Me and the Big Damn Birmingham Screening by NEEDY

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Me and the Big Damn Birmingham Screening

POSTED BY: NEEDY
UPDATED: Friday, August 26, 2005 03:21
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Thursday, August 25, 2005 6:29 AM

The road to Hel is paved with good intentions

I was one of the lucky few to go and see "Serenity" last night in Birmingham. I went with my dad who is also a Browncoat (though not as much as me of course) - ironically enough, the last time I went cinema with him was to see Toy Story, a movie Joss Whedon co-wrote. Anyway, let me get on with the tale. Please forgive my forgetfulness, hopefully someone else here went and they can fill in the gaps

The following is my spoiler-free account. I'll post a thread later with some of the spoiler-filled questions and answers.

You know you’ve had a hell of an experience when the main focus of the day, the film in question – a flawless and thoroughly enjoying flick - was just minor compared to the following events.

Before the movie started, a female representative of UIP took centre stage with microphone in hand and announced that the film would be introduced by Joss Whedon in a specially recorded message, followed by a Q&A with some "special guests"

I was expecting a message by Joss and had an inkling that a guest or two may show, even before I heard rumours corroborating such information, but I had no idea who would turn up. Before we get to the guests though, the opening recorded message was like this:

Joss Whedon appeared on the big screen (which, being used to watching interviews with him on DVD was quite a thing to witness – he now is officially a BIG DAMN STAR), and in his usual witty banter introduced the movie. He mentioned that "the movie has been shown in various stages of incompletion already in the states, and the response was... they pelted us with stones. No wait... that was something else. They liked it!" It was a great intro, though this comment was one of the only ones to stick in my mind

I hope it, as well as the one he recorded for the earlier US screenings, appears on the future DVD release as a bonus feature or easter egg.

After the thrills laughs and shocks of the movie, followed by uproarious cheers and applause, now was the time for those special guests.

I heard that Nathan Fillion, Joss Whedon, Summer Glau and Morena Baccarin were to be involved in promoting the movie, but since I also heard they would be in the day of the 24th, I didn’t dream any of them would be present. Oh how thankful I was to be wrong. As the credits of the movie began to roll the female UIP representative once more took centre stage and welcomed to the front, the incredibly funny, down-to-earth and not to mention devilishly handsome Nathan Fillion along with the unbelievably gorgeous, not to mention talented, Morena Baccarin.

The crowd cheered once more as the guests appeared from nowhere (well they didn’t actually appear from nowhere, but had presumable been sitting away from the seats and near the exit, away from prying eyes). Pretty much straight away, the floor was open for questions…

To be honest, I didn’t hear a lot of the questions and answers, not only because the experience was so unreal, but because I was desperately trying to think of my own to ask, so though I’m might remember more questions in time, here are the ones that stick in my memory:

Referring to the Nathan vs Warp One incident, a man asked "If the movie is as huge a success as it deserves, does that mean you will get to guest star on the Simpsons and get revenge on Comic book guy?" The question was met with laughter and, if I remember correctly, applause to which Nathan began to explain briefly the whole situation to Morena, though he didn’t actually answer the question (not that it needed answering – of course he would!)

What are your favourite episodes? Morena fielded it first, before Nathan butted in asking if he could guess what hers was. Shindig? No. Out of Gas? No. They were among her favourites, but her all time favourite was Heart of Gold, especially the moment where we see Inara crying alone (I have to agree that that scene in particular is one of the highlights of the series). Nathan comments that he would have got the answer right in another 1 or 2 or 14 guesses. Nathan then answered the question saying his was Out of Gas, not only because of the way it was shot and the story, but because it’s a love story of the ship, of Serenity. He also said he loves the moments towards the end where Mal says "Everybody dies alone"

When asked if, "after all the times they’ve seen the movie, do the stars still jump or are shocked by moments in the movie", Morena said that one time when they watched it (at Edinburgh I believe), she and Jewel were sitting together and had to hold hands, knowing what was to come and thus trying to prepare themselves for it, even though they had already seen it time and time again

"Given the chance, is there anything you would do better to the movie?" I recall Morena saying, jokingly of course, that she would have done Nathan’s fight scenes better than he did. But unfortunately I can’t remember what Nathan said

After a question regarding whether we’d get to find out any of the secrets not revealed in the movie (which I won’t go into here as it contains spoilers), Nathan brought up the fact that Inara has secrets that we, and he, doesn’t know about, before Morena reveals that she does know something about her character that nobody else knows, something Joss recently told her. However, she was unwilling to divulge the information to Nathan, to which he replied "well, tell them (the audience) and I’ll just listen"

In the middle of the Q&A, Morena drew attention to the fact that she was answering all the questions first, and because of this Nathan was getting the chance to think of a funny answer. It was true, he did revel in this fact and the crowd loved him for it all the more.

