Author Topic: 2020 Panel Review  (Read 3074 times)

Offline hikanteki

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2020 Panel Review
« on: July 26, 2020, 08:20:27 PM »
What were your favorite panels this year?

For me, the best panels @ SDCC (and other cons) are always the ones with the most interesting material, but this year I thought production became an important factor. Some panels really dug out extra bells and whistles, whereas others were just zoom meetings. My very favorites from this year:

Superstore -- Although this was based on a virtual meeting, they did a great job at making it visually appealing. They intro'd each character in interesting settings, and the background during the panel had a little more oomph than a regular zoom meeting. It was also a very interesting and lively panel, well managed and fun to watch.

Infinity Train -- This show itself looks very interesting to me, but the best part was a video in the middle of the panel that explained what types of animation methods and showed very clear-cut and easy to understand examples of how they were used for the show.

American Dad -- In terms of adult animation, this one is just so so for me. But the panel focused on teaching the audience how to draw Roger and their instructions and example were very clear. This is a great example at finding a way to make it engaging despite not being in person.

Looney Tunes -- They were already above average in terms of content and production, and little things such as the panelists being interesting settings/using interesting backgrounds (most of them had Looney Tunes art or figures in the background) made a big difference. But what really made this one come out on top was the new Looney Tunes cartoon they showed.

Overall, I think WB and HBO Max had the best production, so by Saturday I tried seeking out some of their other panels even if they weren't originally on my list. One of the best things about the panels this year were discovering new animated shows.

I have to admit I was a little disappointed by Star Trek, Bob's Burgers, and Archer. The Star Trek panel had a great lineup but focused on a script reading which IMO was rather lifeless, although the section about the Lower Decks cartoon was cool. Bob's Burgers and Archer are normally interesting in person but here they felt like regular zoom meetings of people talking over each other. Also, the moderator of Bob's Burgers sounded really awkward, like painfully awkward, as he was reading about the initiatives to get more women involved in animation. One of the panelists in Archer had sound that was 1/4 as loud as the others. The Archer/BB issues were things that probably could have been fixed (especially the sound issue) given that everything was prerecorded.
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Offline eek

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Re: 2020 Panel Review
« Reply #1 on: July 26, 2020, 11:56:57 PM »
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Also, the moderator of Bob's Burgers sounded really awkward, like painfully awkward, as he was reading about the initiatives to get more women involved in animation.

Context:
The moderator was Loren Bouchard, the creator of Bob's Burgers. I didn't mind his comment on hiring more women, because it really was an issue mentioned by Kristen Schaal (voice of Louise) in the 2019 panel. And I appreciated him taking the time to specifically address it this year. I guess it would seem kind of random for him to mention if you didn't see last year's panel.

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Re: 2020 Panel Review
« Reply #2 on: Today at 07:53:27 AM »

Offline hikanteki

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Re: 2020 Panel Review
« Reply #2 on: July 27, 2020, 12:42:29 AM »
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Context:
The moderator was Loren Bouchard, the creator of Bob's Burgers. I didn't mind his comment on hiring more women, because it really was an issue mentioned by Kristen Schaal (voice of Louise) in the 2019 panel. And I appreciated him taking the time to specifically address it this year. I guess it would seem kind of random for him to mention if you didn't see last year's panel.

I know who he is and I saw last year’s panel. My issue was definitely not that he talked about the initiative, I think it’s a great one. My issue is that he had his head down and stumbled awkwardly while talking about it. Normally he’s so animated and this issue deserved a proper delivery.
« Last Edit: July 27, 2020, 01:17:09 AM by hikanteki »
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Offline Transmute Jun

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Re: 2020 Panel Review
« Reply #3 on: July 27, 2020, 09:06:54 AM »
I enjoyed the Bill & Ted panel. They put in some great graphics and made it more than just boxes of faces on a screen. The Nathan Fillion panel was clearly done in advance, because it was multiple segments taped over many days, but they edited/integrated everything well and because of that it was really interesting, with a good flow.

My husband enjoyed the live gaming/D&D panels hosted by Legion M.

And a shout out to Adult Swim for their Robot Chicken panel, which was actually LIVE and taking live questions form the chat.

Offline TardisMom

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Re: 2020 Panel Review
« Reply #4 on: July 27, 2020, 09:16:59 AM »
The What We Do in the Shadows panel was lots of fun!

Offline mark

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Re: 2020 Panel Review
« Reply #5 on: July 27, 2020, 09:51:48 AM »
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The What We Do in the Shadows panel was lots of fun!

I know it wasn't intentional, but Kayvan Novak's connection problems would have fit perfectly in an episode of the series.

Offline TardisMom

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Re: 2020 Panel Review
« Reply #6 on: July 27, 2020, 11:18:39 AM »
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I know it wasn't intentional, but Kayvan Novak's connection problems would have fit perfectly in an episode of the series.

Right?!?  It was fun watching him go in and out, just like my Zoom happy hours with friends.

I forgot to mention the Charlize Theron panel, it was fantastic!  She's so badass!

Offline Angology

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Re: 2020 Panel Review
« Reply #7 on: August 01, 2020, 12:58:32 PM »
What We Do in the Shadows was a favorite for me.

I thought the Simpsons panel was fun, and loved that they actually brought in fans. I don't much about the Simpsons fandom, but I thought it was a nice touch.

I think my husband's favorite was the Fort Salem Motherland panel. It was well done from a technical standpoint, even if it was a glorified Zoom meeting. He may be biased because he really loves that show.

Would agree that content-wise, the HBO Max panels were great.

We watched the Kevin Smith panel later in the week - chaotic as always, but that's how it usually is. The bleeps made you realize how much he cusses LOL

That's all I can think of at the moment. I know we watched more than that.
Ang