The Orville Experience at SDCC

One of my favorite things about San Diego Comic-Con is the chance to stumble into random encounters with people and activations. Early in the week, Juan had said that he wanted to try to see The Orville Experience, even if it was just as fans, so we put it on the agenda and made a plan to go see the activation a little bit before it was open.

For those of you not familiar with the show The Orville, here is a quick rundown. Currently, with its third season in production, The Orville is a Seth MacFarlane, creator of Family Guy and American Dad, a passion project. Centering around an “Exploratory Vessel” from the “Planetary Union”. Basically set in a Star Trek style environment the show is a blend of science fiction and comedy that manages to tackle some really serious and interesting ideas, in the way that only good satire and science fiction can.

Coming up to the line we saw that the activation was about to be very full but that the media line was empty, so Juan and I took a chance. Asking if there was a little space for media they said yes and we were in the door! These are the kind of moments that you always hope for at the convention.

The Orville Experience was an amazing showcase of props, concept art, models and practical effects from the last two seasons of the show. Some of the most impressive pieces were the prosthetics that have been used for the show. Sitting on the shoulders these practical effects literally cover the entire head of the actor. The level of detail in these pieces is astonishing, but the comfort level in them cannot be high.

One of the other truly impressive artifacts of the show is the vast array of handheld weapons and costumes. Like all planetary science fiction, one of the main differentiation between alien races is the look of their technology and The Orville delivers that in spades. Dozens of full costumes and weapons were on display creating a dynamic look to each of the races that appear on the show.

These kind of displays are fascinating to me. I love the artifice that goes into creating practical effects for a show, and that is something that The Orville does quite well. With the show moving to Hulu for its third season so that Mcfarlane isn’t rushing to get the show done, allowing them to continue to focus on outstanding practical effects.

Available at the activation was an interesting book called The World of The Orville. A hardcover art book that features behind the scenes, concept art, back story, everything that you want in an art book from a television show.

Overall, The Orville Expireance was truly enjoyable. Seeing the work that they have put into the show helps me to understand a part of why I like it so much, and why it has so many fans. I can’t wait to see where they go with it in the third season. Glad that Juan and I got to attend, and all it took was a little courage.