The Sci Fi Digital Press Tour report, final thoughts

Sick of me yet? Well don't worry, this the last post I've got for you about my trip ... probably. I felt it was right of me to conclude everything with some overall thoughts on the experience of visiting these sets, a quick rundown on what I've already posted (don't worry, it's just the links) and a consolidation of the images, including some new ones.

So, to start of, here's a quick rundown of what was already posted ...

The Sci Fi Digital Press Tour report

• Part 1 (Eureka)
• Part 2 (Stargate Atlantis)
• Part 3 (Battlestar Galactica)
• Part 4 (Flash Gordon and Tin Man)

Videos of the panels

• Eureka: Part 1 - Part 2
• Stargate Atlantis
• Battlestar Galactica: Part 1 - Part 2
• Flash Gordon

Other stuff

• The post announcing all of this, plus some of the Twitters I sent
• A close-up of Adama's Cylon War painting
• Battlestar Galactica tease at the Sci Fi digital press event

Final thoughts

Like I said earlier, if I didn't know better I'd almost say the photos you're seeing from the set visit were digitally altered to look more like they do on TV. But since we were handed these images the same day, that's obviously not true. Being there in person, things don't look like you're on TV. What was amazing about the sets was how realistic they look. With my nose an inch away from a wall, I couldn't tell it was wood or composite material rather than stone or metal.

Meeting everyone from the various other websites covering the event was a definite highlight. Everyone I talked to was friendly, nobody was pompous. We were definitely among friends, each of us geeking out in one way or another. I really do hope I bump into these people again some day.

Some of the first questions I'm being asked after returning from the trip is "was it worth the trip?" and "would you do it again?" This may be surprising to many of you, but I had to think about that for a bit. Initially the thought of having to travel clear across the country (from Boston to Vancouver) was what held me back from jumping on the opportunity immediately, but the fact that Battlestar Galactica is entering its final season made the decision for me. This was literally a once in a lifetime opportunity, one I would very likely never get again. BSG was going to be gone in a year, and then it would be too late to try to visit the set again.

But would I do it again? Not for these shows. It's not that I don't like them -- far from it. It's just that I've seen them, and now I don't feel the need to see them again. There is one thing that would change my mind though, and that would be the opportunity to see them actually film at least one scene for us. If I had to pick one thing that would have put the cherry on top of the trip it would be to have seen the cast film something we'd later see on TV.

Something else I would have liked was more time. Look at all of those links above. That's just one person on two days of stuff and for five shows! The timing between set visits was precise and near flawlessly executed, so a definite kudos to the people at Sci Fi for getting it all to work. I think some people would have liked to have had time to see some of the sets that were spread out to different locations and perhaps some time to talk a little one-on-one with the cast and crew.

I would also have liked more photos. The photographer was great and he took photos of many of us in front of certain sets, which was cool. But there were many things I wish I could have shown you. I understand why we couldn't use some of them (spoilers and such), but there were many that you should have seen. One thing that bugged at least a few people (I think everyone I talked to) was the big "Digital Press Tour: SCI FI" sticker on the Viper we all had our picture taken in front of. It sort of cheapened the photo and sort of spelled out "marketing ploy" to everyone, when probably these lengthy trip reports would have done just as well without that.

I was happy at how much we were trusted, allowed to walk about the sets and touch things. There wasn't anyone slapping our hands away from consoles and in some cases we were encouraged to explore. We were all huge fans of these shows who just happen to write for websites that talk about their shows, and they let us geek out.

I was thankful that nobody sprinted up to the actors asking for autographs or just babbling on at how much they loved them. When the BSG cast came out to the panel you can see how unthrilled Jamie Bamber looked, though he later perked up quite a bit. I think he may have initially been thinking "oh great, a bunch of wild geeks are going to ask me retarded questions," but I thought we did a fine job. I'm hoping all of the actors and the Sci Fi team noted that even huge fans of these shows can handle themselves professionally, even if these websites aren't their true profession.

I hope I did these visits justice within my reports here and, if you were patient enough to sit through them all, I hope you enjoyed them and got a good feeling for what it was like -- that was my intention. If you have any questions about my trip, please feel free to comment away and I'll do my best to answer in the comments as well (my answers should be in a yellowish background). As for my next set visit, I'm working on it, so stay tuned!