It was an honour to welcome multi BAFTA-winning and multi Oscar-nominated director, actor, producer and writer Kenneth Branagh to the School last week. Hosted and introduced by NFTS Director, Nik Powell, Kenneth spent over two hours enthralling the students with insight into his journey from actor to award-winning filmmaker. (If you would like attend masterclasses like this one and learn from great directors like Kenneth, the application deadline for a number of our MA courses from Cinematography to Directing Fiction is this week – more info here.)
Kenneth has received Oscar nominations in five separate categories – Best Director (Henry V), Best Actor (Henry V), Best Short (Swan Song), Best Supporting Actor (My Week with Marilyn) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Hamlet). He has won four BAFTAs, including an ‘Outstanding Contribution to British Cinema’ award and received a further five BAFTA nominations. He also has an Olivier award for his theatre work.
(Kenneth at last week's NFTS masterclass)
His films range from the multi Oscar-nominated Hamlet to blockbusters, Cinderella and Thor. Other films he has directed include Henry V, Peter’s Friends, Much Ado About Nothing, Dead Again, Love’s Labour’s Lost and Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit. As an actor he will next be seen in Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk. He is Executive Producer and star of TV series Wallander and is currently in post on the latest film he has directed and in which he plays Poirot - Murder on the Orient Express.
Kenneth’s passion for movies started with reading the credits, “I really studied who did what” although at the time he felt it was “incomprehensible that I would ever be in films or be a director.” He mused that if he had had a different idea about accessing the movie industry when he started out, he would have gone quicker into filmmaking. Later, while acting on a Virginia Wolfe adaptation in Cornwall, he learned about filmmaking through asking crew members exactly what they did from asking about the ‘train track’ the cameras were on to grilling the focus puller about her role, which he describes as ‘probably the scariest job on set!’.
(Still from Henry V)
According to Kenneth, directing the Battle of Agincourt scene in Henry V was “one of the most intensely scary moments of my directing career.” A pivotal moment in the play, the scene needed to be impactful and Kenneth wanted the audience to feel that they were there experiencing the ‘complete cataclysm’ and ‘grittiness’ of the battle. Through collaborative conversations with the crew (“lots of intimidating things can be sorted out via collaborative conversations”), Kenneth came up with the solution of using a raised platform and a long lens, shooting the cast as closely together as possible rather than employing a wide shot and exposing the 300 strong cast. The horror was conveyed through close up shots of the actor’s faces interspersed with shots of the intense battle.
Rather than getting ‘blinded by science’, Kenneth was encouraged to ‘bring your unique imagination’ to his role as director. “You have to develop quick instincts as a director and follow your vision. As I had played the role before, I had a good sense of how I wanted it to be.”
On making the decision to put some of the actors in Henry V in modern haircuts, and Derek Jacobi, who plays the chorus, in contemporary clothing, Kenneth said: “You need enough iconography of the period to be acceptable to the audience; it was not my aim to make a documentary but to invoke a sense and feeling of being here and now. Even Shakespeare himself constantly broke a lot of rules!”
(Still from In The Bleak Mid Winter)
In The Bleak Mid Winter was the first film Kenneth directed in which he did not appear and one of the few cases where he wrote the original story. According to Kenneth, it was a ‘very releasing’ film and unleashed a ‘burst of creative passion’. It took just four weeks to shoot and everyone got paid the same: “We sold it for twice what we paid for it and everyone, from the caterers to Joan Collins, received an envelope with their pro rata share of the profit.”
Creating a feeling of spontaneity and rawness was a theme throughout Kenneth’s talk. “I like to keep the camera running and create a sense of improvisation and catch a happening every time, particularly with something as structured as Shakespeare.” With this in mind, Kenneth likes to start with a close up shot in the morning. This establishes a rhythm for the day as you get the best out of the cast and crew when they know it’s a shot that’s going to be in the movie. “I’ve inverted the day to create energy. The phrase ‘We’ve got the first shot at 8.30am’ goes through the crew like wildfire!”
(Still from Thor)
Another persistent theme was preparation and readiness. Kenneth wrote four pages of a screenplay to illustrate the ideas he had for Thor and brought pictures of buildings and landmarks to illustrate what the world would feel, look and taste like. This set him up for the intense, ‘detail conscious’ world of Marvel, which involved weeks of meetings about the intricacies of production design, VFX and costume design. After screening a clip of the fight scene on the rainbow bridge between Thor played by Chris Hemsworth and Loki played by Tom Hiddleston, Kenneth relayed how the whole piece was storyboarded as an animatic a whole year before the scene was fully realised. We thought at first, “Christ, how do we do this now we’ve imagined it?!” The answer? “Step by step! The amazing thing and privilege of being a director is that you see everything and every step.”
Answering Nik’s question as to what his one piece of advice would be for the students as they go forward in the industry, Kenneth said: “A quote from Hamlet sums it up for me, ‘Readiness is all!’ Show up on time. Early is on time and on time is late, it’s that simple and can guarantee you a career as you’re the one that got there. If you’re late, you have to be Fellini, better than your peers! You need to be ready to honour and respect your talent. Follow and trust your instinct and know it’s welcome. You are your greatest asset. Do your research and above all, enjoy yourself!”
For more information about our courses and how to apply, please visit www.nfts.co.uk
