May 14, 2006

Da Vinci Code Conversations, Redux

Posted in: Podcast/Media, Work, Links, Random Miscellany

After two weekend-long video-editing sessions we finally went live with the new online training course anticipating the Da Vinci Code film opening next week on the 19th. It’s called “Da Vinci Code Conversations,” and it’s intended to give viewers a brief, birds-eye-view of the major contentions in Dan Brown’s novel and — presumably — the film.

Not having screened the film, everybody is guessing as to how much of the book’s more controversial elements made it into the screenplay, but we’re pretty sure it will involve the major highlights of this course since the plot largely depends on it:

Emperor Constantine was a lifelong pagan who fabricated Christ’s divinity at the Council of Nicaea in order to further his political ambition. Virtually everybody knew Christ was a mere mortal until Constantine cooked up this divinity myth at Nicaea. Christ was married to Mary Magdalene, and had children by her, who survived him to found the Merovingian dynasty. Somehow, this mere mortal understood he was creating a worldwide church, and therefore intended his wife, Mary Magdalene, to be its founder. That the Priory of Sion is an ancient secret order devoted to protecting the evidence for the truth behind the myth at any cost. That the Opus Dei Catholic order is a bunch of crazed zealots.

The course addresses each of these issues briefly, but with enough depth that anyone taking the course would have enough fodder to manage a conversation about the issues with after-film dinner guests. Plus there are the additional materials provided with the course, including a recommended resources list, that will help the viewer delve even deeper, if one cares to.

If you’re interested in knowing more, I’m linking to our newsletter podcast, the homepage promotional video, and the high– and low-bandwidth sample videos to give you a taste of what I’ve been slaving over, and what you might find interesting over at my day-job website:

You can download the “Da Vinci Code Conversations” podcast here, or listen online:

Here’s the “Da Vinci Code Conversations” homepage promotion.

Here are the sample videos, at high bandwidth (311kbps) and low bandwidth (56kbps).

As usual, enjoy! Regular posting will resume again, shortly.

Rich