MEDIA ADVISORY: New 2013 US series “Battle Castle” begins airing on PBS
KTCA – Minneapolis Thursday, January 10, 2013
KRSC – Claremore, OK Tuesday, January 22, 2013
WLPB – Louisiana Saturday, February 11, 2013
TBA: check local listings:
KERA – Dallas
KQED – San Francisco
KRMA – Denver
KRSC – Claremore, OK
KUON – Nebraska Network
WGTV – Georgia Network
WYCC – Chicago
MEDIA RELEASE
HOLLY CARINCI PUBLICITY
MEDIA RELEASE
“Battle Castle” Lays Siege On-Air and Online
VANCOUVER March 1, 2012 – Vancouver’s Parallax Film Productions has done everything in its considerable power to push the boundaries of real TV with their series “Battle Castle,” the new featuresque documentary airing on History Television. The show is an interactive, trans-medieval journey into castle engineering, bloody siegecraft, and epic clashes that transform mortals into legends. Hosted by UK celebrity Dan Snow, the show takes its viewers over six one-hour timeslots to Syria, France, Spain, Wales, Poland and England delving into the stories of six fascinating castles: Crac des Chevaliers, Chateau Gâillard, Dover, Conwy, Malbork, and Malaga.
The Parallax Film Productions team and others in the Battle Castle universe converged last night at
Vancouver’s Telus World of Science for the series’ official launch party.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Canadian production company harnesses social media, international team to create unprecedented interactive documentary experience
Multiplatform transmedia content and targeted online marketing pulls thousands of fans into Battle Castle universe before tv documentary series broadcasts.
The Malbork Castle page, part of Battle Castle’s interactive documentary experience.
Vancouver, B.C. – Medieval Media Inc., a Vancouver-area production company, has created an unparalleled immersive online world for its upcoming action documentary series Battle Castle.
Jonathan Tustain of 3D Focus – a UK-based website that covers the latest developments in stereoscopic entertainment – attended this year’s MIPCOM conference to check out the latest 3D content and report on the event.
Parallax Film Productions President and Director Ian Herring and Executive Producer Maija Leivo also attended the event to showcase our production Blowdown 3D, the first ever show on explosive demolition to be delivered in stereoscopic form for international broadcast.
We chatted with Tustian about his experiences at MIPCOM – and the state of 3D TV in general.
Here’s what he had to say:
Why MIPCOM was a must
A lot of websites (about 3D) really do focus on the technologies. I thought there was way too much of that and not too much of the actual content. So the idea was really to get to MIPCOM and see what was being created – if it’s being made in 3D, it’s likely you’ll see it there. In a nutshell that’s what MIPCOM’s about – content.
While Maija Leivo and I were in Europe for this year’s MIPCOM conference we went to dinner with a friend from Discovery Channel and got talking about overcoming fear of doing things that make us – in our minds – look foolish.
For some this can be triggered when walking through a crowded restaurant looking for a seat for one, for others it may be sharing cuts of your film for the first time. It’s about putting ourselves out there – and therefore the potential for looking dumb looms large – and that mucky feeling of emotional distress follows.
This brings us to the 3D debate that rages amongst those who are invested in having stereo monitors and content in every house and on every channel. They ask – what’s holding 3D back? I have heard it blamed on everything from the complex and expensive monitors to issues with accessing content to less-than-satisfactory 3D crippling consumer desire.
But there may be another facet to the debate worth considering. Simply put, people don’t want to look stupid. It’s that human condition where one doesn’t want to stand out.
For decades we have gone into stores and tried things on – shoes, headphones, sunglasses. It’s been made easy with familiarity and so-called expertise – but there is always that niggle of mindfulness that the potential of some person snickering and saying “boy, those look dumb”.
3D technology is in its retail infancy phase. That means it lacks the comfort associated with testing other, more established products. In order to check out a 3D TV for potential purchase we have to put 3D glasses on in public – and it’s not yet something we are used to.
The same goes for convincing all your buddies that your house is the best place to watch the super bowl with your new 3D TV – just have to put on these 3D glasses that make you look like Aristotle Onassis. This “new” experience seems to amplify self-consciousness – so it can be a tough sell.
While walking the floor at MIPCOM looking at other 3D vendors’ setups, I noticed that few potential viewers stopped to look at the visual spectacle that was on offer – mostly sports and a couple of soft-core porn vendors – but no one was lining up. If someone did stop and picked up the glasses, I could see they were actively overcoming their self-consciousness. Most just moved on because it looked like a hassle.
The lesson here is if we stick with what’s familiar, we often miss out. When people opt for their comfort zone instead of 3D glasses, they’re robbing themselves of a new experience. So next time you go into the 3D television section of the electronics store, try those glasses on. Snicker to yourself. And then enter the third dimension.
–Ian Herring, President
Here’s what’s going on this week in our current production, Battle Castle:
On YouTube
Battle Castle: host Dan Snow reveals how bad timing changed Chateau Gaillard’s history
Battle Castle host Dan Snow details King John’s attempt at thwarting the siege of Chateau Gaillard. The King of England, also known as John Lackland, planned a two-pronged attack, meant to triumph over Philip Augustus of France and his army, who were positioned outside English King Richard I’s stronghold in Normandy. Battle Castle: Gaillard reveals how Richard the Lionheart’s castle builders constructed the fortifications, which included securing the castle, an island fort, and the town of Petit Andely, and details the medieval weapons that the French used to attack it. Dan’s blogs will be released every Thursday on YouTube, unveiling details related to the stories that will be profiled in the Battle Castle shows .
