The Photography of Kenneth Davis: Anime Weekend Atlanta 2011: Part 1

Anime Weekend Atlanta is one of the longest running anime conventions and perhaps the biggest one in the Southeast with an attendance climbing up to 14,000. It was also my first convention and have attended it every year since. AWAXII would mark my eighth trip and my second review of my first anime convention (you can see the first one here). I suppose each year offers something new and at the same time a new set of problems (usually not reoccurring ones). Since I have reviewed this convention last year, I will mostly focus on things I experienced, but did not cover last year.

I arrived Friday morning and fortunately the convention was not swamped yet. I was very happy with what was being offered earlier that day. After sitting through Giant Robo, I attended my first panel at the con which was “Secrets of Lighting in Photography.” This panel was hosted by Dim Horizon Studio, whom are most known for their underwater BioShock picture, so I was happy to know that they were the real deal. However, being a photographer myself, some of the stuff presented I already knew and there were a few simple things I wasn’t entirely aware of. However, if I was able to attend this a year or two ago, it would of definitely been very helpful as they delved into uses of reflector, time of day to shoot, and the use of lamps. The only downside to the panel I felt was that I noticed it was schedule for two hours and it started losing steam towards the end of the first with the panelist kept pushing attendees to ask questions as a way to kill time. Since attending, it appears it was their first go at running a panel and I have to say I was happy with what they offered. The two panelists seemed very down to Earth.

Speaking of photography panels, I did try to submit mine prior to going, seeing as there has been an absence of them last year, but I was unable to as there were three other photographer panels already. I wasn’t able to check them all out besides which explored on how to shoot in manual mode.

As far as other panels, some really unique ones come to mind I either attended or sat in briefly.  Literature in Anime explored how literary works such as Count of Monte Cristo were used in anime. I also enjoyed the Kuroshitsuji panel which explored the lifestyle of the Victorian times using clips from the show followed by a narration by the panelists with a little humor thrown in. Like last year, there were also several Cosplay panels including one that focused on the basics on sewing which is pretty helpful since I noticed most Cosplay panels already seem to assume you know how to. Having skipped it for so many years I finally attended “Anime Hell” which is one of AWA’s trademark events. If you are not familiar with it, “Anime Hell” is a collection of funny retro commercials, anime clips, shorts, and other random videos, most of which are related to Japan. While I can’t compare it to previous years,  I definitely would recommend checking this one out as I regret having skipped it so many times prior to writing this. However, during this panel, I ran into one of the jarring problems with the convention this year.

During “Anime Hell” I stepped out for to use the bathroom and when I came back there was a small line. I explained to the staffer watching it that I only stepped out for a second and my friends were inside, and she retorted by saying they were right now strictly enforcing anybody from saving seats and followed it up by saying “so don’t give me any s—“ which I felt was uncalled for. While waiting in line I also heard the same staffer talking to another staffer and openly bragging about staffing at other conventions and using vulgar language where everyone could hear it. Also while waiting in line they had a system in which “If 20 people leave we let 10 people in”. So after waiting for about 10-15 minutes I finally got back in and sure enough no “seat enforcement” rule was put into place as my seat was empty just as I left it including several other seats I noticed that were empty prior to getting up. A friend of mine who went to get autographs told me the following.

“I saw a girl get over 20 DVDS signed by Vic (on Saturday) And it still only took like 20 minutes for me to get from the middle of the line to the front. But on Sunday, for some reason, the staff made it so that you could only get 2 items signed unless you bought something from that actor’s table (bought items don’t count against your 2-item limit). The line took an hour and a half when there was a limit. Vic signed a bag of chex mix for someone. It actually took an hour and a half. I was looking at my phone.”

Also, I noticed two years ago they enforced a rule involving some type of Cosplay decency which lead to many cosplayers having to change out that year. One of the more infamous stories about this was that a famous Lum cosplayer was forced to change and found out following the con that her Cosplay actually did not violate this rule. She seems to still be battling this according to this account.

“The Lum cosplayer was told to change (she argued this with other staff until she got out of it, thank goodness) but a girl wearing much less than that was able to walk by multiple staff members without them saying a word.”

I also noticed there were similar complaints on the forums about some of the staffers being less than pleasant. On top of that, I noticed there was a police officer in just about every area of the con including outside and I have never seen that much security at an anime convention. Admittedly, I never really had any problem with the staff other than that one encounter and for the most part a lot of them were very friendly. However, seeing and hear about some of the accounts does not make the atmosphere more friendly either.

Coming back to the positives, the Video Game Room saw an expansion in the form of a full legit arcade! Perhaps my favorite part as it included games such as Guitar Freaks/Drummania V8, old school Double Dragon, Capcom VS SNK, and all sorts of shooters. All on free-play! As I may of stated in my last review, AWA has perhaps the biggest video game room I have ever seen at a con and it just continues to grow with all the old rooms returning and even some with a facelift such as the Rock Band room with an all decked out stage.

The costume contest was perhaps the crowning piece of the con as it was the most competitive costume contest I had seen in years. Not only was the quality incredible, but the diversity was way up. There was Baten Kaitos, AppleSeed, Metal Gear Solid, Soul Calibur, and to simply put it blew everything other contest I attended the past two years away.

Speaking of photos, there was only one small negative I have to throw in. When I took some photos outside, it was very windy and many cosplayers did not want to take pictures due to risking damage to their costume. For the most part, everyone I ran into was very nice and I even got a few tips for the free shoots I set up and offered.

Winding down, while it wasn’t my personal favorite of the year, I won’t doubt what the con had to offer and continues to expand upon. In fact, this review would have been a little longer if I had to recap everything. Unfortunately, I am not sure if it was the quality of some of the con or perhaps the fact I had attended it so many times prior I actually enjoyed MetroCon more. A similar sentiment was shared when I talked to some other attendees I usually run into every year. However the two people I went with, it was their first time and they enjoyed it a lot than any other con they went to this year. So to sum up my personal experience I felt the con was “alright,” but I imagine I would be more enthusiastic if I hadn’t attended it so many years prior. Will I come back? Had this been my first year attending the answer would have probably been “most definitely.”

Pros: Excellent video game room. Diversity in panels. Nice locations for photos. Friendly attendance. Easy parking. Wide selection of food vendors inside and close by. Best costume contest in years.

Cons: Mixed atmosphere. Very windy outside. Mild Enforcement/Staff issues. Not so good rave this year. Some panels ran too long.

Score: 6.7

*****

All photos are by Kenneth Davis

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