’T eat people. Moreno also chats about his source of inspiration and discusses the relevance of tablets like the iPad and Kindle in the comic industry.
The Los Angeles Derby Dolls were at Comikaze promoting their league. I was lucky enough to check out an intense game a few weeks ago (Tough Cookies versus Sirens), so I was excited to chat with them for a few minutes and find out more about the sport and players.
STEFCON 1 gave us the low down on the history of its founders, the fresh meat program, public classes, injuries (broken collar bones, ankles, tail bone injures, wrists), other roller derby associations, the league’s involvement in “Whip It”, the growth of bank track leagues, hanging out with other teams after the game, and getting hit on by guys and girls.
The Long Beach Comic Convention held its inaugural Masquerade Ball hosted by Mike Shields. Contestants showcased well crafted costumes in an effort to impress a small panel of judges. There were numerous awards given for different categories. Costumes included:
Gothic Toy Box
Alice in Wonderland
Devilman
Indiana Jones
Monarch Henchman
Captain America
Green Lantern
Halo Spartan – Benedict Choy
Bellatrix Lestrange
Dark Phoenix & Deadpool – Amanda & Greg
Princess Eilonwy – Amy Brown
Kick-Ass
Steamfunk (Steampunk + 70’s Funk mashup)
Velociraptor – Rene Carmel
Wonder Woman
Chekov, Sulu, Dr. MCcoy
Mike Shields did a fantastic job of keeping the crowd entertained and the show moving. We look forward to seeing him continuing this event as a tradition at the Long Beach Comic Convention.
If zombies were real, they’d be our worst nightmare. The thought of people chasing us at a fast pace or at a slow crawl sends chills down the spine of even the toughest person you know. The image of even the most eloquent man slowly losing the ability to express coherent messages is also tragic. Just imagine your closest friend with ghoulishly pale/purple skin slowly diverging from rational behavior. And let’s face it, cannibalism is NOT socially acceptable. There is no corner or room safe enough to protect us from the relentless hunger of a zombie. No matter how far we run, zombies can smell us and hunt us down. What’s worst, zombies multiple.
Until they become a reality, let’s embrace them and have fun with the idea. Let’s line up in droves for zombie movies and buy zombie t-shirts. Let’s count down the days until Halloween so that we may shred a blazer, rip a blouse, apply facial paint, smear fake blood, use colored contacts, and even use makeup that makes it look like our skin is falling off our bodies.
Last weekend, people showed their love for zombies by transforming into the undead and joining the 2011 Long Beach Zombie Walk in an effort to break records. However, the participants didn’t just transform into the zombie version of their regular themselves. They used the event to express their creative sides and come up with interesting spins on the zombie. Instead of regular ol’ zombie Joe, they changed into zombie Bob’s Big Boy holding a severed Burger King King’s head.
The best part about a zombie walk is that there are no barriers to entry. We saw kids, teens, adults, elderly, couples, and entire families participating. Take a look at nearly 20 minutes of footage and see how many different zombies you spot. Here are some we’ve found:
00:00 zombie at the door
00:44 zombie Mario, zombie nurse
01:14 zombie Captain America
01:31 zombie cowboy
02:05 zombie bunny
02:25 zombie Kick-Ass
02:43 zombie fisherman
03:11 zombie doctor
03:20 zombie ward patient
03:31 zombie ship captain
03:41 waldo
03:59 zombie hippies
06:16 zombie eating head
06:42 zombie Michael Jackson
07:01 zombie Fred Flintstone
08:16 “KEEP Brains MEDICINAL”
08:24 “Zombies Occupy Long Beach. We are the 99%”
08:43 zombie in a straight jacket
08:56 zombie fireman
09:43 zombie nerd, zombie pilot
10:21 zombie Akuma
00:02 zombie Mr. T
00:07 “will work for brains”
00:27 zombie priest
00:41 Bill Lumberg (not zombie)
01:36 Tyrone Biggums
02:13 zombie cop
02:38 zombie bride
02:46 “EQUAL RIGHTS FOR THE DISEMBODIED DEAD”
03:40 zombie pirate
03:49 zombie Bob’s Big Boy
05:41 zombie Caltrans worker
06:07 zombie soldier
06:30 zombie prisoner
07:18 zombie patient with blood drip
07:47 zombie geisha
08:12 zombie Marilyn Monroe
Activision held it’s inaugural Call of Duty XP event, which was a 2 day event for gamers and fans of the series to connect through activities beyond gaming. Located within a large hangar in Playa Vista, California, fans were treated to various activities including:
Hands-on gaming booths for all recent games in the series: Modern Warfare 2, World at War, Black Ops, Call of Duty 4, and of course Modern Warfare 3. Since this event was sponsored by Xbox 360, there were no Playstation 3’s on site.
