Offsite | Geekscape

SDCC 2022: Netflix’ ’The Gray Man’ Training Program Kicks Off SDCC With A Bang!

by Derek KraneveldtJuly 20, 2022

I’m so excited to be back in San Diego.

The spectacle of the convention itself, and the fact that it spills out through what feels like the entire Gaslamp District of San Diego, is simply baffling. The scale of SDCC is simply like no other event that I’ve ever had the privilege of being to, and as incredible as the exhibit hall, panels, and exclusives are, the offsite activations have to be my absolute favourite part of the SDCC experience (aside from seeing my Geekscape friends).

I wasn’t quite sure how offsites would look this year — without a convention for the past two years, would studios realize that they didn’t actually need them to build excitement for their upcoming projects? Would they be fearful of staffing issues (or sickness) and do things on a smaller scale to combat this? Would it be business as usual?

Before preview night opened on Wednesday, I had the fantastic opportunity to check out the huge offsite that Netflix built for their new star-studded Russo brother direction action thrilller, The Gray Man.

Interestingly enough, this offsite has been set up for a movie that drops in just a couple of days, rather than a property that’s still months away (or years, as it was with Prime Video’s Jack Ryan series, which popped up at SDCC for multiple conventions before it finally released). This should definitely help the film’s early numbers (not that a cast including folks like Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, and Billy Bob Thornton won’t) — I might be a pretty impressionable guy, but even just walking by the setup I was thinking that ”maybe we should check this out when we get back to the hotel tonight.”

The event is hard to miss, but for those in San Diego this week The Gray Man Training Program sits at the ABM Parking Lot at the corner of 1st Ave and Island Ave (this is where Prime Video was set up back in 2019 for The Boys, Carnival Row, and The Expanse). The offsite is open from Thursday, July 21 – Saturday, July 23 10am-7pm, and Sunday, July 24 from 11am-4pm.

The activation is a high-energy, interactive escape experience set on a tram car, inspired by the epic chase scene in the new Netflix Film The Gray Man. Once aboard the tram, fans will have to prove they have what it takes to become the next Gray Man in a test of skill, strength, and speed while transporting a top secret file to safety before the mercenaries catch up and the time runs out. The heart pounding mission will include various obstacles and special effects, and will culminate in a rooftop sprint as fans race against the clock to complete the mission. Fans will leave with a badass customized social takeaway that puts them at the center of their own action film.

Once you hit the front of the line, this is the start of the actual experience.

There was a decent lineup of press members present when I arrived at the activation. For those attending during the daytime, some umbrellas are set up to shield you from the San Diego sun. A giant display shows off the trailer for The Gray Man on repeat, and it’s loud enough that you’ll probably hear it if you’re pretty much anywhere close to the activation itself. Note that even for the press preview, this line took quite some time — attendees were completing the challenge one or two at a time, and took about two minutes once you actually began. Also, I’ve now memorized this trailer verbatim, as it’s the only thing that plays… over and over again.

Once you get closer to the actual activity, it looks pretty phenomenal. A life-sized crashed subway car greets you, complete with flying sparks and regular bursts of smoke. It’s a little tough to know exactly what you’ll do once it’s your turn, but it’s pretty clear that a ton of cash went into the activation, and that it’s going to be a damned good time.

Spoilers for the offsite activity ahead — you’ve been warned.

You finally hit the front of the line, and you’re sent in to be briefed by an agent. The agent tells you that they’re trying to determine who has what it takes to become the next Gray Man, and gives a brief overview of the challenges that you’ll be facing. You also receive a small metal necklace — one side has The Gray Man’s logo, while the other side has a pattern of sorts on it (I’m not quite sure at this point if the pattern is associated with the film, but I’d guess that it is).

Another agent then puts you into position at the end of the tram car, and instructs you to enter and get to work as fast as you possibly can once the door opens. Once you’re inside, you’re told to look for visual queues that will help you move on to the next area.

The first area was super easy and really took just a few seconds to solve. The second area however, really seems to require two people to have much success. I found instructions that I thought I was following, but then second-guessed myself when they wouldn’t work. Time ran out, and I failed this portion of the challenge (someone later confirmed that I was doing the right thing, but that it really took three hands to be able to fully solve it).

For the final portion of the activation, you end up on top of the tram car, and have to run across and insert your necklace into a briefcase of sorts to finish things up. A camera on a wire captures your run, and afterwards you can email yourself a cool video of your time on top of the tram.

