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Messages - Philippe Cordier

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766
Current Talk '04 I / Re:My Dream Collinwood (or would we really want "purely American" 1790s archit
« on: March 21, 2004, 08:48:39 AM »
A bit of an aside regarding the use of digitizing effects, etc.

Although the advances in technology have brought many new possibilities to today's filmmaking one does feel a sense of loss in realism too.

That thought comes to mind now because I've been re-watching the 1967 Bondarchuk film of "War and Peace," where attention to detail and realism reached its zenith in a manner that will never be done again.  Filming took five years and in today's costs would be over 1 billion dollars.  Recreate a battle with 120,000 soldiers?  Bondarchek GOT 120,000 Russian soldiers, and every uniform was custom made down to the buttons; real artillery was used, the battle was recreated from the historical records, and filming was on the actual battlefield location.  A bean field was replaced with a wheat field because the original field was a wheat field.

That kind of realism can never be replicated by digitization, FX, what have you.

I know, I know, we're talking TV budgets and so back to the reality of today's TV production ...


767
Current Talk '04 I / Re:My Dream Collinwood (or would we really want "purely American" 1790s archit
« on: March 21, 2004, 08:05:00 AM »
I felt sure that the much of the lush foliage (and manicured grounds) as well as the intensity of the direct sunlight contributed to my sense of a California feeling to the 91 series.  VictoriaWinter's mention of eucalyptus trees on the estate, Connie's observance of the ferns, and Stuart's reference to California's sunshine reinforce those impressions.

I also felt that both the exterior and interior sets of Collinwood didn't ring true to the Maine setting but I don't have any more specifics on that other than general impression.

Now, I love California and I don't mean to be hypercritical.   I know the show is a fantasy, but a little more grounding in reality for locations and sets would be a plus for me as a viewer.

Sometimes even on-location shooting doesn't produce the desired result.  For example I was an extra in "Untamed Heart," filmed in Minnesota.  There was a scene that was supposed to be winter when Christian Slater was selling Christmas trees.  I think the producers thought that Minnesota must always be cold and icy, but that scene was filmed in the fall and Slater is clearly sweating in the hot sunlight with his stocking cap.

768
Current Talk '04 I / Re:My Dream Collinwood (or would we really want "purely American" 1790s archit
« on: March 19, 2004, 05:25:37 PM »
Quote from: onyx_treasure on March 16, 2004, 07:15:57 PM
     I love MB's idea of an ancient house being re-built.  The old houses I have seen here in Maine are simple colonials with clapboards and shutters(very no frills in keeping with its puritan roots)  Architecture in Maine didn't get interesting until the Victorian era. 

So some fantasy and dreaming will be necessary, if there really were no houses like Collinwood dating from that era in Maine.  At least if it's a real looking house in a realistic setting that could at least pass for Maine, we can probably then be happy.  In other words, no miniatures with tiny fake shrubbery and fake lightning showing up the miniature's artificialness in the opening credits!  No palm trees in the background or even less obvious evidences of California (as some scenes in the 1991 series).

I suppose that's asking for a lot if the show must be filmed in California.  Canada has been such a popular location for films in the past few years, and filming somewhere there would no doubt look much more like the Maine woods ... but filming there would be unlikely.  I watched "Dolores Claiburne" (sp) again recently and the location filming (in Nova Scotia, I think) was beautiful. Would be curious how similar that was to Maine.  Was surprised watching the new version of "Dangerous Liaisons" this week at some of the scenery that was supposed to be the south of France -- it was gorgeous, but it didn't look like France to me (not that I've seen all of France).  Turns out much of it was filmed in Scotland, as well as Montreal!


769
Current Talk '04 I / Re:Fan Article
« on: March 19, 2004, 05:08:17 PM »
I'm glad you called our attention to this.  There's a lot to read on the BarnabasUndead site.  I hadn't paid any attention to it since the initial "plot synopsis", which sounded like nothing more than a summary from the old show.  But the site seems to be gaining credibility.  No Maggie Evans??  I guess it IS better if the new series is original and not just a rehash of the original.  I haven't read Stuart's article yet but read the casting recommendations.  I was convinced by so many of them (particulary actors/actresses I wasn't familiar with).  KLS's comments were a hoot! ;D


770
Current Talk '24 I / Re:WB ORDERS FILMING OF NEW DS PILOT
« on: March 19, 2004, 01:49:19 AM »
Quote from: Mysterious Benefactor on March 18, 2004, 10:01:11 PM
So, not only won't Shelton be doing double-duty, but hair color speculation is definitely back in play.  ;)

This doesn't mean, though, that Ms. Shelton is done with her filming for "Sin City," does it?  Just that it won't conflict with filming the DS pilot next week (supposedly)?  But that still leaves additional DS episodes to film potentially during the remainder of her work on "Sin City"?


