Online Conferment - Class of 2020
Students, staff and supporters were invited to upload their own celebratory video messages to the platform. Over 600 videos were uploaded with over 14,000 views in total. Notable alumnus Steve Backshall and supporters of the University, including Charles Dance, Actor and director, and Don Boyd, Scottish film director, offered messages of support and advice to the graduates.
http://www.exeter.ac.uk/news/university/title_807931_en.html
mr Webb
The Singapore Grip Social Clip11_S2_W16
hum! hum! hum!
In an interview about his National Geographic series, Savage Kingdom, PopCulture.com asked Dance about the Game of Thrones finale. Last week, his co-star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau joked that he "almost wanted" to sign the viral petition to remake Game of Thrones Season 8 in an interview with Variety. Dance had not heard about the petition, but said bluntly: "Well if there was a petition, I would sign it."
"I mean, I saw it. I continue to watch the whole series even after I'd been killed off in the lavatory," Dance laughed. "Because I just thought it's a fantastic television show, you know? I was very lucky to be part of it. I loved it; there were storylines [where] I wanted to know what was going to happen to these people! I know that the finale satisfied a lot of people. It also disappointed a lot of people, and I'm afraid I am in the latter camp."
"I think David and Dan raised the bar when it came to television screenplay writing," he said. "They are phenomenal. And for the whole thing to end up as a committee, I just thought, 'Hmm, no.' I would say I was somewhat underwhelmed by."
Charles Dance discusses Nat Geo's Savage Kingdom and reflects on his history with David Fincher, from the controversial Alien 3 to the upcoming Mank.
While promoting the new season of Savage Kingdom, Charles Dance spoke with Screen Rant about his work on the series and his own history with the hugely influential works of David Attenborough. He talks about visiting Botswana and spending time with the crew who captured the incredible footage used in the series, and discusses how he hones in on his pitch-perfect narration style. He also shares some insights from his storied career, including his work with David Fincher, from the director's controversially divisive first film, Alien 3, to his most recent venture, the "old Hollywood" biopic, Mank.
I'm going to go out on a limb and assume, and you can correct me if I'm wrong, that you grew up watching David Attenborough documentaries. Zoo Quest and stuff like that.
- Yes, you're right.
Take me back. I guess mid-to-late 1950s, your house, I assume a black and white TV, can you paint a picture for me?
- Yes, black and white television, you're absolutely right. And a very young David Attenborough. Very young. Yes, a fascination with wildlife documentaries. They weren't nearly as spectacular in those days as they are now. It was black and white, and they were very gentle affairs, if I remember rightly. Now, wildlife documentaries, especially ones like Savage Kingdom, the production values are cinematic. It's the sheer breadth of what you see on the screen. It's phenomenal, now. I think they should be compulsive viewing for everybody, especially kids like I was in the 50s.
Savage Kingdom, in particular, has a very strong dramatic flair to it. It really characterizes these... Well, these characters!
- It does, yes. I think it's that element that makes them unique, actually. That and the fact that they don't shy away from the brutal reality of life in the African bush. They didn't shy away from the fact that it's the survival of the fittest. The Savage Kingdom series is unique and incredibly impressive. I've been out to Botswana and spent some time with Brad, who is the principal cinematographer on these films. They're an extraordinary breed, wildlife cameramen. They're like real life crocodile dundees, do you know what I mean? They live out on the bush, they've got their Toyota land cruiser or whatever, and they've got a camera strapped to the side of the vehicle, with a huge telephoto lens on it, and they're prepared to sit out there and just wait and watch for days or weeks, sometimes.
There's this wild west, savage frontier vibe to this world of animal prey and predators. It's like a circle of life and death, but untouched by the ego and barbarism of man. It gives the violence a completely different level of... Well, Game of Thrones, to name a totally random example.
- Game of Thrones is about the species that preys upon itself, of course. We are the only species that does that. These animals are killing for food. There's a bit of sport wrapped up in it as well, by the look of things, but this is the way they survive. Nobody comes along with a tin of cat food and puts it down for them at 5:00 every afternoon. They've got to go out and get it. Same with the dogs and the hyenas and the leopards.
You've been nominated for two Emmys for this show. Is this going to be your year, or do you not care about that sort of thing?
- I mean, I don't think one should be complacent about any kind of prize. It's very nice to know... But there are a lot of good documentaries being made, and a lot of good people narrating them. It would be nice if I picked something up. If not, it's nice to be noticed anyway.
Fair enough! Tell me a little bit about being in the booth. How do you capture the tension of a given moment? When do you tacitly observe, and when do you get to imbue it with some epic gravitas?
