This week I have for you some amazing comic adventures in another city as I take you through my amazing trip to Vancouver to visit the Falling Skies set.
They flew us all out on Thursday, from all around the country and globe. Our drivers picked us up at the airport and took us back to the amazingly beautiful Shangri-La Hotel. Vancouver is a seismic zone so the Shangri-La is also the tallest building in Downtown, visible from any vantage point as no one ever builds higher. Gorgeous and luxurious the hotel also boasts a series of “estates”, residences that were purchased for a highly lucrative fee in the multimillions well before the hotel was even constructed.
After checking in I headed downstairs to the Xi Shi Lounge to meet some of my fellow bloggers and a couple of lucky contest winners over some complementary champagne to ring in the Year of the Dragon as we went over the itinerary for our stay.
Said itinerary kicked off later that night as we headed down to a closed off theater floor for a welcoming party of sushi, tiny burgers, tasty chicken skewers, and cocktails. Then as we were all getting further acquainted amongst the fine feasting and amazing service Peter Shinkoda swung by to meet us all after texting with Robert Prentice, one of my fellow bloggers who had interviewed him previously. I asked him if he’d be also hanging around for the screening that evening and he paused thoughtfully before stating yes, then going on to invite Robert and the rest of us to drinks afterward so that we could all get better acquainted. Of course we said yes.
As a group, Rob, Meredith, Kimmy, the Gardiners and I all got along immediately. Meredith and I sat together for the evening’s screening , happily tossing on our new Falling Skies fleeces as we all sat back in the theater and enjoyed a repeat showing of the season finale on the big screen. Very impressive, particularly in the case of the “Overlords” design and Mech battles.
After the screening most headed off to bed as Pete, some of the Falling Skies staff, and my fellow bloggers and I headed down to the lounge to eagerly take Pete up on his offer. As we continued talking and I sipped a delicious cappuccino to keep myself fun and vigilant, Pete texted with Co-Star Connor Jessup for a bit until he too swung by to join us along with another fun member of the Falling Skies staff.
We learned about the cast and crew. Heard tales about their awesome director, discussed Dark Horse’s Falling Skies comic and how much everyone loved it. They also told us hilarious stories about the set that cracked us all up as we all just genuinely hung out well past midnight. One of the best parts of this trip is how naturally we all got along together. I love meeting people like that in this industry. It was incredible fun and we all left that night looking forward to meeting each other again the next day and connecting on all our social networks that night.
Friday we kicked off the day with a delicious breakfast followed by a fantastic business lunch at MARKET, the Shangri-La’s private fine restaurant. Over lunch we were delighted to have the Falling Skies team pick our brains for what we liked about the show and what we might like to see in the future. I requested more focus on Pope and Maggie, not so much in in the show as I feel they were already handling that excellently, but in the marketing. I love Tom Mason and the family angle but everyone already knows about that part. I want the world to also know about those amazing solo characters that bring the action and attitude with nothing to loose and everything to gain. Reception of my suggestion seemed well received by both my fellow bloggers who love Pope and Maggie as much as I do, and the Falling Skies staff so I look forward to seeing what direction they take as a team with TNT for Wonder Con 2012.
After our business lunch, we headed out to the set. Connor showed us around while talking for both us and the film crews and camera men filming us. After meeting with the director Greg Beeman in a special FX shoot that I am sworn to secrecy on we headed off to a surprise visit to the other Falling Skies set to meet the rest of the cast and got to have an awesome Q&A with Colin Cunningham, Drew Roy, Pete, Connor, and Sarah Carter. On a personal note, my cards were a big hit, and Sarah seemed to think I was as cool as I thought she was. I love fellow geeks and dolls.
On set we got to watch some more filming which I’m sworn to secrecy on and meet more of the cast, including Mpho Koaho who greeted me with an outstanding greeting cry of “SIXX!!!” which just cracked me up. While on set Pete and the rest of us planned another night out as we watched the filming, this time with more of the cast and then we drove back to the hotel for dinner.
