The Storybrooke Daily Mirror: OUaT in the Media, Cons and Other Real Life Encounters

[Delphi]

Ginnie looks fantastic for recently having given birth and both her and Josh's outfits are on point. Ginnie should really be put in charge of Snow's wardrobe on the show.

[Souris]

Continuing in Costume thread.

[MMLEsq]

I saw in an insert in our local Fort Lauderdale paper yesterday that Georgina Haig (Elsa), Sean Maguire (Robin), Christie Laing (Marian) and Lee Arenberg (Grumpy) will be at Magic City Comic Con in Miami next weekend.  My 10-year-old daughter is a huge OUAT fan, so I'm tempted to take her, but I can't decide.  It just seems like an awful lot of money...$30/ticket for each of us to get in for one day, $120 for a professional photo with all four, $40 for Georgina's autograph, etc.  I know this is a question that no one can really answer for me, but.....  are these kinds of event worth it?   Also, there's a Q&A session with Georgina one day in the main hall.  If we did end up going, can anyone give advice re: whether you need to get there super early to get a seat, etc.?  Sorry, I've never been to an event like this, so I have no idea what to expect.  

[daxx]

Depends on who is running the con. My aunt and I are going to a Creation run Supernatural con in Feb. the seats are reserved and frankly everything far more expensive than what you just noted. I think gen adm was $80 for one day, the photo op we are splitting with Jared and Jensen was $250. If the seats are not reserved then getting there early is crucial, but if seats are priced different based on location it won't matter unless you get the expensive seats. We got crappy seats, the good seats were $650 for the weekend. Photo ops vary wildly in price depending on the popularity of the attendees.

[sharky]

You may want to check and see if the con has a forum or if there's an online forum somewhere about it -- maybe Nerd Machine, although they switched to Google+ from a message board format. Anyway, that may be a good place to see what people are saying about the con and you can get some great advice from people who have already done something like that. I want to say I've seen photo ops for $40 or so -- if you have all of them in one photo, maybe the $120 is justified. Expensive, but justified. It sounds like a cruise ship vacation. You pay the initial money to get in and then they keep adding on fees for the "extras".

[Dani-Ellie]

The fangirl in me is saying, "OMG totally take her, I would have loved to do something like that as a kid!" (Because it's true, haha. I still remember when my mom took me to see John Stamos when he appeared at a local mall. I couldn't have been more than 9.) The adult in me totally understands your hesitance.

 

I've only ever been to one con (a Supernatural one in Boston a couple years back ... daxx, you're going to have a blast!) but that was a dedicated SPN con so the only people there were SPN fans. It was indeed very expensive but I think well worth it. We had so. much. fun and my sister and I both agreed that if they ever came back this way, we'd do the whole weekend rather than just the one day. I've never been to a Comic Con, though I have heard that at least San Diego's seating is first come first serve so people essentially camp out to make sure they get seats for what they want to see.

 

I would assume that if you're paying for an autograph or a photo op, that's a "definitely get to do" kind of thing, especially if you can purchase them in advance. Maybe ask her if she'd rather this or that so that way you don't end up dropping money on stuff she's not really interested in? (For example, my sister and I put our money towards the photo ops rather than the autographs because we would rather have come home with the pics of us and the celebs than autographs.)

[daxx]

Agreed, I much prefer my photo ops to autographs. Technically autographs can be had buying online. Still not cheap but photo ops are like a once in a lifetime thing in my opinion. Only have one at the moment, but soon to have the J2 to go with my Mark Sheppard.

[MMLEsq]

Thanks for all the advice....I really appreciate it.  I thought that the group OUAT photo was sold out (it's unavailable on the official website), but in digging around, I just saw this on the MCCC's facebook page: 

 

ROBBIE KAY, star of ONCE UPON A TIME as PETER PAN is a last minute guest addition for Magic City Comic Con - www.magiccitycomiccon.com - January 16-18, 2015 at the Miami Airport Convention Center. Over 100 celebrities, writers, artists, and entertainers are coming to Magic City Comic Con!

