Grail Diary Tutorial

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This tutorial is based on my way of looking at the Grail Diary.

And I belive the diary to be a notebook for Henry Jones Sr.. Not a novel, but a diary combined with a tool to store the notes and clues that Henry comes along in his persuit. This means that the diary is handwritten, the drawings are handdrawn, there are corrections of spelling errors and so on.

In other words... This tutorial do not support the "prop-version" of the diary where all is made on computer and printed out. If that is Your way, YouŽll have to seach elsewhere... 

Before You start up, remember that there are no "right way" to order Your Diary. For the film there where made about 5- 7 Grail Diaries, and all of them are different in pageorder. Futhermore they are all "prop-versions"  meaning that there are no story in them, just fracments of text and pictures placed randomly on the sheets.

This tutorial features a story (the one from the computergame of Last Crusade), but as being a notebook also, You are free to place any hints, help, clues, random notes throughout the book. And to hit the total of 282 pages (251 filled out pages and 32 are left blank in the end) you need to do that.

The original had 282 pages of which 32 were blank. 10 sets of 6 spreads each makes 240 pages (a set of six spreads has 24 pages). Plus two extra set made of 5 spreads. So that's 280. Then one single extra spread glued down on an existing page (said to add three pages, but actually when you glue on spread onto an existing page, you'll add two pages). So here we have 282. Furthermore three pages where taped into the diary - making it 285. Using first and last sheed as innercover You end up with 282 pages all in all.

The exact measurements of the pages of the diary are 6 1/4" (158mm) x 3 15/16" (100mm). The cover doesn't extend much more than 1/4" on the top and bottom and is almost flush to the sides, making the total measurement of the cover about 6 1/2" (165mm) x 4 1/16" (104mm).

 

Under the "The Text" topic IŽve placed some fictional stories, and facts taken from different literature about the grail. This text can be put in anywhere You think it fits.

Same thing goes for the pictures/drawings. Here we have a thiny order to follow, as Indy flips through the diary a couple of times, and the order of the drawings need to follow the order shown in the movie. However this is no problem. And the order of drawings listed in the toturial supports both the "movie-order" and the logical order. And remember -  80% of the pages are never shown in the movie, so that leaves a high degree of freedom in choosing text and pictures.

Now this tutorial is organized this way:         

Step 1:  How to make a blank Diary

In here is a step by step instruction on how do make a blank book.

You need to wiev it with Adobe  Reader as the text is stored as a PDF-file for optimal wieving. If You donŽt have that installed on Your computer You can get it for free by clicking the link.

 

Step 2: The Text and Pageorder

Here YouŽll find the Computer diary-text, which is the "backbone" in the diary. In addition to that YouŽll find fictional stories and "facts" about the grail and grail-myths.

In  the text there will be references to the drawings I (and better men than me) belive fits in.

 

Step3: The Drawings

In here You will find all pictures/drawings that is ever discovered in the Grail Diary. It includes both the pics shown in the Archivebook,  pictures discovered by fans through the years and scans taken from original diaries sold on auctions.

A good, originally, source is "Quest for the Eternal" and "The Flowering of the Middel Ages" . These contains pictures featured in the Grail Diary, but they are also a great source for finding "fictional" pictures.

Step 4: How to do the Drawings and Text

A illustrated totutial in how to trace the pictures into the book, and how to get the text filled in.

 

Step 5: The Inserts

Here YouŽll find the inserts that I feel is part of the Diary. There are many more invented by fans, but one have to draw a line somewhere.

 

Step 6: Additional aging

Give Your diary and inserts the final treatment in order to get the right look.

 

Now should You feel the need to read more about the Grail-legend, I can recommend this page. ItŽs from the Catholic Encyclopedia, and they seems to know what there are talking about ( a direct line, who knows...).