Continuum 8

We’re expanding our programming for Continuum 8: Craftonomicon, and working hard to make an amazing Natcon. We can’t reveal the full details yet, but here’s a taste of what’s in store…

• Craft: This year we will have a series of programming items celebrating craftiness in SF, culminating in a Craft Market on Sunday.
• Children’s Programming: Continuum is thrilled to present a children’s programming stream for the first time this year, full of workshops and events catering specially to our Junior Members.
• Guest of Honour Events: Special programming items featuring our fabulous GOHs, Kelly Link, Alison Goodman and Sue-Ann Barber
• Maskobalo: Always a highlight of the convention, the Maskobalo ball is here again, this time taking us to a world of enchantment under the sea. Check out the Maskobalo page for full details.
• Art Show: Showcasing the talents of SF artists and fan artists. Details on how to enter forthcoming!
• Ditmar and Chronos Awards Ceremony: Honouring excellence in the Australian and Victorian SF community. The Ditmar nominations are now open, and Chronos award nominations are now closed, voting will open shortly  – stay tuned for updates!
• UnderCONstruction: A mini-convention about how to run conventions for Australian convention organisers.

As always, the program will also be full-to-stuffing with presentations, panel discussions, readings, screenings and workshops on everything fantasy, sci-fi, horror, comics, art, science and craft.

We’ve updated the list of panels! Some of them are in danger of not happening if we don’t get a few more panellists, so if there’s an awesome panel you want to see at Continuum think about volunteering or if you know someone who’d be perfect for it drop us a line!

If you’d like to participate in any of the panels below, please contact programming@continuum.org.au BEFORE FRIDAY 18th MAY.

Revenge of the Nerds: Fandom in TV and Film
Big Bang Theory, Outland, Community, Fanboys, Paul… After years of being stereotyped bit-parts, suddenly there are a plethora of TV shows and films putting geeks in the spotlight. The new breed of fan characters have individual personalities, interests and character development – but have they escaped the old stereotypes, or has going mainstream just given them a wider audience of mockers?

Daikaiju goes heavenly!
“What if the gods were daijaku? Could Buddha beat Jesus, can Loki out Allah? Is anyone strong enough to defeat Thor and his mighty Hammer? Jade Emperor, Kali, Ganesh. Which deity will reign supreme, or will king of the daijaku Godzilla crush them all?”

Book trailers
The new trend in book promotion. We discuss what makes a good one, what doesn’t work and why.

Crafty Characters
We take a look at craftspeople in speculative fiction, the stereotypes and what crafts have been overlooked.

Where Are the Wonder Women?
Discussing female representation in comics and what female superheroes should be as famous/iconic as Wonder Woman.

Default Narrative Sexism; How equal are female characters in fantasy and sci-fi really?

Hey I Game Too!
42% of gamers are women yet most advertising/characters are targeted at the male demographic. And those aimed at women are usually fashion, cooking or animal related. Is it changing? Why not?

Steampunk Squalor
For all the steam technology the Victorian Era of could theoretically have commanded, the Victorian mindset was still a long way from modern day. How much use to society are steam-powered dirigibles and computers when science still maintained that disease was spread by miasmas?

Turning the Gears: Steampunk Craft
The steampunk aesthetic is based on power: pistons that pump and cogs that turn. So is it cheating to just stick gears on something and spray-paint it brass? Does steampunk craft need to be functional?

Fancraft Show & Tell – Why We Make Fanart
Local fans show off & talk about the shiny things they made! Possibly incorporating a look at fancraft shinies from around the world.

Relative Dimensions: The Limits of Doctor Who
Over almost 50 years Doctor Who has demonstrated itself to be one of the most versatile television concepts ever devised. It has changed actors, style, content, tone, target audience and media. How far can the concept stretch? A panel of enthusiasts and experts push Doctor Who in the strangest directions they can think of, to find out where (and, indeed, if) the concept breaks.

The Joss Whedon Panel
We have to talk about the Avengers right? Right! We’ll also explore why evil, faceless corporations like Wolfram & Hart, Rossum and Blue Sun are recurring entities in Joss’s work.

From Méliès to Metropolis: Early Science Fiction Cinema
Georges Méliès’ film Le voyage dans la Lune, filmed in 1902, was the first science fiction film ever made. Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, released in 1927, was arguably the first-ever sci-fi blockbuster. In the 25 years from Méliès to Lang, one of cinema’s most popular and successful genres was born. A look at the formative years of science fiction cinema: before Star Wars, before colour, and before sound.

