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| − | '''Alex Graves''' is an American producer and director for film and television. He is best known for his work on the ''[[wikipedia:The West Wing (TV series)|The West Wing]]'', which he worked on as a director, producer and eventually an executive producer |
+ | '''Alex Graves''' is an American producer and director for film and television. He is best known for his work on the ''[[wikipedia:The West Wing (TV series)|The West Wing]]'', which he worked on as a director, producer and eventually an executive producer, winning two [[wikipedia:Primetime Emmy Award|Emmy Awards]] for his work on that series. He has also worked on ''[[wikipedia:Ally MacBeal|Ally MacBeal]]'', ''[[wikipedia:Fringe (TV series)|Fringe]]'' and ''[[wikipedia:Terra Nova (TV series)|Terra Nova]]''. |
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Graves directed four episodes in [[Season 4]], more than any other director. His daily routine for about 100 days during the Season 4 shooting season was to go to wake up at 5 a.m. to get to the set, return to his hotel at 7 p.m., then work there on planning until 2 a.m., catch three hours of sleep, then wake up again at 5 a.m.<ref>[http://www.denofgeek.us/tv/game-of-thrones/243771/67-things-you-didnt-know-about-game-of-thrones-season-4 ]</ref> |
Graves directed four episodes in [[Season 4]], more than any other director. His daily routine for about 100 days during the Season 4 shooting season was to go to wake up at 5 a.m. to get to the set, return to his hotel at 7 p.m., then work there on planning until 2 a.m., catch three hours of sleep, then wake up again at 5 a.m.<ref>[http://www.denofgeek.us/tv/game-of-thrones/243771/67-things-you-didnt-know-about-game-of-thrones-season-4 ]</ref> |
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| − | ==The Jaime/Cersei sex scene in "Breaker of Chains"== |
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| − | In Season 4's "[[Breaker of Chains]]", [[Cersei Lannister|Cersei]] and [[Jaime Lannister|Jaime]] have sex in front of their dead son Joffrey's corpse. In the novels, this is the first time Cersei sees Jaime after he returns to King's Landing, and they are both consumed by grief over the loss of their child and having sex to feel better/mourn. In the TV episode's version, which Graves directed, ''unanimously'' every major professional television review outlet and film critic thought that Jaime was outright raping Cersei. The writers and actors have in various interviews stated that this was not their intention - Jaime and Cersei have always had violent, rough sex (back in Season 1). Speaking at the FanX panel in Salt Lake City (January 2015), both [[Lena Headey]] (Cersei) and [[Nikolaj Coster-Waldau]] (Jaime) said that as they ''performed'' the scene, they both thought that Jaime and Cersei were having consensual sex. Nikolaj said "I didn't see it as rape", and Headey said she didn't either: "That sense of loss and not being able to stem your grief. Like Nick said, they've had this long history and it was a moment where she needed him, that's how I was playing it."<ref>[http://www.sltrib.com/entertainment/2124983-155/fanx-lena-headey-nikolaj-coster-waldau ]</ref> |
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| − | In the week after the episode aired (on April 20, 2014), Graves gave several interviews in which he gave waffling and contradicting remarks about his intentions with the scene.<ref>[http://www.themarysue.com/game-of-thrones-rape-controversy-grrm/ ]</ref> In an interview with ''Vulture'', Graves stressed that the sex was "consensual" - but Graves then seemed to try to shift blame onto the writers [[David Benioff]] and [[Dan Weiss]], saying to ''Vulture'' they made it more "complicated", as if to tacitly admit that it seemed like Jaime was raping Cersei: "She’s sort of cajoled into it, and it is consensual. Ultimately, it was meant to be consensual - [The writers] tried to complicate it a little more with her rejecting his new hand and the state of things."<ref>[http://www.vulture.com/2014/04/game-of-thrones-director-on-the-rape-sex-scene.html ]</ref> However, within ''the same'' interview with ''Vulture'', a few paragraphs up, Graves stated that the writers had no particular input on the scene, did not insist on changes, and left the filming of it entirely to his discretion: |
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| − | :Question: "What kinds of things did you talk about with the showrunners in terms of how to play the sex scene between Jaime and Cersei, and why was it changed from how Martin had written it in the book? |
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| − | :Graves: "'''There wasn't a lot of talk about it, to be honest.''' Everybody knew and then confirmed with each other this is a sort of animalistic, desperate escape moment in the middle of a tragedy that is twisted enough that only Jaime and Cersei could pull it off. That was all that was really discussed besides laying out the scene physically, and what would and wouldn't happen in terms of protecting the actors."<ref>[http://www.vulture.com/2014/04/game-of-thrones-director-on-the-rape-sex-scene.html ]</ref> |
