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

[kitticup]

If you are interested in the Fairytales convention go to twitter #FT5.  Rose is awesome.  The actors playing Hook, Tink, Mulan, Milah, Merlin, Hyde were there.  Colin's daughter is named Millie.  

[daxx]

At Phx Comicon yesterday I made a very last minute decision to get an autograph from Sean. I figure he won't be at Burbank and with the silver pass I get a lot of autos so I might as well have his to go with. Sigh, I was trying not to spend...

[sharky]

How was Phoenix? I haven't seen much out from there. 

[daxx]

4 hours ago, sharky said:

How was Phoenix? I haven't seen much out from there. 

It was good, sad that they banned prop weapons after some guy came in with real guns and intent to kill the green power ranger actor and police. He was caught, no one hurt. Some good celebrity panels, David Anders showed up for the Once panel last minute with Sean and Karen. Alan Tudyk panel was amazing. Nice seeing John de Lancie as well. There was a very nice fanfiction workshop with good pointers. They were pretty anti FF.net and pro AO3.

[sharky]

There was a fan fiction workshop? Sounds heavenly! Glad David was a good last-minute addition. I've loved him since Alias.

[Shanna Marie]

One of those Fairytales videos shows that they didn't have to autotune or heavily produce Colin for the musical. He led an impromptu singalong of "Revenge" a capella and sounded live just on a stage microphone pretty much exactly like in the episode. Impressive. I think he even managed to be in the same key just starting it off the top of his head.

It sounds like a lot of tact and diplomacy are required from the actors when asked about season 7.

Seeing the actress who plays Milah makes me want more Milah flashbacks. I find her character very intriguing and sympathetic, and I think a lot of that is to do with her portrayal.

[kitticup]

2 hours ago, daxx said:

It was good, sad that they banned prop weapons after some guy came in with real guns and intent to kill the green power ranger actor and police.

Scary.  I am glad he was caught.

[Souris]

3 hours ago, daxx said:

It was good, sad that they banned prop weapons after some guy came in with real guns and intent to kill the green power ranger actor and police. He was caught, no one hurt. 

Holy crap, that's terrifying!

[Rumsy4]

That's scary @daxx. Glad they caught him! A workshop on fanfic not mocking it? That's amazing! 

1 hour ago, Shanna Marie said:

Seeing the actress who plays Milah makes me want more Milah flashbacks. I find her character very intriguing and sympathetic, and I think a lot of that is to do with her portrayal.

Were you at FT5? I saw the write up for the panels with Rachel Shelly. She's really thought through her role. JusticeForMilah2017. 

Edited May 30, 2017 by Rumsy4

[daxx]

2 hours ago, Rumsy4 said:

A workshop on fanfic not mocking it? That's amazing! 

3 hours ago, Shanna Marie said:

Its Comicon, nothing is mocked I don't believe. Hearing adults pose serious questions to John de Lancie about My Little Pony really drove that point home to me. I had no idea he did voice work for it and was surprised at the non Q questions. Surprisingly, more questions about that than Star Trek.

There were probably 50 people at the fan fiction panel. Three women led it and at least one appeared to be a teacher from some of her comments about grammar. They had a lot of points I've seen on Tumblr when people talk about improving writing, they were all quite adamant that reading real books as important to improve your writing so you don't pick up bad habits from too much fic.  Also getting a beta that is another writer. AO3 is the gold standard, one of them asked the audience if anyone still uses ff.net. 

She mentioned that google docs formats weird when you copy and paste to ao3 and when someone complained how expensive word is they recommended open office, which is what I use.

They reiterated how important it is to make a good summary, stating you are bad at summaries is just lazy and to keep authors notes to a minimum. They posted an example of bad tagging on ao3 where the author was just rambling in the tags, they said don't do that. Use the tags properly, don't tag a character with one line or that doesn't have an impact on the story. Don't tag ships if it's not the ship the story is about, etc. be sure to put proper warnings on smut if you have anything that might be someone's squick, etc.

Lots of audience participation as well. It was engaging, there were men and women participating in the discussion. All ages.

[KAOS Agent]

Quote

She mentioned that google docs formats weird when you copy and paste to ao3 and when someone complained how expensive word is they recommended open office, which is what I use.

MSOffice has a free online version to compete with Google docs and Open Office. Does no one know this? It's cool that a fan convention has a panel on writing fanfic. It would be interesting to hear their opinion on fanfic writers like EL James.

