Get To Know A Pre-viz Whiz

A pre-wha--t? O_O

Red Dot Diva assures that she isn't creating a new word here.

Pre-viz or short for Previsualization, which includes storyboarding that could be drawn by hand or digital technology, allows a director to have an idea how sequences will look like on film before production is carried out.

And it takes someone with solid artistic and imaginative visualization skills to be able to do the job fantastically well.

One such top artists in this field is Robbie Consing. Red Dot Diva says a pop-culture fan should get familiar with this name, as one would then be able to connect his previsualizations to a lot of popular blockbuster movies!

Robbie has provided his previz whiz on movies like "Armageddon", "Pearl Harbour", "Minority Report", "X2" and "Terminator 3"! One can check out the list of his illustrious work from his IMDb profile!

Red Dot Diva is very glad to have gotten connected with this genuinely nice and articulate guy and naturally, she couldn't help but ask him for an interview.

The interview will be posted in two parts. This is the first instalment where Robbie acquaints us more about his field of work.

Local Theatre News

New local theatre production company Pangdemonium! Productions kicked off to a successful start with "The Full Monty" this year.

As a follow-up, Pangdemonium will be offering more nudity with the dark psycho-drama play by Patrick Marber called "Closer". (Red Dot Diva knows that some may already be familiar with the movie version starring Jude Law, Natalie Portman, Clive Owen and Julia Roberts.) The play is directed by Tracie Pang is about love, lust, obsession, betrayal... All those melodramatic stuff. It stars Adrian Pang, Emma Yong, Keagan Kang and Cynthia Lee MacQuarrie as the four main protagonists.

"Closer" will go on stage at the DBS Arts Centre from 17 February to 6 March 2011. Tickets go on sale on December 1st on SISTIC. Remember to check out the early bird discount!

Angry Nerds??

It was Angry Nerds Day on November 22nd, 2010.

More registration frustrations abound when eager fans, geeks and nerds tried to buy their tickets for San Diego's Comic Con 2011.

After a previous failed attempt, SDCC re-scheduled registration for November 22nd at a super-early hour of 6 am PST. Red Dot Diva was aware that many fans disrupted their usual schedule to take a shot at getting the highly sought-after tickets. Especially since those 4-day + Preview ones were already sold out during this year's SDCC.

To their utter frustration, that second try at online registration was just as unsuccessful as the first one! No one was able to get onto the site due to "glitches" with the dreaded "The web system has encountered an error while attempting to service your registration process." error message appearing on their screens.

The company running the registration process is EPIC. More like EPIC Fail.

2.5 hours later, SDCC tweeted: “We are well aware that many people have taken time from work, school or other activities and others woke up very early. There really is no way to convey our level (of) regret for this turn of events. We are currently researching our registration options.”

SDCC had two weeks to work out this issue. Red Dot Diva strongly felt that if the system was simply not ready for the mega-volume of registrations, then they should have announced a postponement much earlier.

Too many EPIC egos at work?

A Vampire in the Bayou

One of the things Red Dot Diva hates er.. loves ... about her friend @eserei27 is that Red Dot Diva is able to live vicariously through her. See, @eserei27 the mega fan-girl gets around. ;)

Two weekends ago, @eserei27 made her way to sultry Louisiana for some vampire hunting. No, she didn't get any bottles of True Blood or get chomped on by lesbian Vampire Queen. Instead she bit herself into some diary entries by attending a charity event called "The Unleashed Bash on the Bayou".

The event was hosted by the current sexiest "vampire" of them all (Red Dot Diva snubs the glittery kind, if one must know). He who is none other than the stunningly gorgeous Louisiana homeboy and constant do-gooder, Ian Somerhalder. If one is still unfortunately unaware, Ian stars as vamp bad-boy Damon Salvatore in CW's hit show "The Vampire Diaries".

Being the geeky fangirl, Red Dot Diva confesses that Ian has been one of her top manwich lists ever since she noticed him in "Smallville" as the fated Adam Knight. Remember him?

Panels, Divadom and More At STGCC

If one has been counting down at all -- it's just 3 more weeks to the Red Dot island's main geeky pop-culture event - the Singapore Toy Games Comic Convention (STGCC) 2010!

The schedule for the panels have already been announced. Click here for the dates and times! All panels will be held in the Panel Room in Hall 401. Red Dot Diva would most probably target the comic-related ones. Which ones will you be targetting for?

It has also been announced that Marvel’s Senior VP, Creator and Content Development, C.B. Cebulski will be shortlisting and meeting possible talents during the event. So, if one is interested, you can submit your names either by email to Reed Exhibitions, or at STGCC itself!

