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Comic-Con 2010 Preview Night

July 22, 2010 by Rob Hurlbut 

Welcome To Comic-Con 2010

        Preview night for Comic-Con 2010 was very crowded, very big, very colorful and VERY fucking awesome! I walked around for about 2 1/2 hours, but it seemed like I was only there for a few minutes. Once you enter the convention center, time and space become nothing because all your brain can compute is the incredible array of optical and audio stimuli. This made taking photos difficult because I wanted to just walk around like a kid in a candy store, picking up S.W.A.G every step of the way. For those interested in my camera settings, I had my D5000 at 1000 ISO for every photo in this post, except the pick of the Green Hornet’s car at the end, which was shot at 200 ISO. My aperture was always at the largest for whatever focal length I happened to be at, so it ranged from f/3.5-5.6. My shutter ranged from 1/40 to around 1/125 of a second.

This Is Only The Beginning Of The Comic-Con Crowds

        There were so many people that it made getting clean shots of my subjects just about impossible, but I still managed to get a few keepers. That being said, this post will be heavy on photos and light on words. I’m exhausted from the evening and I still have four days to go, so sit back and enjoy the show, as I captured it.

        There were not a whole lot of people in costume for the preview night at Comic-Con, but don’t worry because they will be out in force over the next four days. Above on the left is Peter Meyhew, the actor that played Chewbacca in the original Star Wars movies. He walks with a lightsaber cane, which I though was very cool and fitting. On the right is a female Deadpool, the “Merc with a mouth.”

Ghostbusters Car Ecto-1

        There are TONS of movie props at Comic-Con, some actually used in production and some replicas. This car is the real deal… Peter, Ray and Egon all rode around NYC ghostbusting in this actual car.

        Legos can be used to make some very cool things, as the legos above can attest to. The Hagrid statue was actual size while Buzz Lightyear and Woody were about five feet tall. I’ve actually being trying to find a “bucket-o-legos” for a couple years, but without success. All that seem to be available now are lego kits that are meant to build a specific object.

A Model From The Movie Avatar

        All the big name movie production companies are represented at Comic-Con, which is probably why The Con has become so crowded over the years. I think more people go to Comic-Con hoping for a chance to see someone or something famous than people that go to look at up and coming comic book companies and artists.

Dog Handler Predator With His Hound

Predalien Predator/Alien Hybrid

Iron Maiden “Killers” Statue

        There are some things at Comic-Con that just defy explanation, and what you see above are a couple of those things. A mock-up of a murder scene and a life size statue of a woman with an empty gaze. It takes all sorts to move the world, I guess.

The Exorcist Bed Scene

        Of course there are other things that need no explaining at all. The Exorcist still ranks in my top 5 scariest movies of all time

TRON Lightcycle

        I bet it’s fun to ride one of these! For those of you that didn’t know, they have remade TRON and I’m sure the special effects will be amazing.

        While I’m not really starstruck when it comes to movie props, it is always neat to see actual size statues of BIG things from the movies. Bumblebee, the most caring of all the Transformers loomed 20 feet high, standing next to an untransformed Camaro. The first two ALIEN movies also occupy a couple spots in my favorite scary movies. In the second one, I love the line, “They mostly come out at night… Mostly.” And of course the most famous line of all, “Get away from her you BITCH!”

The Green Hornet’s Car

        So, here is a short rant about what I DIDN’T like at Comic-Con, as well as a few tips for people that will be attending over the next four days. First, what bugged me. Groups of 2 or 3 people that form a daisy chain while maneuvering through the crowd, so they won’t get separated. This is SO annoying. It’s hard enough to move through a crowd of individual people, but the daisy chainers create these impassable objects that force people that would otherwise slip between them to have to go around them. It’s very rude, so don’t do that. We all have cell phones, so it’s OK to let go of the apron strings. I also didn’t like that the SMALL PRESS area of The Con was almost empty because most people are in the other areas playing the latest video games or hunting for S.W.A.G.
        Tips for newbies to Comic-Con: Wear comfortable shoes, because you will be on your feet all day. Bring a camera. Bring your own food and bottled water so you can maximize your time inside The Con. If you DO leave to go eat, try any of San Diego’s Gaslamp restaurants because it is some FINE dining. I do not recommend buying food inside Comic-Con because it is worse than food at a ballgame and just as over-priced. Oh, one last thing, HAVE FUN! Cheers!

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