All posts by ThatBlairGuy

That Blair Guy has been working in software for longer than he cares to admit. These days he works throughout the software stack from the web UI down to SQL (and sometimes no-SQL), generally on the .Net framework, with frequent excursions to NodeJS, Linux, and PHP.
Fanfilms

Starship Farragut Launches

Starship Farragut premiered their first-ever episode this past Friday as part of the Farpoint convention in Hunt Valley Maryland.

The first episode, titled “The Captaincy,” is set in the same time frame as the original Star Trek series and introduces the new crew of the Constitution Class starship, USS Farragut. In this first episode, the Farragut is dispatched to investigate the loss of a survey vessel and its crew and a possible Klingon incursion into Federation territory. At the same time, a new captain and crew must learn to work together.

Despite a few rough edges, it’s still a wonderful first story and doesn’t drag at all. The 48-minute runtime feels like barely half that. It’s that engaging. The only large complaint I had was a one-sided battle where it seemed like the one side never realized their opponents weren’t defending themselves. On the other hand, it was interesting to note that this episode made very little use of indoor sets, spending most of its time outdoors. (Either that, or else the film crew went to a great deal of trouble to create a quite realistic indoor forest.)

Likewise, the CGI effects are fantastic. Clearly the Starship Farragut crew has learned from those who have gone before them. The attention to detail paid off with the result that starships looked real without any obvious “computer edges” and weapons fire that seems quite believable.

A bonus item to watch for is a cameo appearance by the cast of another fan film series. Perhaps we’ll see other crossovers in times to come.

The episode is scheduled for web-release on February 23. Starship Farragut reportedly plans to release additional episodes at a rate of two per year. The series stars John Broughton as Captain “Jack” Carter; Mike Bednar as Executive Officer, Commander “RT” Tacket; Holly Bednar as Chief Engineer Lieutenant Commander “Mike” Smithfield; Paul Sieber as Security Chief Henry Prescott; and Tonya Bacon as Communications Officer Lieutenant Alissa Moretti. The recurring villain in the series, Klingon Commander Kruge is played by Mark Hildebrand.

It’s a terrific first outing for Starship Farragut. We can only hope for more of the same.

Conventions

2007 Browncoat Ball open for bids

The Browncoat Ball is now accepting bids for groups wishing to host the 2007 event. The Chicagoland Browncoats held the first Browncoat Ball in Chicago in 2004. In 2006 the San Francisco Browncoats carried on the tradition by hosting the second one.

The ball is held in a different city each year with local browncoat submitting a pitch outlining the event they want to hold. The city with the shiniest event plan becomes the Host City for that year. Bids are now being accepted for cities wishing to host the 2007 Ball. Guidelines for interested local Browncoat groups and postmortem write-ups from the 2004 and 2006 events are available on the Browncoat Ball web site.

Bidding for 2007 will close on January 15, 2007. No date has been announced for when the 2007 location will be declared, but at that time bidding will open for the 2008 event, allowing approximately 18 months to plan for the 2008 event.

For more information, visit the Browncoat Ball web site. Questions may be directed to bid2007@browncoatball.com.

Conventions

Farpoint adds Fan Creativity track

Farpoint is adding a new Fan Creativity track focusing on film and podcast production with panels and workshops on the nuts and bolts of creating a production (everything from script to lighting, acting, editing and distributing). Several local film and audio productions will also be presented, and fans will have a chance to share ideas and methods with their peers working in these areas. Special event include the world premiere of Starship Farragut’s first-ever webisode in the main ballroom on Saturday afternoon. The filmmakers will be on hand to discuss the journey they have taken to bring their dreams to reality.

Farpoint is also hosting their annual Model Contest, as well as a new art competition. The Young Artists Competition will be held in conjunction with the Art Show and Auction. Artists under the age of 12 are invited to submit pieces to display (no hanging fee for Young Artists). Local artists will judge the works and prizes will be awarded. More info on the Young Artists program can be found on the Art Show page at the Farpoint website.

Conventions, Fandom

Browncoat Backup Event

Technorati is loaded with blog entries about what happened when Flanvention was cancelled at the last moment.

Not only did the California and San Francisco Browncoats put together their backup event in a mere 24 hours, a number of Firefly cast members (including Alan Tudyk who had previously cancelled his Flanvention appearance) also showed up to show support for the fans.

An attendee going by the moniker of “TheOneTrueB!x” posted a Flickr stream with a number of good photos including Christina Hendricks (Saffron/Yolanda/Bridget), Alan Tudyk (Wash), Mark Sheppard (Badger), Adam Baldwin (Jayne) and, of course, Cap’n Reynolds himself, Nathan Fillion.

So despite the lack of the convention everyone had been planning to attend, it appears as though something shiny may have happened after all.

Fandom

Flanvention Disappears

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On Friday, December 1, after several days of uncertainty about whether the Big Damn Flanvention would take place, Booster Events announced that they had resolved their financial difficulties and would be going forward with their event.

The California Browncoats and the San Francisco Browncoats report that on Thursday, December 7, with 24 hours before the event was to take place, and with people starting to arrive, Booster Events reversed themselves and pulled the plug on the Big Damn Flanvention.

The Booster Events web site is currently blank save for a notice that “Booster Entertainment apologizes for the great inconvenience, but due to unforeseen circumstances, Flanvention is cancelled. An official notice will be posted within 10 days.” (December 17)

At this point in time, lacking evidence to the contrary, Fanboy’s Convention List is treating all future Booster Events conventions as cancelled.

Conventions, Fandom

Can’t Stop the Browncoats

Details are scarce right now, but there’s a notice on the Booster Events site that due to “financial difficulties,” it’s possible that the Big Damned Flanvention 2 may be cancelled. Please note that the event has not been cancelled and if it is, you’ll most likely find out through Booster Events’ official channels sooner than you will here.

None of that is particularly newsworthy. Sad to say, convention cancellations are not altogether uncommon.

What’s interesting about this one though is how the attendees are reacting. As a contingency plan, the California Browncoats are organizing an event which has been dubbed, the “Browncoats’ Backup Bash.” In the event that the Flanvention does fall through, and attendees are unable to cancel their hotel/airplane/other reservations, there will still be an event to attend.

Kudos to the California Browncoats for their efforts. That’s shiny.

Fanfilms

Return of the Return of Pink Five

Visiting the Pink Five site recently, I was delighted to learn that post-production on Volume Two of Return of Pink Five is coming along nicely (Volume 1 is already available on Atom Films). Reading a little further, I learned there’s even more to come!

Return of Pink Five was already set to be the longest of the three parodies, and so they’d made the decision to split it into two parts (thus the Volumes One and Two). Well, it turns out that there’s even more film than they’d realized. So along with the other two, there’s also going to be a Volume Three.

So the good news is, even more Pink Five. The bad news is, we have to wait for it.

Fandom

One Frak’n Big Party

Battlestar Galactica is due to start its third season on October 6 and one group of fans is looking to start the season with a party!

Organizers of the Frak Party have created a web site where local organizers can advertise their season premiere parties and where fans without a party can look for one in their area. Combined, the local parties will form the nationwide Frak Party.

That could be pretty frak’n cool.