This was my first event ever of this kind; suffice to say first time to meet Amber. For me the evening was really a lovely experience and very affirming that Amber is incredibly appreciative of her fans. There were about 250-300 in attendance. An impromptu and orderly queue began around 4:30 outside the Radisson’s County Suite. Once or twice the organisers would circulate to tell us when we were expected to enter. Those around me remained cheerful even though the event was delayed by about an hour and we didn’t get to enter the County Suite until about 5:45pm. (The wife of one of the main spokespersons/organises had just delivered their son that afternoon and he just returned from the hospital to the event around 5pm.) After all entered, those who wanted photos taken with Amber were called in order of the date of their ticket purchase and that took much longer than expected. Wolf Events said they had never known a day event where so many wanted a personal picture with guest. I watched a bit from the sidelines amazed at how much care and individual attention Amber gave each person. She tried to make the nervous at ease, and listened carefully to the chatters. While the photographs were being taken in the foyer, in the main room they were playing on the large frontal screen Once More With Feeling, Tabula Rasa, and briefly showed a few minutes of Chance. Then came what I think was about an hour of Q and A with Amber.
I have a lousy memory recall so I’m just going to share impressions. To me Amber’s answers seemed more focused and engaging when ask questions about the craft of film making; or when naming directors and writers from whom she got inspiration. (I’m sorry, I remember none of the names as I know nothing about this field!) She spoke passionately about her love of reading and authors who have influenced her, of the love of going into another world or dimension and just getting lost there (until, she said, supper was called or she had to go to the loo!) And even then she couldn’t wait to get back to the story. She spoke about the intentional use of bright colours in the Chance set design as a way to get depth as DV is a flat medium. Despite limitations she feels it brilliant that DV opens up the world of cinematography and filmmaking to ordinary folks so that it’s not only for the moneyed elite; the average person can now put into reality his/her creative passion. And when asked if she liked acting, directing or writing better, she focused on the positives of each: writing you get to create a world; directing you get to control it; and acting you get to inhabit it. I can’t really remember which she said was her favourite. Personally the best piece of writing she felt she did was the first scene (act?) to a play she had written, a few years ago. While she didn’t name it, would that have been Albert Hall?
Other answers and questions: someone asked her to say her favourite swear word, to which she blushingly did, into the mic only after turning round so we couldn’t see her face when she said it. The person asking the question said that when she wants to say that word she and her sister, who aren’t allow to say it in front of their mother, use the phrase “c u next Tuesday.” Amber got a lot of miles with that one, teasing and flirting with the audience throughout the evening. To the ubiquitous question about what it was like to kiss Alyson Hannigan, she said that she discovered something different about women through those experiences (to which the audience hooted). She said she discovered something about ‘melters’. (Enter silence and rapped attention.) She said that when two people kiss one is usually a melter and the other not; one usually melts into the other person’s arms, and the other doesn’t. She said she discovered that she definitely wasn’t a melter, and that Alyson was, then she joked that Alyson would sort of go limp and by the end of a kissing scene she was “like holding Alyson up.” To which I’m sure there was a collective and wistful sigh, albeit an inaudible one! I was then very, very surprised that she commented something about how interesting it was to find out she was the man in that relationship, the male part. Hmmm, rather than take issue, I think perhaps Amber might have been either a tad tired, channelling the ghost of Willow babble, or perhaps I’ve got it all wrong and she was just taking the mickey out of us.
The auction went quickly and consisted of Amber's crew jacket; her parka jacket with 'Tara' embroidered on it which she used when standing around in cooler weather waiting on shots; commemoratives (Buffy plates, playing cards, musical discs, video games, etc.); Wilderness pt 1 and 2; and the larger of the two pairs of jeans Amber wore in her last scene in Seeing Red. She said she was given two pairs of jeans, one a smaller pair for when she was standing up, and one a larger more comfortable pair for use during the shots when she was laying on the floor. The jeans went for about 250 pounds, the jackets for about 300 pounds, the plates and cards for about 50 – 90 pounds. Again, I’m not so sure of the prices, just giving approximates.
Other Kittens who were at this event will have more specific information I’m sure. Suffice to say, I was super impressed by Amber’s infectious good nature, her positive outlook, her openness and keen mind. I can imagine that to Amber the glass is always half full, never half empty. Her enthusiasm was constant throughout the evening despite having taken an early morning train from Manchester to get to London. Oh, she didn’t speak that much about Watchful Eyes, but they are now filming in Manchester, and they are trying to bring other names into the production process. She mentioned some which completely went over my head (again, sorry it’s not my field.)
I left by 10pm, to catch appropriate buses, tubes and trains, so can’t say what happened after that, but Amber was still signing autographs when I left.
Amber's a sweetie, that's for sure!