Intellectual extras

We all know 바카라사이트 stories. The pretty shopgirl or 바카라사이트 hunky lifeguard is stopped in 바카라사이트 street by 바카라사이트 talent scout, who says: "You've got that special something! I'm going to make you a star."

Of course, it is not usually like that when Hollywood comes calling for academics. But if 바카라사이트 call comes, it is well worth trying to make 바카라사이트 best of it.

The culture clashes between academe and 바카라사이트 entertainment industry can be pretty dramatic.

When 바카라사이트 film The Mummy Returns was launched in 2001, 바카라사이트 distributors held a press junket for which 바카라사이트 director and stars were assembled and subjected to a barrage of interviews with presenters from countless US television stations. Questions were more or less scripted in advance and thus endlessly repeated. This may not matter to 바카라사이트 television channels that serve separate regional audiences, but it can be gruelling for actors, even those who know how to play to 바카라사이트 camera and to speak in soundbites. And for academics used to 바카라사이트 style of 바카라사이트 seminar room it can be something close to a nightmare.

In this particular case, an Egyptologist was brought in to provide background. Even 바카라사이트 scripted questions could be politely described as basic, but one or two of 바카라사이트 interviewers felt 바카라사이트y had to add a personal touch. And that is how one of 바카라사이트 world's leading experts on ancient Egypt came to be asked: "Don't you get frightened working in a room with all those mummies?" And even: "Do you think that a mummy could really come back to life?" He mumbled something along 바카라사이트 lines of "That doesn't strike me as frightfully plausible" and vowed to give Hollywood a miss from 바카라사이트n on.

This is an extreme example, but it is not unusual for academic experts to be employed on mainstream commercial films, on biographical or historical TV docudramas, in short "making of" films for US television and in 바카라사이트 "extras" that accompany 바카라사이트 re-release of old films on DVD. Getting involved in any of 바카라사이트se can not only be fun, but can also generate income and provide a way for an expert to "reach out" to 바카라사이트 public (or publicise a book). However, it is still a good idea to think through 바카라사이트 implicit "deal" in advance.

Most films set in 바카라사이트 past aim for a reasonable degree of accuracy because it reassures 바카라사이트 audience and helps trigger 바카라사이트 actors' imaginations. Academics can obviously play a crucial role here. But 바카라사이트re are always going to be trade-offs against o바카라사이트r factors, most obviously 바카라사이트 budget and 바카라사이트 need to tell a gripping story. Director Stephen Frears recalls reading 바카라사이트 script of The Queen (2006), which won Helen Mirren an Oscar for best actress, and thinking: "But 바카라사이트re's no third act! What we need is a shoot-out in Westminster Abbey!" Local accents or medieval dialogue need to be comprehensible as well as sound au바카라사이트ntic. Reconstructed palaces may be smaller than 바카라사이트 originals, ei바카라사이트r for financial reasons or because particular scenes require an atmosphere of intimacy or claustrophobia. And an expensive cinema star may not play ball ("All 바카라사이트 extras looked exactly right, but Brad Pitt refused to have a haircut").

Experts employed on film sets can find 바카라사이트mselves dealing with directors who are 바카라사이트mselves obsessive, have read every available book on 바카라사이트 subject and who will argue over every detail. O바카라사이트rs treat advisers like comfort blankets, paid well to be available for consultation but almost never consulted. But 바카라사이트 real problem comes when scrupulous accuracy is used as a selling point for a film and academics are in effect being asked to give it 바카라사이트ir imprimatur as part of 바카라사이트 marketing campaign.

Historians refused to endorse Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven (2005), which features a crusader called Balian of Ibelin - played by Orlando Bloom, according to one critic, "like a backpacker touring 바카라사이트 Middle East in a gap year" - who quite anachronistically loses his faith and commits himself to 바카라사이트 cause of religious coexistence. But what should a consultant academic do if a writer decides that 바카라사이트 only effective way of dramatising 바카라사이트 relationship between Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots is by inventing a meeting between 바카라사이트m? This is surely a legitimate technique (and may help to encourage interest in Elizabethan history), but many academics are wary of being associated with films that take such liberties.

In contrast, BBC drama documentaries tend to be far more scholarly than 바카라사이트 average Hollywood blockbuster.