Someone asked if they keep in close touch with co-stars they’ve met during filming of various films and shows. Nathan said that with each production, he has made at least one close friendship with a person on set. With "Two Guys and a Girl", it was Ryan Reynolds, (he also mentioned others I can’t quite remember now) but with Firefly/Serenity, he’s friends with the cast, the crew, make-up people and others, many that were involved in the production in one war or another.
He related an incident that after getting the script to War Stories, he would meet up with Alan at one of their homes and they would practice the electrocution torture scenes until they got it down to a tee. Morena mentioned that favourite expression amongst casts, "they were family", except when she said it didn’t seem anything but genuine, made all the more clear when you see for yourself the camaraderie between her and Nathan

I think it was when a guy asked how working on other sets since compares to how it was working on Serenity that Morena said "honestly, since Serenity finished filming, there hasn’t been much work to speak of." Nathan points out that she has worked, such as on the Justice League, before she points out that it was shot before Serenity and so doesn’t count.

As the questions continued I wracked my brain for something to ask them - to be honest, I was kind of kicking myself as I was also thinking about asking about the Warp One incident but I was beaten to the punch.

Then I thought of requesting Nathan to perform his Wonder Woman twirl that he so elegantly displayed at a convention not to long ago – but figuring this had already been done, I begged my brain for a better question

Then one came to me after a fan asked the two if they thought the movie would have the positive effect on the general audience as opposed to those who are already fans. After flipping the question back on the person that asked it, who said he felt the movie did a good job of introducing all the characters, Nathan mentioned that it was too hard for him to say as he is "too close to the movie" to detach himself from it and look at it from an outsider’s perspective

After a couple more questions I followed on from this point, put up my hand and asked my own question. "Nathan, continuing on what you previously mentioned about being too close to the movie to view it from a fans perspective..." (at this point, Nathan stopped me to point out that Morena hadn’t answered the previous question, only for her to say that her thoughts had already been touched upon, then it was back to me, and I’m quite surprised I still knew what I was going to say, despite the totally unreal moment) "...are you able to watch the movie without being analytical and critical of your work? Do you cringe at certain moments?"

Even though it may not have been an original question, I’m glad I plucked up the courage to ask one. It’s here where I feel a bit guilty (though not the last time for that night), because I can’t actually remember what Nathan said. Maybe the nerves hadn’t fully subsided, or maybe I’m just not a good listener, but at least I did hear Morena’s answer. She said in watching it, she can’t help but be drawn in completely to the movie, so any faults she can find fall by the wayside (she may not have actually said those last words, but that was the general point I believe)

Next my dad asked a question that sure raised a few eyebrows – well not so much the question as the delivery.

"Do you do all your own stunts?" was the question he posed and when Nathan answered yes, my dad said in cheek (but all in good nature) "yeah, come on" as if to challenge his answer. The statement sure turned a few heads, but Nathan didn’t take offence or even offer to fight him to prove it (though that would have been a sight), but went on to say how he did his own stunts and in certain instances, just as he was about to hit something in front of him "a strange force" would stop him and pull him back (the wire)

At one point (before I asked my question I believe), it was announced that they could take one more question, but after it was asked, Nathan asked if they could stay a bit longer to answer some more.

Let’s be honest shall we, these two stars were already high in our standards for coming down and answering questions whilst being so damn nice, friendly and down to earth, so they could have left and we still would have praised them, but in offering to stay longer, I’m sure I’m not the only one who felt like running up to them, kissing them on their hands uttering "Bless you, Captain Tightpants. Bless you oh wondrous Inara"

Soon though the Q&A was over, which ended with a guy behind me taking the mike and not so much asking a question as saying how great the movie was and how much he and his friend enjoyed it, but that they have a train to catch and they’ll miss it if they don’t leave. I felt bad for them as I almost came on the train and if I did, no doubt I would have been forced to leave during such a unique experience. Fortunately the Q&A ended there so they didn’t miss any more, I just don’t know if they managed to catch what came next.

As everyone left the screen, outside in the foyer, there stood Nathan with his "bodyguards", soon joined by Morena. It wasn’t long before fans, including myself of course, began to gather around and ask for their autographs. Soon, Nathan and Morena were taking the large Serenity postcards (that had been handed out prior to the movie) from fans and signing them.

