Screenwriting : Epic Films by Patrick Opitz

Personally I believe it depends on the film. I like both films that are heavy on the interplay of history and folklore...And those that lean more on one side or the other. For example, on the side of folklore, there are ancient and medieval epics like Merlin (1998) and Bathory, Solomon Kane, etc etc ...While on the side of history, or at least realism in depicting life back then, there are others like Gladiator and Arn (Magnusson), I Claudius, Troy etc etc among others (I mainly emphasized medieval and ancient Europe as depicted in film, but there are epics from other countries as well. Like in Asian cinema). And it's interesting that you ask about writing in a way that is sensitive to the cultures that produced them. As I said in the other thread, I would love to see a film or television series about ancient African people to rival the sword-and-sorcery epicness of Game of Thrones. This would include their belief systems. Many groups of people in Africa practice their own form of sorcery/magic. Yet at the same time I am very sensitive to the way that magic/sorcery is depicted in general in the film industry, and also specifically when it comes to ancient African beliefs (Voodoo, for example, though that is just one of many such beliefs existing on the continent). I would definitely consider consulting with elders/experts on certain subjects...And also to consult with them about how such a story I have in mind would theatrically unfold in their culture. I would like to have an element of African storytelling within my writing; Not to simply recreate old legends in my own voice as a writer. So, i'm certainly not the one to set limitations on anything...But for myself, I feel that there needs to be a certain level of understanding in creating a story about another culture. That goes for both historical and ahistorical/revisionist pieces (For example George RR Martin and Ken Follet both have extensive knowledge about the time periods in which their stories take place; Even if their stories and the people in them are fictitious) . That's just a rule I have set for myself.

Perhaps exploring "WHO" the world health organization's website would be helpful to first try to understand a culture before learning how to write sensitive to that culture. "WHO" also gives great global perspectives. In some respects globalization is great and in other respects globalization can lose sight of individual culture. Being over adaptive I believe can lose heart and soul of the character essence too. Hope this helps a bit.

Nadia, I agree that it is time to expand beyond Classical Mythology looking for epic material. As every culture has it's epic stories, (I'd be particularly interested in the Ulster and Fenian Cycles in Irish Lit, or a good take take on the Volsunga Saga) and the more unique cultural expressions are shared with the world the better. As to being respectful of cultures represented, I think some leeway can be given, Thor clearly is bearded redhead in the Eddas, but most Asatruars don't mind because of the generally positive depiction, but the way the Olympians were portrayed on the Hercules/Xena TV show was horribly offensive to some of the Hellenic community. In the same way, exploiting Voodoo to make a movie about Zombies and magic dolls would be in equally poor taste. Getting a cultural consultant would be an important step to avoid any cultural minefields. Mitchell had a good suggestion on that as well. Alle, Iam curious to what you would say is heroic. When I mentioned the supernatural, I was think in terms of how Troy or Dark Kingdom was done, focusing only on the human characters, while disregarding that supernatural being play large roles in the epic material the stories are based on. Personally I found try to tell a story about the Trojan War without the Olympians, or a story about Odin's ring without the Aesir dosen't really work out because they are vital to the story.