New Movie Still! Katniss Hunting?

Every still that comes out makes me more and more psyched for the movie! This looks just fantastic!! What do you think?

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Promoting The Hunger Games at the Comikaze Expo!

 

By Courtney and Tiffany

CONVENTIONS, WEEEEE!!!

If you've ever been to one and happen to be a huge nerd, you know that conventions are like Christmas morning. Exciting panels, cool stuff to buy, free stuff, and opportunities abound to run up to a stranger dressed as one of your favorite characters to chat or take a picture with them. *Sigh.* It's the best.

Who did we see?!

Me (Courtney) and MARIO!

With our tribute powers combined we saw the cast of All That, Stan Lee, Elvira, Ernest Borgnine, and the best of all, Luke Skywalker himself Mark Hamill. We also saw a fantastic amount of quality cosplayers.  People really brought their A-Game! We saw Cosplayers from all walks of life...except no one from The Hunger Games. Then again, there could have been, we just didn't see them. But rest assured that next year, especially after the release of the movie, we will see more Hunger Games cosplayers.

The Panels

      "The All That cast reunion was awesome. The cast members each did a few of their favorite and more well known characters (Kel Mitchell did Ed from Good Burger, Katrina Johnson did Ross Perot, for example), and they sang the All That theme song with everyone. They seemed to have genuinely enjoyed their time on the show, and they had an extraordinary amount of freedom for the age that they were when it came to being able to do their own characters.
      We ended up attending the Womanthology panel without knowing anything about it. It's a graphic novel anthology created by women and the proceeds go to charity. Many of the stories presented to us seemed interesting and a lot of the art is just beautiful. We encourage everyone to check it out and you can preorder it on Amazon.
       Sunday was very much a Steampunk day for us. We went to the Steampunk Fashion and Meet The League of S.T.E.A.M. panels. I've been casually interested in the Steampunk sub-genre (Victorian era science fiction) for a few years, and since Panic! at the Disco released their The Ballad of Mona Lisa video, I've been aware of The League of S.T.E.A.M. They had helped with styling and props and were extras for the video, and also came out to a concert in Los Angeles that I attended to do demonstrations with their functioning props. A few of the League of S.T.E.A.M. members have worked (currently or in the past) for such companies as Disney Imagineering and Jim Henson, so you know that they're legit. At their booth, we watched them demonstrate their working net gun, and if you wanted, they would shock you... LITERALLY." -- Tiffany

Steampunk Fashion Panel

The League of S.T.E.A.M. members (married couple Nick and Robin) showing off the shoes he made her to match his

Taking to the Floor

We handed these out!

So, my trusty Tributes (Tiffany and Denise) and I took to the show floor and promoted The Hunger Games. We sported our Mockingjay pins and "Down with the Capitol! Ask me how!" shirts armed with fancy informational cards promoting The Hunger Games books, TheCapitol.PN, Welcome to District 12, and The HG Fireside Chat. Unfortunately, not as many people approached us as I thought, but I handed out a few cards to people. I definitely learned a few things about promoting things at a convention.

"There wasn't really a Hunger Games presence within the booths. We only found one vendor selling Hunger Games items,  Foxwise. Her shop focuses on hand-stamped jewelry. She had other fandoms that I'm interested in, like Harry Potter and Doctor Who, but when I came across a bracelet that said "May the odds be ever in your favor", I was both surprised and really excited, so I bought it! I actually really love it and might be wearing it all the time, and I might just order other things from her in the future." - Tiffany



Tips on Convention Promotion

1.) Design something to give to people. Sure, they will most likely throw it away, but if it's interesting enough they will consider checking it out.
2.) Print out a butt load of them! The reason I didn't hand mine out to random people is that I procrastinated and every printer I used was low on black ink. Had I done this in advance, I would have printed out tons, and might have been able to reach more people.
3.) COSPLAY, COSPLAY. My biggest regret is that I didn't dress up as a Hunger Games character. If you have a great costume, chances are people will ask who you are, and WABAM!! segway into Hunger Games discussion and hand them what you are giving out. There's so many things happening on the floor, you need an attention getter.
4.) Catchphrase!! Sometimes shorter is better. You want to say something intriguing! One of our chosen catchphrases was "The Capitol is watching".

Tiffany's haul.

How was Comikaze?

AMAZING!! We definitely recommend that you go next year. Considering this was their first year, it went very well. Comikaze not only is aiming to be as good as Comic Con, but to offer participants things that Comic Con doesn't. An example of this is THE PRICE. Their number one priority is to ALWAYS make their convention affordable. This will blow your mind: Thanks to Goldstar, we paid a whopping FOUR DOLLARS per day. FOUR DOLLARS, PEOPLE. Regular price was $12. Still, not bad at all! Not only that, but it mingles all the smaller artists booths together. There's no hierarchy of big name booths to smaller ones, everyone's mixed together! It gave a great floor experience.

Tiff's Hunger Games bracelet!

"Comikaze as a whole seems to be the nerd community's answer to what has happened to Comic-Con. Their number one priority is keeping the Comikaze Expo as affordable as possible, and there seems to be an emphasis on those things that have been pushed aside for more mainstream interests at Comic-Con (comic books, manga, etc. being overshadowed by Hollywood hyped movies, for example). Since it was the expo's first year, things seemed a little unorganized and the panels being in "rooms" that were just curtained off areas on the showroom floor wasn't a good idea since it was quite often hard to hear (though it made for some amusing times when whole panels had to stop what they were doing while an announcement was being made over the loudspeakers). We're assuming they'll get the kinks worked out by the time next year's Expo comes around." --Tiffany

In addition to this sweet Unicorn horn, I scored original Star Wars concept prints and Triforce earrings!