771
Current Talk '04 I / Re:My Dream Collinwood (or would we really want "purely American" 1790s archit
« on: March 17, 2004, 12:53:35 AM »
Absolutely fascinating thread!

I'm looking forward to studying the information here more closely ... I had questioned the authenticity of the traditional Collinwood house (both Seaview Terrace and Lyndhurst) for late 1700s Maine, of course, but hadn't looked into it beyond that.  I've also wondered if the Spratt House (?) - Old House - might not be somewhat closer a possibility for the time period.

772
Current Talk '24 I / Re:WB ORDERS FILMING OF NEW DS PILOT
« on: March 16, 2004, 09:18:44 AM »
Quote from: Mark Rainey on March 15, 2004, 11:16:22 PM
Quote
For instance, I always thought it would have added extra dimension to have had Angelique played by a dark skinned actress with a Caribbean flair to her.

This would indeed be interesting. At least one of the Ross Dark Shadows novels (I believe it was The Foe of Barnabas Collins) described Angelique exactly this way. I imagine it was written directly from the original character treatment, before Lara Parker would have been cast.

In "Angelique's Descent," Lara Parker says that Angelique is part black, doesn't she?  That her mother was either half or one-quarter black?

I was rather surprised at that given Ms. Parker's very fair looks.

It would be interesting if this time around Victoria is a blonde and Angelique dark-haired (a la Cassandra).  Guess we need to be prepared to have our preconceptions shaken up, and maybe for the better unless we want another retread of the 1991 series.


773
Current Talk '04 I / Re:Was Joan Bennett A Natural Blonde?
« on: March 16, 2004, 09:10:28 AM »
Quote from: Luciaphil on March 16, 2004, 01:10:32 AM

There are two pictures of her and her sisters when they were children in her autobiography. In the earlier one, they are all blondes (but then little kids sometimes start out with lighter hair). In the next, which features her running hand and hand with Barbara and Constance, their hair is clearly darker.

Thanks for all your efforts in trying to answer this burning question ...  It does seem that only heavy documentation from photographs would provide a definitive answer, especially of her teenage years and early 20s.  It's true that hair color can change quite dramatically from childhood.  (Mine was the color of straw, bleaching to the color of white sand in summers, until I reached adolescence.  You'd never believe it now, though.  At one point in my post-college years, my own grandmother, whom I hadn't seen for quite some time, thought I was dying my hair dark because the color was darkening so dramatically!)

Quote
I'm sure Gothick is right. She probably lightened it in the 30s. Most actresses did.

From what you've uncovered, it seems LIKELY that her hair was a lighter, softer color when she was young, but she went platinum chemically at the beginning of her Hollywood career.  The dark hair of her later years appeared very natural, so it does come as a surprise to me that she may have been coloring it darker than her natural color for the rest of her life (at least that is what she herself implies).

Now ... Lara Parker ... Nancy Barrett ... with their fair complexions I assume they are natural blondes??? Or at least fairly light haired.


774
Current Talk '04 I / Re:Was Joan Bennett A Natural Blonde?
« on: March 16, 2004, 12:20:28 AM »
Quote from: Luciaphil on March 15, 2004, 11:46:50 PM
Quote from: Gothick on March 15, 2004, 10:49:20 PM
Well, Joan always described herself as being blonde in her early years.  I have no doubt that she had help from beauty products in the films in which she appeared as a blonde--this was the 1930s when artifice ruled.

Agreed. Hence my qualification of "how blonde, I'm not sure"  ;)

I'm really becoming fascinated with the blonde vs. brunette issues being raised here.  (Or it might be that I'm avoiding doing work that is more pressing ... )  ;D

Anyway, I did a quick search on google and everything seemed to say that Joan Bennett started her career as a blonde, that she had to dye her naturally blonde hair dark for a role and her career then took off so she continued dying it dark ... of course, actresses are notoriously inaccurate in self-reporting these things, keep in mind.   ;)

However, if you read the article from a '60s era star magazine (link below) closely, it is implied that Ms. Bennett descended on Hollywood as a platinum blonde because that was the "in" look ....  ("so what else could she do? But not for long") ... although this could be read more than one way.

 >:D

http://members.aol.com/jonathanfrid/noon3.html

One of the photos in the article shows her with Charles Boyer ("on a long ago evening") where to me her hair looks a more natural color, possibly a chestnut or light brown.


775
Current Talk '04 I / Re:Was Joan Bennett A Natural Blonde?
« on: March 15, 2004, 10:27:31 PM »
Quote from: Luciaphil on March 15, 2004, 10:20:02 PM
actually, according to everything I've read, she began as a blonde (how blonde, I'm not sure). Most of the parts she got were ingenue, simpering heroine type roles (in contrast to her sister Constance who was quite successful w/blonde locks).

