Flanvention Report - Day 3A by DonCoat

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Flanvention Report - Day 3A

POSTED BY: DONCOAT
UPDATED: Sunday, January 15, 2006 08:56
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Sunday, December 11, 2005 1:20 PM

It's about 3:00PM in LA, and the Flanvention is winding down. All that's left are the autograph sessions and a couple more Q&A's tonight.

The day started with a faux "church service" with Jonathan Woodward presiding. He vamped for an hour or so, giving "communion": Pringles dipped in cheap champagne. Funny stuff.

I'm still battling this fever, but you can bet your ass I didn't let that stop me from being at this morning's Q&A with Nathan, Ron, Alan, and Adam. Once again our cap'n had the room rocking. Lots more good questions. One of the stories was about practical jokes on set. Nathan got a bit of a reputation as a jokester, and so became the butt of get-even jokes even when he hadn't started anything. Right after he bought his very first new car and crowed about it to everyone on the set, it developed a strange noise, sort of a playing card in the spokes sound. Turned out someone -- nobody knows exactly who -- had put a plastic tie on the drive shaft so it whacked the floorpan every time around. Nathan was not pleased! Messing with somebody's new car is one of the things you just. Don't. Do.

The guys were asked whether they'd like to play a superhero, and what powers they would have. Nathan said his power would be to make Ron and Adam shut up. Alan opined that seemed rather limited. Later, however, when Ron was giving Nathan a hard time, Alan suggested that he use his superpower.

The Sunday Lunch got started around one o'clock. It was held outdoors, with about six tables. You could choose your seating, based on which BDH was there -- we were admitted in ticket-number sequence, so early registerers got their favorite star. I was in the middle of the pack, but headed straight for a table with plenty of room: Alan and Summer's.

Kids, let me tell you -- it was awesome. Unlike the crowded cocktail party and loud banquet, you could converse normally. We talked about all kinds of things: Alan's role in Spamalot, the possible future of the Firefly franchise, Summer's dancing and how she applied that to her fighting moves in Serenity, the kinds of roles they're getting offered. When asked if he felt like he was getting typecast, Alan said no -- if anything, it wasn't Firefly but other roles he's had (sensitive, sometimes gay characters) that were producing offers he didn't want to take.

He also mentioned that he'd had three stage roles in which he was nude for some scenes, and how weird that was. That's another class of role he's now turning down.

He also told us that he found out about Wash's fate in Serenity when he read the script. Nobody gave him any advance warning. Ouch!

Alan is hopeful that there will be more of Firefly, one way or another. He mentioned that Serenity did better than a lot of its higher-budget "peers" this year. We talked about the possible ways Wash could return. He even pointed out that cloning is a possibility (it's mentioned in War Stories, somewhat jokingly). But we agreed that would be pretty weird.

Did you catch the moment in the Maidenhead fight where River, in one smooth motion, sweeps a bottle off the bar and it conks a guy on the head, knocking him out? That was Summer, not a stunt double. The bottle didn't actually have to hit the guy, though -- there was a cut in between -- but she did have another bit where she had to throw a bottle toward the bar and it was supposed to hit a guy on the forehead. They did three takes, and she hit him every time! She surprised herself with that; she says she was never good at sports.

Summer really had to hit people in those fight scenes, because Joss wanted to shoot them continuously. That meant you couldn't arrange the camera angle so that it looked like a hit when it wasn't. In rehearsals the hits were soft, but in the real takes they got a lot harder.

Summer also talked a bit about how hard it was to deal with Hollywood phonies and hangers-on, and how some people would act a certain way to your face and completely differently when they didn't know you were around. She has to be on her guard for that.

I was going to make an ass of myself and propose a toast to the whole group, but with a scratchy throat and being outdoors, I gave a simplified version just to my table.

Here's the toast I was *planning* to give:

[A quick ID of myself. Then...]

I'd like to take a couple minutes to talk directly to our Big Damn Heroes. Goodness knows the chance doesn't come up very often!

First, I'd like to thank you for coming out to the Flanvention this weekend. I know it's a lot of work for you, but we fans sure appreciate the chance to hang out with you guys, if only for a little while.

You know, Firefly fans have got to be the most angst-ridden, obsessive bunch of reubens around. We sure have gone through a lot of emotional ups and downs with you. Right now it seems we're in a bit of a downswing. But I for one am optimistic. I think Firefly is too damn good to just fade away, and some way, somehow, Joss is gonna find a way to get Serenity flying again.

When that happens, I hope that all of you -- ALL of you -- are part of it.

In the meantime, I hope you all find some great roles and juicy projects, and that you achieve all the success and acclaim you deserve and desire. But no more than that! I don't think we care to see Morena's paparazzi dream come true.

So, on behalf of myself, the other fans in this room who apparently have more money than sense, and especially for those fans beyond the door, across the country, and around the world, I'd like to say thank you for bringing these wonderful characters to life. We love you all. Salut!

...Like I said, I simplified it, though most of the basic ideas were there (including the last few lines). Both Alan and Summer seemed pleased.

More later after the final Q&As.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ain't about you, Jayne. It's about what they need.

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Sunday, December 11, 2005 2:45 PM

BRUISERSMOM

Sounds like you had a lot of fun at the luncheon. Was that the luncheon that was auctioned off on eBaY? How much did tickets go for?

How was the banquet? Were you able to go up to the actors and talk to them or was it like the premeire where you had to muscle your way to the front of a blob of people just to shake their hands and say congrats.

"You can keep a dog; but it is the cat who keeps people, because cats find humans useful domestic animals."--George Mikes

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Sunday, December 11, 2005 6:32 PM

SPECTER

hope the fever goes away soon enough and i wholeheartedly agree, messing with someones car = no bueno

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Wednesday, December 14, 2005 1:00 PM

FOREVERSHINY

That sounds hysterical! It seemed by your thing ("A table with plenty of room...") that Alan and Summer get kinda overlooked, but they seem hi-larious! Thanks again for writing these.

