62 replies to this topic

[thefreckles]

verem, on Nov 29 2010, 10:37 PM, said:

I agree that the lighting was poor in places for photo ops but hopefully showmasters will sort this but in defence I must ask what were you taking pics with??? Most decent cameras will take a good to fair pic in bad light but if you have a cheap camera or older mobile then unless there is perfect (expensive and hot) lighting arrangements then you wont get a great pic.  

Did you try to take pics that weekend during the talks? I think that is what most (though not all) people are on about.  I got some pretty good ones with my external flash but I was in the second row and had to stop down quite a bit.  The pics I took without flash were ghastly for Chris Judge and barely okay for The Matrix guests (bad light, darker skin tones and a dark background do not a good combination make).  Even shooting at 1/4 sec at ISO 1600 didn't give great results.  FYI, my camera (a dSLR), lenses and flash cost a four-figure sum and have done me proud at many other events.  Other than Earls Court 2 (with the horrid, horrid lighting each and every year), these were some of the worst conditions I have ever tried to take photos in.  Gave up using one lens as it was too dark to see if I had correctly focussed on a guest or not (legacy lens so needed to manual focus with that one).  

Unfortunately not everyone has a lot of money to spend on camera equipment and a lot of people on here have managed to take acceptable pictures at other events with the equipment they have, hence the slight moan (I know a friend of mine complained at the event itself about the background/lighting for the talks).  Some portable lighting would have gone down a treat, not only for taking photos but for actually seeing the guests themselves!

Edited by thefreckles, 30 November 2010 - 12:37 PM.

[verem]

thefreckles, on Nov 29 2010, 11:28 PM, said:

verem, on Nov 29 2010, 10:37 PM, said:

I agree that the lighting was poor in places for photo ops but hopefully showmasters will sort this but in defence I must ask what were you taking pics with??? Most decent cameras will take a good to fair pic in bad light but if you have a cheap camera or older mobile then unless there is perfect (expensive and hot) lighting arrangements then you wont get a great pic.  

Did you try to take pics that weekend during the talks? I think that is what most (though not all) people are on about.  I got some pretty good ones with my external flash but I was in the second row and had to stop down quite a bit.  The pics I took without flash were ghastly for Chris Judge and barely okay for The Matrix guests (bad light, darker skin tones and a dark background do not a good combination make).  Even shooting at f 1/4 at ISO 1600 didn't give great results.  FYI, my camera (a dSLR), lenses and flash cost a four-figure sum and have done me proud at many other events.  Other than Earls Court 2 (with the horrid, horrid lighting each and every year), these were some of the worst conditions I have ever tried to take photos in.  Gave up using one lens as it was too dark to see if I had correctly focussed on a guest or not (legacy lens so needed to manual focus with that one).  

Unfortunately not everyone has a lot of money to spend on camera equipment and a lot of people on here have managed to take acceptable pictures at other events with the equipment they have, hence the slight moan (I know a friend of mine complained at the event itself about the background/lighting for the talks).  Some portable lighting would have gone down a treat, not only for taking photos but for actually seeing the guests themselves!

I must admit I didnt go into the talks but understand what you say about lighting. I think the guests over where Dennis Lawson and Michael Biehn were had good lighting (my pics on my faithful old mobile came out fine as I lost my camera last month) but the areas in the talks were gloomy.
A lot of this can be attributed to the venue- some of the best pics I ever took at these events were at Milton Keynes when it was in the shopping centre- but then again, its flooded with flourescent lighting.
My main gripe is people moaning its too hot or too cold... you can put two people in the same room with the same temperature and one will complain its hot and one will claim they are freezing.
If Showmasters organised a different venue with better lighting would it increase the costs to the punter?
In short I think its good to highlight problems (and I agree with what you say about lighting) but some of the complaints are petty.
Grizzling about a venue thats too hot (take your coat off then) or too cold (put a coat on) is silly. The people moaning that it was too cold have just walked in from a crisp November day in London- is it Showmasters fault its cold outside too and were they not wearing a coat outside???