For the film []iTrade Winds[/i], her character had to don a brunette wig--she was a fugitive from justice being chased by Frederic March. The wig brought out a hitherto unnoticed resemblance to Hedy Lamarr. The film and the wig also resulted in her receiving better roles and scripts, so she opted to dye it.

Hmm ... well, you've read the book so you must be right.  I don't remember where I thought I read that she had dyed it blonde for a couple of early films ... which seemed to be born out by the photos.  To me the blonde looked very unnatural, but then what do I know about women's haircolor!


776
Current Talk '04 I / Was Joan Bennett A Natural Blonde?
« on: March 15, 2004, 10:07:58 PM »
Quote from: Mysterious Benefactor on March 15, 2004, 08:24:29 PM
they could even cast Liz as a blonde (though, if memory serves me correctly (and I'm sure our resident Bennett expert, Luciphil, will correct me if I'm wrong), wasn't Joan Bennett a natural blonde who dyed her hair darker in order to get better roles in Hollywood?).

I hope Luciaphil won't mind my jumping in here   >:D as long as I'm writing ... I believe Joan Bennett's hair was naturally a dark brunette.  Very early in her Hollywood career they tried her as a blonde.  IMO it didn't work (having seen some publicity stills in our film archive).

777
Current Talk '24 I / Re:WB ORDERS FILMING OF NEW DS PILOT
« on: March 15, 2004, 10:07:58 PM »
Quote from: Mysterious Benefactor on March 15, 2004, 08:24:29 PM

So, unless Shelton's participation in the film has somehow changed and I just haven't come across that bit of news yet, apparently it looks like Shelton will be doing double-duty, acting in both "Sin City" and the DS pilot because, according to an article that was posted on Variety's Web site yesterday, the film is already in production in Austin.

That doesn't sound easy -- especially when the role of Victoria Winters is a major one.

778
Current Talk '24 I / Re:WB ORDERS FILMING OF NEW DS PILOT
« on: March 15, 2004, 10:22:46 AM »
I'm wondering what location will be used for the Collinwood exteriors.  The previous one (1991) just screamed "California" -- I had a hard time with the show for that reason alone.  Couldn't say the interiors were my idea of a mansion in Maine, but then I haven't been in a mansion in Maine.

And please don't let them make a Collinwood miniature for the opening credits -- that godawful fake creation for the 1991 series was so tacky, please, God ...


779
Current Talk '24 I / Re:WB ORDERS FILMING OF NEW DS PILOT
« on: March 13, 2004, 06:54:49 AM »
Looks like my impatience over the lack of casting information was rewarded (?) within hours of my late-night post on Thurs/Fri.  ;D

Quote from: Maria_Merriweather on March 12, 2004, 06:16:44 PM
Maybe I just have DS on the brain but she bears a resemblance to Lara Parker. I hope she colors her hair brown. Trying to keep an open mind until I see the new show. 8)

Maria, it's not just you.  I immediately thought of Lara Parker with my first glance of the first photo of Ms. Shelton posted in this thread.  That impression was reinforced with the second photo posted.

I really don't see any resemblance to Nancy Barrett.  Like Ms. Parker, the young actress has very large eyes, rather a cute-little-button nose, and a full mouth and lips similarly shaped.  This reminds me of a book I read once on beauty that described what is generally deemed universally beautiful in a woman's face, and the attributes included slightly babyish, childlike quality of features (the large eyes, etc.), such as Marilyn Monroe epitomized.

Also worth noting is the mention of the replacement director for the pilot episode.  What fantastic news that a director of this stature will be onboard to get the new series off and running.  I've wanted to see the new Peter Pan, and although I haven't, I was impressed with the qualities I saw in an extended preview of it, especially the vivid visual, magical look of the new film, and also the sensual quality of Wendy's awakening and the pagan underpinnings of "the Pan" ... it looked like a layer of sophistication beneath the surface of the timeless children's story.

780
Current Talk '24 I / Re:WB ORDERS FILMING OF NEW DS PILOT
« on: March 12, 2004, 05:00:28 AM »
Quote from: Mysterious Benefactor on February 20, 2004, 01:11:58 AM
Well, the '91 DS pilot didn't begin shooting until March 19, 1990, and the first casting news (published in USA Today) didn't start filtering out until just four days before that on the 15th. And if we can believe the info on the My Entertainment World Web site, the WB DS pilot isn't slated to begin production until sometime this March.

It was actually May 1990 before ShadowGram reported the complete '91 cast and publicity photos of some cast members began to surface. Of course, that was before the Internet was as popular as it is today. So, somehow I'm sure we'll be hearing something long before May, and I doubt anyone is actually trying to keep any casting news a "big secret."  ;)

It's been almost a month since this was posted ("filming to start any day").  Why haven't we heard anything about the cast?

If any original cast members were to appear, surely we'd have heard something about that by now ...

Waiting impatiently, since that's all one can do ...

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