They weren’t content to just do a few, but at one point Nathan even asked if everyone had got one. Many also used their phones or digital cameras to take pictures of the signings. Not only that, but many came prepared with things to sign, including the comics and even one girl had her t-shirt signed by Nathan.
I felt dumb for not bringing my own comics but considering I didn’t know who’d be there, and that I probably wouldn’t get the chance to have anything signed, I left them at home, content with the fact that at least I had a camera with me. Oh how foolish I feel now.

As everyone was happy with their signed items, and one or two asked to have their photos taken with the stars, I decided that I too would regret it if I didn’t ask also. Unfortunately Nathan had gotten ahead of me as I was trying to sort out my camera (it’s fairly new and I haven’t yet got a memory card, so I’ve only so much room to store pictures, meaning I had to delete a few before I could even have a photo taken), but Morena was still signing an item or two for some fans. As she walked towards the escalators and exit, I stopped and asked if she would mind if I could have my photo taken with her.

Now came another guilty moment. I was still struggling with my camera that I had deleted a few photos off, but still claimed there was not enough room. So I was forced to delete a short video clip of them answering questions, all the while Morena was standing there patiently waiting. Finally I got the space I needed to take the photo and got my dad to take it (even though he’s never operated a digital camera before and was just hoping it would turn out ok). Morena hesitantly put her arm out for me – I don’t know if the hesitance was because she didn’t know if I was ready, or if that was the right thing to do – nevertheless I embraced it and put my arm around her and the photo was done. It was only after it was taken that I couldn’t remember if I had smiled or posed or anything, I was too busy thinking about if it was going to happen or if she would be forced to leave before. I thanked her for it, though I wish now I had apologised also for delaying her slightly.

Fortunately the photo turned out fine – fine in the sense that it was clear and got us both in frame, though I do look like a cocky devil, and slightly drunk, not to mention double-chinned. Then again, I suppose even the best looking male model in the world would pale in comparison when stood next to Morena, so I don’t feel so bad

That was pretty much the end. My dad said he couldn’t believe how young Morena looked, and thinner too (healthy thin, mind you) than she looks on screen. He also shook hands with Nathan when getting his autograph and was surprised that his hands were fairly soft. That’s Fairy Liquid for you. All in all, it was one (special) hell of an experience, as was the journey travelling there and back… but that’s another story.

Needy. Male Companion a.k.a. First Boy Whore of Destiny

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Thursday, August 25, 2005 7:16 AM

Hey, I was also one of the stupidly lucky few, I actually sat right behind you. Thanks for posting, it was so great to relive last night, it was amazing- the whole night (including the movie itself) far surpassed anything I could have hoped for.

I'm afraid that my memory is worse than yours and I cannot think of a single thing you haven't already mentioned. My sister asked Did you get to keep any of your costumes? and the reply was, to my rough memory:

Morena: There was one pair of red shoes that I kept...
Nathan: Argh! I wanted those for myself
(laughs)
Nathan: Actually there was one thing, you know during the bank raid? I stole some of the money. Well not 'stole', I sort of backed up to the pile, and shoved some down my pants. The I started to walk away and thought "hey I could fit in more" so I went back. I walked out with very square looking pants.

The best part of the night was getting my comic signed afterwards. I hadn't even dreamt that I'd get to meet Nathan and Morena.

Thanks again Needy for posting

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Thursday, August 25, 2005 7:32 AM

NEEDY

The road to Hel is paved with good intentions

Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me
How did you know I was in front of you? Recognise my question?

I was thrilled upon seeing Nathan and Morena walk on - I never believed they would turn up, if I could choose two stars to show up, it would have been them

I wanted to go in costume. But I don't have anything resembling a costume, no blue sun shirt (they've been ordered but not yet arrived), no Jayne hat (though CallMeSerenity has offered to knit me one) not even a brown coat.

I did see a guy wearing a Jayne hat though, I was going to go over to him and comment on it and say "pretty cunning", but that was when everyone was scrambling for autographs and he was over the other side of the foyer. It wasn't you was it?

So where did you travel from? Or do you live in Birmingham?

We trekked from Leicester

Needy. Male Companion a.k.a. First Boy Whore of Destiny

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Thursday, August 25, 2005 8:12 AM

Yeh I recognized your question. I live in Birmingham, great not having to travel far. Although I would have done if necessary

I'd have loved to have worn a brown coat but a)I don't have one and b)I'd have probably started feeling stupid.

