The panel started off with  compilation of moments from Spielberg's filmography, including many an awestruck expression and plentiful explosions from the likes of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurassic Park, Saving Private Ryan, Empire of the Sun, Munich, Jaws, Sugarland Express, and even 1941.

After receiving yet another achievement award which will presumably join the thousands of other he's accumulated in a vast storage space, Spielberg explained his love of Herge's Tintin books, explaining that though he cannot read French, he could still be wrapped up in the stories due to the writer and artist's visual presentation and impeccable storytelling.

He then revealed what he described as an initial visual effects test created by Weta Digital several years ago.  The funny little clip consists of a mock-audition, with Peter Jackson in costume as Captain Haddock, who will be played in the film by Andy Serkis.  As Jackson speaks, a CGI version Tintin's canine sidekick Snowy animatedly bounces about behind him, eventually getting properly drunk.

As the lights came up on the test, none other than Jackson himself was onstage with Spielberg, ready to receive the crowd's rapturous enthusiasm. 

Spielberg and Jackson then introduced the most extensive look at the film we've seen thus far.  Basically a series of clips that segued into a rapid-fire trailer, complete with snappy one-liners and lots of action involving planes, boats, and automobiles.  The settings certainly look photo-realistic, with textural detail down to minor imperfections in paint on the walls and dew on cobblestone streets.  We meet Tintin, being warned on his own doorstop before discovering conclusively the seriousness of said warning. 

Then, the action cuts to a shipboard scene, with Tintin piecing together the mystery at the heart of the film, meeting Captain Haddock for the first time, and dodging standard-issue goons.  Haddock's backstory will apparently play a substantial role, with his lineage related the mysterious sunken treasure of the Unicorn. 

In both clips, as well as the action that followed, the 3D seemed well-utilized, particularly with some camera moves.  The score by Spielberg's consistent composer, the legendary John Williams, was in place.  It had the signatures of Williams' myriad scores, bringing to mind a combination of Raider the Lost Ark's adventurousness and the puckish playfulness of Catch Me If You Can.

The director assured the audience that the footage presented was merely the tip of the proverbial iceberg, with the huge action set pieces still under construction by the effects gurus down in New Zealand.

Spielberg explained that the first time he met Jackson was actually televised, with the elder director presenting Jackson with one of the many Oscars won by The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.  Jackson went on to provide an update on The Hobbit, explaining how the jumbo-size production is currently on hiatus due to the new Bilbo Baggins, Martin Freeman, being contractually obligated to shoot a second series of the BBC's Sherlock.  Spielberg then shared his obvious affinity to keeping many a ball in the air, as he not only has War Horse on the way, but he's also getting ready to shoot Lincoln, while developing Robopocalypse, an adaptation of the novel by Daniel H. Wilson.

The Q & A session kicked off with a surprise appearance by Andy Serkis, sporting a pair of sunglasses and an unlikely accent in a impression of an excitable Comic-Con attendee.  A characteristically lighthearted moment during a relaxed and fun panel.

Spielberg discussed the often-controversial performance-capture technique, explaining that the technology has made it the point that it create what are basically photoreal representations of cartoon characters.  "They actually create an anatomy that responds like we respond or like an actor responds in a live-action movie," he said.  He referred to the evolution of performance capture, from its nascent stages in with Robert Zemeckis' The Polar Express, pointing to the Na'vi of Avatar as the biggest leap forward.  Of Cameron's take on performance capture, executed by Weta, he said, "We were the very happy beneficiary of that technology."  He specified even further, saying, "Every person who animated every frame of this animated Avatar."

As for how he implemented the technology stylistically, Spielberg apparently stuck to what knows.  "I filmed it like a live-action movie," he explained.  There's a lot of hand-held, a lot of what looks like SteadiCam."  He clarified, though, that the no amount of technical virtuosity can take the place of a well-told story.  He said, "The important thing is, the movie is really a dense story, it's a dense detective story."

Answering a question about the status of the potential fourth entry in the Jurassic Park franchise, Spielberg asserted that the project has both a story and a writer working on a treatment.  In the next two to three years, he said, we might actually see Jurassic Park 4 in theaters.  As we understand it, the fourth JP has had plenty of possible stories and writers over its long and fruitless development, though.

During Hall H Q & A sessions, audience members asking the questions are generally forbidden from making personal solicitations of any sort, but a clever attendee found a clever way around that rule by wearing a t-shirt that said, in no uncertain terms, that he would really like to shake Spielberg's hand and say "Thank you."  Spielberg immediately called him up to the stage, where he did indeed shake Spielberg's hand, while Jackson took photos.

If you needed any more incentive to be psyched for The Adventures of Tintin, the screenplay is written by the British power-trio of Edgar Wright, Steven Moffat, and Joe Cornish.  The film hits theaters Stateside on December 23rd.