MCM London Comic Con!

A week too late I am finally back to tell you about my experience at the MCM London Comic Con. I don't really have an intro except how freaking cool it was!

For anyone who doesn't know, Comic Con is a three-days event in the Excel Hall near the London City Airport. You have a mix of Japanese Manga and food culture, British youtubers, Gamers, TV shows and movies as well as your usual nerd stuff to buy like wigs, clothes, weapons and small gimigs. All throughout the day you have several panels at the same time that you can attend for free or you can go and get a photo or an autograph from your favorite actor (if you have the money; it can be a bit expensive).

Preparation

Now, a lot of people, if not most of them, aren't just regular visitors. They are cosplayers. Some put more effort, time and money into their costume than others, but that doesn't matter as long as you have fun. 

And of course, because I have no idea to how many Comic Cons I will be going, I thought I might as well try it, too. At first I was thinking about going as Bucky Barnes/ the Winter Soldier from the MCU Captain America movies, but I wanted an attachable 'metal' arm and that would have been terribly hard to get back to Germany. Maybe I'll do that when I'm going to a German Con.

So, instead, I decided to go as Harley Quinn from the upcoming Suicide Squad movie. That would be easier, right?

Well, yes and no. The Tshirt and small things like the bracelets, fishnet stockings, even the baseball bat - an inflatable one in my case - were really really easy. Just go to Primark or ebay and that's it. The biggest problem was the jacket and the shorts. If you don't want to spent hugh amongst of money on a premade jacket you have to get creative. So I searched for a blue and a red baseball jacket to sew them together. Which sounds easy enough except it's harder than you would think to get the right colour. I couldn't find anything I was happy with until I was ready to just buy a normal blue/white one at New Look or go for another costume all together. The next week, We went to Manchester for our North-trip and I actually found two baseball jackets in the perfect colours for only 5 pounds each! Luck was on my side for once.

Anyway, a friend and I sat together to work on the jacket because to be honest, I had never done that before and didn't want to mess up. It took a few hours, even though that was mostly because we took quite a few breaks, but we finished it and it looked genuinely good.

The shorts I did myself out of the other half of the leftover jackets, and it went somewhat good. I cut up some old Primark sports shorts that I wanted to throw away anyway and then sew the finished Harley Quinn shorts and the elastic band together. It did resemble a pair of shorts in the end, but not very 'stable' ones. The materials fault, not mine! I swear!

So yeah, on the second day I went for a pair of normal black ones instead.

Day 1

That Saturday I woke up earlier than usual to get into my costume and most of all, put on my Harley Quinn make-up. Luckily it's not too hard, just some smudges and some drawn-on tattoos, but I wanted to get it done as soon as possible so I could be on my way. I had priority day tickets, which means I could go into the hall at 9am instead of 12am like everyone else.
On the tub you can already see others that are clearly on their way to Comic Con. It's like 'spot the emo' game during concerts, only it's 'spot the nerd' and a bit easier. A lot of people have priority tickets and the halls are filled with cosplayers by the time I join the mass.

That first day I meet Tomska in the youtuber section and see the cast of Being Human (the UK version) during a panel as well as the cast of Outcast, a new TV show. We are allowed to see the pilot almost two weeks early and it's great, a bit on the creepy side and not for an easily frightened person.
Other than that I just walk around and take pictures with a few people. Sadly I forgot to get some cash and the line in front of the only cash machine is hugh, so I stick to getting a bagel to eat and leave any shopping to the next day.
The last place I visit is a small panel/interview of the voice actor of Finn the Human from the Cartoon Network series Adventure Time. He - kind of - answers my question about what he would do if he could direct/write an episode. Well, he doesn't really answer it, since it would be a spoiler for the next season. Still a nice guy, though.

Day 2

Sunday starts at 11am which means more time to sleep. I take my Harley Quinn shorts with me, but put on my black jeans shorts and don't change them in the end. It's just way too comfortable.
That day I go to two panels I really want to see: One with the Big Bang Theory stars Melissa Rauch and Kunal Nayyar as well as Jesse Eisenberg. They talked about Jesse and Kunal's new theatre performance in London as well as the future of TBBT. They are all really nice and funny but drop hints of serious thoughts when it comes to their characters and their motivation.
The second panel is one about the DC TV show Arrow which is the last on of the day. Willa Holland and her co-star (I don't remember who, sorry) are funny and open about wanting caps and how much work everything is as well as how much of a prankster John Barrowman is actually. Great group.

Between the two I take a closer look in the Japan/Manga section which I kind of left out the day before. I take some Japanese candy with me as well as cute badges and a key chain. Then I go outsidee just to be met by a hugh group of other Harley Quinn cosplayers posing for pictures. Not just Suicide Squad Harley's, but also original ones, steam-punks, mixed, one cross-dresser and funily enough, a girl I met at Summer in the City almost a year ago. She recognized me, but anyway, how much of a coincident is that? I joined in on the pictures and then went on to the little music stage where a K-Pop band just finished up (at least I guess it was K-Pop, I'm not an expert).
Next came Make Out Monday, which features the voice actor from Adventure Times that I saw the day before. The band is really good, and I got a free CD as well as Tshirt, so I'm sure as hell not gonna complain.

