NY Jedi.com - Jedi Academy at NY Comic Con 2006

NEW YORK COMIC CON, JAVITS CENTER, FEB 26TH 2006
JEDI ACADEMY
Members of nyjedi.com entertain and teach the crowd how to properly setup fight scenes and light saber
battles for fun and Fan Film Production at the Jacob Javits Center, Sunday, February 26th, 2006

Press: 1. Check out the Video from a Comic Con attendee!
Press: 2. Our Jedi's featured in amNewYork, Feb 27th, 2006.

JEDI ACADEMY: The First Annual New York Comic Con drew crowds greater than 35,000 attendees to the Javits Center this year selling out both Saturday and Sunday on-site tickets. On Sunday afternoon at 3pm, February 26th, The New York Jedi found hundreds of Star Wars fans and Jedi or Sith wanna-be's alike making their way to the Javits Center's Lobby Stage for one thing. The topic of discussion: How to effectively use a lightsaber in a saber duel. No, seriously, we did that.

Trained fight choreographers Michael Pasigan, Flynn, Havic and Wolf, with help of the other attending NY Jedi crew brought real life stage fight choreographing techniques to the Comic Con masses. People have been hitting the site from all over the country asking when we will be up in their area. Well, the New York Jedi Lightsaber team put a plan into action to have the first real Jedi Academy at the best place to find such a crowd of Jedi training thirsty Padawans - The New York Comic Con. It went like this...

The music starts, and all you see is a menacing figure with a mask holding two lightsabers. "Are they real?" you ask yourself. No, they can't be.

Then he starts moving them around like a fierce warrior looking for a fight. Wow. What's going on? Are these guys for real?

Actually, they're not so daunting. The NY Jedi member Flynn emerges from the helmet smiling. He's the group's new Predator Jedi character named "Talek," as he describes in the site's forum.

"Hello everyone, Welcome to the New York Comic Con, and to nyjedi.com's JEDI ACADEMY!"

Just then the music changes and you hear the presence of the SITH! "Oh, no! It's the Sith! Quick! Udo Kier! Go get them!

The Sith Trio Wolf, Darth Ravage and Jin Ke await Udo Kier for a duel to the end!

Udo Kier erupts from the back of the stage to face the Sith on the Stairs!

It's an epic battle!

Down the stairs

And Udo almost gets de-legged!

The sinister Jin Ke heads for Flynn at the stage for one last battle before heading backstage, fighting into the darkness!

And video of the fight finale! by TwilightOdyssey

And then the training started. Flynn and Wolf introduced nyjedi.com and what we're all about.

"We are a group of costumers, performers, actors & non-actors, and martial artists who have a particular passion for sword fighting, fight scene choreography, and light sabers! We add another dimension to it by dressing the part, of course. Being a member of nyjedi.com means you can create your character based on whatever story you want - you just get to use a lightsaber."

Flynn and Mike P. talk about type of hits and how to make the lightsabers look cool when you strike and move, along with
different styles of sword. Marc and Wolf show which moves are being mentioned. Then, it was time for the Dark Jedi's Dual!

The Dark Jedi's Duel

More video by TwilightOdyssey

The real stars of NYJedi.com, Havic, Marc Abbot, and Wolf present a demonstration fight between Dark Jedi's of the Old Way. The scene is mostly made up of simple blocks and hits, but they show how to make a scene look real and story driven rather than a complex, storyless blob of action.

Check out the Video from a Comic Con attendee TwilightOdyssey!

Flynn and Mike return to talk about what the guys did in their fight scene and how easy it is to learn how to do it.
We then pulled four volunteers out of the audience and gave them a few lessons back stage.

As the Padawans learned, the audience got a quick journey into "What you need in order to produce a Star Wars Fan Film."

Our very special guest speakers were Director/Producer John Bardy, Storyboard Artist Jeff Karl, and discussing writing and story development, NY Jedi's own Marc Abbott. "You have to write about what you know. But really stretch yourself."

"When writing a storyline for a movie, break the rules," Johnny added. "Don't be afraid to expand on the basics and make your story as big as you want it to be."

And Jeff Karl talked about how storyboarding was based in the comic book art form, but serves the film making process. "Sequenced framed drawings telling a story, but the next result in making movies is actually live action or visual effects. But it really helps give the Director a visual idea of what each shot will might look like before production."

Our voluteers back stage training for their big performaces.

And then,,, it is time. "RELEASE THE PADAWANS!"

The first Round of Padawans...

And then the next...

Show your signature move!

And this guy at www.istolethe.tv/blahblahblah had another of Rich Zak.

More images to come soon!