‘Wolf Hall’ Director on How He Pulled off The Silent Scene That Relayed a Thousand Words

Wolf Hall director Peter Kosminsky selected this shot — which sees courtier Thomas Cromwell (Mark Rylance) and newly appointed Queen of England Jane Seymour (Kate Phillips) walking silently through a magnificent hall toward an uncertain meeting with King Henry VIII (Damian Lewis) — because of the immense technical and emotional challenges it posed.
“We need to help the audience understand the world of Tudor England 500 years ago, which is very unfamiliar to us,” he explains. “It’s a scene in which absolutely nothing is said. It’s all visual. [Seymour] has just had her first conjugal night with Henry VIII. Cromwell and Jane are in love and would have married if Henry VIII hadn’t intervened and stolen her for himself. That subtext has to be conveyed in this shot with no words.”
The lengthy shot involved “tracking backward with Steadicam, on a wide-angle lens, over a very uneven surface: an ancient monastery that predates the period depicted,” Kosminsky says. Camera operator Chris Reynolds had “to go backward up a steep staircase ahead of [the actors], which is not easy.”
The light pouring in from vaulted windows had to be controlled with the use of constructed boxes. “We could control the light in that space completely,” Kosminsky explains. “It was almost like a studio.”
Source: Hollywoodreporter
HiCelebNews online magazine publishes interesting content every day in the TV section of the entertainment category. Follow us to read the latest news.
Related Posts
- Blake Lively Can’t Refile Emotional Distress Claims Against Justin Baldoni, Court Rules
- Kneecap to Perform at 2025 Glastonbury Festival Despite Calls to Drop Band
- Kevin Costner Sued By ‘Horizon 2’ Stunt Performer Over Unscripted Rape Scene
- Josh Allen's Ex Brittany Williams Appears Unbothered in First Post Since His Wedding to Hailee Steinfeld
- CORE Founders Sean Penn and Ann Lee, John Legend to Be Honored at 2025 Social Impact Summit, Hosted by THR and Social Impact Fund