Posts from Holyground. I'll edit to make more readable later.
This is the schedule as it was followed, not printed. There was a flip-flop on Sunday due to Marcus having to leave early.
Friday Night:
2:30 Early Registration
3:30 Meet and Greet
4:30 PWFC meeting Rochester Room
6:00 Wake for absent Friends.
(BTW I didn't know about the wake because I didn't get this schedule until I arrived at the Armoury on Saturday Morning. And it wasn't mentioned when I picked up my registration at 4:30 on Friday. So word of mouth was a little lacking for communication purposes. At 6:00 pm I was in Gail's room with the VPFC discussing what we were going to do for the night since there were no activities.)
Saturday:
8:00 Guests arrive at the Royal Armouries for walk through.
8:30 Registration in Wellington Room + Preferred seating entry into Bury Theatre.
8:45 General Seating + Rules and general housekeeping.
9:00 And we begin! The Opening Ceremony.
9:10 1986-2006: Celebrating 20 years of Highlander (Bill Panzer) (This was a video)
9:30 Highlander: The Source: From Script to Screen (Bill Panzer and David Abramowitz)
10:00 The Four Horsemen- From Story Concept to script (David A.)
10:45 Directing Four Men on Horses (episode commentary from director/writer perspective) - Adrian Paul, David A.
11:30 Taking Direction: the Actor's Perspective. (Adrian Paul and Peter Wingfield.)
12:00 Getting the Band back together- the Horsemen. Group Q & A. (Adrian Paul, Peter Wingfield, Richard Ridings, Marcus Testory.) (note: they had video of Valentine Pelka talking about it.)
12:30 LUNCH and Autograph sessions (seats #1-125) (note: I never did get an autograph because whenever I went there they were still on #1-45 and I was #55. I didn't keep going back because I already had everyone's autograph on my script so I figured I could skip the autographs this time around.)
2:30 Marcus Testory and Richard Ridings Q & A.
3:00 Watching and Being Watched: The ethics of the Watchers. (David A. and Adrian Paul.)
3:30 Highlander Video Game: Interactivve session with David A and creators and audience.
4:00 Peter Wingfield Q & A.
7:00 Guests and Volunteers- Queens Hotel
7:20 Mingling: guests and attendees
7:50 Dinner - Queens Hotel Ballroom
Menu Choices (mine in bold)
STARTERS
1. ROAST CHICKEN AND MANGO
Served with a Coriander Raita
2. DUO OF FRESH MELON WITH SEASONAL BERRIES V
Served with a Mint Syrup
3. DUCK LIVER AND PORT PARFAIT
Served with a Redcurrant Dressing
MAINS
1. HONEY ROASTED LOIN OF PORK WITH A LIGHT APPLE JUS
Served with Herb Creamed Potatoes (and green beans)
2. ROAST CHICKEN FILLED WITH A MUSHROOM AND GARLIC
DUXELLE
Served with a Red Wine Jus
3. OVEN ROAST FILLET OF SALMON
Served with Gremolata Potatoes and a Light Tomato
Dressing
4. FILO PARCEL OF FIELD MUSHROOM AND LEEK
With a Tarragon Cream
DESSERTS
1. STICKY DATE PUDDING
With a Warm Butterscotch Sauce
2. MARQUISE OF CHOCOLATE
Served with an Orange Anglaise (I think it ended up being a Raspberry
Anglaise)
3. RASPBERRY MOUSSE WITH A RASPBERRY TUILLE
9:00 Concert - Queens Hotel
Sunday:
9:00 Highlander Animé
9:30 Group Q&A: Peter Wingfield, Richard Ridings, Marcus Testory (10:00 joined by Adrian Paul)
10:15 Sword Choreography: directing the fights in Rev 6:8 (Adrian Paul, Peter Wingfield, Richard Ridings, Marcus Testory)
11:00 Auction
1:00 LUNCH and Autograph session (seats #126-250 + Raffle winners coffee with guests) (note: I had no idea there was a raffle because I never got into the Wellington room on Saturday)
3:00 Adrian Paul Q & A.