On the Once topic, it seems like all of the remaining regulars have been dancing around S7 at these conventions. That doesn't bode well for the new season. There ought to be something the showrunners gave them to try to sell the fans on and it doesn't seem like that's the case. Very poor PR on ABC and the showrunners' part. This is free advertising and they've got nothing.

[Rumsy4]

1 hour ago, daxx said:

There were probably 50 people at the fan fiction panel. Three women led it and at least one appeared to be a teacher from some of her comments about grammar. They had a lot of points I've seen on Tumblr when people talk about improving writing, they were all quite adamant that reading real books as important to improve your writing so you don't pick up bad habits from too much fic.  Also getting a beta that is another writer. AO3 is the gold standard, one of them asked the audience if anyone still uses ff.net. 

She mentioned that google docs formats weird when you copy and paste to ao3 and when someone complained how expensive word is they recommended open office, which is what I use.

They reiterated how important it is to make a good summary, stating you are bad at summaries is just lazy and to keep authors notes to a minimum. They posted an example of bad tagging on ao3 where the author was just rambling in the tags, they said don't do that. Use the tags properly, don't tag a character with one line or that doesn't have an impact on the story. Don't tag ships if it's not the ship the story is about, etc. be sure to put proper warnings on smut if you have anything that might be someone's squick, etc.

Lots of audience participation as well. It was engaging, there were men and women participating in the discussion. All ages.

Thanks for sharing these details. Seems to have been a very interesting panel! 

[sharky]

7 hours ago, KAOS Agent said:

On the Once topic, it seems like all of the remaining regulars have been dancing around S7 at these conventions. That doesn't bode well for the new season. There ought to be something the showrunners gave them to try to sell the fans on and it doesn't seem like that's the case. Very poor PR on ABC and the showrunners' part. This is free advertising and they've got nothing.

But I don't think the showrunners and writers have more than a vague outline of the season. I'm assuming they will be in the office in the next few weeks to flesh it out and start writing, but I don't think they've done that yet. So the actors probably don't have more than a vague idea about what's happening next. Plus, most of the actors at the cons this weekend are not regulars so there would be no reason for them to know what's happening next. The only regular was Colin, and he's known for not letting spoilers out.

Next week is the next Paris con with Lana and Robert, who doesn't give a crap about leaking stuff so we may get a bit more next week. But again, they don't have scripts yet and the writers haven't broken the season down yet so even Robert may not have alot to give.

[Shanna Marie]

12 hours ago, Rumsy4 said:

Were you at FT5?

No, I just read the Twitter feed/watched the videos that were tweeted. Are there links to better writeups?

[Rumsy4]

Nope. I just got the (probably) same info from tumblr. I haven't watched the videos yet.

[RedKeep]

On 30.5.2017 at 3:29 AM, Shanna Marie said:

Seeing the actress who plays Milah makes me want more Milah flashbacks. I find her character very intriguing and sympathetic, and I think a lot of that is to do with her portrayal.

That and it certainly would have helped to keep Hook relevant and interesting beyond his role as a sort of romance/shipping accessory if Milah/Shelley had been granted a bigger role and some of his centrics had at least been devoted to showing more of a consistent narrative regarding their pirate-y life together rather than propping up random one-off guest stars by repeating the same story of how Hook has wronged them in the past over and over.

I don't have high expectations either way, but one good thing that *could* come out of Colin staying after JMo left is that his character's finally allowed to be a bit more fun again. I've said this a couple of times, I have nothing against the Hook/Emma pairing per se. But the way that story was told and handled ultimately didn't do Hook as an independent characters any real favors and I feel like he never really got to develop his own potential after the writers settled on making him and Emma TL.

Edited May 31, 2017 by RedKeep

[Writing Wrongs]

On 5/24/2017 at 6:49 AM, Rumsy4 said:

Hmm...let me guess... Two Evil Queens!

Close 

 

 

 

[KingOfHearts]

Wow. I'm so surprised by the bold creative decision to incorporate the Evil Queen behind an apple. I'm sure lucky buyers will love to know the Evil Queen disappears halfway through the season and has little if any bearing on the plot. It's so great to see the main antagonist of the first season return in her full, villainous glory.