They had Jayne hats on sale at Memorabilia, I was tempted to buy one, but I figured that he wouldn't wear one in Serenity so it wasn't totally appropriate. And I needed my money to get home

So no it wasn't me. I didn't actually see him, but it's hard to take much in with Nathan and Morena standing in the same room.

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Thursday, August 25, 2005 11:58 AM

NEEDY

The road to Hel is paved with good intentions

ah it must be handy living in Birmingham. I thought about going to memorabilia but didn't go in the end - if I had known they would have a huge Serenity table with shiny items, I would have went

Instead the thought of being stuck in place full of large crowds and long queues wasn't exactly warming me to the idea. Not that I'm claustrophobic but after a while it does get a bit annoying bumping into people left right and center

I wore a leather jacket anyway because not only did I not know if it'd be raining, but it saved me having to carry my camera around, what with the remarkable invention of pockets. So if I had a brown coat, I dont think I would have minded wearing one. In fact last time I went town I kept my eye out for some brown coats and found one or two brown jackets, but none that would identify me as a browncoat - must need one longer

Needy. Male Companion a.k.a. First Boy Whore of Destiny

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Thursday, August 25, 2005 12:20 PM

NEEDY

The road to Hel is paved with good intentions

Well I'm back with pics!

I forgot to mention that Morena turned up in a very Inara-looking outfit. Looking back now I should have asked a question about the differences and similarities between her and the character. You can see it in the pics

So without further ado, here are the pics

Nathan welcomes the first of many fans who ask for his autograph
http://people.delphiforums.com/NEEDSALT/My%20Photos/Birmingham%20scree
ning%20-%20Nathan3.JPG

and another
http://people.delphiforums.com/NEEDSALT/My%20Photos/Birmingham%20scree
ning%20-%20Nathan1.JPG

and evern more!
http://people.delphiforums.com/NEEDSALT/My%20Photos/Birmingham%20scree
ning%20-%20Nathan2.JPG

Now it's Morena's turn to get in on the action... of signing items that is
http://people.delphiforums.com/NEEDSALT/My%20Photos/Birmingham%20scree
ning%20-%20Morena3.JPG

A close-up of Morena looking ever-so-cute signing
http://people.delphiforums.com/NEEDSALT/My%20Photos/Birmingham%20scree
ning%20-%20Morena1.JPG

and again
http://people.delphiforums.com/NEEDSALT/My%20Photos/Birmingham%20scree
ning%20-%20Morena2.JPG

and here's the pic of me (looking quite fat) and Morena (looking quite fab)
http://people.delphiforums.com/NEEDSALT/My%20Photos/Birmingham%20scree
ning%20-%20Me%20and%20Morena.JPG

and lastly a pic of the card we got signed (Nathan used his knee to lean on to sign but it turned out quite well - his is on the left in case you were wondering)
http://people.delphiforums.com/NEEDSALT/My%20Photos/serenity%20signed%
20card.JPG

Now if only my memory card for my camera turned up, I could have taken a lot more. I did take some video footage using the camera of them fielding questions but it didn't turn out well and I was forced to delete it in order to make room for my photo with Morena. I do have a very brief clip (like 10 seconds) or Nathan having his photo taken with a fan, unfortunately he's got his back turned and you can't really tells its him so maybe it wasn't really worth the effort.

Still, I'm so glad I took my camera!

Needy. Male Companion a.k.a. First Boy Whore of Destiny

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Friday, August 26, 2005 2:03 AM

Great photos! I'm sure it was well worth deleting video for that photo of you and Morena.

My sister took a few photos on a disposable camera, I'll post when they're developed.

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Friday, August 26, 2005 3:21 AM

NEEDY

The road to Hel is paved with good intentions

Quote:
Originally posted by CS:
Great photos! I'm sure it was well worth deleting video for that photo of you and Morena.

My sister took a few photos on a disposable camera, I'll post when they're developed.

Excellent! I look forward to seeing those. I actually was thinking yesterday that if I took my other camera (an APS one that you need to have developed) I could have took a bunch more photos. However I wouldn't have seen what they were like until they were developed. At least with a digital camera you can look at them then and there and delete them if necessary

I could have taken more photos (the memory holds 25 altogether) but the footage I took of Nathan having his picture taken took up a bunch of space - even though the clip was only 10 sec and pretty useless anyway

If only I deleted that video instead

Needy. Male Companion a.k.a. First Boy Whore of Destiny

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