I\'m working on a short film with a Roman soldier

[Robert Vermaat]

Hi Steve,

That sound like a nice project - tell us more?
Answers to your questions:

1. Is Gladiator the best example of a movie to pick on as one that messes up the costuming? When I was ripping it to pieces the worst thing I saw wrong was really gross temporal aliasing in the computer graphics of the arena. (Way off topic: Temporal aliasing means jagged pixels that wobble across the screen because of the way the computer graphics software converts its three-dimensional model into a two-dimensional image.) I didn't know enough about Roman details to properly rip on the costuming. Was it just ordinary bad, or Really Really Bad?

Well - it depends on what you expect. Some third-rate movie or TV-series would make me groan, say OMG and get on with my watching. A Discovery documentary would get a harsher verdict because they reach so many people. A BBC documentary would receive a scathing verdict from me because they should have known better with all their experience and contacts. See e.g. the comments on this forum about 'Rome - the series'.

'Gladiator' was a big, BIG Hollywood production that was a remake of an earlier movie (Fall of the Roman Empire) that actually landed this forum (as well as many re-enactment groups) many new members. So we're grateful. But some details were very bad, while (with just a teeny weeny more research and money) that could have been much better. Gladiator lacked the proper attention for historical detail, whereas we have seen from 'Alexander' how good a movie can get it right when that attention exists.
In my opinion, Gladiator was not that 'bad', but I fear 'Gladiator II'will be.

If Gladiator was just ordinary bad, can anyone suggest a good substitute that's Really Really Bad? The advantage of Gladiator, for purposes of my script, is that it's very well known. Even if the 1907 version of Ben-Hur was the most awful example of Roman costuming in film history, it's no good because almost no one has seen it. I haven't seen it, almost no one in my film's audience will even know it exists, and if my "Jason" character were a real person he probably wouldn't have seen it either. So if I'm to replace Gladiator with another movie title that screws up its Roman costumes, it should be a title that a lot of people will recognize.

'King Arthur' was really really bad. 'Last Legion' will be worse. :evil: Maybe your script won't be produced before Glad II hits the silver screen. In that case, i fear you'll get to use that one..

2. The words "he's even wearing the sword right" are just an example for how, because I just don't know what sort of details Hollywood routinely fouls up. The detail should be something that both my short film characters could see and that the film audience can see. The characters will have several seconds to look at him from two or three meters away, then a brief peek as they walk past him as close as one meter.

Hollywood foulups (where to begin):
leather armour (argh!!)
metal shields or enormous metal shield rims
wrong helmets (Gladiator had fantasy helmets and even medieval ones lying around)
guys fighting with two swords (almost every movie seems to have that these days)
whole populations dressed in shades of brown
invulnerable heroes while the enemy falls in droves (Stormtrooper Syndrome)

The audience will see the character in a shot from the characters' points of view. He'll beas part of a crowd, but he'll stand out because he's the only one dressed like a Roman soldier. It's possible that he'll get a close-up shot that looks him over head to toe, but that depends on the director, the editor, and how the timing of the scene plays out. Although the characters will be looking him over, it seems more likely that he won't get that sort of close-up shot, or that the shot will end up in the DVD's "Deleted Scenes" section.

Best use an officer to attreact even more attention - the 'bling bling' efect.

3. I don't mean to limit commentary to the selection of movie to pick on or the part of the costume they'd admire for being surprisingly correct. If anyone wants to suggest something else for the scene, I welcome it.

Two Romans?