The costume contest was a blast, as always. And, of course, there was plenty of cosplay and other fun shenanigans. Below is a slideshow with some of my photos from Saturday (make sure to watch it in full-screen mode for a better viewing experience). Enjoy!

I’ve been going to StarFest since 2003 and I still can’t help being overwhelmed by how awesome that event is, and how great it is to be surrounded by thousands of people who love science fiction as much as I do. It’s always amazing to meet iconic characters, movie and TV actors in the flesh, to see the ingenuity and craftsmanship of all the costumes, to check out  movie props, models, toys and other geekdom objects of desire, and to mingle with like-minded people who come from all over, united by their love of imaginative science fiction and fantasy worlds. One of these years, I’ll have to make my pilgrimage to the San Diego Comic-Con, the holy Mecca of sci-fi entertainment, but Denver’s StarFest will always have a special place in my heart.

Some of the other guests at StarFest this year included John Noble (Walter Bishop on Fringe and Lord Denethor in Lord of the Rings), Dee Wallace (E.T., The Howling, Critters) and Jewel Staite (Firefly, Serenity). Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to see Jewel, as her flight arrived late and by the time she got to the fest on Saturday, my friends and I had missed her.

Still, there was plenty to see and do, so much that it was impossible to go see something without missing another cool panel or event in the other part of the building. And, with the recent additions of Comic Fest and DigiFest, things have gotten even more complicated! I guess it’s all part of the fun of attending an entertainment convention.

You can see the entire set of photos that I took at StarFest on Saturday in my Flickr gallery, or check out some of the highlights below.

David Prowse autograph signing and Q&A:

John Noble autograph signing and Q&A:

Jonathan Frakes:

Dee Wallace:
 

Some of my favorite robots:
 

Flickr Slideshow with all of the photos:

Since that day, through my graduation from film school and beyond, I have worked on numerous film and video shoots as a grip, production assistant and camera assistant. One of the more memorable shoots was Suicide Run, a low-budget feature-length independent horror film that was shot in Westcliffe, Colorado. The film itself was never picked up for distribution, but working on that set for 3 weeks, I learned so much and have met so many great people, some of which I’m still good friends with to this day. It was an incredible experience that had even led me to some paid production gigs later on.

However, eventually I had to get a “real” job to start paying off all those student loans I have accumulated. Shortly after college, I got a master control position at a big cable TV broadcasting facility and ended up staying there for almost 8 years. I continued pursuing freelance videography and photography projects on the side, but for the most part, I stopped working on creative film shoots due to lack of time I could dedicate to them. My motivation was also growing a little bit thin – after spending all day in a dark windowless room staring at TV monitors and computer screens, the last thing I wanted to do is more of that when I got home.

Finally, last year I made the decision to take a risk and leave my comfortable but soul-sucking job in order to continue pursuing my dreams. I dived into freelance video production and photography full-time, shooting anything from nightlife to small business promos, corporate videos and events. And while I admit, it has been a somewhat scary and uncertain time financially, I have been feeling exponentially more happy, relaxed and fulfilled in life this past year than I have in almost a decade. I’ve only been missing one thing – being involved in narrative filmmaking and feeling that movie magic vibe; something that I haven’t experienced in many years.

This past weekend, I feel like I have come full-circle. I got an opportunity to be involved in an ambitious independent science fiction film project, a brainchild of the local director David Quakenbush. I’ve been following the development of Automaton on Facebook for months, and when I asked David if there was anything I could help out with, he mentioned that they already had a full crew, but that they needed more male extras. I thought to myself – why not?

Coming to a real film set for the first time in many years and seeing all those lights, green screens, camera equipment and all the usual commotion that happens on any serious production, I admit – I got a little giddy. Once again, I felt a sense of complete belonging and a bonding that I haven’t experienced since my film-school days. Being on the other side of the camera was a little weird, since I am not used to that, but still really, really fun. And once again, I met a lot of really cool people.

Automaton is a twisted love story set in the distant future where much of the human population has been displaced by robot servants. Being a fan of serious, thought-provoking sci-fi, this concept appealed to me from the beginning. David, the film’s director, has a vision of the future inspired by such iconic films as Blade Runner, as well as the Grimm Brothers tales and Greek tragedy. Much of the film is shot against green-screen backgrounds and will involve a lot of visual effects and intensive post-production. I really can’t wait to see how it turns out!