$1,000,000 tournament
2012 Jeep Wrangler course
Two paintball gun maps: Pit (Modern Warfare 2) and Scrapyard (Modern Warfare 2). I only made it in time for one of the maps, Scrapyard, but had a blast! This was my absolute first experience with a paintball gun. Even though I played defensive and stayed close to the base (Domination mode), I was able to score some great hits against the other team. The best part is that the guns looked like real arms (I had an M4). They provided 140 rounds, a mask, vest, and a jumpsuit. You get the keep the jumpsuit, which is great if you’re able to keep it spotless or in one piece. I probably should have worn tennis shoes rather than boots. Luckily I didn’t leave with any welts which is something I can’t say for other players.
Burger Town: yup. Haven’t you always wanted to taste what this Burger King parody has to offer. Apparently if you asked for “Special Sauce” they’d give you a shirt! They ran out when we tried though 🙁
Face painting. Get your “Ghost” on or choose from a folder of possible face paint options.
A sumo fighting ring
Black Ops cover art picture booth. This one was very addictive! Pose with a rifle or 2 pistols, recreating the Black Ops cover art with whatever goofy gangster pose you can come up with.
Zip line. This was one of the activities I wish I had done and taken video of doing.
Tons of free experimental Mountain Dew samples. I don’t think anyone turned into a zombie yet, right?
A gift bag containing a poster, Doritos and oh yeah… a redeemable code for Modern Warfare 3 Hardened Edition! Considering entrance was $150, this was definitely a lovely treat. Since the redemption page required an address and NOT a gamer tag, I’m guessing Activision is sending hard copies of the game?
Live sets by Dropkick Murphy’s (September 2) and Kanye West (September 3). As one of the biggest names in music entertainment, I can only imagine how much of a pay day for Kanye West this was. Since I only went on Saturday, I can’t comment on the Dropkick Murphy’s set. For Kanye West, however, I was expecting a small set. As I waited with thousands of others, watching the stage slowly take shape, I quickly realized the large hangar was hardly enough to contain the level of theatrics that I would soon witness. Kudos to Kanye West and Activision for pulling this off. While hardly related to gaming, this show added tremendous value to the seemingly high entrance cost. If you were dedicated enough or wait early, you could definitely get a pit level equivalent view. Kanye West did nearly all of his hit singles and that’s lots (I wish he did “Heard ‘Em Say”). Kanye West had 3 acts filled with high energy, laser lighting, and many dancers (Think classy like Cirque Du Soleil/ballet). I wonder what the Dropkick Murphy’s show was like. Check out the pics below.
This year, I attended my first Anime Expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center. I had a brief love affair with anime during high school but I have since been a bit out of touch with the latest franchises and hottest series. The wonderful thing about expos is that there really are no qualifications into getting in besides your ticket and an open mind. One can visit to see characters they love have developed or discover and fall in love with new ones. The Los Angeles Anime Expo is North America’s biggest convention that caters to hardcore fans and recent converts alike. One of the distinct features of an anime expo is that the show isn’t just made up of vendors, publishers, and creators. The fans play a huge role in creating a world that attendees are transported to once they enter the building and sky’s the limit when it comes to how far some fans will go to express how much much they love the genre.
