UT
NIVERSITY IMES
May 18, 2015
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C A L I F O R N I A S T A T E U N I V E R S I T Y, L O S A N G E L E S
Eagle-Con makes safe landing in spite of rain
David Naranjo Contributor
It's a bird, it's a plane, it's Eagle-Con
Issue 209.8
Eagle-Con kicked off its 2015 show in front of a room full of eager people while the rain poured outside. Co-Director of Eagle-Con Christopher Johnson kicked things off with an opening speech on Thursday, May 15th. Overall, Eagle-Con brought a little of everything for everyone to enjoy. The opening ceremony was held in the Los Angeles room on the second floor of the University-Student Union. In this room there were various booths selling different kinds of comic books, along with a unique booth from the Engineering department that displayed different types of new technologies like a 3D printer. The Los Angeles room also featured an automobile art gallery full of different vehicle concept art from movies. The first discussion panel of the convention was titled, “The Car Guys” and included production designer Mimi Gramatky, concept illustrator Patrick von Janicke, and 3D car modeler for Speed Racer Karl Strahlendorf. The panel included details on production of movie cars and exactly how much work is put into making these cars
come to life. At one point in the panel Janicke, who recently worked on the Segway designs for Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 stated, “People don’t understand at times that we create several copies of cars to use on the set, because we cannot make the actors wait.” Alongside the panels, there were various card table tournaments like Yu-Gi-Oh! and Injustice Gods Among Us. Card game enthusiasts were given a chance to compete against their fellow peers, giving a brand new insight to a different -- but popular -- playing platform. Sometimes Yu-Gi-Oh! can be a highly competitive game and card decks on average could cost about $600 dollars depending on the limited amount of cards being circulated. Eagle-Con may not be as big as other conventions, but it does offer a more personal experience. The convention was used as a channel for students to know more about the entertainment industry. As the actress Erika Alexander, who played Pam Tucker on The Cosby Show, explained to students, “Writing comic books gives you power if people want to make your comic book into a movie they have to ask you for the rights to make that movie.” Eagle-Con ended day one with the most anticipated panel titled, “The Mars Mission.” It was hosted by NASA’s Chief of
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Engineering, Robert Manning. The panel gave students an insight into the inner workings of the various Mars missions that occurred throughout the years. As Manning put it, “Mars still has water, it is just underneath the surface, frozen.” He explained that simply going to Mars takes time due to the timing necessary to get there. Manning said, “The window is open for only three weeks every 24 months. This is due to the orbit of Mars and we have to time it right in order to land on Mars.” Manning closed the panel by answering questions from the curious audience. One audience member asked him about the possibility of colonizing Mars and Manning replied, “If we do go to Mars, we would have to take not only all of our food and water with us. Also, fuel for our ships because at the moment there is no available fuel types on Mars and that would be a lot for us to take with us to Mars.” The second day of EagleCon continued with screenings, displays of conceptual artwork, and the presence of up and coming comic writers. Eagle-con continues to expand every year, setting the perfect outlet for students of similar interests to get together. At the same time, students are able to create lasting connections that benefit future career choices.
Photos by Pablo De La Hoya
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