4:00 Highlander: The Source- Adrian Paul, Peter Wingfield, David A.
I'll do a con report later and get some pictures up. (Used practically the entire 526 card so should have *something*) but for now just a rant on getting to and from.
Now, it may have just been bad luck, or bad karma but both going and coming from Leeds on British Airways was a nightmare.
Going:
First the plane left late. Story was it arrived late because of bad headwinds due to bad weather. Fine. But that should have been made up for during the trip as the 10:30 hour trip was then going to take 9:22 because the headwinds that delayed the flight going west should have been great tailwinds for us going east. Which it was. However we couldn't land in Heathrow. Too backed up or bad weather or whatever. Anyway, the plane basically circled until it ran out of fuel and then was diverted to Luton to refuel. Now our pilot *did* ask the Luton authorities if they had the facilities for his plane and they swore yes. Big fat liars. We landed and refueled. But then we couldn't take off. Plane was supposed to land in Heathrow at 3:10 pm. At 4:20 in Luton pilot announces....they can't find the tow hook to tow the plane out of parking so it can take off gain. Two hours later they still can't find it. *Then* they decide to let us get off the plane where they've been holding us hostage and go through immigration in Luton. We then board buses and are DRIVEN to Heathrow. They drop us off at Terminal 2, (wrong terminal) where there are NO representatives of British Airways.
I was supposed to have over five and a half hours between landing at Heathrow at 2:50 pm and my connecting BMI flight leaving at 8:50 pm. It's now 8:10 pm and I've missed the electronic check in. I run to terminal 1 and throw myself on the mercy of the BMI counter ladies. They check me in, tell me the plane is 15 min. late and I have plenty of time to get to the gate. (I even had time for a quick, expensive, tuna fish sandwich) I make my connecting flight and arrive in Leeds. I make it to the Queens about 11 pm. No thanks to British Airways.
So...I never did see the British Museum. And it's a very good thing I didn't go by train and book it in advance as I was thinking of doing as I would certainly have missed any train I booked. As it was, I barely made the BMI flight during the 5 1/2 hours between it and my arrival time.
Now I blame the entire incident on the First Officer who made a disparaging remark about Virgin Atlantic, thus bringing on bad karma.
Why the flight back was cursed, I have no idea.
Returning:
Made it to Heathrow in plenty of time to catch the BA flight to LAX. We were about to take off when the pilot slams on the brakes and we turn and leave the runway. Huh? Seems the gear on one of the engines is stuck in reverse. Takes them three hours to do whatever they do, all of which time we are held hostage on the plane because it would take an hour to get us off and then another hour to get us back on again. At least they didn't decide to have us change planes after three hours. So we take off three hours late. And thus arrive in LAX three hours late.
And land in some remote landing area. We taxi forever. Then they tell us the "tunnel" isn't working correctly and we have to pull forward 5 feet to reach it. Everyone sit down and buckle up again. By now another half hour has passed. When we finally do get off it looks....strange. Yep, by the time we go down ramps and out the building we have no idea where we are but it's the middle of nowhere.
And there are busses.
What is it with British Airways and busses? So we get on the busses and are driven 10-15 min. to another terminal.
Thank god I had carry-on both ways. I went through immigration and was free at last.
I'll never check luggage aboard British Airways again. I'll probably never FLY British Airways again.
I just can't afford the extra 4-6 hours they seem to tack on to every flight I've ever been on.
The actual Con was great. More about that later.
And let this be a lesson.
Pack light and do carry-on. The only reason I had clothes was that I didn't check my luggage.
Leeds.
First. Very little jetlag either way.
Second. What a lovely, friendly town. My seatmate on the BMI flight was an executive with a Steel company based in Leeds. He was getting a Taxi from the airport anyway so he told me if I'd wait for him to collect his bags he would share it with me. Then he wouldn't let me pay. That was only the first of several encounters.
I accidentally left my postcards in the card shop. The shop girl tracked me down in The Body Shop where she had directed me to give the back. Then I dropped my passport accidentally in the Body Shop and the girl in there found it and returned it to me using my passport picture. (I am getting rid of that purse, BTW. It didn't work out well at all for traveling.)
