Adventures in film (here be Roman walls)
Sep. 14th, 2011 06:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Yeah, I am an idiot. I got my first roll of film back and my reaction was: "what the hell is going on? I was using black & white film! THESE ARE IN COLOUR!" and was horribly confused and frightened for a good ten minutes. So, apparently you should read stuff, like what is plastered all over the box. I'm a clever girl, yes I am!
But hey, photos. Here are some shots from my weekend with
ainsoph15 and our visit to Calleva that I'm putting up here mostly because I'm excited about my first use of the old film camera (lesson for next time: learn how to focus the damn thing), and not because they're particularly artistic or impressive, although maybe one or two people in Eagle fandom might get a kick out of seeing where Uncle Aquila goes shopping.
ainsoph15's suggestion for the title of this post was "Calleva: We went here so you didn't have to" though that's maybe slightly unfair - while it is just mostly wall, there is a lot of it, and it makes you realise it would have been a big place, much larger than I thought it was originally. So, maybe visit if you're in the area, but don't start booking flights to the UK just to see it.
The pub, a good place to start any adventure. I didn't laugh, because I am a mature grown-up. Shut up.

Roman wall! Aren't you excited? Well yeah, it could look like any old wall from any old time, but SHH.

SLIGHTLY BETTER PART OF WALL. Okay, I will stop with the walls. I don't want you all to get overexcited and hurt yourselves.

The remains of the arena, which is much bigger than the one in the film (I'd say... at least twice the size? Possibly thrice?).
ainsoph15 was a total spoilsport and refused to reenact the bit of entertainment that occurs just before Esca makes his first appearance, even though I would have been perfectly happy playing the role of the dwarf.


Uh, mushrooms.

When we had all the Roman wall we could handle, we drove (and by that I mean
ainsoph15 drove, I took a nap and probably snored and drooled all over her car's furnishings) off to see
demon_rum's tattoo, also known as the Uffington White Horse. Being the terrible hostess that she is,
ainsoph15 did not arrange a private helicopter ride to see it properly, so here it is from the ground. From very far away.

From close up. Those two lines at the top? Those are its huge buck teeth. Or it could be a vampire horse, but I like the buck teeth explanation better.

Oh yeah, and the view is rather pretty too.

And a bonus: Mithras and his bull from the Ashmolean museum (I think it's only a plaster copy, sorry).

Here, have another bonus from my finishing-the-roll shots as this is Roman-themed too. My sketchbook, which still looks just like that. Yes, that is the very first page.

But hey, photos. Here are some shots from my weekend with
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The pub, a good place to start any adventure. I didn't laugh, because I am a mature grown-up. Shut up.

Roman wall! Aren't you excited? Well yeah, it could look like any old wall from any old time, but SHH.

SLIGHTLY BETTER PART OF WALL. Okay, I will stop with the walls. I don't want you all to get overexcited and hurt yourselves.

The remains of the arena, which is much bigger than the one in the film (I'd say... at least twice the size? Possibly thrice?).
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)


Uh, mushrooms.

When we had all the Roman wall we could handle, we drove (and by that I mean
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)

From close up. Those two lines at the top? Those are its huge buck teeth. Or it could be a vampire horse, but I like the buck teeth explanation better.

Oh yeah, and the view is rather pretty too.

And a bonus: Mithras and his bull from the Ashmolean museum (I think it's only a plaster copy, sorry).

Here, have another bonus from my finishing-the-roll shots as this is Roman-themed too. My sketchbook, which still looks just like that. Yes, that is the very first page.