[madmilburn]

The only really gripe i've got is the lighting in the talk area being poor, though i think managed get couple decent pics (helped by the guest/s coming to the audience). As for the heat/cold, i only felt the heat when i was underneath the big thing near the talk area A which was all of 2seconds, noticed a drop in the temp when was in the sports section but it didnt bother me.

[ericsdonor]

It was quite hot in there but to be honest I just took another layer off, I mean this is the UK peeps we should be used to freezing outside and boiling inside!!!!

I agree about the lighting issue, it was truly terrible in the talks, all it needed was a light over or behind the guests and I think a lot of pics would have been far better, maybe this is something that could be looked at for the next event?!?!

[MinkyKnights]

All it really needed in the talks area was for the lights to be switched on. All of the flat-panel lights on the ceiling were off. As the lights outside the area were all on just fine, it appeared to be a conscious decision to make it dark in there - perhaps an attempt to give the place a theatre-like ambience? Without proper stage lighting, it didn't work.

[JacknDaniel]

I definitely DON'T agree that it was too hot inside. It was fine for me. Yeah it was a contrast to outside, but it was around 0 degrees outside. Inside was fine. Comparing it to the stadium especially is insane. I come close to pneumonia whenever theres an event at the stadium, even in the height of summer. The Olympia is an absolutely fine venue, one of my favourites actually.

To be perfectly honest I had one of the best Collectormanias i've been to in a while. I've had some run ins with crew in the past who have been less than helpful, but everyone I dealt with this weekend were very nice and helpful. I met everyone I wanted to in good time and all were good experiences.

My only criticism, was the talk area. It was clear that SM have learned how to do most things from experiences in the past, however the talks still leave a lot to be desired in my opinion.

First off, the lighting was terrible, only took a few photos but they mostly turned out not so great. I went to attend Ahmed Best's talk on Saturday, but as it was at the end of the show, there was only about 5 people in it, so I didn't go in, just because I would have felt really awkward. I know he didn't arrive until later, so I don't know what else could have been done, but still was unfortunate. Carl Weathers' talk I would have missed on Sunday as well as I was had to travel home early, as i'm sure a lot of people would have had to, and would have missed it as well had it went ahead.

I didn't even attend the SW talk as I knew it would be a bunch of people who played bit parts that I wasn't interested in meeting, and Michael Biehns and Cary Elwes' was the only other talks that I attended, both were enjoyable, but as has been said, sometimes, there were crew members around with mics, sometimes there weren't.

And i've never felt comfortable at the auctions, so glad I didn't attend them after what I've read!

[Thunderstruck]

Hi All,
Just wanted to add that i had a great time both days (apart from forgetting my tickets on saturday and having to pay again!!! What a dumbass!!!).
As a regular visitor to these events i thought that the vast majority of the crew were EXTREMELY polite,helpful,friendly and most of all were happy and smiling (which bearing in  mind how hard they work i think is amazing!!!) as at most Showmaster's events that i manage to make!!! I think they need a HUGE thank you from me and all of the attendees.Full credit to Jason for his choice of crew!! There is always however going to be a VERY small number of individuals that unfortunately don't make the grade!! I myself am disabled and like most people in my situation unfortunately do sometimes need this to be taken into account and not treated like someone trying to pull a fast one while queing (something i was more than happy to do,and just wanted a polite reply to a polite question)!!! However  i did cheer up when the guy behind me said "don't worry about him mate,he's probably got a real nothing job and finally feels important this weekend". He's back to work now:):).
That aside great weekend.Thanks to everyone especially Jason and the crew and i hope to make (health permitting!!) the next show.
Oh yeh,if you're hot use the bloody cloakroom facilities,even at £1!!!!!!!

[Lala Collins]

Unfortunately heating and lighting are a venue issue and beyond Showmasters control.

[Dellefyne]

I didn't think the heating was such an issue, as Thunderstruck pointed out, there was a cloak room even if it was not free.

However, I'd like to point out a few problems that I encountered during the event: as raised before, the lightning was awful during the talks, and almost all the pictures came out really dull.

Again, as during all SM events, I really think that there should be signs indicating the Gold Pass seating area during talks: why not stick a piece of paper on the seats from the first row for instance? Usually the first 3 rows were allocated to Gold Passes, so I sat in the 4th row, whereas I was in the first few attendees in the waiting queue... Just to see that you could sit in the second row! Could something be done about it?

