03-30-2009, 03:27 PM
Sadly the art department wasn't on set (no one represented them on location, but there were around during the studio work and had I realised I'd have sought them out).
I did speak to Neil the director and he was absolutely sincere in his commitment to making a thrilling film set in Britain's Roman occupation (an invasion certainly wasn't mentioned, but I didn't press him on this matter).
What was positive was that he felt that re-enactors had a vital role to play in historically themed films.
That said, there are limitations on these sort of productions caused by budget & health & safety! Speaking to the main stunt co-ordinator a scene with pila throwing and gladius drawing was considered but because of time, terrain and limited budget (it's not a £200million Hollywood epic, but a gutsy Brit flick) this wasn't included and hasta were employed instead, also the main combat was not over open terrain but through very dense woods and had a healthy mix of stuntmen, re-enactors and a few ex squaddies... one comment from one of my guys yesterday was "F***ing hell... it's Teutoburg all over again!" :lol:
Again it is a feature film and NOT a documentary, the characters and plot take precedent over the kit.
However, despite artistic creativity employed on the Picts I can confirm that not a square inch of tartan was used (hooray) and not a single bit of 'Touristy Book of Kells' knotwork appeared in tattoos or on shields (another hooray), also - the question of what 1st to 3rd Century Picts looked like would vex even the most learned people on here so boldness was called for with the art & costume people.
People on here will spot a few costume inaccuracies amongst the legion (in the matter of the armour employed by specific units) but it wouldn't be fair of me to say at this stage. But looking at details like lorica-segmentata & imperial Gallics they have made an effort (several different imperial gallic helms were employed and the body armour was Corbridge style lorica). The attention to detail was far better than on Gladiator and even if Marcus Junklemann & Graham Sumner & Mike Bishop are consulted directly on the next few movies in this genre there's always going to be compromises in artistic decisions that purists won't like, it's the way films work.
From the bits we've seen it looks like a very exciting and rather graphic movie. The director was responsible for cult classic films like Dog Soldiers and The Descent so you can be sure of an adrenaline packed couple of hours. I really hope this does well as (inaccuracies or not) it WILL generate more public interest in ancient period warfare and that can only be good for all of our groups (more attendance means more funding for events and greater book sales - and when the curious public do turn up it's then down to societies to fill in the gaps and educate the public that are interested in knowing more).
I did speak to Neil the director and he was absolutely sincere in his commitment to making a thrilling film set in Britain's Roman occupation (an invasion certainly wasn't mentioned, but I didn't press him on this matter).
What was positive was that he felt that re-enactors had a vital role to play in historically themed films.
That said, there are limitations on these sort of productions caused by budget & health & safety! Speaking to the main stunt co-ordinator a scene with pila throwing and gladius drawing was considered but because of time, terrain and limited budget (it's not a £200million Hollywood epic, but a gutsy Brit flick) this wasn't included and hasta were employed instead, also the main combat was not over open terrain but through very dense woods and had a healthy mix of stuntmen, re-enactors and a few ex squaddies... one comment from one of my guys yesterday was "F***ing hell... it's Teutoburg all over again!" :lol:
Again it is a feature film and NOT a documentary, the characters and plot take precedent over the kit.
However, despite artistic creativity employed on the Picts I can confirm that not a square inch of tartan was used (hooray) and not a single bit of 'Touristy Book of Kells' knotwork appeared in tattoos or on shields (another hooray), also - the question of what 1st to 3rd Century Picts looked like would vex even the most learned people on here so boldness was called for with the art & costume people.
People on here will spot a few costume inaccuracies amongst the legion (in the matter of the armour employed by specific units) but it wouldn't be fair of me to say at this stage. But looking at details like lorica-segmentata & imperial Gallics they have made an effort (several different imperial gallic helms were employed and the body armour was Corbridge style lorica). The attention to detail was far better than on Gladiator and even if Marcus Junklemann & Graham Sumner & Mike Bishop are consulted directly on the next few movies in this genre there's always going to be compromises in artistic decisions that purists won't like, it's the way films work.
From the bits we've seen it looks like a very exciting and rather graphic movie. The director was responsible for cult classic films like Dog Soldiers and The Descent so you can be sure of an adrenaline packed couple of hours. I really hope this does well as (inaccuracies or not) it WILL generate more public interest in ancient period warfare and that can only be good for all of our groups (more attendance means more funding for events and greater book sales - and when the curious public do turn up it's then down to societies to fill in the gaps and educate the public that are interested in knowing more).
BRITANNIA
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.durolitum.co.uk">www.durolitum.co.uk
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.durolitum.co.uk">www.durolitum.co.uk