Robbie Kay is best known for his roles as Peter Pan in Once Upon a Time, Pinocchio in the Pinocchio mini-series, and the cabin boy in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

 

PLEASE NOTE: Solo Photo Op tickets are now available @ http://www.eventbee.com/v/magiccityphotoops. There is a temporary hold on further Once Upon A Time Group photo op tickets, as there may be further changes (including one more potential guest announcement in the next 48 hours). Anyone who has already purchased a group photo op will be allowed to use their existing tickets for the updated group. Please stay tuned for further announcements.

 

I know my daughter would love it, so I'm maybe leaning towards going.  Although she doesn't know anything about it, so I could easily let this come and go and she wouldn't be the wiser.

 

It looks the Q&A's are free (I can't see anything that references tickets or anything), which I guess means we would have to get there super early to get good seats (or any seats?).  I'd almost rather pay for a seat in advance, so that I wouldn't feel like I needed to go for the whole day.

[FabulousTater]

Like daxx and Dani-Ellie said, check out the website and the forums because you can find tips from other con goers from there on when it's best to get in line and if certain extra events are worth it.

 

In my experience for panel seating, it's definitely best to get there early (I mean, really, really, early) because it's always first come first serve seating. But one thing to be aware of is if they clear the seating between panels. At the New York Comic Con, for example, they do first come first serve seating, but they don't clear out the room seating between panels. So if the panel you want to go to is at 1pm, but there are three other (fairly popular) panels before starting at 9am, you're going to want to get in line for the early 9am panels (even if you don't care about them), because otherwise you could be left with no seat for your 1pm panel since people can sit through all the panels without giving up their seats.

 

Now, not all cons do this, but even the ones that generally don't clear panel seating between panels have started clearing the room between panels for their larger (more popular) panels. So while NYCC doesn't generally clear the room between panels, it does clear the main hall room where they hold the large "main events" such as the panels for The Walking Dead, Marvel AoS, or big movie studio screenings. In the case of clearing between panels you just have to stay aware of when (and where) the con reps will allow you to start lining up for that event.

 

Also, some cons have started using wristbands for their bigger panels. In place of getting in line super early, you go get a wristband (of course, you have to make a line for the wristband) which effectively saves you a spot in line for the panel. You just have to come back (with your wristband) when they say to to then enter the panel. If they run out of wristbands, then you're likely out of luck and not getting into that panel. 

Edited January 11, 2015 by FabulousTater

[MMLEsq]

Reporting back in.  :-)     We went to (is it...."the" Comic Con or just Comic Con?) the Magic City Comic Con yesterday.  Not knowing what to expect, I told my daughter that we were going to have to be patient and go with the flow and just decide that we were going to have fun.  The first official presentation in the main hall started at 12:30 (the OUAT Q&A was at 1:30), so around 12:20, we wandered over just to see what the story was with seats.  They had some Match Game thing going on with a number of "celebrities" on the panel (none from OUAT.....I put celebrities in quotes because, other than OAUT and the people from Guardians of the Galaxy and Pirates of the Caribbean, I hadn't heard of anyone that was there).  There were lots of empty seats, so we sat down in the fourth row.  Then the people in the third row right in front of us got up, so we moved to their seats.  Right before the 12:30-1:30 panel started, the people right in front of us in the second row left, so we took their seats. The panel from 12:30-1:30 was the two stars from Adventure Time (a show I had never heard of and, even though I sat through their Q&A, I have no desire to see).  When the Adventure Time panel ended, I looked around and the room was standing room only and it stayed that way through the OUAT panel.  

 

Georgina Haig had dropped out because she supposedly was working in Australia and couldn't leave to fly to the U.S., so they replaced her with Rebecca Mader.  So, the panel was Robbie Kay (Peter Pan), Sean Maguire (Robin), Christie Laing (Marian), Rebecca Mader (Zelina/Wicked Witch) and Lee Arenberg (Grumpy).  Lee lived up to his name and did, in fact, seem grumpy.  Somebody would ask the panel a question like, "Which story arc was your favorite?" and Lee would jump in and say, "It doesn't matter which story line I like, it only matters which story line YOU like!" but in a harsh kind of way and then the rest of the panel wouldn't really answer the question.  One youngish girl (maybe about 13) asked how they prepare for their roles, and Lee answered that he gets this thing with words on the page called a script, he reads it and then he says the lines, and then collects his paycheck.  I mean, did he really have to be sarcastic to a kid??  He also went off on a rant more than once about mean people on Twitter saying things about his friends on the cast.  

