I've had a DVD from Prometheus Entertainment/History Channel sitting on my desk for a year and a half, and I had almost forgotten why I had it by the time I finally sat down to watch the DVD. The DVD is of the show "Angels & Demons Decoded," which aired on the History Channel on May 10, 2009.
While I was watching a part about Bernini's artwork, I noticed a photo of the 'West Ponente' direction marker in St. Peter's Square very similar to mine at 1:08:12 — this wasn't my photo, but was close enough a match to warrant further inspection.
Towards the end of the documentary, when the narrator was talking of the interaction between faith and science in the Church, I found my image at about 1:28:35:
Whoever did the matte on that image (a) had a lot of patience, and (b) is quite good at it! I don't think I've ever attempted to cut out such an intricate photo.
You can view the original photo on Flickr here: Eucharistic Adoration - Monstrance.
I'm glad I was finally able to sit down and watch the show. I also watched Angels & Demons (the actual movie) on Netflix, and thought it was a heck of a lot better (all around) than The Da Vinci Code. But it's still not a greatly historically-accurate film, in my opinion; like most Hollywood flicks, the director and producers played fast and loose with many theories and historical fact. But I don't let it ruffle my feathers :)
Luckily for me, the producers of the show actually asked my permission to use the photo, so I'm not complaining about its use. Plus, at the end, they gave recognition where it's due:
Comments
That's cool, Jeff. I sort of have a credit in The DaVinci Code, the book. In the acknowledgements, Dan Brown thanks Catholic World News. That would have been in the time frame I was working there.
Incidentally, we didn't actively assist him. He must have used our archives to look up stuff. If he'd asked we would have ensured he used our material accurately. :)
Yeah - I asked Prometheus a little about the project to be sure it wouldn't be an Anti-Catholic kind of work, and it seemed pretty good to me. After watching it, I'm very pleased with how they treated the Church (especially compared to most documentaries involving the Church).
Guess it was easier to trim out the monstrance than to give any model royalties to Ron and Shelly. Too bad for me. : )
Royalties?? I wish. :-)