After the set and only about 1,5 hours more to spare I went back inside and walked by the youtuber section once more when I saw another youtuber I like, Dean from Jack&Dean. He signed my Tshirt and we talked  bit about an upcoming project of theirs. He's a nice guy!
For some reason, the guy at the weapon store recognized me and I was really tempted to buy a katana or machete but I can't do that. How would I bring it to Germany after all?!

Conclusion

Some of the cosplayers really take it to the next level: a really convincing Mystique from the X-Men movies who must have been cold as hell, a Jack Sparrow who managed the right walk and mannerism, steam-punkers, Game of Thrones characters as well as other people in armour that looks too real to not be real are all over the place. And there are the clever ones, like Daredevil before he got his fnacy suit or superman in his normal undercover outfit. I wish I had taken more pictures.

In the end I would say that Comic Con is an event that's worth spending some money on. the tickets are really not expensive and you can have a lot of fun even of you don't get a picture with a celebrity (the panels are free at least!) or if you don't dress up. Hell, I would say even a non-nerd would have fun watching us get all excited about stuff.
Do yourself something good and relax for a day by letting your inner nerd out.

Harry Potter Studio Tour!

What do you associate with England? The Queen, sure. The Beatles and One Direction maybe. The origin of the punk scene and afternoon tea. Charles Dickens and J. R. R. Tolkien.
Oh, and Harry Potter.

The Harry Potter euphoria started in 1997 and is still going strong. Books, additional books, movies, wands, clothes, action figures, whatever you want can be bought somewhere. But sometimes, you have to leave your house to get to an important milestone in the life of a wizard or witch... I mean fan!

One of those places is for sure the Warner Bros studios in Leavesden near Watford. Just a train ride away from London (best via Euston) you can get on the Harry Potter studio tour bus that drops you off right in front of the doors of a rather ugly yellowish building. But be careful, you need to buy your ticket in advance online!
I've already been there in 2013 and didn't plan on going again simply because it costs 33 pounds and I didn't think there would be anything new. But another au pair invited the rest of our group as part of a group organized by her agency. In the end, we were four people going.

I'm not going into too much into details about the tour/exhibition. The Great Hall was the same except for a few Christmas trees and that the food displayed was different. They had the in Britain usual Christmas crackers for each house, plum pudding with inpressive fire effects and of course the clothes from the different houses as well as some professors in the front. As a bigger fan of the books than the movies I again was very happy about the house point hourglasses in the back counting the house points.

The rest of the tour is a mix of costumes, probs and explanations. They show you how the floating candles work, the different wigs for the characters and tricks to make hallways look way longer than they are. Every once in a while a mini TV and the wall shows short film sequences of the main actors, but mostly Daniel Radcliffe, and other important persons like the producers talking about their experience on set and behind the scenes. At one point hree interactive marauder maps show you behind pictures of different rooms and how they were re-used. They also show you examples to explain the difference between visual and special effects.

Throughout the tour you can visit the Hogwarts Main Gate from part 6, the Gryffindor common room, the Boys dormitory, Dumbledores office, the potion classroom, the dining room of Malfoy Manor, the Burrow and Hagrids hut. There are also small sections of the Ministry Hall, Umbridges office, Borgin & Burkes and the Yull Ball. Everywhere in between there are small sections for things like armor, books, signs, skulls, Lupins suitcase and Crouch Jr. box where he keeps Mad Eye alive.

The last part of this half of the tour is an interactive one. If you ever wanted to know what it's like to sit on a broomstick, this is your chance! You get a maybe 40 seconds movie playing and an employee telling you what you have to do and how to move. It's really comfortable and you even have a Hogwarts cloak on which makes really good pictures (even though they are really expensive - take your parents with you!).

This was the main tour you could say. Two years ago you went straight outside after that, but by now they added another feature: King's Cross plattform 9 3/4 with the Hogwarts Express!
And you can actually walk through it. With compartments dedicated to the different school years you feel like you are actually on your way to another year of dangerous potions and Quidditch matches. There are also three parts where you can take photos that look like you are halfway through the wall. Right next to it is a sweets shop with Harry Potter themed candy.

After a quick lunch in the cafeteria we went outside. There are only 4 things: The Night bus, the creaky wood bridge that collapses in the last movie and the houses of the Dursleys and the Potters. This time even with soup fake snow coming out of the sky!

Back inside you get a look into the mask department. There you have everything from goblins, the Fenrir, to animatronics like Lupin's werwolf, Hagrid's head and Buckbeak. And like always, the staff is more than happy to answer questions.

Through the next door you walk straight into Diagon Alley. With Gringotts on one end and multiple stores left and right until you come to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. I can't even discribe it, you actually have to see it yourself. You just feel like you are actually there to buy your wand or broom or just to get a few extra books.

Sadly, this was the last actual set. After this are only two more rooms with architecture sketches and small modells of different rooms and buildings like the Burrow or the Great Hall.
Talking about which, One last thing is there. And it's gigantic. And now, even covered in snow! A complete modell of Hogwarts that was actually used for flying and establishing shots. You can see small details like the telescope on the Astronomy tower, every little window and door (some even with light), trees and stones and connections you weren't aware of until now.

It is amazing. Now matter what, if you are a Harry Potter fan you are entitled to go and see this piece of art. It took us 6 hours to go through everything (Partly due to me taking too many pictures...) and I swear to god, you feel inspired and out of the world once you come out again. Maybe even with presents and souvenirs thanks to the fan shop in the end. Go and treat yourself with a bit of magic.