Draft 2 PhD Introduction - ResearchSpace@Auckland

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Ward’s intention was not, however, to achieve historical authenticity but as he said in
an interview about the film, to try to find as much information as possible, and then
treat it creatively.
In actual fact, the houses in the village would be much more likely to be stone-
built for warmth. You wouldn’t have a wooden house like I’ve got, where you
can see light through the slats, it would be stupid. But I went into this quite
consciously […]. It’s also arguable whether there would be coffins on a lake,
for sanitation reasons, but that suited me, that was the image I had in mind. 733
These provide good examples of Ward’s tendency to passionately research details but
then to consciously sacrifice authenticity where necessary to achieve a striking image.
He justifies this on the basis that: “I had sufficient material that was verifiable, and
more importantly it felt right, given that one’s doing a fictional film”. 734
The way medieval working men spoke and the accent of Celtic medieval English was
also researched and several accent coaches worked with the actors at various stages of
filming to produce an authentic pronunciation. Ward had decided to use a West
Cumbrian accent because it “has a country rhythm and expresses a medieval feeling”. 735
The problem with this accent was that it was particularly difficult for people to learn –
even more so because of the range of nationalities in the cast, which included New
Zealanders, Australians and an American. Another problem was that, done incorrectly,
it could sound Scottish, which could defeat the purpose of Ward’s choosing the West
Cumbrian accent so that “audiences would have no preconceptions about it”. 736
Elizabeth McRae, who had been the voice tutor on Vigil, was approached by Ward and
asked if she would work with the actors, after the breakdown in the initial funding for
the film prevented the English voice coach that Ward had initially approached from
coming to New Zealand. This coach did, however, send McRae a tape with Cumbrian
accents on it. McRae did a great deal of “phonetic work” with the actors, particularly
the American, Bruce Lyons (as Connor), who needed to lose his American accent
before being able to produce an authentic West Cumbrian accent. Ward envisaged that
Noel Appleby (as Ulf) would be in particular need of voice tutoring, but as it happened,
733 Campbell and Bilbrough, "A Dialogue with Discrepancy: Vincent Ward Discusses the Navigator," 11.
734 Campbell and Bilbrough, "A Dialogue with Discrepancy: Vincent Ward Discusses the Navigator," 11.
735 Timothy O'Brien, "Success Is Being a Good Liar," The Dominion 1 February 1989: 12.
736 O'Brien, "Success Is Being a Good Liar," 12.