Edited June 2, 2017 by KingOfHearts

[oncebluethrone]

I'm not surprised at the DVD cover, since they're almost always the same as the main poster for the season (the first half posters for 4 and 5).

[Camera One]

The tagline of the freak'in final season with half the cast is "Long Live The Queen"?  Only this show.

[Rumsy4]

The Evil-Queen behind a half-red half-black apple? Genius! Not. 

[KingOfHearts]

3 hours ago, Rumsy4 said:

The Evil-Queen behind a half-red half-black apple? Genius! 

A&E: "Yes, we thought so too!..."

Quote

Not. 

A&E: "Oh."

Edited June 3, 2017 by KingOfHearts

[Joanh23]

Jen's play is getting pretty terrible reviews - most say her performance is good, but it's a badly written play and none of the actors (including Matthew Perry) are given much to work with.

[KingOfHearts]

2 minutes ago, Joanh23 said:

Jen's play is getting pretty terrible reviews - most say her performance is good, but it's a badly written play and none of the actors (including Matthew Perry) are given much to work with.

If La La Land taught me anything, it's that no matter how bad your play is, someone in the crowd will love it and make you an even bigger star.

Edited June 6, 2017 by KingOfHearts

[Kktjones]

I was reading some of the reviews and it really doesn't sound good. I'm a little surprised that Jen would go for something like this, but it's very different from what she's been doing, so maybe she's really looking to completely separate herself from Once/House. I did have to laugh a little at the tweet from the theater announcing the play had been extended by popular demand when I'm pretty sure July 1 was always the end date. Also, they use this quote: "genuine humor and humanity", but if you read the review, the full sentence is "There are glimpses of genuine humor and humanity along the way, particularly in the closing monologue Perry has written for himself, but they’re not enough to sustain matters." And that is probably the most positive quote they could find.

I do hope that both Jen and Colin (and the others) go on to have success and act in better projects. I really believe the only reason this show survived as long as it did was on the charm and talent of its cast.

[RadioGirl27]

The play already got terrible reviews in London, so it's not surprising. I guess Jennifer really missed doing theater.

[Souris]

Jen has talked about theater being her first love. She probably didn't have a lot of choice for plays with parts right for her that would run in the summer between when Once filming ended and her contracted appearance in the S7 premiere. 

[Shanna Marie]

Given the writing she's faced for the past six years on this show, even an awful play might seem like Shakespeare.

[Camera One]

She has certainly had good practice trying to make bad material work.  At this point, maybe anything is fresh as long as it's not Princess Walls.

Edited June 6, 2017 by Camera One

[KingOfHearts]

48 minutes ago, Camera One said:

She has certainly had good practice trying to make bad material work.  At this point, maybe anything is fresh as long as it's not Princess Walls.

Princess Emma, Duchess of Walls.

[Artsda]

[Writing Wrongs]

Relevant bit:

Quote

Paste: Ok, Ginnifer, got to get this out of the way: Why leave Once Upon A Time?

Ginnifer Goodwin: All of the stories are changing and we knew that was going to be the case, so we had a group-think about how we were going to end the ‘Charming’ story, and frankly that conversation happened a long, long time ago. And it just seemed like the most natural time… I mean, you have to have a happy ending! And I have two small children and one of them starts school in Los Angeles this [coming] January, and preschool becomes an all-encompassing obsession, so when the kid got into the dream pre-school, that sort of sealed the deal.

Ultimately, the most important part of the decision came from conversations with the creators about, “When is the best time for us to give these characters a happy ending?” This was the natural timing for that.

[scenicbyway]

On 6/6/2017 at 4:11 PM, RadioGirl27 said:

The play already got terrible reviews in London, so it's not surprising. I guess Jennifer really missed doing theater.

It got terrible reviews in both places but people are really coming to see Matthew Perry perhaps act out his addiction struggles on stage.

Jenn pretty much went as far away from Vancouver as she could get and work.  I'm still annoyed she chose to leave, especially if it leads to more duds like this play.

As for Ginny, the Charmings story has been played out for a while but saying it was because your kid got into preschool in LA was silly.  Kids don't really remember preschool and he's only 3 anyway.

[Souris]

1 hour ago, scenicbyway said:

Jenn pretty much went as far away from Vancouver as she could get and work.  I'm still annoyed she chose to leave, especially if it leads to more duds like this play.

If one wants to do a play, New York is probably going to be where one does it.

