Otaku no Podcast » Conventions

Episode #0012 – Convention Survival Guide

Donald Burr — Fri, 28 May 2010 11:43:06 +0000

Welcome to a very ghetto episode of Otaku no Podcast. I say “ghetto” because I am doing NO editing whatsoever in this episode. That’s because it’s past 4 AM on the morning I’m supposed to be leaving for FanimeCon. Actually I was supposed to leave last night but wasn’t able to get my act together (way too many last minute things, not to mention packing, etc.). So you’ll hear a lot of “umm”s and “ahh”s, and me being scatterbrained in general, because, well, it’s frakkin’ 4 AM and I’m TIRED. (Normally I try and edit out as much of this as I can, to save your sanity.)

But I wanted to get an episode out to you anyway, to talk about FanimeCon, but also I figured that since summer con season is starting up, it might be a good idea to gather together our best convention survival tips. These are the tips and tricks that have saved us from many a ride on the FailBus and have helped us better enjoy our time at anime conventions. Hopefully they will help you as well.

Of course, being past 4am and all, the big idiot (i.e. me) forgot to mention that he will be hosting not one, but TWO panels/workshops at FanimeCon; one on podcasting (“Anime Podcasting for n00bs” and one on con photography (“Con Photography: Shoot to Win!”). But if you’ve been paying attention, you’d know this already…

Today’s music: “STARGAZER ~ Hoshi no Tobira” by Negishi Satori (ending theme for Mobile Suit Gundam SEED C.E. 73: STARGAZER)

Anime LA Day 2 mid-day convention report

Donald Burr — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 21:54:31 +0000

The day started off on a good note – I actually managed to get up and out of bed before noon, which, according to most of my friends, is a miracle.

The con is definitely in full swing now. It’s Saturday, which means lots more people in attendance who couldn’t come during the week because of work or school. It’s also the day when most of the “big” panels and workshops are. And it’s Masquerade day (by far one of the most popular events at any anime convention). The lines at registration at 9:30 this morning were pretty impressive, and I’d imagine that as the day goes on, they will grow.

The most interesting and informative panel this morning was “How not to run an anime convention” presented by fan guest of honor Bekka the Alice. As past chair of Nan Desu Kan, she definitely knows what she’s talking about. She presented many tips and techniques and things to watch out for, signs that a newly-born anime convention might be heading down the road to failure, and how to avoid these pitfalls, interspersed with a few war stories as examples of what not to do, and how catastrophically FAIL things can become if you didn’t heed her advice. Very interesting, and I’d wager that alot of her advice would apply to other types of public events as well. Bekka has graciously agreed to come on Otaku no Podcast to talk more about how to properly get a new anime convention from conception to reality.

I attended several other panels and workshops on amateur/beginning voice acting, and while informative, they weren’t quite what I had expected. More on these later.

Unfortunately my camera is out of commission at the moment. I forgot to charge the battery last night, and I used up what was left this morning taking panel shots for the photo gallery. I really need a second camera battery. The camera’s in the room charging so that it’ll be ready in time for Masquerade; in the meantime I’ll have my video camera with me (which takes passable stills) for as long as its puny battery lasts. (I need a second high capacity battery for that as well… one of these days…)

Still quite a few hours left in the day, during which I hope to attend a few more panels/workshops, visit the dealers room and artists alley, and get as many pictures as I possibly can. (and maybe an interview or two as well) Then, of course, there’s Masquerade. Stay tuned for more…

My Anime Los Angeles schedule

Donald Burr — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 00:38:26 +0000

OK, I’ve started blocking out my time at Anime LA. Obviously, anime conventions, human frailties, etc. being the way they are, I might not make it to all the events I’ve called out, but I’ll do my best. And of course I’ll do my best to get plenty of audio, photos, and videos to share on the podcast as well.

If there is an event you would be interested in me covering (see the schedule for a list of events) please let me know and I’ll do my best to cover it (or have one of my evil minions cover it).

Anime LA (draft) schedules are up (Updated)

Donald Burr — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 06:21:49 +0000

FYI, the draft event schedules for Anime Los Angeles, as well as the anime video room schedule, are now online. Cosplay gathering schedule coming soon, and of course being a draft schedule, all of this is very much open to change, so do check back often.

Update: 01/05/2010: A restaurant guide (PDF) is now online. This should help all you hungry otaku feed your need, whatever it may be. Also, their tech department is in desperate need of a few good men and women (i.e. volunteers).

Episode #0010 – Convention Photography 101

Donald Burr — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:58:57 +0000

No, unfortunately, this isn’t Part 2 of “Anime on the Cheap” that I’ve been promising. Things have been just too hectic and I haven’t been able to finish the research for this. However, I think you’ll like this just the same. Think of it as a special Winter Holiday Season present from us to you.

