Courtesy of Chelsea Valentine

One of the panels to kick off in Hall H at Comic-Con on Friday was a huge deal: Steven Spielberg making his very first appearance ever. The crowd stood up with a thunderous applause when the man stood on the stage. And if that wasn’t enough, Peter Jackson also took the stage with Spielberg, and was greeted with a loud ovation as well.

Naturally the two respected directors talked about filmmaking in general. Spielberg spoke of how short films should be original pieces by young filmmakers; to”add to the dialogue of film”. He reminisced on his younger days as a filmmaker, physically bringing his equipment from place to place to show his films — and how he loves that because of the internet and YouTube, others can easily show their work to others. Jackson added that young filmmakers should become obsessive; use whatever tools around them, even just an iPhone — just keep filming. Jackson then joked that Spielberg is a promising director with a bright future.

When asked what movie was his favorite filming, Spielberg without hesitation said E.T. After filming was through, he began to miss the child actors and actresses — and it was then that he realized that he wants children of his own.

Courtesy of Chelsea Valentine

During the Q & A session, a fan who asked a question was wearing a shirt that said, “If possible I would love to meet Steven Spielberg just to shake his hand and say thank you very much”. Before he could even finish his question, both Spielberg and Jackson demanded the fan to come up on stage. They gleefully pulled out their cameras and started taking pictures with the fan.

Courtesy of Chelsea Valentine

The panel’s topic shifted to Spielberg’s and Jackson’s film Tintin. When Indiana Jones first hit theaters, it was compared to Tintin, which made Spielberg curious on just what it was about. He became a fan and continued reading. Peter Jackson on the otherhand grew up on Tintin.

During the panel they were asked why they chose to film Tintin animated instead of live action — and to answer the question, Spielberg offered test footage that they filmed six years ago. Jackson was quick to cut in with, “It’s pirated footage! He was supposed to destroy that six years ago!”

The test footage featured Peter Jackson as Captain Archibald Haddock and an animated version of Tintin’s dog, Snowy. And, of course, a bottle of liquor tipped over and Snowy wasn’t hesitant to lap it up. Snowy made a scene on his hindlegs just before he fell off the side of the dock and into the water. Jackson looked over and motioned for Snowy to paddle.

After the footage, the two men said they decided that they wanted to film Tintin animated to keep the appearance of the characters since they have particular looks that are iconic to fans. And suffice to say, the movie looks enjoyable and intense.