Overall, the experience that Netflix crafted for The Grey Man was a very fun one. At the time of this writing, I don’t believe that Netflix is doing any sort of pre-registration to partake in the activation, and due to the one or two people nature of the experience itself, I’d anticipate lines to be long (well duh, it’s SDCC) and slow moving. In any case, if you have the time (or will be wandering the Gaslamp without a badge on one of the convention days), The Gray Man training program should definitely be on your to-do list.

SDCC 2019: FX ‘Kills’ It With This Year’s ‘FX Fearless Forum’!

by Derek KraneveldtJuly 23, 2019

I’m so sad that San Diego Comic-Con is already over.

The Geekscape team descended from all over (like Philadelphia and Canada) to take in, hang out at, and cover the phenomenal event. If you’ve missed our coverage so far, you can check out the brand new Geekscape.net for daily recaps from myself and Mikaela, as well as coverage on some of the amazing offsite events that we were privileged enough to attend. There’s more coming down the pipeline as well, so be sure to keep your eyes tuned right here!

Mikaela also spent hours taking photos of so much of the next-level cosplay on display at SDCC, so be sure to follow the @GeekscapeForever Instagram page for a steady stream of incredible outfits.

As I mentioned in my spot on the recent SDCC special episode of Geekscape, I feel like after seven years, as the show floor gets unfathomably busier and as the few things that you actually want to buy require more and more and more work to do so, the expo hall itself definitely begins to lose some of its lustre. What continues to amaze me, however, is the absolutely insane work that these studios and distributors put into these temporary installations. The amount of work required to build these temporary buildings and giant logos and building wraps is just unbelievable… just for them to all be torn down like they never even existed days later.

This was Monday morning. Nothing is sacred.

Over the past few years, FX has been located on the back side of the convention centre, right across from the Hilton Bayfront hotel. In previous years the offsite event has been labelled as the FXHibition, and has always featured some cool art pieces, and absolutely impressive activations based on some of FX’ flagship shows, like the mixed-reality experience for Legion in 2017, or the insanely freaky ‘Fearless VR’ for American Horror Story. Looking back on previous years (not just for FX, but for SDCC as a whole) it’s certainly interesting to note that there appeared to be very few VR-driven experiences vs. previous conventions — this time around, nearly everything was practical.

As always, this year’s event was all new, and it brought with it a new name. The FX Fearless Forum was in the same location, and featured awesome (and practical) activations for series like Archer, What We Do in the Shadows, Mayans, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, and an incredible haunted house for American Horror Story: 1984. Keep scrolling for a few photos and impressions for each activation, and a description of the haunted house that basically had Mikaela peeing her pants.

The Fearless Forum seemed to have decent-length lines all of the time, but one thing that I was super thankful for was an open area where essentially anyone could just walk in and help themselves to sunscreen and hand-sanitizer. The area was themed after It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, and I think it’s really nice that something super practical like sunscreen wasn’t locked behind a giant lineup, so a huge thanks to FX for this.

There was also a small setup for Mayans, that had a small trailer, a few motorcycles, and some biker-looking dudes giving airbrush tattoos to fans of the show.

Archer had a cool oxygen bar setup for Archer: 1999. I had no idea what an oxygen bar was prior to this event… and I kind of still don’t but it was a neat setup. The activation looked like a spaceship, and had a few interactive pieces around the area (and even a trivia game on some tablets, which you can also play at home using your Amazon Echo). At the bar itself there were a number of different oxygen stations. You stick a plastic tube in your nostrils (thankfully FX provided a new one for each person), and select between different ‘flavours’ of oxygen to breathe, like Piña Colada, Orange/Peach, Chocolate/Cherry, and Lavender/Balsam Fir needles. I think that my sense of smell may be nearly as bad as my sense of sight, because while Mikaela could sense a stark difference between each ‘flavour’, I was definitely struggling to tell any difference. The oxygen apparently perks you up, but I didn’t really need it, as the next activation for American Horror Story: 1984 absolutely pumps you full of energy.