We’re coming up on a new year, which means of course a new year of Anime Conventions! And what do we like to do at anime conventions? (Besides the obvious of course) Take PICTURES!!! To that end, friend of the show Dave “KirinDave” Fayram and I, being enthusiastic amateur photographers, decided to get together and share some of our favorite tips and techniques for getting those awesome cosplay shots that everybody fawns over.

Speaking of conventions, Anime Los Angeles is coming up real soon now… Friday through Sunday, January 8-10, 2010, to be precise. Perhaps I will see you there? (look for the clueless looking guy handing out Otaku no Podcast business cards…)

Today’s Theme: “Shutter Speed” by Shinkichi Mitsumune (opening theme for the US release of Speed Grapher) (Fun fact: the ‘real’ theme for Speed Grapher is “Girls on Film” by Duran Duran; however, FUNimation was unable to secure rights to the song for the US release of Speed Grapher.)

Cameras:
Point and Shoot – Canon PowerShot G11, Panasonic Lumix LX3, Sigma DP2
DSLR – Canon Digital Rebel XS, Nikon D40
Micro 4/3 – Olympus E-P2

Lenses:
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II
Nikon 50mm f/1.8D
Canon EF 35mm f/2
Nikon 35mm f/1.8G AF-S DX
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM
Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II AF-S
Tamron AF 70-200mm f/2.8 Di LD IF (for Canon) (for Nikon)
Photojojo Fisheye Lens Adapter

Flashes:
Canon Speedlite 580EX II
Canon ST-E2 Speedlite Transmitter
Nikon SB-900 AF Speedlight Flash
Orbis ring flash

Bags/Straps/Etc.:
Domke F-5XB
Blackrapid RS-4
Scott E Vest photo vests

Books:
The Digital Photography Book, by Scott Kelby. A good book about digital photography, done in a “cookbook” style – rather than going into lengthy discussions of exposure theory and ISO and whatnot, a particular type of picture is presented with the “recipe” (type of lens, camera settings, any special gear required, etc.) for getting that type of shot.
The Digital Photography Companion, by Derrick Story. A good general purpose digital photography book.
The Hot Shoe Diaries, by Joe McNally. Joe McNally is one of the premier authorities on the use of small strobes for creative lighting.

Websites:
Photography Exposure Basics
Strobist – another excellent resource for those interested in exploring the creative lighting possibilities of small off-camera strobes.
LensRentals.com – one of the best gear rental sites I’ve found. Great selection, great prices, absolutely stellar service.
One guy’s outrageous portable lighting rig
CHDK – free third-party firmware for many Canon point-and-shoots that enhances their functionality by adding many controls such as shutter-priority, aperture-priority, RAW, live histogram, and more

Our Picks:
Me – The Third: The Girl with the Blue Eye, Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu (season 1) (season 2), Denno Coil
Dave – Time of Eve, Kurosaki Corpse Delivery Service

Our Links:
Me – DonaldBurr.com, Twitter
Dave – Flickr, Tumblr, Twitter, XKCD Explained

Attention New York City: New York Anime Festival is THIS Weekend!

Donald Burr — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 09:28:08 +0000

New York Anime Festival will be hitting the Jacob Javits convention center THIS weekend – Friday through Sunday, September 25-27. Special guests include Yoshiyuki Tomino, the director of Mobile Suit Gundam; and Yui Makino, the voice of Sakura in Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle. Film premieres include Gurren Lagann: The Movie – Childhood’s End, Cencoroll, and 20th Century Boys. There’ll also be tons of musical goodness, including the US debut of all-female Japanese theatre/idol supergroup AKB48, and the Far East to East Showcase musical tour, featuring Kokusyoku Sumire, Swinging Popsicle, Echostream, and Gelatine. Of course this barely scratches the surface of the tons of other cool things that’ll be going on at this mega-convention. For more details, check out their website.

Unfortunately New York is a bit of a trip for me, so I won’t be able to go, nor do I have any Evil Henchmen(tm) in the vicinity whom I can order into action. So if you’ll be attending any of the convention or ancillary events, I would really appreciate it if you could type up – or better yet, record – a short review of what you thought of the event. You can send it to me using any of the contact methods listed on the “Contact Us” page. Who knows, I might just use it in the next show, and you’ll be famous In any case, if you are going, please do enjoy yourself!

Holy crap, that’s a lot of people!