I was overcharged for the first taxi I took by myself for the Armoury. But that may have something to do with either that company charging more than others or there is a surcharge when you ride alone.
I initially had trouble checking in to the hotel Thursday night. They had my reservation just find and put me in a nice, rather large room overlooking the back of the hotel. No kidding the hotel had just been remodeled. Very nice neo-art deco styling. Really nice bathroom. But the room was...empty. My roommate, Swordlvr AKA Kelly was supposed to have arrived that morning. I was having visions of British Airways circling Manchester, holding her hostage. I went down to the desk to see if she had checked in. Only one problem. In all of our e-mail exchanges...Kelly had NEVER given me her last name. So they looked for every Kelly in the HLCon and found one. From Illinois. Mine was from Florida. Well they called her and sure enough, it was her. She wa BORN in Illinois. There information was from her passport. So I moved all of my things. The room had a great view of the square in front of the hotel. The room itself and the bathroom were smaller, but we weren't in there much except to sleep anyway. She left me the bed near the window with the view and I was fine with that. Friday I bought my traditional vase from Marks and Spencer (perfect for the Art Deco decor) and bought some cut flowers in their basement foodcourt. This time....a bunch of daffodils just beginning to open. They were perfect. They immediately started to open and we enjoyed them Saturday and Sunday. They were still lovely on Monday when I, unfortunately, had to throw them away. But they were certainly worth £1. And I still have the vase (£3.50). I've added it to my Manchester vase and my Birmingham vase.
Many friendly Congoers as well. The girl in the seat next to me showed me how to turn the flash off on my digital camera. That alone was worth the trip
I had dinner in the bar Sunday night with a contingent from Germany, Denmark, Holland and perhaps another country or two. And Gail of the VPFC split High Tea with me. Yes, the bar waitress allowed us to order High Tea after 6 pm in the bar. Gail and I drank two pots of tea each. (Earl Grey for me) She told me she was up every hour that night. I beat her. I only had to get up every two hours.
Gail and I went to the off-license to buy libations for anyone that showed up on Friday night for DVDs in her room Friday and Sunday night.
On Sunday I had lunch with my seatmate from the Saturday night dinner who tried to teach me a little British. Serviette is only a paper napkin and desert is only on a plate when you eat it with a fork. We had "take away". And the Dutch sisters taught me to say "yummy".
The venue was perfect. Where better to hold a Highlander Convention than a large building full of sharp, pointy things? Although I was shocked they had nothing about the Winged Hussar of Polland. Nothing in print in the gift shop and no displays at all.
The scheduling was quite relaxed. There was a long lunch break to allow you to eat, explore the museum and check out the dealer's room. I missed my autograph slot but that's OK, I had everyone's autograph anyway. I didn't know about the raffle but probably wouldn't have bought tickets anyway.
The guests were quite relaxed and really seemed to be enjoying the experience. You could see the relationships....friends together after a separation of time taking things up where they had felt off. Richard and Marcus were quite the pair. Adrian and Peter really had a fun time with the auction. Adrian in particular seemed quite relaxed, willing to please and enjoying the whole experience. David Abramowitz was his lovely self. Such a very nice man. Someone put together a montage of "In Memorium" starting with "immortals", then the actors that have passed on, such as Werner Stocker, Miles Ferguson and of late, Vince Schiavelli. It ended with fans that have passed. I'm not sure if Anasazi Lady was among them as I don't know her real name. It was quite moving and I hope they continue to repeat it and expand as the years pass. Afterwards, David A. was moved to say an impromptu Kadish.
The theater was excellent. Comfortable seats, considering we were going to sit in them all day. And there really wasn't a bad seat in the house, although I am glad I bought the preferred seating. I was dead center about four rows back. The seats were marked with both rows and numbers so there was no problem. The attendance was modest by the standards of some of the previous Cons I've attended, so "crowd control" was not a problem. As I said, very relaxed for everyone.
I explored some of Leeds on Friday. I went to the public library, which was quite nice. I interviewed one of the librarians and observed her for an hour as homework for my masters class.