Also, I thought there were not as many signs within the venue as usual: we didn't get the usual maps on the walls, did we? I admit I got a bit lost at first, and I was very fortunate I found very helpful crew and pitbosses to help me find my way!

[Count Fooku]

I went to two talks and at both we were told to keep the front row only clear for gold passes as we went in. Can't speak for all talks of course but there did seem to be a system in place.

[Queen_Sindel]

Normally crew is at least telling incoming attendees what area to keep clear for Gold Pass holders, yes.
There have been signs sometimes too, but I haven't seen any this time - but I only made it to one talk, so I really am not the best source there.

[JacknDaniel]

The conventions are different from the signing events with regards to seats held for Gold Pass holders are they not? There's about 100 gold passes for conventions, but I didnt think any more than about 10 people bought Gold Passes for signing events(i've never even seen the advantage of having one to be honest, never bought one myself and i've always met everyone i wanted to)

With that thinking I sat in the second row when i could, even then the first row was hardly ever full when I was in

[Queen_Sindel]

Dellefyne, on Nov 30 2010, 01:24 PM, said:

Also, I thought there were not as many signs within the venue as usual: we didn't get the usual maps on the walls, did we? I admit I got a bit lost at first, and I was very fortunate I found very helpful crew and pitbosses to help me find my way!

I saw a couple of maps.

[Dellefyne]

Queen_Sindel, on Nov 30 2010, 02:09 PM, said:

Dellefyne, on Nov 30 2010, 01:24 PM, said:

Also, I thought there were not as many signs within the venue as usual: we didn't get the usual maps on the walls, did we? I admit I got a bit lost at first, and I was very fortunate I found very helpful crew and pitbosses to help me find my way!

I saw a couple of maps.

Oh, ok, my bad then. But I really thought it was less clear than at previous events (LFCC or even CM:L last year).

As for the seating during the talks, what I meant is Yes, usually there's a crew member there telling you you can't sit in the first row, but when I arrived for my first talk of the weekend, the crew were busy talking to someone in particular so they could not inform the attendees of the system, and I thought signs could help for that matter...

Maybe I'm wrong here, but anyway I thought I'd drop a line

[Queen_Sindel]

Dellefyne, on Nov 30 2010, 02:38 PM, said:

Oh, ok, my bad then. But I really thought it was less clear than at previous events (LFCC or even CM:L last year).

Maybe I was just paying more attention to the walls because I had to move to the side on my crutches to let people through so often.

[Saz.]

I'll say in Showmasters' defence, there were a lot of things that were out of their control at the event.

I was witness to several examples of Olympia events staff undermining the work that Showmasters staff had set out. There was one particular Italian sounding gentleman who loved to throw his weight around in a Jobsworthy way.

[Dellefyne]

Queen_Sindel, on Nov 30 2010, 03:30 PM, said:

Dellefyne, on Nov 30 2010, 02:38 PM, said:

Oh, ok, my bad then. But I really thought it was less clear than at previous events (LFCC or even CM:L last year).

Maybe I was just paying more attention to the walls because I had to move to the side on my crutches to let people through so often.

Ahah, that might explain everything! I saw you from a distance, I hope you didn't have any difficulties during the weekend with your crutches?

[Queen_Sindel]

I was beat in the evening - I happened to be in the part of the venue that was told to evacuate and getting down and up the stairs on crutches really wasn't fun.    All I remember from that night is thinking "oh shiny, Merlin is on TV". Next thing I know is I wake up at 5 AM.

But besides that no difficulties, thanks for asking.

[Lala Collins]

There were A4 sized wall signs put up on Friday night. Perhaps they were moved?

[Flibble]

The only thing that I thought could have been planned better was the two lines of guests opposite each other. It was a bit difficult trying  not to get in the  way of people who just wanted to pass through, when the queue was a little big for one of the guests.

The only other suggestion that I have, if the event is to be held next year, is maybe not to have it on the weekend just after the American Thanksgiving celebrations, as I expect a lot of potential guests want to stay at home with their families for the weekend.