The next activation was called American Horror Story: 1984 – Face The Darkness, and is basically a very impressive (and very scary) haunted house experience. Coming out of this experience, I think that it was the very best singular activation held at SDCC this year. I also thought that Face The Darkness utilized its small space so well, and that the way that the aviation weaves you through the different rooms and areas made the space feel far, far larger than it actually was. You start out with six other ‘camp counsellors in training’ in a small room filled with 1980’s paraphernalia like VHS tapes and old board games, and this marks your introduction to Camp Redwood, where you’ll be spending the next ~15 minutes (and probably much of September/October when the show airs). After a couple of moments, the lead counsellor comes in to tell you about all the training that you’re about to go through (this guy was super charismatic and kept making great dad jokes, and was even wearing the same shorts in this 1984 experience as Matt Kelly was that week), like how to use the very convenient and sophisticated night vision goggles when another counsellor bursts through the door to tell you all that something has gone terribly wrong in the forest, and that there is something out there. The lead counsellor tries to reach the camp director on the radio, and decides to go after her when he can’t. Seconds after he leaves, a terrified camp director warns us over the radio that something is in the forest and to get away while we can.

So, just like the 1980’s slasher films that the experience (and upcoming season of American Horror Story) is based on, instead of running in the opposite direction, the counsellor that’s left instead leads us into the forest (and she didn’t seem to hear me when I asked “Why don’t we bring these night vision goggles with us?” either).

So we leave the cabin, and are all of a sudden in a foggy forested area that sort of reminded me of the swamp from the DC Universe Swamp Thing activation last year. You could see a truck off in the distance, you were having to fan through branches and leaves that blocked your path, and you had no idea where counsellor was leading you. Again, we’re inside in the middle of a temporary building in the Gaslamp District of San Diego, but this forest felt real as hell. The counsellor ends up leaving us in a wrong director, and as we turn around, a tall man with his face obscured appears in the fog and begins walking towards us. The counsellor screams, Mikaela and some of the other attendees scream louder, and beginning running through some tight forested corridors towards a cabin in the distance. I’m at the back of the pack, and just as I’m about to turn each corner, I look behind me to see the tall man right there, pacing relentlessly with the classic Jason Voorhees walk.

We get into the cabin — I somehow make it through just before someone else and in their terror they nearly slam the door on my hand (it would have been worth it). Everyone is freaking out, and the camp director has taken refuge here too. She asks us what we’re doing there, and reiterates that we need to escape, and tasks us all with finding a key somewhere in the room (I’m not sure if it was to the truck outside or something else), all while the killer is outside banging on the door. After a couple of minutes, someone screams, as the killer is now crawling through the window on the opposite side of the cabin. The director tells us to all go into the closet, which ends up being a way out of the cabin, and we’re now walking through a nearly pitch-black area with people randomly grabbing at our feet (there was a lot of screaming here, naturally).

We finally make it to another room, where for a moment we think we’re safe, until we see that the walls are covered in bloody writing. We start looking around at what to do next, when a huge banging sound freaks everyone out even more, and when a chainsaw juts through the wall in front of us. The lights come up, everyone starts nervously laughing, and the experience is over.

We’re led into the final room, where we have our badges scanned so we can be emailed the GIF of the final jump scare, and where we could help ourselves to some AHS themed goodies.

Again, the activation freaked the hell out of everyone, and I loved every second of it. It’s still completely crazy to me that they were able to pull of such an insane, and truly scary experience in such a small space.

The other standout at the Fearless Forum was the What We Do In The Shadows lair. This was a small-ish room (with great AC) that was, naturally, a vampire’s lair. Inside there was a photo-op where you could “become” a vampire, which was cute, and the decor of the room felt just like what you’d expect from watching the series. The best part here were the two vampires that were walking around, interacting and making fun of visitors, and bickering to each other in hilarious fashion. I swear I could have watched these two all day, it was wonderful.

The general area itself also housed a few photo opportunities including some cool FX logos (one made of PVC pipes that only looked like the logo when viewed from certain angles), a giant screen that showed just what people were tweeting about the Fearless Forum, and there were even areas where you could get customized merchandise like phone cases or hats. Overall, it was another phenomenal year for FX at SDCC, and the Forum was absolutely successful, as I definitely started watching the What We Do In The Shadows series on the way home, and after a couple of years of not watching American Horror Story, the September 18th premiere of 1984 is absolutely in my calendar.

SDCC 2019: The Amazon Prime Video Experience Is This Year’s Must-Visit Offsite!

by Derek KraneveldtJuly 18, 2019

If you haven’t been able to tell from my coverage over the past seven years, I’m a huge fan of all of the insane offsite events that companies host during SDCC week. I was hooked from my very first offsite activation for 2014’s Godzilla, and just generally try to experience as many of these events during the week as I possibly can.

