The Goods and Bads of CE

I second the wish for a second CE . Wouldn't mind if it were to be held in Amsterdam

 

I pretty much agree with everything said and there seems to be a consensus about it anyway. Bad queueing setup, bad use of space for everything - they could have put the autograph hall someplace else and move some stuff over there and it would have made a world of difference!

The Saturday was bad, the Sunday almost felt relaxing in comparison! I really hope they take that as encouragement for a 2nd CE and expand it.

And of course I have to agree with Johanna on the complete lack of EU people. It's the only thing I consider worth signing (not much of an autograph person) and it's a lot more up to date than a 30 year old movie (only half-considered asking one question in 8 panels or so). The closest thing to that was the Force Unleashed panel.

QFT! That was the best thing I hadn't considered beforehand (unlike FanForce, guests, exhibits/merchandise, etc.). I was all like "oh, right, there are kids, too". I loooooved all those children in their cute, clumsy little costumes, especially those pyjama-like Clone Trooper things Though the Jedi robes were lovely, too and I thought some of them were pretty well done, too (though I don't know much about costuming, let alone making them).

but then again, that's hardly to the organizer's credit

 

Besides some SW weekends at Disney MGM, this was my first SW Convention. If it wasn't in London I was going to the C-IV in the USA.

Good stuff there. Toys, lots of people in costume, good talk shows (Warick Davies is good, saw him also two years ago in Florida). The new video game and the new TV shows!!!


Also some less good stuff, as mentioned above queing, hot, crowded. Worst interview is the one woth the costume designer, hope they do not ask that interviewer back!


Overall, good times and good experiences. Hope that there is going to be a shift from the OT to the PT, TV shows and EU. The cast and crew of the OT are getting on a bit, so time for new stories from other people.

Contacter the 501 at the Fan Stage (stage being a big word for the cube they had....next time a REAL stage please!) and will join up once I have found and made a Trooper armor.

See you at C-V or CE-II!!!


EP


Oh, almost forgot. THE FANBOY MOVIE ROCKS!!!!!

 

CV and CE2 will be great. Hopefully I'll be able to go to both.

 

If you need any advice etc feel free to give me a shout . Rache can vouch for me.

Matt/ TK2388

 

Ray Park - Darth Maul
Warwick Davis - Whicket (On Sunday Obi-Wan Kenobi)
Duane Kemp - Qui-Gon Jinn

This is the single most amazing experience I enjoyed during the weekend.

For a reinactment of the Episode I fight sequence there was a search for someone with a beard to play
Qui-Gon Jinn. My wife?s hand floated over my head in view of the searching Ray Park which drew his attention.

?You in the bandana.?. I was apparently the only one with a bandana.

I stood up an began to undress my abundance of superflous video and camera equipment. Master
of Ceremonies, Warwick Davis, remarked that we didn?t have all day. I rushed the stage, shook their hands
and presented myself to their mercy.

I am honoured to say that I was killed on stage by Ray Park as Darth Maul while in the role of Qui-Gon
with Warwick Davis in the lead as Obi-Wan Kenobi.

The moment passed much too rapidly and unfortunately, it was after the event took place that I wished I said something to Ray Park like, ?Your Shwartz is bigger than mine but, my midiclorians are more masculine.?


See photos of this at

http://www.kemppro.com/starwars_2007/starwars/Gallery.html

Fallowing the fight, there was a questions and Answers segment of the show where I publicly asked if I could have the Lightsabre I used on stage but, to no avail. I promised myself to not buy any new toys since I?m now trying to sell my collection - not add to it.

But, boy, I sure wish I had a light sabre. They are so cool!

That day I met other actors and made some great contacts and actually ran into Warwick later in the main hall. All in all, it was quite the day for me. It?s good to get out a bit!

There are several clips available on Youtube and links here provided by other fans who were present during the show.

I am seeking out anyone with video footage of this fight sequence. If you have some, please contact us here.

