Scott Pilgrim's Progress: No butts about my uneventful behind the scenes non-peek.

Welcome to the rebellion.

Working in television affords me many moments of having my various entertainment interests cross-over.



I was at a meeting last week in the production offices of Heroic Film's coming YTV sitcom, How To Be Indie, starring Degrassi's Melinda Shankar in the title role. The show looks really funny and well-paced. It's quite beautifully shot and the sets are terrific.

As we walked and talked on my tour, we slowly passed through a lunch room for the ultra secret Scott Pilgrim movie shoot. It seems they're shooting in the same studio building at Cinema City.

I wish I could say I saw some of the sets or props, an actor, or even director Edgar Wright. But all I saw was an eerily empty lunch room. I hastily formulated a plan to sit in every single chair so that I could, with a great deal of certainty, know that I had shared bum space with every actor in the film. Unfortunately, before I was halfway through my guide had finally noticed I was missing and quickly steered me back onto the proper path and out of no fan's land.



So sadly, I have no behind the scenes secrets to share. No brief encounter with stardom. But I sat in half the seats. That's a fifty-fifty chance I've shared bumspace with Micheal "Scott Pilgrim" Cera, Ellen "Knives Chau" Wong, Brandon "Buns of Steel, er, Man of Steel" Routh, or Mary Elizabeth "Ramona Flowers" Winstead .

I like those odds!

So like you, I am left only with the delightfully cryptic teaser photos Edgar has been leaving on his www.edgarwrighthere.com blog. Creator Bryan Lee O'Malley has some breathless updates on his blog as well.

How cool is it that Sloan's Chris Murphy appears to be coaching the actor's on their performance as band, Sex Bob-ombed?

According to this article at www.torontoist.com, a few Canadian bands have already been tapped for the soundtrack.

True to the huge role music plays in the novels, so far, three of Toronto's biggest musical exports will be involved in filming: Wright confirmed in an Eye Weekly interview that, so far, Metric and Broken Social Scene are involved (Metric is said to be contributing an unreleased track, "Black Sheep," to the soundtrack, but BSS's contribution isn't clear). Sloan (originally from Halifax, but based out of Toronto for almost ten years now) are involved as well, although the level of commitment has not been revealed. Based on Sloan bassist/vocalist/sometimes-drummer Chris Murphy's frequent appearance in director Edgar Wright's updates on his site, and assuming he is not attempting to play a teenager in the film, a logical guess would have him coaching the actors on their characters' instruments for their live performance scenes. The Playlist rolls the dice and lands on renowned producer Nigel Godrich (Radiohead, Pavement, R.E.M.) as the film's music supervisor. (Rolling Stone makes mention of Godrich's involvement as well, and claims he requested the Metric song.)

Despite all the hype surrounding the Watchmen movie, I just can't get up any enthusiasm for it. I suppose it's because the graphic novel didn't rock my world the way it did for so many fans. I enjoyed it and recognize what made it great. But it wasn't high on my re-read list.

This is the film I'm salivating for!



*An update: It's official. The film has officially launched its official Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World official website officially. Check it out here!

And of course, there's the newly launched Youtube page, here.

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Don't Mess With Cosplayers, Man

Welcome to the rebellion.

We've talked about cosplay before in posts like this one. Cosplay is often the thing most pointed to by outsiders as an excuse to diss the fan experience in general. Trekkers are always pictured in their Spock ears, Star Fleet tights or Klingon uniforms. Star Wars fans are all pictured carrying lightsabers, hair styled in Leia buns or breathing heavily out of Vader masks. And superheros able to leap line-ups in a single to have a creator sign their latest graphic novel are all perfect camera fodder for TV, magazine and blog coverage.

But as I slowly learn more about the people I find cosplay to be a public display of exuberance and joy that I thoroughly admire. These are often the shyest of people who get to come out of their shell by talking courage from being a fictional character. If you take them with a sense of play and never assume they actually are the person they're portraying. you'll get along fine.

But if you think cosplayers aren't not tough check out Champion welter weight kickboxer Yuichiro Nagashima. Not only is he a champion welter weight, he also happens to be a crossdressing otaku cosplay fanatic. See if you can pick him out on this fight card from a few months ago.

I suspect that the strength and joy cosplayers derive from working on their costumes and creating their characters often helps them excel in other areas of their lives. Or at least, it gives them the chance to meet others who chare their passions and to feel a part of something. Yuichiro here aspires to be as strong and capable as characters like Vita, the fiery, red-headed Knight of the Steel Hammer from the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha anime.

I sometimes lament that I seem incapable of being so thoroughly dedicated to a single subject that I can be considered a true fan. Compared to the fire of some fans on the message boards I am practically a cold fish. Partially, it's because I don't seem to have the time to spend much time on the boards. When I do go there's often some interesting chats to comments on but I am usually well behind the conversation, commenting on things said and dealt with months before. Sigh.

But the confidence Yuichiro takes from his cosplay is pretty inspiring, doncha think? He's used it to take himself to the top of a challenging profession. Who am I to argue with that?

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