[sharky]

You'd be surprised what parents would do to get their kids into a "dream preschool" in LA. And even though kids are resilient, it would be really hard to juggle two preschools with two parents who are actors. Ginny has always seemed to be someone who put her kids before her acting ambitions so this doesn't seem that strange. 

[Camera One]

I was reading this article with network execs and the quotes probably relate to why "Once" was renewed.

They were from NBC Entertainment President Jennifer Salke.  

On the bright side, Salke said she no longer wakes up at 4:45 a.m., with a pit in her stomach, to get the early overnight ratings. Of course, that’s because almost every rating is tiny – even the initial live numbers for “This Is Us.”

In accounting these shows, executives now need to take a “much bigger view,” Salke told Variety’s Debra Birnbaum, who moderated the panel. “Is there a vision here, do I believe in this? It’s a very difference business and it’s changing every hour.”

Shows are still in danger of being canceled with they’re “upside down financially, no galvanizing passion, and the showrunner is struggling with their vision. Are people talking about the show? Are you losing passionate fans, or were they never there? It’s often heartbreaking but you have to cut bait.”

ABC probably thinks A&E have a "vision" with so many "passionate" fans.

[KingOfHearts]

Quote

ABC probably thinks A&E have a "vision" with so many "passionate" fans.

I mean, it's not like ABC has any better ideas right now. When it comes to dramas, they're as clueless as A&E.

Edited June 10, 2017 by KingOfHearts

[jhlipton]

1 hour ago, KingOfHearts said:

I mean, it's not like ABC has any better ideas right now. When it comes to dramas, they're as clueless as A&E.

Still Star-Crossed is fun!  And Shonda, for all her faults, is miles ahead of A&E.  (Added bonus, it makes white "I am not a racist" reviewers cry!)

[pezgirl7]

Here's a recap of Colin's Chicago con appearance. At the bottom are links to some videos of him singing Revenge.

https://ouat-es.tumblr.com/post/161672637930/ouat-con-chicago-2017-colins-panel

I wish now that I would have gone! Maybe I'll get another chance next year.

[Souris]

In case people haven't noticed the sticky topic, nominations are open for the Previouslies. Once fits several categories, if you ask me!

[KingOfHearts]

Quote

Once fits several categories, if you ask me!

Oh, so it's like the Razzies? JK JK.

If only I could nominate Belle as "Best Performance from an Inanimate Object".

Edited June 12, 2017 by KingOfHearts

[Amerilla]

I was on Tumblr today for the first time in forever, and I saw some folks had some interesting reports from Robert's appearance at The Happy Ending Con (#THEC). Some highlights:

Quote

 

He really really said that the reason viewers left was because of the inconsistencies and the unanswered questions that were important for the characters. And the problem the show had of never ending things. Like the never ending battle between him and Hook. Which wasn’t a fair fight anyway.

He talked about how moving his last moment with Emile was.

He made a joke of not being responsible for what happens in s7. He said that Rumple’s relationship with both Regina and Hook will be different. That it’s entirely new. So the war between Rumple and Hook is over.

 

3

Quote

Robert was really honest about the show and that as an actor you need to pick your battles. So while he would have liked to have certain parts addressed and have change inconsistencies in his character etc there’s only so much as an actor he could do.

 

Sean & MRJ were there: 

Quote

***All of us con guests were packed into the convention room - and when Sean and MRJ entered through one of the doorways, EVERYONE made their way towards them. There was a literal MOB after Sean, with people packed like sardines flowing like a river after him: pushing, shoving, you name it, it happened. Sean and MRJ had security with them - I can’t speak for MRJ because I ended up with the group behind Sean, but it was madness. He was hugging people, but at one point he said he’d do this (selfies also) tomorrow as he was afraid someone was going to get hurt. I’m surprised no one did - it was suffocating and much like what I imagine being in a panicked crowd would be like

 

MRJ and Bobby did a panel:

Quote

 

MRJ would play Belle (x)

Robert thinks Rumple similarly had a happy ending in the end of S6. He loves Belle but he’s still a loner so probably not. (x)

MRJ doesn’t think Neal was trying to convince Emma from saving Hook but to keep her safe from her dangerous journey (x)

Robert’s fav scene is when Rumple and Neal meet again on Neverland (x)

