To read more about this artwork and to purchase a copy, please visit colosseotype.com

In March 2009, Suzanne (wife) and I spent several days in Rome to celebrate our 10-year anniversary. This was also a chance to observe in detail the Coliseum, which I'd already selected as the next subject in my series of letterpress posters (see cameronmoll.bigcartel.com/category/posters).

Over the course of the next 12 months, the artwork was handcrafted character by character, totaling roughly 250 hours of work from start to finish. Characters from the Goudy Trajan and Bembo Pro typefaces form the Coliseum, also known as today as Colosseo (Italian) and originally known as Amphitheatrum Flavium (Latin).

Printed at Bjørn Press in Provo, Utah. bjornpress.com

I shot the video shown here using a Canon 7D, with Suzanne's assistance for my interview segment. Edited with Final Cut Express. I picked up the 7D literally the day before shooting at Bjørn Press, so I still have lots to learn. (I botched my interview part by failing to turn off sharpening before shooting and by not having Suzanne sit at the same height while interviewing me, hence my eyes focus differently in each segment. But oh well, it is what it is.)

The opening segment was filmed at 1280/60fps, then in FCE it was slowed down and resized to fit the rest of the footage, which was shot at 1920/30fps. The 7D makes it really easy to pull off high-quality slow motion.

Font used for the titles is Bembo Pro.

Lenses:
* Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM prime
* Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM zoom
* Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 USM macro

More about my video setup here: cameronmoll.com/archives/2010/02/canon_7d_video/

All music is by This Will Destroy You. Their self-titled album (2007) seemed to compliment the footage perfectly. Songs, in order of appearance:

"The Mighty Rio Grande"
"Leather Wings"
"Villa del Refugio"

last.fm/music/This+Will+Destroy+You

Thanks for watching.