 

I was surprised by his attitude and comments at the panel because when we were registering for the day when we first got there, the workers were telling us that he and Robbie were super friendly and liked to talk to the fans.  Before the panel, we had wandered over to their tables and got Robbie Kay's autograph ($30), but my daughter was so shy that she really didn't say anything to him.  

 

I thought there might be more OUAT stuff in the vendor areas, but there really wasn't much at all, so we actually spent about an hour or so at one point playing Monopoly on my Kindle while waiting for the group photo.  The group photo turned out great, but -- once again -- my daughter was so shy/nervous that she really didn't say anything to them.  Immediately after the photo, someone from the convention asked if she would speak on camera about how it was to meet them and get a picture taken, which she did.  Apparently they were putting together a "thank you" video to give to the cast.

 

That's about it....   we had a great time and I'd do it again, but only if I knew OUAT people were going to be there because the rest of the convention was really of very little interest to us.

[Serena]

This person on Twitter has some pics and livetweets of the OUAT panels.

[Souris]

Though not technically about Once, I think this article illustrates a lot of the same issues that Once has with social media.

[Dani-Ellie]

From that article:

 

 

"The fans are so polarized in what they are rooting for that to appease all of them the show would be gobbledygook," Dries said. "It wouldn't make any sense."

 

I want to mail this to Adam and Eddy. I get wanting your fans to be happy, but no single story is going to make everyone happy. That's just facts, and the more the story tries to appease fans of Fanon Plot X, the more it's going to anger other viewers who are all, "But ... that makes no sense!" If you tell the story well and you tell it from the heart, people are going to respond positively. Feedback is important, of course, and I can understand them wanting to read up on fan reactions to find out what's working. But at the same time, I think it would behoove them to not confuse loud with popular and to also take a good look at more objective evidence that things aren't working -- things like sharp ratings drops -- and try to figure out why that is. Something made a whole bunch of people tune out all at once, even if that seems to be contrary to what the vocal online opinion seems to be.

Edited January 19, 2015 by Dani-Ellie

[RadioGirl27]

I was going to post that exact quote, lol. That's something Adam and Eddy should learn.

Edited January 19, 2015 by RadioGirl27

[KingOfHearts]

 

"The fans are so polarized in what they are rooting for that to appease all of them the show would be gobbledygook," Dries said. "It wouldn't make any sense."

Replying in Writers thread.

[Souris]

The Once Twitter page posted this image tease. I assume it's referring to the previously announced graphic novel. I imagine Colin is geeking out over a Marvel "hook-up" with his character.

[YaddaYadda]

Forgive me for being slow, but I really don't get it.  I don't get the Marvel logo either which probably means I missed something somewhere.

[Souris]

I assume it's for this which is put out by Marvel.

[pezgirl7]

The 2nd teaser photo has been released for the OUAT graphic novel, this time it's Rumple/Belle.

https://twitter.com/OnceABC/status/557583365831147523/photo/1

[Serena]

Don't know if it fits here, but Sean tweeted that his wife is pregnant.

[FurryFury]

Is it too much to hope he'll decide to spend more time with her and away from the Once set? Probably too much.

[sharky]

From what I've seen, Sean seems like a really nice guy. I don't mind seeing him unless he lines up something better. He should talk to Jamie Dornan about that.

[FurryFury]

I do mind. I don't think he's am especially good actor and his character is, frankly, vomit-inducingly bad.

Edited January 21, 2015 by FurryFury

[YaddaYadda]

https://twitter.com/onceabc/status/557948362755145728

 

A never-before-been-told story. Tease 3 of 4... #OnceUponATime

So?  Davy Jones' locker then as the 3rd tease.  Guess we know why Hook's last name is Jones now.  

