Tag: sdcc

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2024 SDCC – Bear McCreary Panel

Greetings all!

I continue my experience at 2024 SDCC with the Bear McCreary panel titled, “Musical World building!”

Before the panel came to the podium, heavy metal music filled the packed auditorium! 👂 Turns out, this music was from “The Singularity.” You can hear more of this composition by following this link: https://bearmccreary.com/thesingularity/

After the muscial intro, the panelists then came out individually and introduced themselves:

First  to the stage was Bear McCreary! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

We Outlander fans honor Bear who has brought us, over the seasons, the most wonderful renditions of the Sky Boat Song! And, of course, we fans are keenly aware of his numerous musical accomplishments beyond Outlander!

Next was Kyle Higgins who was unknown to me but, given the applause, was recognized by many audience members. He is best known for his work on the Batman franchise at DC Comics, namely writing the miniseries Batman: Gates of Gotham and for the Nightwing and Batman Beyond titles, the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers franchise at Boom! Studios, and Radiant Black at Image Comics.

Matias Bergara was next.  He lives in Uruguay and is a video game designer, comic book writer and artist. After winning numerous awards in South America,  he works almost exclusively for the international market, and illustrated a children‘s book by Neil Gaiman, “Odd and the Frost Giants.”

Last, but certainly not least, was Raya Yarbrough! Raya is Bear’s spouse who was beautiful and poised as always. Raya, is an eclectic poet, singer and songwriter based in Los Angeles. Although she is most recognized as the singer of the theme for Outlander, her voice and original music have been featured in many TV series, including  Battlestar Galactica, Marvel’s Agents Of Shield, Da Vinci’s Demons, and Agent Carter.  Her album “Raya Yarbrough,” was released internationally on Telarc/Concord records. 

We were not allowed to video record this session, but I did make an audio recording. I hope you enjoy hearing the session in its entirety. Here it is!

The following are highlights from the discussion in case you missed them.

*Bear talked about working on The Singularity, a graphic musical novel that required collaboration between numerous heavy metal groups and artists of word and graphics including Kyle, Matias and Raya. His goal was to develop one cohesive vision and bring it to life by collaboration. This is the backbone of musical world-building. 

In other news, Bear is working on a broadway show titled “Particle Fever!” It is based on the Higgs boson, aka the God Particle, discovered at the CERN large particle accelerator in Switzerland. He claims molecular physic’s time has come! 🤓

Bear said his musical score for Battlestar Galactic is tattooed on his heart because he got his start there at age, 24! However, his favorite score is from Godzilla: King of Monsters!

He revealed that he decided to score an original piece for the ending credits of Godzilla. When the film was first reviewed by the bigwigs, they started to leave as the credits rolled, but Bear asked them to wait. After the credits were done, they exclaimed they hadn’t authorized money for a final piece but he explained he knew that, he just wanted to do it! Presumably, for free! 🤩

*Kyle was asked what he would tell his young self. His answer: “just finish things!” 🤗 He also said clarity is very important. And, conflict with its tension and release plays an essential role in his creative efforts.

*Matias made a comic book out of music. He advised the audience to do things honestly and directly.  😇

*Raya is a poet, song writer and singer and is now a mother of two! She told us her mother wrote “Night Terrors” for Star Trek: the Next Generation. something I did not know! As a busy mom, she has to find time during the day to compose. She says while writing lyrics, she may not know what she is trying to say until she gets to the last line! 😮

Her latest project is a collaboration with Bear based on 82 ancient wheels and cogs found in the sea near Athens. These remnants comprise the oldest known analogue computer, an orrery (model of the solar system), known as the Antikythera mechanism (image below). Raya sings the voice of the machine as they explore its psychology! 🤔

There is much more to hear in the recording so I will close with gratitude for the gifts that Raya and Bear have given to the Outlander community. Looking forward to the second half of season 7! 🤗

The deeply grateful,

Outlander Anatomist

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Photo and video credits: www.wikipedia.com, Outlander Anatomy, Bear McCreary

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2024 SDCC A Conversation With Ron D. Moore

Greetings, anatomy students!

Long time – no see! 😜

As many of you know, I was at the 2024 San Diego Comic-Con last weekend. Saw a huge forest fire on the flight down. 🔥 I could see the main plume from miles away and it looked a good deal like a nuclear mushroom cloud! You can just make it out at the front of the wing. 😳

Arrived Thursday after lunch. Grabbed a shuttle that dropped me off near the Convention Center. Scrambled to the press desk, checked in, and got my Press Pass plus an ADA sticker as my ankle is not yet fully functional. 🤕

Rushed to Suite 6DE  barely making it into the event: “A Conversation With Ron D. Moore!”😅

The audience was surprised and delighted to discover the host was none other than Mary McDonnell of “Battlestar Galactica” and “Dances With Wolves” fame! You may recall, Mary played the part of President Laura Roslin on Galactica.

