GMX Day 2

Jazzed from the night before, I was all gung ho to have an awesome time at GMX on the second day. While things weren't bad, they weren't all that stellar either. The highlight of the day had to be Q&A with Chris Judge (Teal'c from Stargate) and getting to watch the short film Nickel Children.


Chris Judge is probably one of the funniest men that I have ever listened to speak. He is quite the character (no pun intended). He made a lot of jokes, told us about all the gags he pulled on the set, writing for his character and pretty much kept the entire crowd entertained for the entire hour. He even talked about what is like to be one of the few blacks in the Science Fiction genre. Unfortunately, all the pictures I tried to take of him were pretty blurry. I'm sure there was some type of photo op with him, but I didn't take advantage of it.


Nickel Children is definitely an interesting film concept. I keep forgetting that science fiction doesn't always have to be set in the future. This film is a steam punk, alternate history, sci fi film. From the beginning, it was interesting. There is a scene where no one says a word, but they really don't need to. As a viewer, you clearly understand what is happening. No one needs to talk. The director and producer said they either want to do it as a feature film or as a web series. Personally, I think I would like it better as a web series. To me, it feels like something that should be watched in pieces instead of in one 2 hour dose.


There was a panel on costume making which was pretty informative. It was called 'Costumes on a Dime'. The person who gave that talk was very...maybe colorful is the best word for it. She gave some really good information on how to pull together a good looking costume without breaking the bank. And she also gave some tips on how to make a good costume. It seems like the bottom line is to be creative and look in expected places for material.


Some of the panels I went to seemed to be a little on the weak side. Either people didn't prep well or they were new to giving panels or something. They just seemed to feel like they lacked something the good panels had. The worst one had to be the Comic Creation panel. I think everything was stacked against this one. Most of the seats were empty. It was out in the atrium, which was open to everything and pretty loud. It was later in the afternoon, so people might have been tired. And the panel was set up as a Q&A, but what they didn't factor in was "What will happen if no one asks any questions?". Watching those three men sit up there and GMX guy with the mic ask if anyone had questions to a dead audience was simply painful. Probably the most awkward hour ever. I asked two questions just so the people on the panel would have something to talk about. There was a lot of time used up by two men bantering between themselves while the third guy just looked as bored as hell. Oh that panel could not have ended fast enough.


I didn't get to see what happened later on that night, because a friend of mine was having her birthday party and I hadn't seen her in a while. But from the looks of it, they had a lot of good things planned. Maybe next year.