Dan’s blogs will be released every Thursday on YouTube, unveiling details related to the stories that will be profiled in the Battle Castle shows .
Battle Castle: Malbork — Middle Castle gate
The Battle Castle crew moves one of five gates that mark the entrance to the Middle Castle at Malbork, Poland. The gate is cobbled, with stone plates that marked the way for carts so that they didn’t damage the gate jams. Battle Castle: Malbork profiles the siege of 1410 when Polish and Lithuanian forces attacked the brick stronghold. The offensive, which was led by King Jagiello and Grand Duke Vytautas, occurred after the Battle of Tannenberg. The castle, historically known as Marienburg, was built by the Teutonic Order, crusader knights who occupied this area of the Baltic in medieval times.
More:
On Twitter
Medieval siege tip of the week:
@Battlecastle Oct 18,
In the mid-twelfth century, an average siege seems to last between four and six weeks – M. Keen
3 ways to #gomedieval
Awesome medieval moments on the web, chosen by The Gatekeeper:
Entertain guests with a food experience from the Middle Ages
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIC5bUX5RGE via hestonsfeasts
Taking up the ancient and impressive sport of falconry
http://www.redgage.com/photos/maggs224/a-falconer-with-one-of-his-birds-at-the-medieval-market.html via maggs224
Tips for dressing medieval on a budget
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFzRm3L14PI&NR=1v via aglanceatmyworld
Want more Battle Castle action?
A world of castle engineering, bloody siegecraft, and epic clashes that transform mortals into legends awaits …
Join us.
Here’s what’s going on this week in our current production, Battle Castle:
On YouTube
Conwy — comparing Welsh castles
Executive Producer Maija Leivo reveals her impressions of the differences between Conwy, Caernarfon, and Harlech castles in Northern Wales. The Battle Castle crew scouted and shot at all three locations for Battle Castle: Conwy. The fortifications are part of the Iron Ring that King Edward I erected as part of his castle building campaign in what is now Snowdonia. In 1294 Welsh leader Madog ap Llywelyn challenged these strongholds during a medieval rebellion against the English.
More: <a href="
On Flickr
Battle Castle: Gaillard – fisheye’s view of the keep
The keep at Chateau Gaillard, captured through a fisheye lens, shot during the filming of Battle Castle: Gaillard with host Dan Snow. The French army, led by Philip Augustus of France, laid siege to English King Richard I’s stronghold in 1203-1204. The show reveals how Richard the Lionheart’s castle builders constructed the fortifications, which included securing the castle, an island fort, and the town of Petit Andely, and details the medieval weapons used to attack it.
More: http://battlecastle.tv/blog/chateau-gaillard-change-perspective
On Twitter
Medieval siege tip of the week:
Knights give bowling tournament an old edge
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwLR-Abh8Kk Uploaded by MedievalTimesUSA
Want more Battle Castle action?
A world of castle engineering, bloody siegecraft, and epic clashes that transform mortals into legends awaits …
Join us.
As History Television prepares to air Super Stadium, the first episode of Blowdown Season II, Tuesday night at 7 p.m, here in house we’ve been talking about the groundbreaking triumphs – and inevitable agonies – behind the incredible shots that make these shows so undeniably explosive.
A high-stakes mission
After shooting, editing, and delivering eight episodes of the series, which follows Controlled Demolition Inc. as they tackle the world’s toughest implosions, I can say with certainty that there’s nothing like the rush we get when the crew returns to the production office after an implosion.
They may be on the road for weeks filming the prep work leading up to the demo, but everything rides on the footage they get on the last day, and there is little room for error and no do-over. It is the ultimate life lesson.
We call it demo porn and we pour over the shots as they come in.
The money shots
When we filmed Blowdown II: Spyship – the sinking of the Hoyt. S. Vandenberg off the coast of Key West, Florida – we mounted recoverable cameras and harddrives that filmed her as she sank. Listen to the sound as one goes down: it is utterly eerie.
Blowdown – Unsinkable: camera rides the Hoyt S. Vandenberg down from Parallax Film on Vimeo.
In our mission to capture a potentially record-breaking drop for Blowdown II: Monster Tower, we mounted cameras on the top floors of the doomed Ocean Tower condominium project on South Padre Island. And amazingly, they actually rode the building down during the implosion.
We weren’t able to recover the cameras but here is the system we designed that protected our harddrives.
With the help of Controlled Demolition Inc. President Mark Loizeaux’s expert advice, it landed right on top of the rubble pile as predicted. And a 30-something storey drop later, the footage was all there. And it’s incredible.
Our ultimate challenge was Blowdown II: World Cup Demolition. We filmed the whole episode in 3D.
Sometimes, after all this amazing footage hits Parallax Film HQ, we don’t even know what we’re looking right away at and only piece it together as we unravel the story … the wonder of these discoveries is really satisfying.
Getting the goods
One of the big questions for crew is whether to shoot big wide shots that allow you to watch the whole thing unfold, complete with the amazing microsecond timing. Or do you zoom in and witness the devil in the detail like the failure of expansion joints or payoff of pre-slicing concrete rings?
Sometimes it depends on the camera technology. We’ve experimented with high speed cameras at 300+ frames per second, and found that it worked best for those tight shots, rather than the wides which you just want to let run.
Time to explode
We’ve done some amazing stuff with cameras in this series – things that, to our knowledge, have never been done before.
And the very best of these unparalleled visual experiences will be rolled out over the next few weeks on History Television.
Enjoy the ride, Canada.
We sure did.
–Maija Leivo, Executive Producer
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