 

She greeted us with her melodious and resonant voice and soon invited the guest of honor to join her.

It was Ron D. Moore, himself! This is her brief introduction of Ron.

Mary welcomed Ron and told him how much she enjoyed working with him on Battlestar.  She then began a series of thoughtful questions which he answered with his usual frankness and candor.

She asked Ron if his ability to write strong women is an indication of feminism. He is not sure but he has empathy for women. I found the following part quite interesting as Mary queried Ron about writing parts for strong women in the face of power.  She complimented him for being able to do this as few men show such talent and insight.  She also praised him for writing equally strong men.

I wondered if he writes strong women intuitively, and not necessarily by plan. He said he enjoys writing parts for strong women. He talked about the process of getting a female captain (Captain Janeway) onto Star Trek: Voyager. He also said he puts himself in women’s shoes which is always a winning strategy, imo. 🤩

Mary asked Ron about shutting off the creative process when he is not at work.  He doesn’t really do that. He is able to leave work and concentrate on other things but running in the background is always something that his brain is working on. He warned about getting totally immersed as a show runner because there is no limit to the amount of involvement that can engulf one.

In this last and final clip, Mary asked Ron about the great love between Jamie and Claire throughout their different lives and across time.  Ron agrees that Diana Gabaldon wrote the perfect love story of two people who found their soul mates. although it is a wonderful concept, he is not sure true love  is real and that there is only one soul mate for each of us. Mary loves the story of Jamie and Claire because it gives us hope. She is a solid fan of Outlander! 🥰

She ended the session with a huge hug for Ron. Clearly, she carries a lot of affection for him and their time working together!

I hope you enjoyed this review of Ron’s conversation with Mary. It was enlightening for me, especially Ron explaining that Outlander time has come to end. We who disagree will continue to read the books!  👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

“So say we all!” 😉

The deeply grateful,

Outlander Anatomist

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Photo and video credits: www.wikipedia.com, Outlander Anatomy

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Shatner on Shatner – 2022 San Diego Comic Con

Greetings all! Have  just returned after five days at SDCC and immediately went back to picking blueberries. Before too much water psses under the bridge, I want to share this wonderful “Shatner on Shatner” panel featuring guest star, Mr. William Shatner!

Captain Kirk is now 91 years old but most assuredly does not appear his age!  Who could imagine he has lived for more than nine decades? And, after listening to him for nearly an hour, his mind remains as sharp as a tack!

The panel was hosted by Kevin Smith, film maker, actor, writer, producer, and quick witted funny guy.  Very talented and kept the panel on their feet.

He introduced Captain William to the audience in Hall H – all 4,800 attendees – by suggesting his face should be on a pop culture Mt. Rushmore!  👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Having just been seated, Shatner shares some new projects and things to buy. He took time to put in a bit of advertising for Funko Pop:

 

Next, is irascible William’s response to Kevin’s question, is this his first time at SDCC?

This is his answer:

Kevin asked Mr. Shatner what was his first Comic Con? Shatner answered, in the 1970s in New York City. He was invited by some ladies who said the event would be in a hotel.  The Captain refused at first until he found out there would be 15,000 people in attendance! 😉

(How time changes things – the 2022 SDCC had 150,000 attendees!) 😲

Before and after Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space flight on October 13, 2021. Shatner was pumped.

An audience member asked the question: what planet do you want to go to? Mr. Shatner told him this is the only planet, the one we live on. Take care of it.

He then shared his thoughts before becoming the oldest human to enter space.  He watched a film of the people who went on the first Blue Origin flight. The people aboard spent their precious three minutes playing with weightlessness; some kid was throwing candies at Jeff Bezos’ rear.

Mr. Shatner then vowed not to waste his time with such silliness but to observe what he saw.  I hope you watch this one  because I found his thoughts especially profound. 🥰

Warning: Shatner and Kevin closed with a foul mouth competition. Who could out fdumb-ass the other. It was very funny, but foul. He also had some acerbic observations about Star Trek spinoffs! 😱

At the end, he received a standing ovation!

Hope you enjoyed the panel.

The deeply grateful,

Outlander Anatomist

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Photo and Video Credits: Jody Chang, Outlander Anatomy, www.observer.com