Friday, August 5, 2011

BEDA 5: VidCon Day 1 and Ponies.

What to write about, what to write about..... VidCon or the My Little Pony/Know Your Meme shoot... I might try to summarize and do both. :) Marathon writing day!

So! Last night I headed over to Cheezburger Headquarters here in Seattle to meet up with Forest, Jordan and David (the rest of the Know Your Meme team) to shoot a very special episode of KYM. I mean, I guess from the outside it's a fairly normal episode, but it was special to me. We were delving into the word of Bronies, the internet subculture of older male fans of the show Friendship is Magic. I was particularly excited to be involved in this episode, since I myself am a huge fan of the show and find myself delighting in pony memes a bit more often than may be healthy.

Forest texted me before I left instructing me to "bring ponies". Jordan had been worried we were going to need to make a Target run for props, but I definitely had us covered. Here's one section of the set:

This was also the first episode that I had a larger speaking role in, which I can't wait for all of your guys to see. We spent the next six hours filming the episode. I learned how to use a teleprompter (can you believe in all my years of making videos I've never used one before?) and near the end we spent more time laughing than we actually spent filming. I can't tell you how hot that little room got with cameras and tvs and computers running for that long. Not to mention the white lab coats we have to wear as our costumes.

So, it's amazing that only a few months ago I was falling into this crazy MLP fandom and now here I am getting to play a Internet Scientist unfolding the mysteries of the web on the very same topic. My life continues to befuddle me.

Anyway! VidCon!

FRIDAY

We woke up Friday morning, returned the ConTour van, and zipped back over to the Hyatt for the festivities. The day started with Alex Carpenter playing a morning "sleepytime show", at which I laid on my stomach across a rather large pile of pillows. I don't understand why we don't do all concerts this way.

I think that afternoon we filmed my PajamaCam: VidCon video, but I don't want to give anything away about that so I'm just going to keep my mouth shut until I post it next week.

Around 2 we had an ALL CAPS meetup with some other YouTubers there as well; it was crazy seeing so many people spill into our assigned ballroom and line up to meet us. I will never get used to it, guys. Never. I met so many lovely people and was given some fun little presents (like a MLP activity book and a wall scroll with Voldemort's face on it).

That afternoon Jason, Alex, Mike and Jimmy had another one of their Playlist Live-inspired guerrilla shows in a hallway, which was super fun. I remember now that I sat with Alex Day for this show and started to realize we couldn't walk two steps anywhere without being stopped. It was the most bizarre experience. I mean it was mostly because of him - we literally couldn't go anywhere without girls swarming around in a circle. Swarming. In a circle. He handles it really well though, better than I do.

I know I always say this but I am actually losing track of what happened which days now. Let's see. Friday night was the first evening of shows, and I was completely blown away by the Gregory Brothers. I mean, Autotune the News is great but their live show is just incredible. Especially when the actual Double Rainbow guy came onstage. He was the HAPPIEST man I have ever seen in my entire life. And he just films everything. All the time. It's adorable.

My friends and I got a picture with him after the show actually, and he filmed use taking the picture with him. I will cherish that photo for the rest of my life, haha.

That night we just wandered around the hotel, trying to get into general conference-related mischief, but ended up spending most of the evening at the X-Bar doing Washington Apple shots around a circular table. And at some point we went to bed. Really late. I don't know. It's been a whole week guys, my memory is foggy.

The most incredible day of VidCon was Saturday anyway, so I'll save it for tomorrow. :)

Flights taken: 17

6 comments:

Maggie said...

Haha, I saw you guys filming your Pajama Cam video! It's weird for me to think that at some point, I'll actually see the VIDEO on my computer, since I saw you in person strutting around in your footie pajamas. XD

And I agree, more shows should be lazier like the one Friday morning. My friends and I had been eyeing those pillows, but were too lazy to move the yard from our beanbags to them. So props to you and your posse.

Darrow said...

Strangely enough, I just realized that somehow YouTube unsubscribed me from you. I was wondering where your videos had gone to. But don't worry! I'm catching up!

Manar said...

Sounds FUN. I can't wait for the PajamaCam video. :)

Alex Dahlberry said...

Washington Apple shots. Sounds really delicious. xD

Ok, the MLP thing I will never understand, but it's cute all the same. Maybe I should try watching the show. But I don't think I'd like it. ahah. perhaps, perhaps.
Still, cool doing know your meme. =] Im happy for ya.

And VidCon sounds pretty damn cool. For me, LeakyCon was mostly about having the max amount of fun with my friends, with a tiny amount of focus on the big youtubers, the starkids and the actors.
I feel like VidCon would be a different experience, with a lot more focus on seeing as many people you admire as possible.
I like both.
Maybe I'll go to 2012. =]

SiriuslyLoony7 said...

You know you've made it when you're mentioned in Kristina's blog!!!!!!! (Hi, I gave you the Voldemort wall scroll.) =] I know it couldn't go to better Voldemort fangirl.

Emily The Wholigan said...

Why can I not see any of your photos? =( In any case, I love your blog! Always very entertaining.