We hope to see you there next year!!!

Follow Comikaze on Twitter and Facebook!

The Hunger Games: Hair Secrets Straight from the Set!

The Hunger Games movie is going to be a hair spectacular! “This was one of the most complex, detailed movies I’ve ever worked on,” hair department head Linda Flowers told InStyle.com. “People are going to be blown away by how beautiful and breathtaking it is.” We’ll take her word for it—especially in light of the following stats:

3,000: People who were processed through the hair and makeup tents each week. “Extras couldn’t just have their normal hair. Everyone had to be in the style of the time,” said Flowers.

500: Cast members and extras who had their eyebrows bleached, including Elizabeth Banks, who plays Effie Trinket.

400: Cast members and extras wearing wigs in a single day of filming. “We went with odd permutations of colors like dusty rose and chartreuse,” Flowers said. “The challenge was to make them look couture and sophisticated.”

45: Hairdressers working in a single day.

20: Minutes spent creating Katniss Everdeen’s signature braid for Jennifer Lawrence.

3: Colored wigs worn by Elizabeth Banks: One pink, one green, and one lavender.

1: Wig worn by Stanley Tucci, who plays Caesar Flickerman. “It’s a dark navy blue wig in a Karl Lagerfeld-style ponytail,” she says.

The Hunger Games premieres March 23, 2012—only 136 days away! Excited yet?

From Instyle.

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YES! These stats are reminding me of what The Lord of the Rings set seemed like regarding their hair department (frankly they've set the bar for Hollywood with regards to wig quality). Lots and lots of wigs, we're hoping they're convincing. Also I was hoping for a how-to on Katniss's braid. PLEASE!

Hunger Games/Twilight Comparisons & A Swelling Raaaaaage, Raaaaaaage

Raaaaaaaage.

 Yup, we're all feeling the anger. At least those who took a gander at this gem right here:

Excuse me, but WHAT DID JENNIFER LAWRENCE JUST SAY?!

Dear E!, Entertainment Weekly, and everyone else: Just so you know, when you compare these two franchises, we die a little inside. This is the last thing many of us wish this was compared to. In fact, we'd prefer it wasn't compared to anything at all. This is a great story in which the B storyline involves a love triangle. That is the only possible thing these two franchises have in common. The power of this story should speak for itself.

Thanks to my partner in crime, Tiffany, for alerting me to this travesty.

Read her in-depth post about the HG/Twilight comparison HERE




By the way, it's Mumford & Sons reference...

SQUEE!! More Vanity Fair Photos!

Click here for the gallery

We'll forgive Vanity Fair for making our beloved characters pose One Tree Hill style. These are too awesome and I want them all on my wall. 

Vanity Fair Hunger Games Cast Photo and Bios!

 Vanity Fair Interactive Cast Photo

Aren't they adorable? Seeing this photo is making The Hunger Games movie more and more real, and it's sort of freaking me out. To see these awesome people playing these roles, giving life to such a huge story is giving me exciting anxiety.

P.S. Vanity Fair, just so you know, Thresh is NOT a Career. He was offered the chance, but turned it down.

Katniss Speaks: "Hunger Games is Not Twilight!"

Check out this new interview with Jennifer Lawrence!

Krista Smith: First off, congratulations again on your best-actress nomination! Since then you’ve been working nonstop. Have the experiences from those insane weeks sunk in yet?

Jennifer Lawrence: Thanks. I don't know if an experience like that can ever sink in, but I'm so grateful for it.

Tell me about how you got to be involved in this project.

I had read the books before I even knew I would be auditioning for the movie, and was a huge fan of the material. Actually, my mom read them first and thought it was an incredible role and story. She did the same thing with Winter’s Bone, so she must be a clairvoyant, or just has really great taste. Katniss is an incredible character: she’s a hunter but not a killer, a 16-year-old who’s being forced into the arena. These kids are killing one another only because if they don’t they’ll die. It’s needless, pointless, unjustified violence. It’s heartbreaking. When I auditioned, I told [director] Gary [Ross], “I understand if you don’t hire me, but please remember that after Katniss shoots a bow and kills someone, her face cannot be badass.” So there’s nothing cool about her. It’s not like she looks around the arena and goes, Yeah, I got this. I think she looks around helplessly, and thinks, I made a promise to my sister that I would survive; now I have to kill in order to do so.

Do you worry at all about the film becoming a massive phenomenon in the way of Twilight—and what that will mean for your personal and professional life?

I try not to think too much about it. Hunger Games is not Twilight, and while I hear the comparisons, it’s really premature to say that it will be the same phenomenon. I’m so proud of the work we did on the film—Gary and the entire cast and crew were amazing, and I can’t wait for it to be brought to life because I think it’s an important story. If it does become a crazy phenomenon, I’ll soak up my freedom now!

Do you think the film will do justice in the eyes of the books’ fans?

Absolutely.

What has been the most interesting or challenging experience you’ve had on this project?

The fact that it didn’t feel like filming a movie. When we were filming in the woods, it didn’t have that Hollywood gloss—it was real snakes, real bears, and really scenes of running up and down a mountain for 13 hours.

Source: Vanity Fair

No one seems to be listening to the cries of the fans demanding no Twilight comparisons in the media. If people won't listen to us, maybe they will listen to the Mockingjay herself.