Fav scene: Robert: S3 when they met again in Neverland, good quality stuff MRJ: when he found out Robert was going to play his dad (x)

Michael emotions talking about Bobby (x)

Omg Michael  he got emotional and Bobby hugged him everyone clapped (x)

Michaels fave is when Neil confronts Rumple in New York one of his favourite scenes ever in his career (x)

He said working with Bobby was the highlight of his career (x)

MRJ would have loved to play Julia Roberts’s part in Prettywoman. Robert doesn’t regret anything, just move forward. (x)

Season 2 when Rumple let bae go through the portal was the hard complicated scenes with the cold and wind machine - Robert (x)

Hardest scene for Michael was scene w Henry over shoulder cause Jared farted five times (x)

Robert doesn’t think Destiny could come back but loves the idea of his character still “flying” (x)

Robert’s fav woman to kiss on the show: all the women in the building  but honestly EMILIE ! (x)

Kissing Bex was weird. Kissing Lana was even WEIRDER. So Emilie because they had a real story (x)

MRJ thinks if Neal were still alive he would teach his son some life lessons (x)

Bobby: the show is unrelentingly sad so he wanted to add a lil bit of humour (x)

Robert’s added funny movements to Rumple’s character because this is a sad show in many ways (x)

MRJ says that playing Neal was a real challenge for him because he was so different from his character from True Blood (x)

Despite the stress from shooting, even for 5 years, Robert would never say no to another movie. (x)

Improvised scenes on OUAT that were kept? Robert says not really because producers pay and get what they want. (x)

Don’t you improvise on film & it makes it to TV? “abc wants it how it’s written but sometimes with Rumple but not with Gold”-Robert (x)

MRJ says that it’s difficult to change the script. Especially when they shoot a useful scene for the future (x)

 

[KingOfHearts]

Quote

Bobby: the show is unrelentingly sad so he wanted to add a lil bit of humour (x)

I want more interviews like this, where the actors can be candid about how they feel. You can't BS us any more with calling A&E geniuses and the show just aaamaaaazingly written. I love how Robert has the same issues with the show we do. Not enough humor, too depressing, too many plot holes, and too many dropped plots. This guy knows what's up.

I'd love to see an improvised Rumple scene.

[Camera One]

That's good to hear.  So we're not crazy when we believe this show is NOT about hope.

Edited June 18, 2017 by Camera One

[kitticup]

Wow!  I have new found respect for Bobbie, granted he is probably in a better position than the others with respect to career prospects and being at a much later point in his career so can afford to be more open.

 

At the same time, I feel so bad for Josh.  He has been such a good sport about everything.  

[Rumsy4]

8 hours ago, KingOfHearts said:

Not enough humor, too depressing, too many plot holes, and too many dropped plots. This guy knows what's up.

Anyone watching the Show can spot these a mile away (other than the relentlessly postivie fans who still insist the Show is amazing). I'm glad at least one actor from the Show could afford to be frank about their opinions. A&E love Rumple way too much to take revenge on Robert. Besides, it's not like they can give him crappier storylines. I mean they can, but it will be them thinking it's yet another genius idea. 

I want to know if that little Rumple-dance Carlyle did in the Musical episode was improvised by him. It was one of the funniest moments in the Show!

Edited June 18, 2017 by Rumsy4

[Souris]

I haven't yet had a chance to listen to this recording of Robert talking to fans at the con this weekend, but I'm told he REALLY goes after the writing in it and says it's insulting to the fans.

[RedKeep]

Regardless of how much I may agree with what's being said there, I'm really side-eyeing the fans who think it's okay to not only post entire transcripts, but also make and share a recording of what's being said during a private meet and greet session. This fandom really manages to shoot itself in the foot time and again. Robert may ultimately not care that much for all the reasons mentioned before, regarding his career prospects once he leaves this show for good, but do people honestly think the other actors will continue to be as open and honest during their meet and greets if fans treat those private sessions like that? It's purposefully different from a press Q&A and I don't believe for a second Robert knew he was being recorded and the con staff allowed such recordings.

[daxx]

I am positive recording is not allowed. Although if people talk about what they hear I think that's fair game. But the recording and transcripts is not cool at all. It's illegal to record someone without their permission in many places.

[Souris]

Transcript of Robert talking about the writing and having a falling out with Eddy over hating GoldenQueen.

Edited June 19, 2017 by Souris