Shroud & The Battle for Historical Accuracy

[Jetrefilm]

Fellow Armor Buffs:

With regard to several things like chainmail shirts under her armor, leg plates or other period-correct weapons, I will fully admit the film has its anomalies. It is a first-time film from a first-time filmmaker, so I am sure it has flaws. But when I founded Jetrefilm Entertainment, I knew I was going to take some bumps and bruises on my first film.

My cast and crew got me through it, thank God.

Concerning the armor, that was all we could afford -- and Patrick and Ugo did us a huge favor even for that. We simply couldn't afford a helmet or the bottom half of the suit.

With regard to the weapons, the Gatling Gun is definitely a later model but has anyone tried renting an actual firing Gatling Gun lately?

We couldn't find any!

And the ones we did find (two, if I remember correctly) wanted $10,000 a day + $10,000 specialty insurance which was so far out of our budget it wasn't even considered.

The one in the movie is from Tom Cruise's "The Last Samurai" and it didn't work very well. It kept hanging, so we had to put the rhythmic muzzle flashes in digitally.

Most of the ball and caps pistols were historically okay, but the Blackhawk she shoots the guy at the lake with was definitely cartridge -- and you are right, cartridge weapons were just coming out at the beginning of the civil war.

The three excuses (lol) I offer for these points are:

1) One of the movie's themes is "anachronism" -- things not being in the right time frame. Things out of place.

2) Her husband is wealthy and would have had the contacts and the money to get the latest toys for himself; and secondly, the Gatling Gun is stolen in the movie from the U.S. Army and is considered something new and wondrous.

3) And lastly -- and this is the real reason -- I didn't have enough money.

Films are very expensive. But I tried to make it all work with what I had.

More to come....

David Jetre
Jetrefilm

[Russ Mitchell]

No kidding. I've been a fencing stunt-extra for a historical television show in Hungary where we had to deal with the issue regularly (still did it, I'm really good at getting killed on camera). I suspect that our work was probably even lower-budget than what you were dealing with, as it only survived b/c of pro-bono facilities use of the state-run television station (now defunct, sadly).

[Sean Powell]

If the quality of the film is only half as good as your taste in actresses. The film is gonna rock.

A lot of bigger budget movies regularly make worse anacronistic mistakes. Plate armor with haute-guards for vikings. Horns on helmets. That's not even including zippers up the backs of bodices or corsets in the Roman era.

As a director you have no need to defend your choices to us. The fact that you chose to go with armor by Ugo already puts you miles ahead of the molded plastic helms and loin-cloth that most of Holly-wierd thinks justifies armor.

Sean

[adamstjohn]

Jetrefilm,

you come out here among the specialists and tell us straight that you know there are some idiosyncrasies but you gave it your best shot. At the same time you praise your crew to the skies, play down our own hard work and give us some lovely images of a gorgeous lady wearing gorgeous work.

You seem an absolute gentleman, and I take my hat of to you. If more directors were like you, showbiz would be a better business.

You have my custom.

[Jetrefilm]

Thanks guys.

I am really looking forward to my currently scheduled 4th film (if I ever get there) which is Vangelis, a hard-core sword-and-sorcery project on which I would love to get some overly-caffeinated, insanely artistic armorers like Patrick and Ugo hammering away again.

I understand the cost-effectiveness of stamping metal suits of armor, or forging entire suits from resin and airbrushing them, but nothing says "it's for real" like old-fashioned, hand-hammered armor.

I put this very suit of armor on another model (the aforementioned Grace Holley) for more test shots for Vangelis, back when it was scheduled to be my second film.

I will post those pictures of Grace in the armor in a new thread soon.

Obviously, it will be titled "HOT REDHEAD IN ARMOR."

Patrick and Ugo did a lot of hard work and I want everyone to know it and see what it finally looked like in Hi-Def.

Again, thanks for the enthusiasm.

Armor rocks.

Sincerely,

David Jetre
Jetrefilm Entertainment
1425 Kleber Drive | Carrollton, Texas 75010
972 492 6387 Office | 940 368 3626 Cell
david@jetrefilm.com | www.jetrefilm.com

[sha-ul]

David, I missed where you mention the target release date.