The concierge at the Marriot told me I could change money at the Post Office without paying a service charge. I went their three times over the weekend, twice to change money and once to buy stamps.
As I said, everyone was nice, friendly, warm, welcoming and it was a pleasant experience all around.
I will say there is something about the people of Leeds and directions. I never seemed to be able to retrace my steps once I left the hotel. When I headed out I alwasy took off to the left, uphill into the financial district. That way led to the Post Office. But I never quite managed to retrace my steps. I always got turned around and when I ended up asking directions back to The Queens, I followed the directions given, but always seem to approach the hotel from the right going...uphill.
So I'd leave the hotel going uphill and return to the hotel going uphill. And I always seemed to move in clockwise circles. I truly believe the people of Leeds have this thing about moving in a clockwise direction.
BTW it snowed on Sunday. And it stuck, because on my way to the airport, I got to see fields covered in snow. And a wonderful ruined abbey right by the side of the road. Too bad I didn't have time to see that. Very picturesque. There were also some manor houses with gardens in the area, but unfortunately some were closed during March and it rained on Friday, the only day I really had for sightseeing. And with early registration Friday I really didn't have time to go out and see anything anyway. I didn't realize early registration started at 2:30. I thought 3:30 and didn't get there until a little after 4, what with getting lost on my way back from the Public Library.
Aside from The Source and the Horseman Arc three other projects were discussed: Animé and gaming and a possible new TV series.
David Abramowitz was involved with the creators of both a Highlander Videogame and an Animé Movie. I wasn't much interested in either but the discussion was interesting.
Depending on how influential David A is on the creators they could be cool and bring in younger fans and revitalize the franchise...or they could majorly suck.
The guy involved with the design of the game was there. It wouldn't be role playing but there would be a slight bit of it. The question was asked, that since it is being targeted to young males and there would be a romantic element...the female players were concerned that they would need to make out with female characters in the context of the game...I.E. female players would have to be male characters. The designer seemed to think it could be designed so that you ccould pick your gender when you began to play and the game could be adjusted. I would strongly advise he do this. I certainly hope he observed the audience and took this to heart. Not only that...but many young girls are starting to do more gaming and that would open up the market. Other discussions involved layering and being able to set the game to play itself by having zero players.
The Animé movie is being done by one of the top Animé diretors in the world. For those that know Vampire Slayer D....that's the guy. David related some funny stories about his first experiences relating to Japanese businessmen. He thinks that the director did understand what he was saying about "Talmudic discussion with ass kicking" and that the story they have developed for the animé lends itself to the medium perfectly. For myself, I am concerned with the futuristic spider machines that look like something out of Wild, Wild West or Toy Story.
If both or either the video game or the Animé (which they are planing for a theatrical release at this time) are successful, they will bring in much younger fans to the Highlander Universe. As long as that doesn't change the flavor of what David has established (the talmudic discussion) I'm for all of the ass-kicking they like. I just don't want the money people to interfere and "Ravenize" the franchise.
David A. also talked of a new series. It is an extreme longshot. But they are talking with....FOX. (yes, the series killers.) David says he'll talk to anyone about a series and Fox were the first to take a meeting. He said there might be appearances by known immortals but the show would have new, younger immortals. And it was his intention to have the situation be one in which immortals were "outed". I immediately thought of the X-men movie where some of them were considered an abomination. Shades of Horton and the Watchers.
I still think the Watcher Chronicles or the Methos Chronicles with Joe and Methos introducing weekly episodes in which they may or may not have played a part would have been a really viable series. Time for an anthology series to return to TV. Enough of ensemble casts. And let's send Reality TV where the sun don't shine. We need the Chronicles, with Joe behind the bar and Methos with a beer and a smile. Best venue for David A. to provide Talmudic discussion with ass kicking. But I digress.
And David A. said that the movie universe is different than the series one. The games and animé will be different as well. They will all have elements that will overlap, but they will also have elements unique to themselves.
Sort of like a Venn diagram, I think.
At any rate they wanted to do something to expand the Highlander mythos and bring in some new concepts and ideas, to keep it fresh and allow more stories and more concepts and more...discussion.
