Here’s more footage from the Rockefeller event for The Golden Compass – this time, the run-up to the actual trailer unveiling itself.

The event was slated to last from 7.30pm – 9.30pm and was chaired by a local radio personality, who took great pains to mention his name and station frequently. He introduced the countdown for the trailer – you can see it in the video at its last ten seconds, but it ran for one hour previously. The intervening time was taken up with pumping out loud techno music and letting people onto the ice-rink. Sam Elliot joined him at the beginning and end of the wait, but had to hold his arm in front of his face the entire time due to the bright light being shone on the stage. His voice didn’t seem especially discernable to onlookers either.

Increasing amounts of rain from 8pm onwards meant that the crowd around the edges of the Plaza had thinned somewhat by the time of the trailer showing – 8.30pm – and an onset of driving rain seconds before the trailer aired led to rather more of an exodus. There were enough people left to give Sam Elliot’s first appearance in the trailer a good cheer, but once the trailer was done everyone left, leaving the big screen to cycle through still images to bedraggled security guards for another hour.

We’ll have our last video from the event up soon; with a bit more time with Sam Elliot.