San Diego Comic Con 2001
Comic Con 2001 Highlights
Comic Con 2001 was quite an interesting precursor to all the other Comic Cons that came after. The show began bursting at the seams after blockbusters like “Lord of the Rings” and “Terminator 3” entered the building. So surrounding hotels and other venues stepped up to absorb some of the attendee run-off. But Anaheim and Las Vegas continued to sniff around, trying to steal this show.
In April 2008, David Glanzer, Comic-Con’s Marketing and Public Relations director, said:
We’ve been approached by other cities, [but] I don’t think anybody wants to leave San Diego. I certainly don’t. It’s a perfect fit for us. It’s expensive, whether it be paying for the street signs that tell you what streets are closed, or for any police or the hall or any of the myriad things, it’s expensive. But it’s a great city. There’s been some talk of expansion of the center, which we would certainly welcome. Hopefully if everything lines up, we will be here for many more years.
This is a view of the convention floor at San Diego Convention Center from above. At the time the size of the crowds amazed us. But the floor appears empty compared to today’s standards. The show sells out in March, which is four months prior to the show. Many people try to sneak in and there are usually many disappointed people who cannot get in. If you really want to go, then you must be willing to have your hands poised above your keyboard in March and slam your credit card info into the form in record time.
Back in Time
Julie Stoffer Interviews Weird Al Yankovic at San Diego Comic Con
We shot for Electric Playground that year. Julie Stoffer from MTV’s The Real World, was the on-air talent. She was a lovely young woman who knew how to elicit nice interviews from talent. We ran into Bryan Singer on the floor where he was checking out various booths. He was the Producer of “Superman Returns” and “X Men.” He consented to a short interview. Considering what befell him in 2017 during the #MeToo movement, 2001 was his hey-day. It seemed like he had nowhere to go but up.
According to Wikipedia: Bryan Singer (born September 17, 1965) is an American film director and film producer. Singer won critical acclaim for his work on The Usual Suspects, and is especially well-known among fans of the science fiction and comic book genres for his work on the first two X-Men films and Superman Returns. Due to the Weinstein Effect, and the alleged rape of a 17-year-old in 2003, Bryan Singer has fallen off the map.
Our Director of Photography, Mark Schulze, spotted Weird Al Yankovic passing by on the floor of the San Diego Comic Con convention. So we shot an improvisational interview with him as Julie Stoffer looked on in amazement.
San Diego Comic Con is a multiple-day event. The video production crew criss-crossed the convention floor and adjoining halls many times every day. This, in the parlance of video production, is called “Running and Gunning.” It’s an exercise program all its own, especially since video crew are usually wearing fairly heavy gear while hurrying towards the next interview..
San Diego Video Productions Producer Patty Mooney and Spiderman
Spiderman!
Spiderman made an appearance and posed with Sound Technician Patty Mooney in front of the Marvel booth. She was glad to remove her gear for the photo. The sound tech wears a sound mixer with lav mics and/or stick mic for the talent and carries a boom pole.
The DP carries a camera and “sticks.” aka tripod. The camera ops who opt for no tripod are eliminating an entire category of video – the “smooth and creamy” pans and tilts. We all enjoy seeing segments with hand-held shots, but not when every shot is hand-held aka “shaky-cam.” Yes, moving around the Comic Con without a tripod is much easier but it’s also doing a disservice to the client.
As I recall, in 2001, there were no meal breaks for the crew. We all had to munch down oat bars and water from time to time while running and gunning. I’ll just put this out there: A fed crew is a happy crew. On subsequent shoots at Comic Con over the years, clients like Comedy Central, Marvel and Disney provided snacks and an hour for lunch. Producers, whatever you do, don’t be that person guilty of “Crew Abuse.” Word gets around and video crew have memories like elephants.
Note: Description of the Featured Photo: The crew poses for a group photo after a two-day shoot together. From left are Director of Photography Mark Schulze, Sound Technician Patty Mooney, Tommy Tallarico, guy with long hair whose name I don’t remember, Victor Lucas and Julie Stoffer.