But the core of Highlander will still be there. Honor. Responsibility. Loss.
Bill Panzer did say Lion's Gate has been great about creative control of The Source and hasn't interfered with their vision of the movie. Apparently they are giving him and the director free reign in the editing process. This is a good thing.
Peter and Adrian mentioned twice that the movie may not be finished filming yet. They think additional footage and possibly another ending may be shot/added.
Bill Panzer didn't show us a trailer, he showed us a series of clips designed to market the movie to distributors, movie theaters and money people.
Two things concerned me.
One was an immortal character that reminded me of Jabba the Hut or the slug demon from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. David A talked about the "price you pay" for I don't remember what but obviously some evil. Immortal vanity or something. So I'm afraid that character is in. One can only hope when they finish the CGI and special effects, the audience doesn't groan "Immortal Jabba the Hut". I think they could have portrayed "the price you pay" without slugman. Look at Dorian Gray.
The other character is a death character that flits around the screen getting in our heroes faces, mouthing gibberish and, again, reminded me of something from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Or maybe the Matrix. I don't know, I didn't see the Matrix. But it has that stop motion, instantly in another location look to it. I think the character is called The Guardian or something. Again we were assured better after CGI and special effects. I still have this feeling of dread. (I think it's just...well...stupid looking.)
Duncan, Methos, a new, young immortal named Reggie ("Richie is DEAD." - David Abramowitz) and some others are looking for the source of the Immortal legend in some monastery or something. I can only fear another Zeist movie. In fact, one of the fans flat out said that whenever Highlander ventured into the supernatural or fantasy relm, as in Zeist and Ahriman...it got weak and slightly ridiculous and why would they try it again? I have to agree. Why do they keep going there when they have yet to pull it off?
Not really a satisfactory answer to that one. David A basically said that what he tried to communicate didn't quite come off with Ahriman. But that Highlander had more hits than misses and I have to agree with him there. What other series television generates the discussions of morality, ethics and philosophy that Highlander has? The number of episodes that hit that note far outnumber the lame, shallow duds. David A admitted that he writes better comedy than drama and that most of the lighter eps were weak, but that they were necessary as you can't have a dark show every week, getting darker and darker. But..the new movie takes place in a future, post apocalyptic world that *is* very dark.
BTW we were asked to vote for our two favorite episodes and one worst episode. Apparently Davis-Anderson are going to market a "best and worst" of Highlander. Well, it was basically a Horseman Con. What two episodes do you *think* people will vote for as best? As for worst....even David A. mentioned The Zone.
The Source is being edited as you read this (March). Bill Panzer said he would be viewing a rough Director's cut this week (March 13). I think they are looking at an October release to the theaters. And yes, at this time they are releasing it to Theaters, not straight to DVD.
Adrian did have a lot more control of the script this time, since he is also an executive producer. He is the one that looked at the original script, said no and brought in David A. David said he had submitted a script and has no idea where it ended up but apparently no one read it. It was "lost". (Hmmm.) When he got the Source script to fix, he added some of what was in his original, lost script. Basically the Highlander talmudic discussion stuff we all love. The fact that David and Adrian were so involved, know the Highlander universe so well and have some creative control makes me optimistic.
If this movie does well there may be two more. Which is why the original script had to have some major rewrite. From the spoilers I read that are no longer on the web (except in cache form) you can't have two more movies with the original storyline. Duh.
As usual, David A. let slip more than he intended. I don't much care, it just whets my appetite. And I'd rather go see the movie and hear the characters say his words. But he did give us some dialogue, mostly to demonstrate that The Source still has it's Talmudic roots. He also gave a great definition of what Talmudic discussion is. It's basically what we do on this board when we talk about the moral lesson imbedded in the episodes.
One scene is when Methos explains to Duncan why he must go on.
Duncan asks why he must go on. Methos says because he has something that the bad guy doesn't have. What is that? Faith. How do you know? (I'm sure I don't have this verbatim but I don have the "punchline")
"Because his faith is based on vanity. Your faith is based on honor."
Or something like that.