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| − | In an interview from ''HitFix'' from the same week, Graves described the consentual nature of the Jaime/Cersei sex scene by saying that "'''Well, it becomes consensual by the end''', because anything for them ultimately results in a turn-on, especially a power struggle." Graves finished by stating his pride in the direction he used on the camerawork in the scene, saying: "That's one of my favorite scenes I've ever done."<ref>[http://www.hitfix.com/whats-alan-watching/review-game-of-thrones-breaker-of-chains-uncle-deadly ]</ref> It isn't clear from this if Graves specifically meant that Jaime was nonconsentually penetrating Cersei at first but ''during'' that she started consenting to it: ''TheMarySue.com'' criticized this (if it was indeed what he meant) as the height of rape-culture mentality and utterly devoid of any comprehension of contemporary definitions of sexual assault.<ref>[http://www.themarysue.com/game-of-thrones-rape-controversy-grrm/ }</ref> Graves, however, did go on to say in in ''Vulture'' that "The consensual part of it was that she wraps her legs around him, and she’s holding on to the table, clearly not to escape but to get some grounding in what’s going on. And also, the other thing that I think is clear before they hit the ground is she starts to make out with him. The big things to us that were so important, and that hopefully were not missed, is that before he rips her undergarment, she’s way into kissing him back. She’s kissing him aplenty.<ref>[http://www.vulture.com/2014/04/game-of-thrones-director-on-the-rape-sex-scene.html ]</ref> Thus, apparently Graves meant "by the end it was consensual" in the sense that "by the end of Jaime's cajoling, when they continue kissing yet before he has engaged in sex with her she has relented", etc. Headey and Coster-Waldau stressed that Cersei was saying "No" and "It isn't right" purely in the sense that she was afraid that they would get caught if they had sex in such a public place. Graves also stated that his intention was that the fleeting glimpse at the very end of Cersei grasping the burial shroud on the table was supposed to be a non-verbal clue that Cersei was actually being pleasured by sex with Jaime - even though, as critics pointed out, Cersei is still only verbally saying "no", and many viewers interpreted the ambiguous image of Cersei clenching the cloth as clenching it ''in pain and terror'' from sexual assault.<ref>[http://www.themarysue.com/game-of-thrones-rape-controversy-grrm/ ]</ref> |
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| − | Vacillating again on his exact intention with the camera direction in the scene, that same week Graves gave yet another interview to ''TheHollyWoodReporter.com'' in which he described it as "forced sex", not consensual: "I'm never that excited about going to film forced sex". Graves also bluntly described the scene as Jaime "raping" Cersei, in as many words: "and then Jaime comes in and he rapes her".<ref>[http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/game-thrones-director-controversial-scene-697733 ]</ref> |
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| − | In summary, the actors involved stated that they were not told to play it as a rape scene (by either the writers' script or stage direction), and played it as consensual sex. Graves himself said that the writers gave him no particular instructions to alter the scene from how it played in the novels, and that its filming was largely left to his own discretion (until, it would seem, shooting had wrapped and it was too late to change it upon review). Within the same interview with ''Vulture'', Graves alternatively said that the scene was "consensual", or that the writers had attempted to make it "complicated", or also (paradoxically) that the writers actually gave him no specific instructions on how to film the scene and left it to his discretion. Neither the actors or apparently the writers thought that Jaime was "raping" Cersei, and thus this isn't what "actually" happened (despite Graves's confusing camerawork). Nor did the actors and writers seem aware that Graves's camera-direction was going to frame the finished footage in such a way as to make it look "darker and edgier", leading virtually every major critic and review outlet to construe it as a rape scene. |
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| − | ==The Season 4 finale== |