I took some snaps and a little bit of behind-the-scenes video with my little Canon SD780 between takes, but I’m not sure if I’m allowed to post any of that material until the film is done (which probably won’t be until sometime next year). So, here are just a few snapshots from the set of Automaton.

Setting up a scene on the set of Automaton.

Automaton extras hanging out in the make-up and wardrobe area.

Getting my make-up done. It's been a while!

Sexy beast! I'm talking about the RED camera behind me, of course.

Yep, I really can't wipe a smile off my face. I love this!

This is the first shoot I've been on that uses a RED camera.

Green screen stage.

Automaton cast and crew rehearsing a scene.

DP Stephen McKissen and his assistant Chuck Strickland.

Blocking a scene.

Hey, look - it's me!

Me again.

Director David Quakenbush explaining the next scene to the extras.

Setting up for another scene.

Every behind-the-scenes recap must contain at least one shot of someone pointing at something, right?

Director of Photography Stephen McKissen

Meeting Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca himself), was definitely one of the highlights. It may not come as a surprise to most, but that man is very tall!

Luciana Carro (Kat from Battlestar Galactica) also seemed really nice and happily agreed to pose for a photo. It’s funny to see an actress who played a ragged, worn-out, battle-hardened pilot in BSG (who rarely appeared out of a flight suit on screen) wearing a pretty dress, looking beautiful and not having much resemblance to her tough-as-nails character :)

Jeffrey Combs was also very cool; it was an honor to meet such a cult character actor in the flesh. I told him that Re-Animator is one of my favorite horror films and is a true genre classic. I also remember Jeffrey as a star in the Lovecraft-inspired From Beyond, which scared the crap out of me when I was in my early teens.

Then, there was Mark Sheppard (Badger on Firefly and Romo Lampkin on Battlestar Galactica), a great actor that seems to keep getting cast in the best supporting roles on a lot of amazing sci-fi TV series (he was also in an episode of the X-Files called Fire). I had a great time sitting in on his Q&A and listening to some of his funny stories. There was a lot of Joss Whedon love coming from him, but then again – Joss Whedon seems to have that effect on people!

And of course, last but not least – Morena Baccarin (Inara from Firefly and Anna from V, which I gave up on after the first few episodes). She was gorgeous, radiant, and also quite funny. Did I mention that I really miss Firefly?

I didn’t get a chance to attend any panels, screenings or other events at Starfest this year, mainly because there was just no way to fit everything in. Perhaps, next year I’ll dedicate the entire weekend to this convention, instead of just going on a Saturday and trying not to feel overwhelmed.

As always, it was fun to see all the cool costumes, as well as nerd-gasm inducing things like life-size robots from famous science fiction franchises, scale models, vehicles and art. There was much more at Starfest this year than I got a chance to see, and I have captured only a tiny fraction of all the cool costumes and shenanigans that took place. Nevertheless, check out some of the photos below and feel free to visit my Flickr site to see the entire set.

StarFest is always a great time, and I’m really looking forward to April 15th. This is probably the closest thing Denver has to Comic-Con!

The guests this year included actress Summer Glau (Firefly, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles), Marina Sirtis (Star Trek: The Next Generation), Gary Lockwood (2001: A Space Odyssey) and Tim Rose (Return of the Jedi, Howard the Duck), as well as some other sci-fi TV and entertainment personalities. It was particularly special to see Gary Lockwood, since I consider 2001 the most brilliant science fiction film of all time, and it was great to see him still active and sharing his time with the fans more than 40 years later. It was also fun to sit in on a Q&A with Tim Rose, who was the puppeteer of Admiral Ackbar and Salacious B. Crumb in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. And, of course, Summer Glau was as gorgeous as ever.

In addition to the special events, discussion panels, Q&A’s, screenings and studio presentations, there was the usual onslaught of fans in costumes, props, scale models, art shows, vendors and much more. I was only able to attend the Saturday portion of the event, and as always — even spending the entire day at the convention wasn’t nearly enough time to take everything in.

Whenever I get a chance, I will edit a video with some of the highlights from this year’s Starfest. Meanwhile, enjoy these photos!

