Citizen contributor Stephenson Price takes a photo of Daydream Nation actress Katie Boland as she gets her hair done. (Submitted by Stephenson Price)

By Stephenson Price, citizen contributor

Thanks to a head-first immersion in cinematic fury, this TIFF newbie's first festival experience went off without a hitch (it went off without much sleep too, but after consulting with my fellow CBC TIFF contributors, that was apparently to be expected.)

From seeing the inner workings of the festival programming, chatting up fans and volunteers, and following along with celebs -- meeting a few notable ones along the way
--  I'd say my first TIFF was a fairly good overview of what I can expect in my future exploits as a filmgoing festival aficionado: though maybe next year I'll get around to seeing at least one film.

1. The sudden realization that TIFF had encompassed my life: learning that Pink Floyd's Roger Waters was in town for The Wall after a streeter interview told me I'd have better luck getting people on camera outside the Air Canada Centre. My train of thought went something like this:
.
First: If I went down there, no one would talk to me about TIFF on camera.
Second: Maybe I should go up to Yorkville to see if I can track down some people up there.
Third: Wait!?! Roger Waters?!?

2. Being a huge fan of Bruce McDonald's Hard Core Logo, meeting the man in person
-- along with Logo actor John Pyper-Ferguson --  didn't hurt at all. Seeing them both again the following day at separate locations definitely lent itself to the notion that though the festival may seem immense and difficult to wade through, it really isn't so intimidatingly large after all.

3. Much to my surprise, Natalie Portman really wasn't that intimidating in person.  Terrence Howard, on the other hand, comes off as one slick dude. Meeting that guy in a celebrity gifting lounge was definitely a highlight of my TIFF experience as he entered the room in a neatly pressed and groomed suit and hat with an awe-inspiring swagger that I may or may not have been grinning stupidly about when I met him. I distinctly remember thinking something to the effect of: "Man ... even off screen this guy oozes cool."