My Trip to SWC3-Episode 4

We're at three days now till Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith hits theaters, so let me continue with my series of blogs recapping my trip to Star Wars Celebration 3 at Indy last month...

The one theme that's been prevalent so far on my trip has been lines and no chance for major events. Me and my friend Rob had missed out on a lot of good stuff so far on our trip because of the long lines and going into Day 3 (Saturday April 23) of the SWC, we knew that we were going to miss out on the biggest event of them all.

You see, this was the day that the Master, the one behind the entire Star Wars saga, the one who made me, Rob, and thousands of other fans worldwide of the Force, George Lucas, was going to appear in person for three Q and A sessions.

And we knew there was NO CHANCE in Hell we were going to see him.

None.

From what we had heard the previous two days at Indy, we knew that there would be long long lines to get a chance to get in to see Lucas. In fact, we had heard there'd be lines starting up as early as 4am outside the Convention Center. Considering that it'll take about twenty minutes from us to get from our hotel room to the Center and throwing in the lines, both Rob and I pretty much gave up on any shot to see the Master. So we didn't even attempt to get up early to try. So we got up around 8:30 am, grabbed some free breakfast at the hotel and figured to show up at the Center at our usual place in line and take things from there.

In fact, just as we were about to board the shuttle van to take us to the Center, we ran into a couple of guys who were staying at the same hotel as us -and whom we got to know pretty well from our long line stories - tell us that they had just came back from seeing one of George Lucas' sessions. They had been up pretty much all night and were in the line around 4am just to see him. As they were telling us about how cool it was to see him, it gave us even more validation that there was NO CHANCE we were going to see Lucas.

None.

So, as we arrived at the Convention Center shortly past 10am, our original plan would be to try to get in the Celebration Store line again. We figured if everyone was in line to see George, then we'd might get a shot.

Surprisingly, we got into the line to get in the Center pretty fast. Faster than we had ever been the past few days. It would be the first of many surprises to come.

When we got inside, we saw yet another line stretching out by the entrance. We figured it was the line for the Store. Rob asked one lady is this the line to the Store. The lady told us this was the line to see Lucas.

Whoa. Seems we had a chance after all. But it was still a long shot at best.

As we were about to get in the back of the line, we noticed that everyone was wearing blue wristbands. We found out those were needed if you wanted to get in for one of Lucas' chats.

Moments later, I noticed someone passing out wristbands and me and Rob quickly went up to the person and got a wristband.

Hey, our chances were getting better. But still, long as the lines were, we'd probably miss out.

No sooner then we got our wristbands on, we heard someone shout out on a bullhorn that the doors for the Lucas session were opening and that they were taking people in now. Wasting no time, we quickly followed the field of people in front of us, racing up the stairs that led to one of the ballrooms and making our way inside.

And with that, we were in. In to see George Lucas. From no chance to getting inside in a matter of like, ten minutes. Just like that.

I was so floored by that, I was almost hysterical. Rob tried to play it cool like it was no big deal, but I know he was pretty psyched about it too.

So here we are, inside to see George Lucas after what seemed like it would be impossible. They told us to not take video and that to quit taking photos after a few minutes. So here's one of my few shots of it. It's not perfect, but it's one of the best I could take.

The "Star Wars" Master himself, George Lucas

Pretty exciting. Nothing major came out of that session, but come on, we got to see George Lucas in person for crying out loud!! I would hear later on that day that he did mention about the new live-action Star Wars TV show and the 3D Clone Wars cartoon series in an earlier session, so it was cool to hear that breaking news.

Coming off that, me and Rob went back to the Exhibit Hall to check out some stuff. Once again, at the Hall I scored some good stuff, including a free SW Trivial Pursuit T-shirt, a DVD about the Star Wars figurines and I got my hands (finally!) on the much sought after talking Darth Vader action figure. I had to pay a bit more than what they were going for, but I didn't care, I got it and I was happy. (The story behind how I got my action figure -- and how Rob got his -- is something I will save for my last SWC3 blog entry).

Afterwards, we split up for a bit as I went to the Autograph Hall so I could get another autograph. I had enough for one more star and I wanted to get the guy who does the voice of General Grievous in Episode 3, Matthew Wood. Once I got there, I found out the lines were closed to get in and I had to try again later. Bummed by that bit of news, I decided to walk around, checking out some of the area outside the Convention Center. Meanwhile, Rob got to hang out at the Fan Club Lounge where he saw Jake Lloyd, who played Anakin in Episode 1, chatting for a bit.

After that, we tried yet another attempt for the Store again (again no chance) and then we thought about trying to get in for either "Star Wars in 30 Minutes" or "The 1-Man Star Wars Trilogy", two shows we had heard a lot of buzz about but figured we couldn't get into because of the long lines. Since both were happening at the same time, we had to choose one or the other. We tried for the SW30 show first, but the lines were way too long, so we then headed for the One Man Trilogy show. At first, the lines seemed too long for that one and Rob wanted to bail. I still wanted to give it a go, and as it turned out, the line was moving along enough for us to get inside and see the show.

Now, the One Man SW Trilogy show is basically this: one man, Charlie Ross, performing the original SW film trilogy ( A New Hope, Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi) by himself. No props, no instruments, no visuals, nothing. Just him and a blackened stage as a background. Plain and simple, the guy was amazing! He crammed all the good parts of all three movies into a hour-plus show, complete with the theme music, opening crawl and all the key characters, using his voice and his body. Incredible, and funny as hell!!! The one line that stood out for me was when he was re-enacting the key scene from "Jedi" when Luke removed Darth Vader's helmet so he could see what he looked line. Playing Luke, Ross gave a dramatic pause and said, "I thought you were black!" The whole crowd roared with laughter on that one. It was a great show and I'm glad I got to see that.

After that was done, me and Rob split up again as I tried one more time to get Matthew Wood's autograph. Heading down to the Autograph Hall, I saw that the lines were open this time around and made my way in. It took about 40 minutes or so, but I got in and met him.

Matthew Wood, the voice of General Grievous in Episode 3,

signing a photo of the character for me.

And then, I got a photo taken with him. I told him you're a very popular person these days. He laughed and said, "I know." He's a very cool guy and he autographed my photo with a line that he uses in the movie, "You're a BOLD one!" So, when I get to see the movie, I can't wait to hear him say that line.

Me and Matthew Wood from "SW Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith."

After that cool experience, I raced back upstairs to meet up with Rob for another big event going on, this one involved Visual Effects Supervisor John Knoll showing the crowd some of the visual effects behind not one Episode 3, but also some vintage photos from the original trilogy for a book he's doing. We also got to see some visual bloopers made from his team that were hilarious.

Afterwards, I took Rob to a mall nearby the Convention Center where it had an impressive food court setup and we each got some good (and inexpensive) food to cap off our last night in Indianapolis. We then made our way back to the hotel where Rob hit both the pool and the sauna while I unwinded by catching a little NBA playoff basketball on TV.

What a day! Seeing George Lucas. Catching some cool shows and events. Meeting one of the key guys behind Episode 3 and I got the prized Darth Vader action figure. Without a doubt, this was the best day of my entire SWC3 experience.

Next up: Episode 5 -- The last day at SWC3 and heading back home.