May 21, 2013

Seven Steps to an Awesome Red Carpet Experience

With The Great Gatsby premiere hitting up Sydney tomorrow, here is a short guide on how to have a successful red carpet experience, brought to you by Chris Pine's fine backside. 'Successful' in our dictionary means you get to meet, take a picture or get an autograph from your favorite celebrity. Maybe even strike up a short conversation.

1. WHERE? WHEN? WHAT? WHO? HOW?
For news and competitions on the next red carpet events in Sydney, keep an eye on the Facebook and Twitter pages of eVent Cinemas George Street, eVent Cinemas Bondi Junction, Paramount Australia and Universal Studio. On the other hand, we make it easy for you by doing all the work, so you can just follow us @sydneyredcarpet and always stay updated ;)

2. TIMING.
Red carpet for movie premieres generally starts at 6pm, with the movie screening at 7pm.  Depending on the popularity of the event, the first queue starts as early as 1pm. We suggest to come around 3 - 4pm to secure a great spot alongside the red carpet, meaning you will have a chance to take pictures or ask for an autograph.

Be prepared to wait and stand for a long, long time. You can expect the stars to arrive fashionably late, often around 6 to 6.30 pm.  Personally, unless you win a double pass to the premiere, we would not book a ticket to the movie on the same night because then you'll be worrying about being late to the theatre and having to pass through the crowds to get in and not the important bits, like how dashing Zachary Quinto looks in that blue tux.

3. LOCATION.

The security guards assigned for the events normally aren't the most resourceful in terms of giving advice on the best place to queue. Based on experience, we would advice to line up at the start of the red carpet, which is the least exciting spot to stand. However, that is the area that the stars pass by first once they arrive and thus you're almost guaranteed a picture or autograph.

On the other hand, if you wait at the very end of the red carpet, with the interviews and red carpet always running late, by the time they get to you, their publicists would often insist that they skip your area altogether and led them straight inside. At the Star Trek premiere, a girl who had donned up a Jack Frost wig with beautiful drawing of him couldn't get a second with Chris Pine even though she had waited since at least 3pm. That sounds grossly unfair, but it happens.

4. SAFETY
This is especially important for the ladies due to a recent incident. At the red carpet, everything is fun and games until the stars are approaching the fans. It just so happens that you WILL be crushed against each other, which is fine if you are surrounded by other girls but there are strange men out there could take advantage of the situation where young girls are vulnerable or worse, oblivious due to the busy crowds.

Our advice personally is to wear something casual and comfortable but not too thin. If you have a messenger or shoulder bag with you, use it to maintain a semblance of space between you and the next person.

DO NOT lose focus just because J.J. Abrams is standing 5 feet away. Constant vigilance, or so says Mad Eye Moody. Be aware of who is standing behind or beside you at all times, especially when you are squished amongst each other. Keep a close watch on middle aged men or people that don't seem very likely to be fans of Brad Pitt. If you suspect something is amiss or someone is behaving strangely towards you or another person, bring that to the attention of the security. Yell out loud, point at the perpetrator if you must.

5. PREPARE
It goes without saying to have your phone / camera fully charged. Practice taking a selfie since you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who would take your pictures for you - when a celeb approaches, it's every iPhone for itself.

6. ASK (NICELY)
One would think that this is obvious, but many red carpet goers understandably turn speechless in the presence of Hollywood celebrities. But if you don't ask them, simply shoving a camera would not work. Do not badger or ask persistently as it would only annoy them. A simple "Can I please have a picture?" and "thank you" would suffice.

7. MANAGE EXPECTATION
Sometimes you rehearse in your mind the perfect line to say to the actors / directors, a quote from a movie they did years ago or an obscure thing they said in an interview that has turned into a meme / gif. You are certain that they would think it's hilarious and memorable and you are their greatest fans ever. In reality, you will find that some stars don't interact much at all with the fans - they just smile, take pictures and move along and you are then left in an awkward moment. Just understand that if you find the whole red carpet experience to be overwhelming, it's even more so for the stars with people screaming or they are screaming AND grabbing. Walking the red carpet is part of their duties in promoting their movies after all.

With all that said, when an excited fan yelled out to JJ Abrams at the Star Trek premiere, "Thank you for LOST!", he gave her a big smile. So being giddy and excited does pay off, just don't take it to heart if it doesn't :)

Do you agree with our tips? Do you have any other that you'd like to share?

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