Here are some things I discovered while at the Anime Expo, watching and talking to cosplay fans
Disconnect from reality
Anime has a huge following but relative to live action, it’s fan base is still considered minor. When you think about it, anime isn’t very different. It’s all about story telling. Unlike western cartoons and animation, there’s an anime series for every genre one could ask for: sci-fi, love, action, adventure, comedy, and that other category (the one with tentacles and other interesting visuals). The great part about a scene that’s so big is that outsiders like myself can’t even tell the difference. Once you take the red pill, even security guards, janitors, and information booth attendants look like they are cosplaying!
Come as you are
Anime comes in all different forms. Artists embrace liberties to alter your notion of realism with elements like gravity defying hair, disproportionate female measurements, vibrant eye colors, vampire fangs, giant impractical weapons… just search youtube for clips and you’ll get the point. Humans, in contrast, are pretty boring. We come in a few sizes and colors and that’s it. The key part of making a great cosplay outfit is really ignoring any of your limitations. Disregard differences in height, weight, skin tone, age, sex, cup size (In fact, NEVER get implants for any reason. It will just look even more silly if you are cosplaying), ethnicity, and MOST of all, don’t be discouraged to cosplay if you have braces. Regarding age, it actually seems the younger you are, the more drive you have at making an awesome costume. I was totally blown away discovering that high school students were making such detailed, professional looking costumes. Maybe there’s a connection between growing up and losing a connection with dreaming.
You don’t need THAT much time to make your costume
Some of THE best costumes/makeup I saw were done by fans that claimed the time they spent was only days. Don’t listen to what Hollywood tells you. All the required materials can be found at your local Michaels/Home Depot! The most important ingredient in your costume is sheer determination. If that means calling sick from your H&M part time job or missing a day of class to complete your costume, it will be worth it. Honestly though, some costumes obviously require more time than others. I met one fellow who cosplayed a Space Marine Scout who spent two months making his awesome costume. It definitely turned heads. On the flip side, the most affordable costumes I saw included a simple inkjet print and some tape to cover your face (I’m looking at you Mr. Trollface)
Mashups = fun!
My biggest takeway from the Anime Expo was discovering the Pokemen. That’s not a typo! I’m talking about the fit Asian guys who wear bright colors, suspenders, and wafer sunglasses. Who says you can’t add your own twist on a series.
Mobility is inversely related to costume appeal
Let’s face it: there are a lot of guys into photography, and what do guys LOVE? Duh! Girls cosplaying. This is Los Angeles. Fashion is always evolving. We’ve seen attractive people in those same outfits our favorite celebrities rock. But the Anime Expo is like an alternate fashion show for outfits that will never make it to retailers. So if we see fantasy become reality, we are most certainly obligated to document it. If you’ve invested enough time and resources into your costume, chances are people will stop you to take pictures and this is how that goes:
Me: “Awesome work! Mind if I take a picture?”
Fan: “Sure”
Me: “Great… 1 sec”
(30 seconds to pull out phone from pocket and switch to camera mode or 1 minutes to put down backpack and take out camera out)
Me: “Cool! 1 sec”
(5 shots quickly taken that all look identical)
Me: “Oh shoot! I had it on the wrong setting. Can I redo those shots?”
Just remember: that exact scene will happen with multiple people all starting at different times. Looking for the most popular person on the floor? Just stand still and look for the person with the biggest crowd around him/her looking around in all angles in confusion trying to figure out which camera to pose for.
Sorry ladies. The ratio of topless guys with 6-packs to pretty girls in costume is roughly 0:(pretty girls in costume)
Have fun
Trolling is not allowed! If you think there’s any costume that you can’t do, you’re doing it wrong! One of my favorites was a mid twenties red-head guy who cosplayed Misty from Pokemon. Check out the video after the break for some Q & A with cosplay fans.