Beautiful Nightmares: Alien vs Predator
In 1979 Ridley Scott’s science fiction thriller Alien terrified audiences worldwide with its groundbreaking blend of serious science fiction and visceral horror. Eight years later John McTiernan’s smash hit Predator combined classic mythic themes of the monster with 1980s American action cinema. After numerous sequels, not to mention a raft of novels, video games, comic books and merchandise, the two cinematic monsters went head to head in Alien vs Predator. What is the core appeal of these two SF movie franchises? What are their influences? Do they work together as a single fictional universe? Now re-separated in Predators and Prometheus, what is the future for each franchise? A look into the explosive action and the nightmarish terror of Alien and Predator.

Let’s Traumatize the Kiddies
Kids are often more resilient than adults give them credit for – not to mention more bloodthirsty – but (example)?! (example)?! Exploding teenagers?! Join us for a discussion of shocking moments in children’s television past and present.

Who’s (not) Who: A Rundown of Current Sci-fi TV
Between the vampires and the superheroes, you would be forgiven for thinking that Doctor Who is the only science-fiction show out there right now. What else is going on in the world of sci-fi TV?

Supernatural Moves On
Supernatural’s original writing team wove a complex five-season story through to a deeply satisfying ending… and then added a cliffhanger and handed the series over to a new team of writers to begin a whole new multi-season plot. So is the new Supernatural revitalised and fresh, or is this the smell of a dead horse being flogged?

Fragmented Fandoms
These days, there’s rarely one book that all fans read, or in fact one genre that all fans enjoy. With the blossoming of online fandom, those seeking like minds are spoilt for choice. Whether your joy is Doctor Who, Twilight or Transformers fanfiction, there’s a club, a mailing list and a dozen blogs out there just for you. Let’s talk about the way fandom has fragmented in recent years. Does “split up” necessarily mean “broken up”?

Ask a Fan
Where should you start watching old Doctor Who? Who are the best Australian authors no one’s heard of? Where can you download free e-books? How can you find out what’s happening in local fandom? Gather around the campfire and bring your questions to some of the wise elders of fandom.

Reboots and Retcons
/Reboot/: to trash all known series history and just start over. /Retcon/ (retroactive continuity): to “discover” new events from series history that supposedly always happened. Some consider rebooting and retconning simply helpful ways of freshening up a mature comics, TV, or film series. Others consider them big frickin cheats. Discuss.

Everything Old is New Again
Comics are the latest victim of the reboot trend with DC starting the New 52 and plans for a Watchmen prequel. Given that most superheros first appeared over 60 years ago when society and attitudes were completely different, a fresh start might not be a bad thing. What has the New 52 achieved, have they broken old prejudices or is it just more of the same?

Anime

Independent publishing and speculative fiction
Is the rise of the ebook making things easier for independent publishers to distribute books? Is there a paper book future for them?

THE HENSON FACTOR
If you were born any time in the past 50 years, chances are part of your childhood involved Jim Henson. Through Sesame Street, the Muppets, Fraggle Rock, The Storyteller and a string of acclaimed fantasy films including The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth and The Witches, the puppetry, imagination and storytelling genius of Jim Henson has enchanted, entertained and inspired generations of viewers. What is the key to Henson’s success? Why did his works transcend the entertainment landscape around them to become not only perennial favourites but pop culture icons around the world?

Melbourne’s Dark Side
how Melbourne and its history inspire local horror writers.

The Forgotten Frontier?
In the late 90s and early 2000s space opera was THE thing and reinventing itself with a gritty realism. Less than a decade later it’s nowhere to be seen. What happened? What’s new and noteworthy in the genre today?

It’s TV But Not As We Knew it
Technology is changing how we way we watch tv, with series on dvd, paid streaming, torrenting and the rise of webseries like the Guild and new youtube channel Geek and Sundry does anyone watch commercial tv any more and can it survive into the future or will on demand watching kill it

I Flunked Physics: Hard Science Versus Accessible Science-fiction

What Should I Read Next?
What’s good and (mostly) new in (mostly) science fiction and fantasy writing.

We Do This Stuff So You Can Write About It
people with interesting and unusual jobs/hobbies sit up the front and writers can ask them questions about what they do