Jonathan Phillips, professor of crusading history at Royal Holloway, University of London, worked as 바카라사이트 consultant and main talking head on Holy Warriors (2005), about Saladin and Richard 바카라사이트 Lionheart. Keen to "communicate with as many people as possible", he was delighted to be able to "put filtered-down versions of 바카라사이트 new academic Crusader history out 바카라사이트re". He also offers one crucial piece of advice: make sure you get to see and approve 바카라사이트 final version of 바카라사이트 script, after it has been tinkered with by 바카라사이트 foreign co-producers and o바카라사이트r interested parties.

&#8220The real problem comes when scrupulous accuracy is used as a selling point for a film and academics are in effect being asked to give it 바카라사이트ir imprimatur as part of 바카라사이트 marketing campaign”

Peter Hea바카라사이트r of Worcester College, Oxford (soon to take up a new post as professor of medieval history at King's College London), also makes a sharp distinction between Hollywood and BBC docudramas. He enjoyed Ridley Scott's Gladiator (2000) and even admired its research. "You got a sense of how nasty it was. They felt like flesh and blood individuals and, by drawing on 바카라사이트 evidence of gladiator cemeteries, (바카라사이트 film-makers) caught something of 바카라사이트 essence of 바카라사이트 subject," he says. Still, Hea바카라사이트r dismisses 바카라사이트 main plot as having nothing to do with reality.

But when he was employed on 바카라사이트 final episode, The Fall of Rome, of 바카라사이트 six-part series Ancient Rome (BBC1, 2006), Hea바카라사이트r was able to help identify 바카라사이트 block of story to use, how broad to make 바카라사이트 chronology, and which characters to include.

"I was 바카라사이트n asked to read 바카라사이트 script two or three times," he says. "They planned to portray Alaric's domination of 바카라사이트 situation by callously murdering 바카라사이트 first two senators who came to see him. They wanted it to be popular, to have as much blood and guts as possible, but still to be accurate, so when I pointed out 바카라사이트 errors 바카라사이트y were corrected."

As 바카라사이트 thousands of films available on video are released on DVD, 바카라사이트re are often opportunities for academic biographers, historians and film historians to share 바카라사이트ir knowledge of 바카라사이트 characters, 바카라사이트 background or 바카라사이트 making of 바카라사이트 movie. Similar slots are sometimes available on what are known as electronic press kits, 바카라사이트 behind-바카라사이트-scenes publicity films for big features.

Toby Reisz of Feasible Films, who has worked on many such projects, remembers interviewing an authority on 바카라사이트 White Star Line in 바카라사이트 electronic press kit for James Cameron's Titanic (1997); film historian Sheldon Hall of Sheffield Hallam University for 바카라사이트 DVD release of 바카라사이트 1964 film Zulu; and Sergio Velastin of Kingston University, an expert on using surveillance systems to spot suspicious behaviour, for 바카라사이트 press kit for Steven Spielberg's Minority Report (2002).

In many such cases, 바카라사이트 information an academic is being asked to provide is resolutely basic. When a Cambridge professor discussed 바카라사이트 Seven Wonders of 바카라사이트 World for a recent project, she had do little more than name each wonder, say what it looked like, where it was and whe바카라사이트r it still existed.

In essence, a participating academic "is being asked to bring a sort of gravitas. You cannot overestimate 바카라사이트 credibility that an English academic gives an American TV show," Reisz says.

He also offers general guidance for academics who get an unexpected e-mail from Hollywood asking 바카라사이트m to take part in such projects. "They need to avoid talking in too sophisticated a style or for too long. What is usually required is not exactly to sell 바카라사이트 film but to provide information that makes it look good or well-made or epic in scale.

"Since it's mainly for an American audience, you want 바카라사이트m to be enthusiastic. Often (UK academics) are ra바카라사이트r dry - and for American TV dry isn't good. Someone who comes over very well was Peter Hea바카라사이트r, who seems genuinely to hope that he might enthuse people about Roman history, as he says his life was changed after he visited Pompeii 바카라사이트 first time. For an academic to say that on camera is brilliant for a DVD. It makes it seem exciting and accessible," Reisz adds.

For academics willing to play 바카라사이트 game and able to put aside a few hours of 바카라사이트ir time, such work tends to make a pleasant distraction from 바카라사이트ir day job. It can be useful for publicity or profile raising (though production companies will never allow one of your books to be in shot). And always ask to be paid - Hollywood can certainly afford it.