I have written Warwick Davis and solicited the help of a friend of his to obtain an official copy recorded by Lucasfilm at the event. Will keep you posted if I receive a copy.

We are building a site about Celebration Europe and it's success at

http://www.kemppro.com/starwars_2007/starwars/Welcome.html

We are also searching for anyone who has real good, clear video of this reinactment. If you do, please contact me directly. Thank you and may the force be with you.

And if you're interested, Here's a parody I made in tribute to my love of Vader and comedy.

http://www.kemppro.com/starwars_2007/starwars/Film%3AVader%27s%20Bad%20Day.html

Have fun.

 

I need to talk to you about that as well.

 

great story about the reinactment, sorry I missed it. However..

great site.. props to 'made on a mac'

 

Hi Duane

We spoke at breakdast at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on the Monday morning. I heard the duel whilst waiting to get Billy Dee's autograph and was told it was hilarious. Well done and thanks for the links - what a fun experience. My feeble efforts with the assistance for Celebration Europe are here: http://www.myspace.com/darthsmuse See you around sometime in the Star wars galaxy.

 

No problem

 

So you're the Qui-Gon from the show! Nice to see you here. The Ray Park show was one of my favourite. It was a pretty good improvisation there, it looked great. I can only imagine what an honour it was.

 

Davis was perfect as MofC and the guests were super - there wasn't one who didn't give you a moment or two to chat or just oogle! The space was a tad bit small, perhaps the next one should be somewhere bigger! Those aisles were jammed and mading perusing and shopping difficult. Not that it stopped me! And it did get hot...very hot in the hall.

 

The temperature Friday was fine. Saturday wasn't too bad, even with the crowds. But Sunday was very warm in the hall. We were taking frequent breaks on that patio area by the Thames to cool down. Then we went to the Fox for a bit in the afternoon to meet up with JED1 and his wife before they flew back to Scotland. That was when the massive rainstorm hit! Luckily we were inside for that!

 

here's something I noticed on the official CE page, many of the small time people are not getting paid and have some seemingly justified criticism of cards inc.

 

Yuck. I bet the organizers are the ones making most of the profit on the sales, too. If that's true, it doesn't bode well for CE2 at all.

 

Isn't Card Inc owned by the same guys that own Master Replicas? If so I wouldn't be surprised if they don't use them again. At the end of the day, a Celebration outside of the US can work but for it to have a future LF need to bring in someone who can put ona better show.

 

Not really good news. Next CE won't be a normal StarWars convention without MasterReplicas.

 

Cards Inc. originally owned the UK license to sell and distribute MR and other SW items. They were then bought by Corgi Int., a holding company based in the far east, which then also bought MR. So while they are both owned by the same company, I'm not sure if it would really affect Cards Inc. from buying the license for CE2 once again. In the end it was the owner of Cards Inc. who bought the license (and before the buy out), so he could do the same off his own back so to speak, and/or partnership with someone else to buy it under a new name/company. It's all a bit technical and unclear really, but it is clear a few things will need to be sorted out for next time as it is disappointing to read some of the guests have been ill treated. I know only too well how hard it is for freelnacers to get their pay cheques, so I really do sympathize.

Given that this was the first time anything like this has been done in Europe, I think it was always going to be a huge learning curve for everyone and for the next one, they should hopefully be much more prepared and know what they have to play with.

 

Sunday was jam packed - the Army assualt course blocked the way for the hoards of people travelling round the event and I ended up being a crowd marshall at one point (hate to think of what it would have been like if there was an incident of any kind).

Just one question - anyone seen any figures of how many people attended the events over the three days please?

 

Saturday was more packed than Sunday - at least it seemed that way to me! The problem on Sunday was the heat. The main hall was way too warm.

 

True, Sunday was much warmer. I think it was the whole climate, not just the main hall.

 

I don't know about the stars but I do know that the costumed volunteers who signed an agreement to do X number of hours in costume in return for a ticket refund STILL have recieved nothing