 

 

[Serena]

I don't think it's that? It's four stories, one about Hook, one Rumbelle, one the EQ and one the Mad Hatter. First tease was Hook, second tease Rumbelle, so that must be either EQ or Jefferson. I'd say it looks like where Regina puts hearts.

[YaddaYadda]

I thought it was EQ at first, but it looks a lot like DJ's locker.  Oh well, it's like I'm going to read any of these anyway...

[The Cake is a Pie]

#3 looks like one of Regina's heart boxes. The hook illustration looks like the little hook Colin drew for Christina Perri.

[retrograde]

Thought they might do a new promo for the Galavant finale, but no such luck. At least there was a promo, I guess... not that the ratings have been anything to write home about. 

[Serena]

Apparently this is the 4B poster (of course). The OUAT Twitter tweeted the link. But why would a random fan have it?

[pezgirl7]

Apparently this is the 4B poster (of course). The OUAT Twitter tweeted the link. But why would a random fan have it?

 

I think she made that poster. She tagged it as an "edit".

[Serena]

Nope, it's real. I don't know why she tagged it "edit", but the official Once Twitter tweeted the link and reliable sites like TVLine are reporting it as real. Apparently, they sent her a message with it and asked her to post.

[pezgirl7]

Very strange marketing there! Maybe they thought by choosing a OUAT fan on tumblr, that others would be more apt to reblog it from her.

[Serena]

Maybe? But it's not like it's a FAMOUS Tumblr. Choosing something like storybrookemirror, who is very widely followed, would have been smarter. It's just a weird tactic.

[retrograde]

Yeah pretty weird. I like the poster, though. Eye catching.

[stealinghome]

I think this is one of the better posters the show has put together in a while...but it emphasizes one of the show's big problems these days, which is that just about all of the regulars are guest stars in their own show.

[Geeni]

Well, at least it's not Regina-centered.

[LizaD]

That poster/picture has been up on the 3 actresses twitter for awhile now,  way before the "official release." I figured that was the real poster and that they let the actresses publicize it first.

[Camera One]

Queens of Darkness promo teaser image, brought to you by the Masters of Pixelation at ABC Marketing.

 

https://twitter.com/OnceABC/status/563744433414606848/photo/1

Edited February 9, 2015 by Camera One

[Curio]

Someone obviously forgot to tell the ABC Marketing Intern the importance of DPI and properly saving for web. 

[Delphi]

Wowww that's horrible.

[Serena]

Some got paid to make that.

[Mari]

Some got paid to make that.

Yeah.

 

But, well, someone got paid to write 4:05 and Bleeding Through.  This may be what the show deserves.  Why should just the writing department get paid for drek?

[Artsda]

'Once Upon a Time' Enlists Agnes Bruckner

[KingOfHearts]

https://twitter.com/OnceABC/status/565652253395415042

 

New Ursula poster posted by ABC. I'm still not digging her look. They seem to be doing some sort of seaweed-inspired texture, but it's bland and unflattering. I'm not sure what her eyes are looking at...

 

They haven't been marketing as much, have they?

Edited February 12, 2015 by KingOfHearts

[YaddaYadda]

These posters are amateur hour.  They look something I would produce because I plain suck at anything artistic, just like the person who was actually paid to make this.

[FurryFury]

One of her eyes seems to have heavier make-up than the other. It looks weird. Overall yeah, except for the one poster with 3 of them (I think it was the first one revealed?) they all suck. Which is par for the course with this show, really.

Edited February 12, 2015 by FurryFury

[HoodlumSheep]

Hmmm...at least there's a water element to the pic??? I can't complain though, because my promo posters would probably end up being stick figure characters I've managed to draw on Microsoft Paint....with a computer mouse.

I don't really get an Ursula vibe from the actress, but I'm willing to see how it goes before I make any judgements.

I do like the simplicity of the poster with all the Queens of Darkness on it though.

The Evil vs. Wicked poster is still my favorite in terms of the promotional posters they've put out. It looked like they put a decent amount of effort into that one, and it turned out better than the 90% of the actual 3b episodes.