Marina Sirtis and Tim Rose signing autographs:

Summer Glau:

Gary Lockwood and Tim Rose:

Summers are the worst now. I remember not that many years ago, when I actually looked forward to seeing all the big “event” summer movies and had my imagination blown by Jurassic Park, Independence Day, Deep Impact, Contact, The Matrix and Gladiator. Well-made popcorn entertainment that, while not exactly the highest form of art, still managed to elevate itself above the rest by technical innovation, spectacle, and especially in case of Contact and The Matrix – even some seriously deep, thought-provoking ideas.

Now, all we seem to get is regurgitated, recycled, sterilized crap in the form of comic book adaptations, sequels and remakes. Maybe, if I was 12 years old, I would eat that garbage up and enjoy it. I doubt it, though. When I was 12, I was still geeking out on Back to the Future, Ghostbusters, Indiana Jones, Star Wars and ET. I feel that there is nothing in recent summer movies that comes even close to these pop-culture classics. Everything nowdays is dumbed-down, watered down and the standards are lowered to cater to the lowest common denominator, which is apparently 12 year-olds with a distinct lack of brain cells and with extreme cases of ADD. Yes, I’m talking about all of you Michael Bay fans :)

This summer, however, I find myself more excited and geeking out than I have in years. Seems like this will be the return of my beloved genre of sci-fi to the big screen en-masse, starting with the new Star Trek film, which for me embodies everything a summer “event” movie should be: a fun, entertaining, well-paced and unpretentious escapist adventure. Not a pissing contest to see how much shit can blow up on the screen and how many vomit-inducing, quick-cut action scenes can be crammed into an agonizing two-and-a-half hour runtime [cough] Transformers [/cough].

I am definitely looking forward to Terminator: Salvation (which looks good and I hope it won’t disappoint), District 9 (the trailer for this one sneaked up out of nowewhere and looks intriguing), Sleep Dealer (Mexican cyber-punk sci-fi – hell yeah!) and Moon (everything I’ve heard about it so far is very promising; it seems almost in the Solaris/2001 category of great sci-fi cinema; I hope it will deliver).

And then, there are Angels and Demons, Land of the Lost, Inglorious Basterds, Public Enemies, Bruno and Year One. I’m not sure how many of these films I will actually be able to see in the theater, but they all look great. And later this year, we’ll get 2012 from the other guy who likes to destroy the world in various ways – Roland Emmerich; and [deep breath] Avatar, which may be the Holy Grail of hard sci-fi from the King of the World himself, Mr. James Cameron.

I’m excited. No, I don’t expect any of these films to change my life (except, perhaps Avatar), but I’m thrilled to be a part of the summer movie-going audience once again. It has been far too long since I had anything coming out of Hollywood to look forward to, and this is refreshing.

Personally, the biggest draw for me this year was a chance to see Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck from Battlestar Galactica) and Brent Spiner (Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation). And, as always, there were plenty of colorful characters from our favorite movies and TV shows to keep us on our toes, in addition to the usual art and model shows, panels, merchandise room, costume contest, and other fun things.

Katee Sackhoff signing autographs (apparently, Starbuck really likes Starbucks!):

Katee Sackhoff Q&A

Scarlett Salem (actress and model, Pajama Party Massacre, Terror Overload):

Robert Picardo (Star Trek: Voyager):

Brent Spiner (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Independence Day) signing autographs:

Patricia Tallman (actress, Army of Darkness, Knightriders, Tales From The Dark Side):

Jack Hanley from Colorado X Case Files (www.coloradoxcasefiles.com)

Ashley Sprague from "Cannnibal Girl and Incest Boy"

From the model show:

Mario Acevedo’s book titles always crack me up:

Local artist Carl Chopp never fails to amuse me with his imaginative takes on classic sci-fi films, by placing them in familiar Denver environments:

With Battlestar Galactica now over, this is like a piece of nostalgia now:

Steampunk!

To be continued in the next post.

Joe read from his brand-new book Marsbound, which I picked up and got signed by him – there was no way I could pass up such a rare opportunity! He was incredibly witty and fun to listen to, and I can’t believe I’m just now beginning to discover his amazing work.

Speaking of military sci-fi, I watched Starship Troopers 3: Marauder a couple of days ago, and I frankly don’t know what to say. I’m a huge fan of the original film, and even more so of the Robert Heinlein book, but I despised part 2, and this new sequel just takes it to a whole new level of absurdity and satire that almost turns into self-parody. Being a fan of the franchise, I had fun with it, but make no mistake – this is a B-movie, at best. At least, they finally showed power armor. I guess, I’m happy about that.