In yesterday's post I tried very hard to hide the fact that I am pretty much off-the-charts excited to be here at TIFF, hard-won press pass in hand. I'm not sure how well I succeeded, but all pretense of calm collectedness went out the window last night as I got my first taste of the red carpet.

Everyone told me that it wouldn't be what I expected, and it wasn't, but that didn't make the experience any less extraordinary.

The carpet at Roy Thomson Hall has been relocated this year to lead to the building's rear entrance. While the new location got mixed reviews from cameramen (the backside of Roy Thomson is, visually, slightly less spectacular than its entrance) it was universally agreed that the decision to move the carpet to a roomier location and to extend its length to a full city block was a good one.

I arrived on the scene plenty early and stationed myself behind a tightly packed line of television crew and personalities. As talent began to arrive from the festival's opening night gala film, Creation, milling media sprang into action. The film's composer and producer were shuffled down the length of the red carpet, from television camera to television camera for brief interview after interview.

Then came the announcement over the festival staff headsets that the film's stars, the always-radiant Jennifer Connelly and the very talented Paul Bettany, playing Emma and Charles Darwin, respectively, had arrived. The carpet positively exploded. Suddenly photographers were on their feet, tight in a scrum, clambering on top of stools and, it seemed, one another's shoulders. What was incredible for me was to see firsthand what we don't see sitting in our living rooms watching festival coverage at home. We see the star, the microphone and the interviewer, not the swirl of movement and cries and prodding of publicists just off-screen. 

It was hard to resist my inner fan-girl, the girl who's been reading entertainment magazines since she was twelve. When Connelly, somehow the definition of poise in what had to be five-inch black pumps, and the very versatile Bettany, stopped in front of me, my BlackBerry came out and low-resolution photographs were snapped. (Embarrassing proof included.)

And then, just as suddenly as it all began, the stars left the red carpet and entered Thomson Hall for the world premiere of Creation. Hours of waiting, a brief flurry of madcap activity, and then the media and the blocks of fans ten feet from the red carpet headed home. Now I, luckily, was headed to the opening night party at the Liberty Grand.

It was all very grand indeed. I would call my first taste of festival glamour intoxicating, heady. But what will stick with me the most from this experience, the first of many, with still nine days of festival to go, is the realization of just what it takes to pull a thirty-second interview with a film director, and indeed a world-class festival like this one, off. When I get home and return to Life After TIFF, I can assure you that my red carpet viewing experiences will be a tad more enlightened.