Geeky Times At Supanova

This is an article I wrote for a journalism assignment. I attended Supanova with media privileges and had a great weekend. I had to write the article in third person and I was limited to 300 words. 

501st Legion posing for photos at their booth

Thousands of excited fans attended Supanova at the Gold Coast from the 20th to the 22nd of April to get their yearly dose of popular culture. 

Fans of anime, science fiction, cosplay, comic books, video games and even wrestling were able to get together, have fun and express themselves. There were panels, competitions, activities and entertainment for everyone to get involved in.

The main attraction were the celebrities. Headliners included James and Oliver Phelps, Summer Glau, Wil Wheaton and Richard Horvitz. There were a large number of writers and artists scattered over the event too. Supanova allowed both the fans to meet industry legends but also discover some great up-and-comers.

Everyone strutted around buying comics, shirts and memorabilia to give back to their communities. There were only two ATM’s in the entire exhibition centre and they ran out of money in just a few hours.

People who bought a ticket just to get their hands on the latest merchandise would have missed out though. The main fun were the fans themselves. The highlights were walking around the exhibition and watching fans immerse themselves in their favorite things in the universe. The smile on attendee’s faces when they spotted someone dressed as a character or reference to their beloved film, show, game or comic was inspiring.

This was the Gold Coast's first time hosting the event and fans weren't disappointed. The venue easily capacitated every single guest, even those who wore ridiculously sized costumes.

I'm Going to Supanova

Over a week ago, I was having a lot of trouble with finding articles to write for my Reporting course. With a few ideas in mind, I emailed some people about using them as contacts. At the time I wrote the blog post, no one had emailed me back so I was worried about meeting the deadline. Since then, everything has turned around.

A few days ago, I got an email back from the publicity manager for Supanova. He informed me that there's going to be a media pass waiting for me at the Gold Coast. I'm incredibly excited about this opportunity to attend this amazing event as a journalist. The manager was even nice enough to give my friend, Rhys, a media pass, because he's going to be following me around with a camera. 

I really want to go all out on this assignment. I'm going to be recording the event and some interviews so I can make a three minute video due in May. I've been brainstorming, because I'm irritatingly limited to recording with a smartphone only. I'm currently organising getting my hands on a few items: a recently developed smartphone, microphone, microphone to iPhone adapter, extension cable, and an external audio device. 

I've never filmed, recorded, and edited an event like this, so this is a new, but scary experience. By the date, I should have everything I need for Supanova. I'm beginning to think about how I'm going to approach the event as a journalist. I'm going to film interviews with the event organiser and the attendees, the main floor, the panels and the exhibits. Both the article and the video will focus on the exhibits, activities, the fans and the atmosphere of Supanova. Closer to the date, I'll write a blog post detailing my plans further.

Here's a video from Supanova in Melbourne from last year.

Journalism is Hard

I've got three assignments due this week which are really getting in the way of spending my non-existant money on some really good games that have come out recently. I'm going to try and organise my thoughts while making another blog post at the same time. I've got two lectures to reflect on, I have to pitch three stories and I have to make and present a media diary. "Pitching the three stories" stands out to me the most. I'm going to be building on top of the assessment next month by writing three different types of stories. These story types are news, information and human interest. I've been emailing my tutor about how to exactly approach this assignments, so now I think I've got some ideas.

First off, the news story is the easiest. I decided that I would try and cover Supanova this year at the Gold Coast. I've never attended it, but my friends attest to how amazing it is. It's basically a geek subculture exhibition catering to those who enjoy anime, science fiction, comic books, videogames, cosplaying and anything geeky. The people behind it manage to bring together fans and the industry folk. I emailed the publicity organiser about getting journalistic privileges and possibly even an interview. However, I haven't heard back from them yet. If I were allowed to attend as a journalist, that would be amazing. Even more so since it would be the first time I've ever attended Supanova. I plan on attending anyway this year to check out everything that's got to do with videogames and my favorite tv shows. I might even enter a Magic: The Gathering tournament if I'm brave enough.

The next story I've put thought into is the information story. I only remembered today that soon the Australian senate is going to be looking at a bill essentially allowing an R18+ classification for videogames. It's surprising that for so long Australia has gone without an adult rating for videogames. For years games have either been refused classification and simply not been sold within Australia or have been altered to receive an MA15+ rating. I personally believe that censorship like this is completely ridiculous when compared to other forms of media. Today, I contacted two creators of websites that support an R18+ classification for videogames; Somebody think of the children and R18 Games. Hopefully, they'll get back to me soon and I can get the ball rolling.

The media use and production diary is starting to catch up on me. I've logged my media use and I'm ready to start but I don't know what I can do besides just presenting a graph and a pie chart of my media use. I don't know what to analyze besides just how much media I use compared to other students. I guess I'll just have to start it and see how I go. 

That's all I thought I would write about. I'll update the blog if theres any advances in my assignments.