- I try not to imbue it with too epic a gravitas! That would be going over-the-top, which I don't want to do, obviously. I see the footage before I go into the sound studio. There is a guide track, so I've seen the film, I've listened to the general tone of it, I've read the copy when I go into the sound stage. Then I'm working with Harry Marshall, who is the director, and we work together. But by the time I start, I know, more-or-less, what the storyline is. And, as you said right at the beginning of this conversation, these films are dramatized. The animals become characters. There is a very definite storyline. And the films are divided into acts. I know that there are particular points at the end of an act where, dramatically, you have to lift it a bit because you want to leave the audience wanting more. I try not to invest it with too much theatricality, because it detracts from what you're seeing on the screen. Do you understand what I mean by that?
Totally. You're not sensationalizing.
- Exactly.
We're such huge fans of yours at Screen Rant. I, personally, was terribly traumatized by your death in Alien 3.
- (Laughs) That kind of came as a bit of a shock, didn't it?
Yes! It's a relaxing moment, by the standards of that movie, which gets interrupted by the alien popping in from out of nowhere to rip your face apart. I know the legend is that David Fincher didn't have a great time on that set, but I think a lot of people have come around to the movie and accepted it, and even love and champion it.
- I would hope so. I mean, there was more on the page than what ended up on the screen. But you're dealing with a franchise. A lot of people are very protective of a franchise and feel they know the way it should go. It was Fincher's first film. I was really impressed, then, and that was 30 or so years ago. And I just finished shooting with Fincher again. I thought, then, he was a very clever guy. I think he's a genius, actually. He's a demanding genius, but I don't mind that, because the end result is a good movie. And the film I've just done with him, I think, is going to be sensational.
Oh, you're in the Citizen Kane one, Mank ?
-Yes.
Oh, okay, I interviewed someone else who was in that, and I'm very excited to see that. I don't know what to expect, to be honest. Could you give us a tease?
- It's a wonderful evocation of Hollywood in the 1930s. It's shot in black and white, and what Fincher was trying to do was to shoot it in the same kind of style that Orson Welles shot Citizen Kane. Ostensibly, it's a biographical film about Herman Mankiewicz, who wrote the screenplay for Citizen Kane, but never got the credit he should have had for it.
I can't wait to see that one. Maybe I'll get to talk to you again for it!
- Well, I certainly hope so!
Okay, last question. You're always on the cutting edge. You're not limited by medium. You do documentaries, you do TV, you do movies, you've done a few video games over the years, and you're a stage icon. Do you like being on that razor's edge of whatever's coming up next, is that what draws you to these diverse roles?
- I just like working, Zak! (Laughs) You know? And I'm very lucky. Actors living in London are lucky. Well, apart from this terrible situation we're in at the moment, we can move from theater to television to film to radio, you know, it's all confined here in one place. Whereas, if you're in L.A., you're a film actor. If you're in New York, you're a theater actor, and the two don't very often mix. But here, we kind of jump around and do lots of different things. That's the way I like it. Variety is the spice of life, Zak.
https://screenrant.com/savage-kingdom-charles-dance-interview/
I'm going to go out on a limb and assume, and you can correct me if I'm wrong, that you grew up watching David Attenborough documentaries. Zoo Quest and stuff like that.
- Yes, you're right.
Take me back. I guess mid-to-late 1950s, your house, I assume a black and white TV, can you paint a picture for me?
- Yes, black and white television, you're absolutely right. And a very young David Attenborough. Very young. Yes, a fascination with wildlife documentaries. They weren't nearly as spectacular in those days as they are now. It was black and white, and they were very gentle affairs, if I remember rightly. Now, wildlife documentaries, especially ones like Savage Kingdom, the production values are cinematic. It's the sheer breadth of what you see on the screen. It's phenomenal, now. I think they should be compulsive viewing for everybody, especially kids like I was in the 50s.
Savage Kingdom, in particular, has a very strong dramatic flair to it. It really characterizes these... Well, these characters!
- It does, yes. I think it's that element that makes them unique, actually. That and the fact that they don't shy away from the brutal reality of life in the African bush. They didn't shy away from the fact that it's the survival of the fittest. The Savage Kingdom series is unique and incredibly impressive. I've been out to Botswana and spent some time with Brad, who is the principal cinematographer on these films. They're an extraordinary breed, wildlife cameramen. They're like real life crocodile dundees, do you know what I mean? They live out on the bush, they've got their Toyota land cruiser or whatever, and they've got a camera strapped to the side of the vehicle, with a huge telephoto lens on it, and they're prepared to sit out there and just wait and watch for days or weeks, sometimes.
There's this wild west, savage frontier vibe to this world of animal prey and predators. It's like a circle of life and death, but untouched by the ego and barbarism of man. It gives the violence a completely different level of... Well, Game of Thrones, to name a totally random example.
- Game of Thrones is about the species that preys upon itself, of course. We are the only species that does that. These animals are killing for food. There's a bit of sport wrapped up in it as well, by the look of things, but this is the way they survive. Nobody comes along with a tin of cat food and puts it down for them at 5:00 every afternoon. They've got to go out and get it. Same with the dogs and the hyenas and the leopards.
