The intrepid video production duo, HDV shooter and Director of Photography, Mark Schulze, and Sound Technician, Patty Mooney documented several panels for 21st Century Fox, capturing shots of Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly (in "The Day the Earth Stood Still"), a surprise visit by Hugh Jackman, Mila Kunis and Mark Wahlberg (in "Max Payne"), and Beau Bridges and Richard Dean Stanton (in "Stargate Continuum"). The Crystal Pyramid Productions digital video crew covered San Diego's largest convention which has exponentially grown over the last 40 years, the San Diego Comic Con. Over the last several years it has metamorphosed into a Hollywood venue where major celebrities appear to publicize their blockbuster movies.

The San Diego Convention Center is the official home of the San Diego Comic Con. The U.S. Grant Hotel was the very first venue of the "Con," and according to Wikipedia it was "founded by Detroit, Michigan-born comics fan Shel Dorf, who in the mid-1960s had mounted the Detroit Triple-Fan Fairs, one of the first commercial comics-fan conventions. When he moved to San Diego, California in 1970, he organized a one-day convention (Golden State Comic-Minicon) on March 21, 1970 "as a kind of 'dry run' for the larger convention he hoped to stage." Apparently, Shel Dorf helmed the Comic-Con as its President for many years and then became estranged by the organization. The overwhelming growth of the Con is now busting at the seams of the SD Convention Center and the city either must now expand, lose the Comic-Con to another city with larger facilities, or figure out ways of accommodating the vast number of humans who want to be at the San Diego Comic Con because it's the "SAN DIEGO" Comic-Con. In 2010, people overflowed into venues at the newly built San Diego Hard Rock Hotel, the Marriott, Grand Hyatt and other nearby hotels, and it seemed to work pretty well. Speaking as a crew that videotaped Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell in (who were both there to promote their movie, "The Other Guys," it certainly was nice to have the celebrities all to ourselves (the video journalists), in a cordoned-off area "far from the maddening crowd."

Mark Schulze and Patty Mooney are capturing footage of the wildly popular panels for one of their studio clients. The guy standing on the riser behind Patty and Mark is videotaping for the large projection screens known as I-MAG, which I believe means "Image Magnification." He is using a long lens video camera which can zoom to Extreme Close Ups of the talent on the panel. If anyone sets their coffee down on the riser or bumps into it, that jiggle will be seen by every eye in the auditorium, because the camera mounted on its tripod is highly sensitive to any "assaults" on the riser. 

Actors Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly appeared on the Panel for the theatrical release, "The Day The Earth Stood Still." The moderator who introduced Jennifer called her "Jennifer Garner" which stimulated a collective gasp from the audience, and Keanu came to her rescue by correcting the moderator, "No, that's Jennifer CONNELLY. C-o-n-n-e-l-l-y." Classic. Would not wanted to have been the errant moderator at that point; almost worse than having your fly open.

Hugh Jackman had just flown in from Australia aka "Oz" and thrilled the vast number of people in the audience by strolling in for a surprise guest appearance. Once the audience had calmed down, Hugh said something every comic-book-movie afficionado wants to hear: "It is because of you that I have a career. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Without you, there would be no Wolverine!" Again the crowd went wild. Not everyone who stands in a line coiling around the San Diego Convention Center will make it into these panels that feature "A" List celebrities there to promote their movies. For a video crew it is always extremely tough and tricky to make it inside the panel auditorium, even when the studio sponsoring the panel has hired the crew! Hugh Jackman was a very class act.

Mila Kunis and Mark Wahlberg were on a panel to talk about their movie, Max Payne. In responding to questions from members in the audience who stood in line to speak into a microphone, while Mark Wahlberg seemed very upbeat in a very energy-drink-buzz kind of way, Mila Kunis did not have much to add to the conversation and all her answers to the audience were very short and curt. From the angle where I was taking photographs of her, she seemed to dodge in front of either the water pitcher or the bulbous microphone as though trying to stay hidden in a room full of thousands of paparazzi.

Mark Schulze shot interviews of the Stargate Continuum celebrities, including Beau Bridges, on the flight deck of the U.S.S. Midway aircraft carrier which is permanently docked in San Diego Harbor.

The crew were all so excited to see Richard Dean Anderson (MacGyver!) walking up the red carpet Patty Mooney was the Field Audio Technician (on left) and Mark Schulze (on right) shot celebrity interviews with a small Sony high definition camera. When Mooney noticed that Richard appeared to be profusely sweating, she offered him a Kleenex which he gratefully used to mop his brow. When he was finished, she held her hand out as though she was going to put his DNA-laden tissue up for sale on E-Bay. He looked completely aghast until she assured him she was kidding. (Or WAS she?)