San Diego Comic-Con Unofficial Blog

Comic-Con 2011 has come to a close, and our sleep-depraved minds are still reeling from the whirlwind four days of lines, panels and offsite events. And because there was much more to see and do at the con than one person could ever dream of, we went to Twitter and asked our awesome readers what their favorite moments of 2011 were.

Click past the jump to see the top five.

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Nathan Fillion is the consummate showman at Comic-Con. He’s a fan, first and foremost, just like all of us; he just happens to be lucky enough to sit on the other side of the table. And as a fan, he knows just what the audience wants, and he delivers in spades.

On Sunday, I asked all of our readers via Twitter which panel they would like me to cover for the blog – Castle was the resounding answer. And then when I asked everyone if they wanted me to live-tweet the panel or video it and put it up later, the majority said they would rather wait to see Mr. Fillion – and his manly hair – in glorious HD.

So after a few days of recuperating from the long days and overnight travel, editing, rendering and uploading video, I’m happy to announce the moment has finally arrived.

A few notes: First, I was about halfway back in 6BCF, so although I was able to zoom in close enough it made the picture susceptible to any small movements with the camera. I tried to have a steady hand, but there will be a couple points in the video where the camera jumps around a bit. Not enough to ruin the experience, but just wanted to make you all aware. Second, I was right behind the middle walkway, so people are passing in and out of frame through the entire panel. It’s quick enough and doesn’t deter from the video, but again wanted to make you aware. Third, the audio was picked up from the internal mic on the camera, but there are times when the crowd noise drowns out comments from the panelists – next year I’ll use an external mic to record audio from somewhere closer to a speaker. And lastly, due to YouTube restrictions. I had to split the panel video into four parts. Saying all that, I hope you enjoy it!

Ladies and gents, I present to you: One-on-One with Castle Star Nathan Fillion, recorded live on Sunday July 24 at San Diego Comic-Con 2011.

Click past the jump to see the parts 1-4 of the Castle panel.

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Traditionally, Sunday at Comic-Con is a subdued affair. Most of the AAA panels have already come and gone, exhibitors have run out of their exclusive merchandise and the schedules and audience is focused on family fare. But this year was a bit different – Ballroom 20 was closed, we still had some anticipated television panels, and the 2012 pre-registration saga would come to an end.

So how did everything go on Sunday then? We can say for certain that Sunday consummated SDCC 2011 as “The Year of Television”

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SDCCBlog.com reader Tyler Miller sent us a firsthand account on how he went about planning and hosting his SDCC panel, geekEd: Bringing Geek Back to Higher Education, at Comic-Con 2011. Interested in what it takes to pull off a successful panel? Read on.

It was Comic-Con 2010.  My first.  Overwhelming to say the least as my wife and two kids (5 months and almost 3) navigated our way through the exhibits, went to panels, and had a blast.  Since 1990, it was a dream for me to attend comic-con and I was living out a dream to be in attendance at the Con.

My friend and colleague Ryan let me know that Comic-Con was reaching out to college educators.  I registered my family for tickets and we were ready to go!  During the Con, we took Ryan out to dinner to thank him for helping us go to Comic-Con.  As we sat at dinner that Thursday evening at Comic-Con 2010, we looked at each other and knew.  We could TOTALLY present at Comic-Con.  We could talk about higher education and geekdom.  We knew it was possible as we’ve presented at conferences before.  Both of us had won awards for presentations given in our own field at our regional conference.  My wife came up with the name – “what about geekEd. ?”  It was a play on “geeked” but was a blending of our passions – higher education and geek life.  Then and there, Ryan and I agreed that we would put in the proposal when it came out to present at Comic-Con 2011.

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I’ve talked before about how front-loaded the programming schedule was for Comic-Con 2011. In my analysis of the schedules, it was hard-pressed to find a panel I didn’t want to attend, and Saturday and Sunday it was nearly the opposite.

I also wrote how I was expecting a surprise from Hollywood, as it seemed they were clearing the schedule for something. But up through Saturday, they’ve stuck largely to the schedule.

But part of the magic of Comic-Con is those moments you don’t expect – ending up in a panel just for kicks or by chance and finding some memorable moment that defines the con for you. Today was a great opportunity to stumble upon one of those moments.

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Day two of Comic-Con had attendees a little on edge. First, the pre-registration had most freaked out about the line that snaked even farther down the marina than on Thursday, and they worried about their chances on attending in 2012. And the wait time throughout the day Thursday for Ballroom 20 was in jeopardy of being eclipsed by Friday’s maxed schedule of can’t-miss panels.

On top of that, we had Spielberg and Spider-Man in Hall H.

See, didn’t we tell you Comic-Con would test even the strongest of you?

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The first day of Comic-Con was a day of surprises. And not the kind those who have been going to the con are normally used to.

The big news leading into the con was that Twilight was going to open the Hall H schedule. A couple of years back, Twi-hards filled the convention hall and caused some ill will with regular attendees because it attracted a crowd that differed from the conventional convention folks. So when Twilight was put on the schedule for Thursday morning, many breathed a sigh of relief. The panel which would clash most with the big-budget Hollywood fare would be over and done with before most people even stepped foot on the convention crowd.

And indeed, the Twi-hards descended upon San Diego with a lot of attention. Word was they were camping out for days to get a front row seat of Edward and Bella; some reports had them camping out over a week in advance of the panel. What came after was the first surprise of the con.

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Several sources have confirmed Steven Spielberg will be among the guests during the Hall H panel for The Adventures of Tintin.

Here’s what you need to know: the panel is on Friday, July 22 in Hall H and is the first panel of the day at 11AM, so you if you want a seat to see the man who made us all what we are today, you’re going to have to get there mighty early.

Also remember, CCI will be replaying video highlights of Hall H and Ballroom 20 panels at the end of the day. It’s not the same as being there, but if you must miss this one in person this is the next best thing to catch a glimpse of Spielberg, at least in the same building where he was hours before.

Other guests at the panel are yet to be announced, but with such a star-studded cast and crew, we’re expecting to hear lots more about this one leading up to next Friday. Keep checking here for additional details as we hear.

Hollywood Abandons Hall H.

That was the headline for many a week recently, as Dreamworks, Disney and Marvel all said they would not be following tradition and bringing their big movie reveals to Comic-Con’s fabled auditorium. And with that announcement, emotions among fans ranged from confused to disappointed to downright cheated. This is the place where 140,000 like-minded geeks go on an annual pilgrimage and immerse themselves in swag, celebrities and worldwide media attention. This is the place to where people travel thousands of miles, cross whole continents and into time zones on the other side of the world. This is the event for which fans save their vacation schedules and hard-earned spending cash.

This is San Diego Comic-Con.

If you understood any of that, then you no doubt could sympathize with people who felt the same thing. Maybe you were even one of those people. And if so, you have been asking yourself, “Why would Hollywood destroy the very thing they helped create?”

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We feel like we’ve been stuck on an emotional rollercoaster these last few weeks. Would Hollywood show up for Comic-Con this year or won’t they? We’d heard conflicting reports on either side of the story. And we finally received some closure after seeing the schedules for Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Most of our questions have been answered, but there are some still lingering about the offsite presence of Marvel and Dreamworks studios. And the answers we did get were pretty encouraging, at least for Thursday and Friday, that Hollywood would bring their “A” game to the con.

But then Saturday’s schedule was released, and it wasn’t nearly as strong as the prior two days. So the question on everyone’s mind is, would Comic-Con rebound on Sunday and end this year with a bang?

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