MMP2 - 1300

1300 is an intro to a fictional TV Show which takes place in Italy around the year 1300. Italy in the 13th and 14th century was dominated by two parties who strove for power to rule the country. The Guelphs, supporters of the pope, wanted to rule over Italy to gain more power for the church. Opposed to them were the Ghibellines, supporter of the Roman Emperor, who sought to separate the crown and the church. The TV Show should portrait these two parties and their fight for power. For the theme of the intro the producing team chose to portrait parts of the “Divine Comedy” by Dante Alighieri. The “Divine Comedy” was written in this time and heavily influenced by the actions of the Guelphs and Ghibellines. It is divided into 3 parts – Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso – which are the 3 parts of the afterlife and the counterparts to the holy trinity. For the intro the team chose to portrait 3 parts of the first chapter – the Inferno or Hell, where people where punished for their sins. The first punishment that is portrait, to push rocks around, is for the sin of greed. The second, to drown in boiling liquid, is for the sin of murder and the third, to fight snakes, is for the sin of theft. Greed, murder and theft where grave sins around that time which makes them fit perfectly into the concept of two parties fighting for power.