You've been nominated for two Emmys for this show. Is this going to be your year, or do you not care about that sort of thing?
- I mean, I don't think one should be complacent about any kind of prize. It's very nice to know... But there are a lot of good documentaries being made, and a lot of good people narrating them. It would be nice if I picked something up. If not, it's nice to be noticed anyway.
Fair enough! Tell me a little bit about being in the booth. How do you capture the tension of a given moment? When do you tacitly observe, and when do you get to imbue it with some epic gravitas?
- I try not to imbue it with too epic a gravitas! That would be going over-the-top, which I don't want to do, obviously. I see the footage before I go into the sound studio. There is a guide track, so I've seen the film, I've listened to the general tone of it, I've read the copy when I go into the sound stage. Then I'm working with Harry Marshall, who is the director, and we work together. But by the time I start, I know, more-or-less, what the storyline is. And, as you said right at the beginning of this conversation, these films are dramatized. The animals become characters. There is a very definite storyline. And the films are divided into acts. I know that there are particular points at the end of an act where, dramatically, you have to lift it a bit because you want to leave the audience wanting more. I try not to invest it with too much theatricality, because it detracts from what you're seeing on the screen. Do you understand what I mean by that?
Totally. You're not sensationalizing.
- Exactly.
We're such huge fans of yours at Screen Rant. I, personally, was terribly traumatized by your death in Alien 3.
- (Laughs) That kind of came as a bit of a shock, didn't it?
Yes! It's a relaxing moment, by the standards of that movie, which gets interrupted by the alien popping in from out of nowhere to rip your face apart. I know the legend is that David Fincher didn't have a great time on that set, but I think a lot of people have come around to the movie and accepted it, and even love and champion it.
- I would hope so. I mean, there was more on the page than what ended up on the screen. But you're dealing with a franchise. A lot of people are very protective of a franchise and feel they know the way it should go. It was Fincher's first film. I was really impressed, then, and that was 30 or so years ago. And I just finished shooting with Fincher again. I thought, then, he was a very clever guy. I think he's a genius, actually. He's a demanding genius, but I don't mind that, because the end result is a good movie. And the film I've just done with him, I think, is going to be sensational.
Oh, you're in the Citizen Kane one, Mank ?
-Yes.
Oh, okay, I interviewed someone else who was in that, and I'm very excited to see that. I don't know what to expect, to be honest. Could you give us a tease?
- It's a wonderful evocation of Hollywood in the 1930s. It's shot in black and white, and what Fincher was trying to do was to shoot it in the same kind of style that Orson Welles shot Citizen Kane. Ostensibly, it's a biographical film about Herman Mankiewicz, who wrote the screenplay for Citizen Kane, but never got the credit he should have had for it.
I can't wait to see that one. Maybe I'll get to talk to you again for it!
- Well, I certainly hope so!
Okay, last question. You're always on the cutting edge. You're not limited by medium. You do documentaries, you do TV, you do movies, you've done a few video games over the years, and you're a stage icon. Do you like being on that razor's edge of whatever's coming up next, is that what draws you to these diverse roles?
- I just like working, Zak! (Laughs) You know? And I'm very lucky. Actors living in London are lucky. Well, apart from this terrible situation we're in at the moment, we can move from theater to television to film to radio, you know, it's all confined here in one place. Whereas, if you're in L.A., you're a film actor. If you're in New York, you're a theater actor, and the two don't very often mix. But here, we kind of jump around and do lots of different things. That's the way I like it. Variety is the spice of life, Zak.
https://screenrant.com/savage-kingdom-charles-dance-interview/
director Tom Vaughan
What was it like working with Luke Treadaway, David Morrissey and Charles Dance?
One of the most important parts of my job as director is to pick the right actors to play the characters..... Charles – whom I’ve worked with before – was a joy and as charming as you might imagine. He cared deeply about his character Mr Webb and as a result made him into a wonderful presence with a deep resonance across the piece. All three were absolutely professional during their more physically challenging moments on screen, whether it was long humid night shoots for Luke, firefighting surrounded by water, smoke and flames for Charles or escaping a burning warehouse then falling into a knee-deep pool of whisky for David – and I don’t think it was real whisky
actor David Morrissey
You’d worked with Charles Dance before on a movie about Jacqueline du Pre?
- Yes, Hilary and Jackie. Part of me wanting to do this job was to work with him again. I’m a huge admirer of his work. I think he’s one of our great actors and he’s such a great man. He’s a really lovely person to work with. He’s very funny. He’s very bright. He’s someone you want to be around. As an actor I think he brings such a richness and professionalism to his job. We all know that he has this huge twinkle that he brings to his work and I love that.