[Curio]

I can't complain though, because my promo posters would probably end up being stick figure characters I've managed to draw on Microsoft Paint....with a computer mouse.

Well, I'm actually in marketing and work on these kinds of graphic things, so I'll complain. I don't know if ABC hires an outside agency to do their work or if they have their own internal graphics team, but whoever they have working on their promotional visuals isn't the cream of the crop, that's for sure.

 

They haven't been marketing as much, have they?

 

This show isn't a high priority for the ABC Marketing Team for some reason, even though it still manages some of the channel's highest ratings. For their other shows, they'll get the actual actors involved with some fun and cheeky promotional TV spots, which can sometimes be more effective than a quick 30 second trailer for an episode if you don't know anything about the show. (And especially with this show, I'd assume watching an episode promo attempting to explain the "plot" that confuses even the most obsessive fans on these boards could really turn off a casual viewer.)

 

They've gotten Nathan Fillion and Ioan Gruffudd to do a TV spot for "The Men at 10" promoting Castle and Forever. They've gotten cast members from Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, and How to Get Away With Murder to do a funny spot for "TGIT." So why not use some of Once's actors to do some quick 30-second promos with a similar vibe? I would bet those two videos I linked took less than a weekend to film, so it wouldn't interfere much with the cast's schedule.

 

You could get Jennifer and Colin to play Emma and Hook for a cheesy promo where she explains how Netflix or Hulu works, since that's actually a scene that could happen in Offscreenville. All you'd need to do is film them sitting on a couch together watching TV (and ABC could cross promote their other shows by having the only options that pop up on screen be The Bachelor, Dancing with the Stars, Shark Tank, or Modern Family) with Emma explaining how to use the search function on the remote. I feel like they attempted to go for a similar vibe with the Elsa-walking-through-Storybrooke teaser before 4A, but it made no sense why everyone was dressed in their Enchanted Forest garb and it wasn't really that interesting because no one actually spoke more than 2 lines. A more humorous promo like the Netflix example would probably be more effective than their current tactic: Hey look! We have Disney villain #45 lined up! But we'll only show you dramatic zoom in shots of their faces while they say something evil like "You want darkness? I'll give you darkness!" Stay tuned and watch how convoluted we make the story! 

[sharky]

They've gotten Nathan Fillion and Ioan Gruffudd to do a TV spot for "The Men at 10" promoting Castle and Forever. They've gotten cast members from Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, and How to Get Away With Murder to do a funny spot for "TGIT." So why not use some of Once's actors to do some quick 30-second promos with a similar vibe? I would bet those two videos I linked took less than a weekend to film, so it wouldn't interfere much with the cast's schedule.

But those partner spots make sense. Nathan and Ioan are on back-to-back nights working as detectives [ish] and the TGIT is all about Shonda Rhimes shows. There really isn't anything to pair Once with, especially considering how horrible the other Sunday shows are doing for example. I'm fully expecting Revenge and Resurrection to be cancelled. So what else do you pair it with? The shows you mentioned in your example aren't the same as Once so the audience is likely not the same. Also, you have to remember the push they put into the Frozen half. The network guys probably decided to push that hard so there's not much marketing budget left for the Queens of Darkness. And as we get closer, I'm sure we'll see something. A few of them did the morning talk shows when Once came back in March of last year, but those are going to be much closer to the actual air date. 

Edited February 12, 2015 by sharky

[Curio]

But those partner spots make sense. Nathan and Ioan are on back-to-back nights working as detectives [ish] and the TGIT is all about Shonda Rhimes shows. There really isn't anything to pair Once with, especially considering how horrible the other Sunday shows are doing for example.

 

I wasn't saying Once should pair up with another TV show for their promos. I just linked those videos as examples of the "humorous tone" I think ABC should use when promoting the show. There's a big difference between the past Once ads we've seen where it's usually just a quick shot of Adam & Eddy's new play toy walking down the road with a deep voiceover in the background versus those cheeky TGIT videos that kind of break down the fourth wall a bit. That's all I was trying to get at.