Cheers,

~ForeverShiny~
~~~~~~~~~~~
Can't stop the signal!
"No, Cap'n, I think it's shiny!"--Kaylee, o'course.
"Yeah, but she's our witch, so cut her the hell down." --Mal in "Safe."
"Love. You can learn all the math in the 'verse, but you take a boat in the air you don't love, she'll shake you off as sure as the turning of worlds. Love keeps her in the air when she oughtta fall down, tells ya she's hurtin' 'fore she keens. Makes her a home." --Mal in "Serenity" My all-time fav quote. Love it!

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Wednesday, December 14, 2005 1:24 PM

DONCOAT

Quote:
Originally posted by ForeverShiny:
That sounds hysterical! It seemed by your thing ("A table with plenty of room...") that Alan and Summer get kinda overlooked, but they seem hi-larious! Thanks again for writing these.

Well, there were a couple factors. I think there were more places set than total lunchers, so there was some room for adjustment. I was around the middle of the pack, so I don't think any table had filled up when I got my turn, except maybe Nathan's or Adam's (ever-popular choices, of course).

And then, Alan and Summer's table was almost the farthest from the entrance. Some of the earlier entrants may have simply overlooked them, or jumped onto a closer table.

And Alan is certainly a fine figure of a human being, complete with both serious and humorous sides. I think he'd make a great next-door neighbor.

Summer is a much more private person, more than a little shy, and not nearly as quick to crack wise as the other BDH's. She'll often pause for a few moments before answering a question. Her voice is so quiet that I had to struggle a bit to hear her, even in the relatively quiet surroundings of the luncheon. She seems so vulnerable, in a way -- I hope she has a tough side, or good people around her, or both.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ain't about you, Jayne. It's about what they need.

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Wednesday, December 14, 2005 2:35 PM

FOREVERSHINY

Really? Cuz I've heard rumours (rumours, mind you) that Summer was by far the most demanding cast member. So the revelation that she's very quiet and introspective is a complete contrast.

Yeah, Alan does seem really cool. Lucky!

~ForeverShiny~
~~~~~~~~~~~
Can't stop the signal!
"No, Cap'n, I think it's shiny!"--Kaylee, o'course.
"Yeah, but she's our witch, so cut her the hell down." --Mal in "Safe."
"Love. You can learn all the math in the 'verse, but you take a boat in the air you don't love, she'll shake you off as sure as the turning of worlds. Love keeps her in the air when she oughtta fall down, tells ya she's hurtin' 'fore she keens. Makes her a home." --Mal in "Serenity" My all-time fav quote. Love it!

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Wednesday, December 14, 2005 4:29 PM

DONCOAT

Quote:
Originally posted by ForeverShiny:
Really? Cuz I've heard rumours (rumours, mind you) that Summer was by far the most demanding cast member. So the revelation that she's very quiet and introspective is a complete contrast.

Well, of course, I've never seen her "at work". I would certainly accept the idea that she might be extremely demanding of herself -- I could definitely see her as being a perfectionist about her own work, and maybe that would extend to those she works with.

She did say that she asked for, and got, a lot of time to prepare herself for the more emotional scenes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ain't about you, Jayne. It's about what they need.

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Thursday, December 15, 2005 1:12 PM

FOREVERSHINY

Well, those emotional scenes were pretty....emotional.

I can see her being a perfectionist. Yep.

~ForeverShiny~
~~~~~~~~~~~
Can't stop the signal!
"No, Cap'n, I think it's shiny!"--Kaylee, o'course.
"Yeah, but she's our witch, so cut her the hell down." --Mal in "Safe."
"Love. You can learn all the math in the 'verse, but you take a boat in the air you don't love, she'll shake you off as sure as the turning of worlds. Love keeps her in the air when she oughtta fall down, tells ya she's hurtin' 'fore she keens. Makes her a home." --Mal in "Serenity" My all-time fav quote. Love it!

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Friday, December 16, 2005 6:50 AM

FILLIONFLAN

Doncoat, sounds like it was pretty rockin' over at your Luncheon table! Our table (Nathan's)was actually a little subdued, if you can believe that...I think our Cap'n was a little whipped, or maybe just conserving energy for the five-hour autograph session that was to come.

He DID do some AWESOME Christopher Walken impersonations...I'm talking spot-on! And Camden and Keith kept the conversation rolling in some fun directions, too...but oddly enough, we didn't really talk about Firefly at all, that I can remember. I too was (am still) fighting a bad bug and barely had a voice...was trying desperately not to cough on Nathan (who I was sitting beside) OR Jonathan Woodward (who was sitting on the other side of me...hmmm...nice sandwich!!!!)

Good to meet you out there, Doncoat! Maybe see you at Serenity 3/4 in London?

ZOE: “It’s just, the Captain’s so tense…”
WASH: “Of course he’s tense. He’s awake.”

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Friday, December 16, 2005 7:31 AM

CANTTAKETHESKY

Dong le ma

so when is Serenity 3/4 in London - anyone kno?

canttakethesky from me

"so unless you got the overwhelming urge to gut sturgeon..and,who hasn't occasionally..." mal

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Friday, December 16, 2005 7:32 AM

FILLIONFLAN

Not yet...but should know soon. I'm sure it will be all over the boards as soon as it's announced!

ZOE: “It’s just, the Captain’s so tense…”
WASH: “Of course he’s tense. He’s awake.”

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Sunday, January 15, 2006 8:56 AM

MAKESUSMIGHTY

BUMP

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