no subject
Date: 2011-09-14 05:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-14 05:27 pm (UTC)Thanks! It's supposed to be Caesar - maybe I should give him a head, even if I don't finish off the rest of his body.
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Date: 2011-09-14 05:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-14 05:47 pm (UTC)(ha, symbiotic relationship between fungus and algae! My degree was biology but I think I remember all that from high school)
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Date: 2011-09-14 05:32 pm (UTC)Are you planning on doing some more sketches? :)
Thanks for posting these. ♥
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Date: 2011-09-14 05:51 pm (UTC)I hope I'll get more use out of the sketchbook! I have a terrible habit of buying one (and it HAS to be the fancy expensive moleskine type), drawing about two things in it, then giving up and buying a new one because new sketchbooks are shiny and fun. Maybe if I can get myself into the habit of using it more often I'll treat myself to a scanner and do the occasional sketchdump here (though my traditional skills are crap compared to digital).
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Date: 2011-09-14 06:04 pm (UTC)As for scanners - you can pick them up from ebay and amazon from £30, so not too much of an outlay, but I've seen some pretty good results of artwork posted to LJ using a decent digital camera.
As for your traditional skills, based on that one drawing, they may not meet your own exacting standards, but they're still bloody good. :P
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Date: 2011-09-14 05:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-14 06:01 pm (UTC)Next time though, you had better make it. Maybe I can lure you and Ainsoph down/up here (hey, I'm right in the middle! However, Manchester is very much lacking in the Old Roman Shit department). I just need to come up with a suitable bait that isn't cake, because my icing skills just aren't up to Ainsoph's.
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Date: 2011-09-14 08:17 pm (UTC)There is the reconstructed Roman fort at Castlefield as well, which is Reconstructed Roman Shit, I suppose...
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Date: 2011-09-14 08:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-14 09:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-14 08:09 pm (UTC)AND THE CAKE AND TRIFLE ;P
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Date: 2011-09-14 10:17 pm (UTC)PURELY FOR THE TRIFLE.
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Date: 2011-09-15 07:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-15 10:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-14 06:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-14 07:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-14 07:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-14 09:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-14 11:46 pm (UTC)I want something, uhm, maybe modern AU-style? To mix things up a bit? :) Would you rather draw Marcus or Esca?
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Date: 2011-09-15 09:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-15 10:14 pm (UTC)I want either steampunk!Esca, Esca in any kind of a uniform or hipster!Esca :D
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Date: 2011-09-14 06:59 pm (UTC)I do like your focus of the wall. And the views.
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Date: 2011-09-14 07:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-14 07:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-14 09:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-14 07:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-14 09:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-14 09:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-14 08:07 pm (UTC)Bah, I haven't even got my photos off my camera yet, but that is fine because yours are fab. Also, because I am a twit I totally failed to take a photo of 'Silchester shits', and really, that was the best thing in the pub.
I would have been perfectly happy playing the role of the dwarf
YOU FAILED TO MENTION THAT AT THE TIME. Ha ha, I would have been more than happy to do it, but you know I would have needed the full OUTFIT and shit, otherwise I would just be some random woman in a dress standing in the middle holding a stick-sword.
VAMPIRE HORSEY!!! RAMPAGING OVER THE HILLS SUCKING THE LIFE FROM THE VERY SOIL!
Ooh, that Mithras one came out really well! It's so hard to take photos of things behind glass (or was it? I can't remember!). I have GOT to get back to that museum. SO MUCH MORE TO SEE.
That sketch! It is divine! Your pencilwork is so precise and lovely. Does this mean more trad art from you?
Um, I may have just baked a new batch of lemon cupcakes...no subject
Date: 2011-09-14 10:05 pm (UTC)No, don't think the Mithras one was behind glass - though they probably should have done that given I very nearly knocked over the poor fisherman and his shrivelled penis trying to get that photo.
...maybe. I keep meaning to do more traditional stuff but I have panic attacks when I can't locate the Undo button.
PLEASE POST ME MORE LEMON CUPCAKES. DO IT NOW SO I HAVE THEM FOR BREAKFAST.
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Date: 2011-09-15 07:09 pm (UTC)God, I would love to see you doing more trad art. Well, more ANY art, because it is all so very awesome ♥
NO. THEY ARE FOR MY BROTHERS. YOU WILL JUST HAVE TO COME HERE AGAIN PURELY FOR THE SAKE OF THE CAKE. Ha ha, I emailed them tonight and let them know I would be bringing cake with me for the weekend. I have never known such excitement brought on by baked goods. (Oh god, apart from the time me and my bff made gingerbread cookies then iced them with obscenities. There is nothing quite like biting into a cookie which has 'HUGE COCK' scrawled onto it.)
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Date: 2011-09-14 08:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-14 10:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-14 09:48 pm (UTC)But seriously..., film? They didn't go to the trouble of inventing the digital camera so you could use film. :P
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Date: 2011-09-14 10:15 pm (UTC)Plus, old film cameras feel awesome. They're heavy and the clunk of forwarding the film is very satisfying. :D
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Date: 2011-09-14 10:16 pm (UTC)Here's a mammoth for ya!
Date: 2011-09-15 01:04 am (UTC)The sketch is wonderful -- looks 3D from my angle.
Re: Here's a mammoth for ya!
Date: 2011-09-15 06:38 pm (UTC)Re: Here's a mammoth for ya!
Date: 2011-09-15 06:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-15 03:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-15 06:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-15 06:44 pm (UTC)I totally need to try writing Caesar/Nicomedes for
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Date: 2011-09-15 08:40 am (UTC)Also: Walls! Hello Walls! Hurray!
Re the size of the arena, yes, and Isca Dumnoniorum is too small as well - in the book it has a forum and a basilica outside the fort, which should be larger - and that's on 1953 archaeology - we now know it was quite a big town. I think for the film they wanted to play up the 'frontier province' thing and make everything a bit smaller and cruddier than it actually would have been.
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Date: 2011-09-15 10:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-15 08:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-15 10:07 pm (UTC)