Note: When Adrian and Peter were doing a Q & A they mentioned they didn't recall filming that scene or speaking those lines. That is not to say they may not be doing exactly that when they said that the film may not be done and more filming may take place. But when David A. mentioned this dialogue a second time when Adrian and Peter were on stage with him, Peter made a face and looked at Adrian and they smirked a little. There was some laughing and David A. seemed not to understand the joke. I hope they eventually tell him. And I hope they film that scene if they're going to do any additional filming.
The other dialogue that David A. related is priceless. It is a Methos line. He's talking to the Slug-Priest who is spounting off about having such faith and being so Christian. David A. called him a right wing fundamentalist priest. The dialogue is great and it also adds to the Methos timeline:
"I saw Christ live, I saw Christ teach and I saw Christ Love. And you...you SON OF A BITCH, are no Christian."
I may not have got it exactly right, but it's close. Now if the rest of the movie were like that....*THAT* would be a movie worth seeing.
It's interesting to note that during the auction and some of the other activities, the cameras at HLWW7 were on the audience. Apparently at David A.'s request. I think that footage of us buying things ($1000 for this and $600 for that) is going to be included with promo stuff for money people. To show that the franchise is NOT dead and that there is money to be made. (If people have money to buy this stuff, they have money to buy whatever you're adverstising during the commercials.) I just hope someone notices the age and gender of those who are spending $600 for a letter from Adrian or $450 for a director's chair that Peter and Adrian both sat in (at the same time..one in the other's lap. Brokeback Highlander) Sorry, but I don't think college age males are going to fly to England and plunk down several hundred dollars for an old book of Byron's works just because Peter and Adrian signed it. They haven't got that kind of discretionary cash nor do they have those kind of priorities. They'll go out and buy an X-box, iPod or something else. And I happen to think that *I* have more discretionary income than a college male. They would need a lot less of viewers like me than college age males to sell their products. But I digress.
And while I don't mind them expanding and bringing in some new ideas, they need to be very, very careful. As was mentioned before, the minute they head toward fantasy, the quality sucks.
Immortal Jabba the Hut is just as bad as Zeist, so they need to tread very softly and carefully to make it work.
David A. seemed to think he could pull off a logical and acceptable explanation along the lines of 'the price you pay'.
As to the script David A submitted, according to him...no one read it. It was "lost". So when he was brought in to fix the one they did choose, he just put in some of what he had in his script whenever the opportunity arose and it fit.
You have a point No, they don't get a piece of the swords and merchandise.
But the fact that swords and merchandise are still being bought, that fans fly to England and pay $1000 for some piece of memorabilia...that does translate into interest. And discretionary income. The advertisers could sell us products. Probably a lot easier, depending on the product. And we've got more money to spend.
It's like writing letters to the networks...for every one they get they figure there are another 100 people that don't write.
Okay, there were only 250 people in Leeds. But what was going on there shows that there *is* interest in Highlander, especially if they broaden the ideas a little and bring in some fresh fan blood without alienating the old. You can't afford to alienate the old in case the new doesn't work out either. Then you've killed the cash cow.
And I think David A. is very aware that he has to do this very carefully because they want to EXPAND the fan base, not trade the established fans (who are a sure thing) for new fans; an unknown commodity.
Adding without losing. That's the trick.
This is the point that as made in Leeds. They designed and marketed a show for young males, 18-25.
Look around the room the room and you see a lot of women in their 30s and up. They were spending a LOT of cash.
I believe someone said that Bill Panzer was shocked when he looked out over the Celebration Con in Anaheim and saw the sheer number of women....mature women. Older women at that con. Hundreds of them. Because that is NOT the market they were targeting. The number of people in white collar professions was mentioned as well....doctors, lawyers, teachers. Highlander appealed to people who THINK.
That's why I believe they need to stop targeting or at least back off. They need to focus on quality. Then a market will appear. You make more money with quality. Market to the audience that is attracted to the show...don't try to attract an audience to your product. I think that's why so many shows "fail.". And then...be patient. There are very few "instant" hits in three episodes or less. Give it an entire season. Even true stinkers should have 13 weeks.