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Fun Stuff => CHATTER => Topic started by: Near Lurker on 08 Jan 2012, 20:42

Title: A sequence I want to see, just once, in a movie set in ancient Rome.
Post by: Near Lurker on 08 Jan 2012, 20:42

Someone climbs the steps of an insula, puts a key into a lock, and turns it.

That's it.

Is anyone with me?

Title: Re: A sequence I want to see, just once, in a movie set in ancient Rome.
Post by: Carl-E on 09 Jan 2012, 00:13

Isn't that anachronistic? 

And if so, why is the symbol for St. Peter a set of keys? 

Title: Re: A sequence I want to see, just once, in a movie set in ancient Rome.
Post by: Near Lurker on 09 Jan 2012, 11:37

Roman locks weren't spring-loaded like ours, but the the interior had a kind of spool, that connected to the main assembly in just the right way to match the teeth.  This kind of lock dates back to Egypt and Sumer.  This is where the traditional key and keyhole shapes come from - the spine went at the top, all the way back, so that the teeth would align to the gear.  Skeleton keys, too - with a single, short tooth in the right place, a little extra force could open locks you weren't meant to open.

Title: Re: A sequence I want to see, just once, in a movie set in ancient Rome.
Post by: Akima on 10 Jan 2012, 20:15

I did not know what an insula was, and had to look it up. This forum is educational!

Title: Re: A sequence I want to see, just once, in a movie set in ancient Rome.
Post by: The Seldom Killer on 10 Jan 2012, 22:29

Not sure why/what that would add to a movie.

Title: Re: A sequence I want to see, just once, in a movie set in ancient Rome.
Post by: pwhodges on 11 Jan 2012, 00:34

Quote from: Akima on 10 Jan 2012, 20:15

I did not know what an insula was, and had to look it up. This forum is educational!

Me too.  I guess I learnt Latin at the sort of school where we weren't concerned with matters like the housing of the lower orders.

(I've outgrown my schooling - honest!)

Title: Re: A sequence I want to see, just once, in a movie set in ancient Rome.
Post by: Akima on 11 Jan 2012, 04:34

Quote from: The Seldom Killer on 10 Jan 2012, 22:29

Not sure why/what that would add to a movie.

It would show how the great majority of Romans apparently actually lived, as opposed to always depicting the ones who lived in palaces, I suppose. It would be like a movie set in Ancient China where the characters were not wuxia heroes, but peasants who spent their lives labouring in the fields, and then died. Yeah, a box-office smash for sure!

Title: Re: A sequence I want to see, just once, in a movie set in ancient Rome.
Post by: Thomas Edison on 11 Jan 2012, 05:02

Well the next thing I'm filming is a music video involving an Umpa Lumpa, but I'll keep this in mind, steal your idea and offer you no credit whatsoever for it.

Title: Re: A sequence I want to see, just once, in a movie set in ancient Rome.
Post by: Zingoleb on 11 Jan 2012, 05:50

You're a true artist, Ryan.