Speedy Encounters at Austin CC

It was late last Sunday that Red Dot Diva saw a tweet from my Texan SDCC-roomie @RealFastTlkr. She had suddenly decided to head to the Austin Comic Convention the next day! And she said she was going to try to catch one of Red Dot Diva's favourite stunt guys (and ex-"Heroes" Season 4 actors) - Ray Park.

For those who are more familiar with Ray Park when he's not without make up, he's the person behind "Star Wars"' facially-tattooed villain, Darth Maul and "X-Men's" Toad, amongst many other movie characters (usually nasty, bad guys).

Red Dot Diva's other good friend @eserei27 had met Ray before at an Ohio convention and she mentioned that he was very personable and friendly to his fans. She got Red Dot Diva a Ray-autograph pic during that convention - on which, he had written her a very sweet personalized message. So Red Dot Diva heart-hearts Ray Park. ;)

Here is @RealFastTlkr's account of her Ray Park meet-up at the Austin CC!

Holy Vesuvius!

Many years ago, when Red Dot Diva was just a mere speck, the Singapore National Museum was a dark dusty place that looked and felt more like a forgotten storeroom of artefacts.

The museum was housed in a majestic but rather mysterious colonial building. And Red Dot Diva could still remember the infamous spiral staircase that was the cauldron of some ghostly tales concerning resident spooks. The entrance to the staircase was ominously chained up and constantly watched by a grumpy museum security guard.

The same historical building - now grandly restored with a new annexe - is much brighter and looks swankier to suit the times. However till today, that spooky Victorian-style staircase still remains closed to public access. (You can view a pic of that staircase here!)

Anyway, this blog post is not going to be about ghost-hunting. Red Dot Diva was just reminiscing about the good ol' days ;)

With the classy revamp of the National Museum's facilities and exhibits, she has enjoyed visiting the place at least once a year recently. When previously, she hardly visited it at all!

For one thing, the museum has definitely upped the ante on the quality of their special exhibitions. Last year's Egyptian Mummies exhibit was a hit with the locals, and this year's "Pompeii - Life In A Roman Town 79CE" exhibit seems to be getting rather popular too.

Toys, Exclusives and More at STGCC!

And the news just keep rollin' in!

Singapore, Toy, Games and Comic Convention (STGCC) has just released some teasers and information concerning the various exclusives available at the event itself.

A gamut of toys and graphic novels are available for grabs in limited numbers and copies during the convention. Check out the entire list here!

Red Dot Diva thinks the Dooodolls Costume Party Special Edition toys are too cute! So are the 3” Care Bears Trexi (Pearl Glitter Edition)!

What's really tempting to Red Dot Diva though, is the limited hardcover Absolute "V for Vendetta" edition available through local comic bookstore, GnB Comics. Click their blog for the full information on the special packaging and print autograph from their special and invited guest to STGCC, the graphic novel's co-creator David Lloyd!

The hardcovers can be pre-ordered through GnB's website at S$150. Closing date for pre-orders is 25th November 2010!

Marvel-lous News Indeed!

.. Just in from Singapore, Toy, Games and Comic Convention (STGCC)!!

A press release was released yesterday announcing that widely-popular publishing company Marvel Comics will make their first appearance in Asia at this year's STGCC!

Red Dot Diva couldn't help squee-ing with excitement when she heard the news.

Early Bird Gets The Worm?

So, does SDCC really think that opening online ticketing at 6am, Pacific time on November 22, 2010 will ease their technical issues??

Red Dot Diva thinks not.

The new timing causes a bunch of practical difficulties for those living in the East Coast. It is the time where they have to commute to their workplace or clock-in for their jobs. And West Coasters have to wake up extra early to get online for their tickets.

Hard core fans are still going to scramble for tickets regardless, perhaps even booking their passes through their friends.

For the sake of her friends who are eager to get to SDCC 2011, Red Dot Diva wishes them all the best though.

Convention Ticketing Woes

Red Dot Diva noted that ticketing woes had plagued two comic conventions lately. Ironically, one was a large and iconic convention in the States; and the other, a smaller newcomer in the Asian scene.

It was a disappointing ticket booking FAIL on November 1st with franticly-popular San Diego's Comic Con (SDCC) 2011. More mainstream pop-culture fans must have gotten wind of the gamut of A-list guests who appeared at this year's SDCC and were now making a play for next year's tickets.

One has to note that it has already been announced that the Preview Night tickets which were offered during SDCC 2010 itself were already sold out by the end of the convention!