A couple of weeks back I posted about the Prime Video Experience, a massive 60,000 square-foot event that would host activations for upcoming series The Boys, Carnival Row, and the fourth season of The Expanse. Mikaela and I had an opportunity to check out the event during a media preview on Wednesday, and I wholeheartedly believe that it’s the most insane offsite that you’ll be able to experience this year.

The Prime Video Experience is located at MLK and 1st in San Diego (obviously), and is open from 9AM-5PM each day of the convention. As of this morning the line looked pretty long, but I assure you that the event is an absolute blast, and is well worth any wait.

From the press release, “Once inside, attendees will receive collectible gold and silver coins which they can use to further explore the activation. Fans can begin their day covering up the crime scene of a superhero kidnapping at the Audio Visual shop where Hughie works on The Boys. On the opposite end of the space, a Rocinante spaceship is positioned that will take adventure-seekers on a United Nations peacekeeping mission to a newly colonized planet seen in The Expanse. Guests can also discover the Carnival Row universe in which humans and exotic creatures coexist before entering The Forbidden Lounge, a neo-Victorian decorated hideaway venue, to enjoy a special performance. Amazon Prime Video collaborated with LG within the series activations to provide a premiere viewing experience for attendees.”

There’s also a Carl’s Jr. food truck inside, which was super cool because we don’t have a lot of those in Canada.

I took a video of each activation from start to finish (with a couple of odd cuts during The Boys activation because I had to do stuff and accidentally hit the stop button), so if you’re into spoilers or aren’t going to make the event, you can check them out below, and keep scrolling for some photos of the massive offsite (but not from inside the activations because I was taking video).

Again, spoilers ahead, and if you’re here in San Diego, don’t look at any of it and just go get in line!

I never actually figured out what the coins were for, but they apparently unlocked extra goodies within the offsite itself (and the gold ones are rare)!

There’s a nice covered ‘market’ area with snacks, and some nice seating so that you can eat your Carl’s Jr.

Some more nice covered seating, and a huge screen for screenings later this week

Some simple, but awesome swag after ‘The Boys’ activation.

Attendees are assigned either a ‘Creature’ or ‘Human’ role, which determines how characters treat you

Will you be checking out the Amazon Prime Video experience? Be sure to let us know what you think!

SDCC 2018: Visiting ‘Purge City’ Made Me Want To Hunt For A Green Card!

by Derek KraneveldtJuly 24, 2018

Briefly: 2018 was far and away the year of standout offsites events.

I spent some time detailing Purge City in my Friday recap, but this offsite was so impressive that it deserved some space on its own.

The event was put together to advertise and celebrate USA Network’s upcoming The Purge 10-episode TV series, which “follows several seemingly unrelated characters living in a small city. Tying them all together is a mysterious savior who’s impeccably equipped for everything the night throws at them. As the clock winds down with their fates hanging in the balance, each character is forced to reckon with their pasts as they discover how far they will go to survive the night.”

While the film series has been fairly hit or miss for me (an amazing concept that isn’t always that well executed), I was already invested in the idea of a TV series, even before I visited Purge City.

Purge City was a parody of the Party City brand of party preparation stores (couldn’t figure that out from the title, could you?), and the event has to be the most immersive offsite that I’ve been to in years, as every single actor in the venue was in full character 100% of the time. They often had creepy smiles, and were constantly asking patrons what they were doing for the Purge. When asked, I noted that I was from Canada so I wasn’t used to purging, and the employees were happy to offer suggestions. Suggestions ranged from hiding or staying in, to taking me through some of their most popular weapon choices for first-time Purgers – one of the employees even said they were sorry that those in Canada didn’t have the opportunity to Purge, noting just how prosperous things have been since the 28th amendment came to pass.

The store (which I impressively saw being built just a couple of days before) was filled with amazing merchandise, some available for fans, while other (larger or more violent-looking items) were set for display only.

Upon entry, patrons received 20 ‘Purge Bucks’ to spend on whatever they wanted. You could grab a basket, and choose from t-shirts for 15 Purge Bucks, hats for 12, temporary tattoos, candles, energy drinks, greeting cards, stain ‘depurgent’, and even more. Alongside the phenomenal greeting cards, there was also a tablet that Purgers could use to send equally hilarious e-cards to friends, some of which even allowed you to upload your own photos. I picked up a t-shirt, a wonderful replica of the 28th amendment to the constitution (which is when the Purge was added), and a greeting card that said ‘Live, Laugh, Purge’ on it. This totalled 20 Purge Bucks, and I also received a helium balloon and a reusable ‘Purge City’ bag upon checkout (the latter I cannot wait to use back home, regardless of all of the weird looks I’ll receive).

