Award-Winning Director Shares Stories, Advice and 'Game of Thrones' Lore
By Charlie Woolsey '19
At first glance, Kenyon’s reputation as a small rural college doesn’t lend itself to the idea that it could attract visitation from celebrities, politicians or pop culture icons. Yet, since my freshman year (2015-2016), Kenyon has hosted the likes of Lance Bass, Bryan Stevenson, Taylor Schilling, Kate Mulgrew, Tim Caine and James Comey. Clearly, Kenyon has distinguished itself as a destination for prominent intellectuals and artists alike. The latest addition to this list is award-winning television director David Nutter P’ 20. Nutter offered a Q&A session about working in the entertainment industry, and spoke about his experience as a director of the world-renowned TV show, Game of Thrones. Nutter is also widely known for directing episodes of the X-Files, Band of Brothers and Supernatural among many other popular shows.
On a Wednesday evening in December, I joined fellow Kenyon students in the Kenyon Athletic Center theater, which quickly filled to capacity with eager Game of Thrones fans. The event kicked off with a showing of Nutter-directed Game of Thrones Season 5, Episode 9: “The Dance of Dragons.” When “The Dance of Dragons” finished, Nutter took the stage to answer our questions and to award posters to loyal viewers. Questions ranged from his directing style to more general inquiries about the production of Game of Thrones or Nutter’s previous work.
Nutter told us he most enjoys working on shows that include themes the audience can easily relate to, one of his favorites being the ‘origin story’ trope. He is particularly sought after for his work directing TV pilot episodes and has also served as a producer.
Many students were curious about the parts of Nutter’s job he finds most difficult. While Game of Thrones is Nutter’s favorite project to date, it has also been his biggest challenge. The popular Daznak Pit scene at the end of “The Dance of Dragons” serves as a perfect example of the magnificent, action-packed scenes Game of Thrones is known for, but it presented a major challenge for Nutter during its twelve-day filming. The Daznak Pit scene, which concludes the episode, involves a battle taking place in a multilevel Colosseum-type structure on a hot sunny day and features moments of dialogue as well as extensive combat. Nutter described how he ran the scene from multiple cameras while minimizing the amount of flat light (direct overhead sunlight) on the actors by moving them around the stadium as the sun changed angles throughout the day. Nutter told us that the scene was one of the most difficult he had ever shot, rivaling Episode 8 of The Pacific which covered the US attack on Iwo Jima in World War Two.
One of Nutter’s biggest challenges in filming Game of Thrones has been portraying the variety of climates in different regions of the fictional continents of Westeros and Essos. Nutter told us stories about filming Game of Thrones across Europe, including traversing dangerous snow covered mountain passes by car in Iceland.
“We were driving on a road where if you make one mistake, you’re dead. We went out to scout the area one day and the roads looked pretty clear so we made plans to drive the next day. When we returned there was 6 feet of snow on the ground,” Nutter told us. To Nutter, these harrowing experiences ultimately don’t come close to outweighing the opportunity to travel to such beautiful places, including Croatia, Spain and Ireland.
“It’s really an educational experience because you get to meet, work with and appreciate people from all over the world.”
David Nutter’s inside perspective on creating technically complex and emotionally riveting television was a master class for Kenyon students. From musings on how to tell a great story to recounts of worldwide adventures, it’s safe to say that Nutter’s visit left students feeling inspired to make their own mark on the industry.