My fellow bloggers and I went out with the Gardiners to a delicious restaurant named Joe Fortes which our waiter informed me had it’s own long and prestigious history as well as a massive wine list which I did not partake of but found quite impressive. On that note, diet soda in Canada is delightfully delicious on tap. I was quite smitten.
After dinner we took a cab to a little pool hall out of the way and met up with the cast. I was a little rusty so I lost to Colin but we made quite the team later on. Pete and I also played a very close match with one of the Mexican contest winners and one of the Argentinian members. He was absolutely pro, used a napkin to keep his stick steady and everything and it came down to an 8-ball shot for both our teams, it was a blast. Even Beeman came out and I spent some time talking with him about his own ambitions for the Falling Skies comic and was delighted to learn that he planned to pen an issue himself as he too possessed comic artist aspirations even now as a director. I love that level of love for our industry, and knowing that a mind sharing it is helming up Falling Skies only strengthens my love for the show.
Also, Connor and Drew played a “brotherly” game of pool. It was fun.
Saturday we all headed out in the afternoon to see the sights of Vancouver, including the exquisite Observatory restaurant at Grouse Mountain and the world famous Capilano Suspension Bridge. From the moment I stepped off the plane and into the airport I noticed that Vancouver held a great esteem for their native heritage. My own current novel centers around a character who is very much tied to early Native Canada so I found the whole day pleasantly surreal and invigorating. I would definitely like to go back and hopefully bring Cousin Matt with me as he’d love it up there. Also, dinner with these guys was a blast. I love how well we all got along immediately and consistently, and I’m so glad we’re all keeping in touch.
On Sunday we came back home and Cousin Matt and I went out to lunch where I gave him some souvenirs and we discussed all things Vancouver and Falling Skies. Here is the details I can give you from this discussion. Take notes and enjoy.
1) Undesirables are coming. Interpret that as you will.
2) The 2nd Mass is on the move.
3) Falling Skies uses an intricate fusion of puppetry and FX. The FX takes the longest of all things on the show. Which is good, because I think we all agree it turns out awesome. Better even than certain cinema quality.
4) Lots of effort is put into assuring that the FX match up to the live action. IE: Making certain that the Mechs are their proper height visually in all scenes which they achieve by having guys running around with poles tipped with tennis balls to match the exact height of the Mechs while on the move. Again, this level of thought and dedication clearly shows through in the finished product.
5) Romance is coming. For whom? Even we don’t know.
6) More attention will be given to Ben Mason as a character. We have many theories as to how this will play out, should be interesting to follow!
7) More science this season. Again, what this means exactly remains to be seen.
8 ) The cast referred to this season as being “darker, gritter” and “sexier” than the first.
9) It was very clear on set that the cast enjoys watching the FX cues and fellow performances as much as they enjoy shooting their own. “There’s always something going down. Someone shooting something. Blowing up something.”
10) The cast really looks forward to reading each script. You can tell how much they love the show which is just awesome to witness their mutual love of it first hand.
11) When things need to get done on set you may catch the team saying “skitter-done”!!
12) Everyone has a unique and particular reverence to Will Patton as an actor and a person. Lots of respect and sincerity whenever he was mentioned.
13) Pete’s character Dai bears a weapon that was chosen specially for his character by Falling Skies. The rest of the cast had a brilliant time customizing each of their own. You can tell how much the love acting with the guns too. Very fun group, for sure.
14) More stuff will be going down with the Falling Skies comic and as mentioned earlier even Beeman himself may be arting some of it for us. That would be amazing, and I look forward to covering it, sir. – N
Tags: comics in the city, Dark Horse, falling skies, Nicole Sixx
About the Author
Written by Nicole Sixx
I'm a writer who loves to entertain and be entertained. My motto for life is the geekier the better!
Wow what a wild and fascinating time you had!
I have to check out this show, I’ve heard a lot of good things.
Do it! I always compare it to Independence Day which I’m sure you love as much as I do! -N