Felicia Day premieres The Guild music video and Xbox Live Avatar items at Comic-Con
Felicia Day was one of the biggest gamer stars at this year's Comic-Con -- she premiered the trailer for her Syfy movie Red, sat on a panel about "Girls Gone Geek" and made two announcements to the packed room during The Guild panel on Saturday afternoon: First, the gang has put together its second music video, dubbed "Game On" (which you can watch online or on Xbox Live); and second, Microsoft (which posts The Guild videos in HD on Xbox Live every Tuesday) will be releasing Guild-related Avatar skins this fall, so you can dress up your Xbox Live Avatar as your favorite Guild member.
In between her busy schedule of panels and signings, I caught up with Day to chat about what she's been playing, the new music video and about whether or not The Guild webseries, currently in its fourth season, has outgrown its gamer roots. Find our conversation posted after the break.
[Image credit: YGX]
My first question was going to be: "When are you gonna make another music video?" But then that just happened.
I know! Did you see it? Bollywood-themed!
Yeah, it was pretty awesome.
It was really hard. I didn't want to do another music video. When you do something like that, everybody's asking, "How are you going to top that," and it makes you, creatively, kind of crunch. But thank goodness I have Sandeep Parikh who plays Zaboo, and had the idea of the Bollywood theme; and Kim Evey and Sean Becker, who co-directed it; and Greg Aronowitz, who did production design. So many people pitched in, and made something that we could never have afforded in a normal situation and pulled off.
You guys really hit it out of the park. Where'd that "elephant" come from?
The "elephant" came from Greg Aronowitz's back yard. For real -- he had an elephant in his back yard. He's a production designer, he's done huge movies, he's done small movies, he's done his own movies, and he just has the craziest stuff in his yard. There was a man inside that elephant that was making the ears go. But a lot of people still think it's real -- it's awesome.
It was well done. My second question was going to be: "When is Microsoft gonna hook you guys up with some Xbox Live Avatar stuff?" But then that was announced at the panel, too.
Yeah, I pitched it out at the last minute -- there are going to be Avatar skins for the Xbox Marketplace this fall, hopefully in a couple of months. I'm not exactly sure of the release date, but hopefully before the end of the year.
Are they just shirts, or what are they?
They're hopefully going to be the Avatar outfits. So if you've seen "Date My Avatar," the avatar clothing that we use -- and on our character cartoons that open the show -- those are going to be the items. So I'm excited about it. I am going to be a dork and get my own outfit.
That's great. Considering how well the deal with Microsoft has gone, I'm surprised it took this long.
It's amazing, they're just so supportive. They don't interfere creatively at all, Sprint has come on board and really stepped forward. They just signed off on the music video idea instantly, even without a lot of specific details. They really trust what we do, and I take that trust seriously. You wouldn't think Microsoft would be so awesome -- it's a big corporation, but they're so responsive to our needs. It's a dream come true.
So, about The Guild: When it started out, it was all about MMO players -- people would say, "I see my friends in this!" Now it's evolved to the point where the characters have really grown into themselves. Do you feel like you still have to use the MMO references?
I have to. I never want the gamers to feel like they've been portrayed. I always want it to be something that you can't find other places. The goal was never to make it "The Big Bang Theory" or something mainstream, because this is a humor I know. So if I just make it generic, it'll lose its special quality. That's their connection: the game.
Speaking of "the game," what have you been playing lately?
I just finished Mass Effect 2 -- I have to reload that, because I made some wrong decisions. Dragon Age I just finished. I have a beta key for Cataclysm, but I'm waiting, because I want to really experience it when it comes out.
Did you see Dragon Age 2 here at the con?
Yeah, I love it. No more blood splatters! Better hair. I love it ... And Split/Second, I've been playing a lot, for some reason.
Joystiq likes that one, too.
It's really fun! I'm sorry, it's just awesome.