The merchendise was fantastic, and I absolutely loved the ability to tailor your swag to your own preferences – that said, the very best part of the event had to be the actors/employees. The week must have been incredibly busy and inexplicably stressful, but they just seemed so thrilled and excited to help patrons ensure that their Purge would be a good one. In the ‘demo’ are, the actors really had an opportunity to shine, as every half hour or so they would show off some of the fun new products that Purge City had available for this year’s Purge, including a ‘Purge Night Cake Cutter’, which was a cake baking kit and knife that would cut your Purge night celebration cake into 6 or 12 identical pieces. One of the pieces had a special, limited edition ‘New Founding Father’ figure inside, and whomever’s piece contained the figure would have to do a dare at the discretion of the host. I captured this demonstration on video, and it was so hilarious that I had a huge grin on my face the entire time.

The other demo that I was present for had the employees showing off a new stain ‘depurgent’ (see what they did there?), which had volunteers from the crowd splattering liquid (blue liquid like the classic paper towel or sanitary pad commercials, but they definitely hinted that it would also work on blood) on some white shirts, and showing just how much better their formula was than ‘the other guys’ at removing said stains.

The setup really felt just like a real store, and I spent the better part of an hour absorbing absolutely everything that I could. Every aspect of this setup was impressive, from the swag you could take home, to the security system demonstration (catch a quick video below of the system being demoed to The Purge cast member Fiona Dourif), to the weapon setups or the silly signage that was all around the store – it really made preparing for the Purge feel like preparing for a party… instead of the absolute most terrifying thing in that could ever possibly exist.

I was obsessed with this offsite, and as such, I took a myriad of photos to remember it by. Be sure to take a close look at all of the hilarious greeting cards, shirts, and other items,and be sure to let us know what you think!

The Purge commences (the TV series, not the real thing, obviously) on September 4th, and you better believe I’ll be watching!

SDCC 2018: The DC Universe Offsite Event Turns The Upcoming App Into A Physical Wonder!

by Derek KraneveldtJuly 19, 2018

I’ve been waiting for DC Universe for years.

I absolutely fell in love with Marvel Unlimited when it launched all those years ago. The app quickly a one-stop shop for essentially every Marvel book that’s more than six months old, and for someone who is almost always behind on comics, the service itself was also an unbeatable value.

Because of my Marvel-focussed childhood and my early acceptance of Marvel Unlimited, I’m way more familiar with Marvel properties than I am of DC. I dabbled in New 52 for a year or so after it started, but as with most things, I fell behind.

That’s why I was so excited when DC revealed their upcoming DC Universe service, which sounds like it will quickly leapfrog Marvel Unlimited in terms of content, as it will include not only comics, but movies, tv series, and even a myriad of original content – like the upcoming live action series Titans, which had costumes on display, and even has a trailer out now.

I had an opportunity to check out the DC Universe offsite activation last night before it opened to the public, and it’s an absolutely spectacular event. The staff (and Jim Lee) noted that the event is meant to be a physical representation of what the service will offer, and I think that this is a brilliant way to kick off this service.

The event had a variety of different experiences available, including the “Harley Quinn Chaos Room” which had you suited up in protective gear and smashing stuff in an Arkham Asylum cell (so much fun), a small and creepy “Swamp Thing” walkthrough (I heard a lot of screams from the end of this one), a Doom Patrol lab that gave you “test tube cocktails” and neat, smoking popcorn, along with superhero photo ops and more.

Here’s the Arkham Asylum guard yelling before we went into the Chaos Room:

And another attendee in the Chaos Room:

And a very very dark run through the Swamp thing walkabout:

And some shots of Chief’s Lab:

Some of the coolest things around though, were the amazing props and concept art that DC had on display – this included the Batmissile, Mr. Freeze’ Freeze Ray, the Penguin’s Rubber Duck, and way way more.

Naturally, the app itself was also available in beta form. It felt smooth as hell, the comics were high res, and it was as snappy as you’d expect the finished product to be. The app is expected to launch in beta form in just a few weeks, with a wide release to come this fall. Sadly, no representative could tell me when the service might hit Canada, and I expect that it could be some time with TV and movie rights in play.

I had an amazing time at the event, and it’s another one of those offsite that should be more than worth your wait in line. Take a look at a few more of my photos from the event below, and let us know what you think! The DC Universe event is open through Sunday at the Hilton Gaslamp!