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| − | Graves made several disconcerting remarks in the Blu-ray commentary for the Season 4 finale, "[[The Children]]", particularly stemming from the removal of any mention of [[Tysha]], Tyrion's first wife. In the novels, Jaime is wracked by guilt when he frees Tyrion from the dungeon and confesses that Tysha ''was not'' a whore but really a girl who fell in love with him, and their father had her gang-raped to punish him for marrying a commoner - then forced Jaime to lie about it to Tyrion, tricking him into thinking Tysha was just a whore who never loved him and it was all a ploy. On learning this, Tyrion is furious, and when he meets [[Varys]] he demands that he show him the secret tunnel back into the [[Tower of the Hand]] to confront his father. Tyrion demands to know where Tysha is, and Tywin confirms that he never harmed her, but doesn't know where she went. When Tyrion firmly asks again where she is, Tywin flippantly responds "Wherever whores go" - and Tyrion shoots him dead in response. |
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| − | Graves's handling of the Season 4 finale omitted any mention of Tysha. He also introduced several plot holes: Tyrion seemingly wanders back to the Tower of the Hand for no reason other than plot elements falling into place, and with no explanation of how he knew which tunnel to take (though arguably, Varys did show him a map of the tunnels back in Season 2). |
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| − | Graves's Blu-ray commentary track for the Season 4 finale included remarks such as: |
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| − | *Graves addresses the accusations of a plot hole about how Tyrion would know which tunnel to take by claiming that Tyrion knew his way through the secret tunnels of the [[Red Keep]] because he "grew up there" -- when in fact, as a member of [[House Lannister]], Tyrion grew up at [[Casterly Rock]] in [[The Westerlands|the Westerlands]]. The TV series itself has also repeatedly mentioned that Tyrion grew up in Casterly Rock. |
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| − | *Graves refers to Tysha as "Tyrion's first wife that died" -- when Tysha is in fact alive and well in the novels, though neither Tyrion nor Tywin know where she is. Tywin explicitly said he made no attempt to harm the girl, and there was never any indication even in the TV series that she was dead. |
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| − | *'''It was actually Alex Graves himself who actively pushed to remove any mention of Tysha in the Season 4 finale, and he was the driving force behind removing any mention of Tysha as the main reason why Tyrion kills his father.''' He felt it would be too confusing and that viewers wouldn't remember Tyrion's explanation about Tysha from Season 1 (a pivotal scene that arguably helped earn Peter Dinklage's Emmy Award that season), and that they wouldn't remember subsequent points when Tysha was mentioned at least once in every subsequent season. He didn't want to have the final confrontation between Tyrion and Jaime from the books (after learning the truth Tyrion angrily stalks away and promises revenge, then goes to find Tywin). Graves just wanted the two to kiss goodbye<ref>http://www.reddit.com/r/asoiaf/comments/2xcjk1/spoilers_all_roundup_of_weird_comments_by_alex/</ref> |
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| − | Regarding the controversies surrounding Graves in Season 4, reviewer Jack Doyle remarked, "For Mr. Graves to have so much say over what happens with the plot and how these amazing characters are depicted on screen, while he completely disregards and ''outright mocks'' the books is more than simply stupid - it is offensive."<ref>[http://angrygotfan.com/2015/02/28/alex-graves-is/ ]</ref> |
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==Series credits== |
==Series credits== |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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*{{WP}} |
*{{WP}} |
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*{{Template:IMDb |
*{{Template:IMDb |
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|# = 0336241}} |
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==References== |
==References== |
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Revision as of 12:40, 23 March 2015
Alex Graves is an American producer and director for film and television. He is best known for his work on the The West Wing, which he worked on as a director, producer and eventually an executive producer, winning two Emmy Awards for his work on that series. He has also worked on Ally MacBeal, Fringe and Terra Nova.
On Game of Thrones
For Game of Thrones, Graves works as a director starting in the third season.[1]
Graves directed four episodes in Season 4, more than any other director. His daily routine for about 100 days during the Season 4 shooting season was to go to wake up at 5 a.m. to get to the set, return to his hotel at 7 p.m., then work there on planning until 2 a.m., catch three hours of sleep, then wake up again at 5 a.m.[2]
Alex Graves is not returning as a director in Season 5.[3]
Series credits
Director
Template:Season three credits Template:Season four credits