Donald Burr — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 06:05:50 +0000

If you’re a long time listener of Otaku no Podcast, I’m sure you’ve heard certain of our panelists complaining about the large crowds at certain of the more high-profile anime/comic conventions. Indeed, when you look at the attendance figures for two recent events, Anime Expo (reportedly 44,000) and San Diego Comic-Con (reported by Wikipedia as “[n]early 140,000, at least 125,000″ but suspected to be much higher, perhaps as high as 250,000), you can’t help but be impressed by those numbers. Comic-Con attendance, in particular, has eclipsed the population figures of most small to mid-sized towns here in the USA.

But even that pales in comparison with the news I received today that, according to early estimates, Japan’s Comic Market (“Comiket”) welcomed a record 560,000 attendees at its Summer Comiket event this past weekend (August 14-16, 2009). Comiket’s organizing body reports that the high attendance figures also indicate a spike in new attendees, which should come as good news to the manga industry.

Think about that, people. FIVE HUNDRED SIXTY THOUSAND. Holy crap, that’s a lot of people! Sure makes our grousing and complaining sound petty and immature, doesn’t it?

Comiket, as it’s called by the cool kids, isn’t the same as your typical western Anime convention. For one thing, it’s frakkin’ HUGE. It dominates the entire Tokyo Big Sight, a massively huge (one might even say “Xbox huge”) convention center with a total floor space of 230,873 m². It’s almost exclusively devoted to manga, specifically doujinshi, essentially self-published manga. Most doujinshi “circles” (the groups who sell their doujinshi at Comiket) are unknown fans, though many well-known manga artists choose to publish doujinshi in order to publish outside of their usual publisher relationships. And they sell a TON of this stuff at Comiket – perhaps as many 20 acres (81,000 m² according to one source). It’s also known for its epic and legendary cosplay. There is plenty of photographic evidence to back this claim. Search for yourself. (I would post links, but there are really too many to post here, and I don’t want to make this article over 9,000 pages long!)

On our last episode I expressed my doubts as to whether my stamina would hold me through a Comic-Con. Well, after reading this, I don’t think I’ll be attempting Comiket anytime soon… perhaps ever. *sweatdrop*

Episode #0008 – San Diego Comic-Con 2009

The Ghost in the Machine — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 14:09:54 +0000

Once again, I have convened one of our famous Panel Discussions of Doom(tm). This time, our topic du jour is a look back at the recently-held San Diego Comic-Con 2009. And we’re joined by a new guest this time! We also go over a few news items (this is a “news lite” show – I wanted to get the Comic-Con discussion out ASAP), but I still manage to squeeze some “Weird Japan” into the mix. And I also debut a new segment as well – be sure and listen for it!

News:

Weird Japan:

Comic-Con Recap:

ANIME! High Art – Pop Culture exhibit at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
- Running now through Sunday, August 23, 2009

Picks:

Danny – Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro, Hayate no Gotoku! (Season 1 on DVD, Season 2 on Crunchyroll), G.I. Joe A Real American Hero: Season 1.1

Lupin the III

Hayao Miyazaki (Writer). Manga Video 1991, DVD, $9.97

Hayate the Combat Butler

Artist Not Provided. Bandai 2009, DVD, $21.86

G.I. Joe A Real American Hero

Shout! Factory 1983, DVD, $17.12

Dave: The Mighty Boosh (info page on Adult Swim website)

The Mighty Boosh Special Edition DVD (Seasons 1-3)

BBC Warner 2009, DVD, $47.49

Me: Ghost Hound

Ghost Hound Vol 1

Artist Not Provided. A.D. Vision 2009, DVD, $38.83

Cool finds of the week:

“PixelPerfect” shows you how to draw and color Manga in Photoshop
Robo-maid will make your coffee for you, kill your houseguests for you
Mahoromatic:

Mahoromatic

Artist Not Provided. Section 23 2009, DVD, $26.68

Plugs:

Anime Expo 2009 photos on Flickr

Donald Burr — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 10:53:38 +0000

Friend of the show Beep has set up a Flickr group to share your photos from Anime Expo 2009. A few of us have already started posting pictures there. If you’ve got pix from AX’09 you are welcome to share them as well. Or just click the link and check out all the cool cosplay.

San Diego Comic-Con is Here!

Donald Burr — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 04:03:14 +0000

I can’t believe that it’s that time already. Yes, that awesomely huge comic convention, Comic-Con, is set to rock the San Diego Convention Center this Thursday through Sunday, July 23-26, with a special Preview Night on Wednesday, July 22. But if you’ve procrastinated up till now hoping that you could get in at the last minute – sorry! You’re out of luck. All memberships are sold out. WOW! This year’s attendance is going to be epic!

Our intrepid reporter Danny Barer will be there and we will be talking with him after he has come back (and has had a chance to decompress) about all that went on at Comic-Con. Look for that episode sometime next week. (I just learned that one of my other friends is going as well, so I’ll try and wrangle him onto the podcast as well).

For more information, check out the Comic-Con website.