Depp/Burton DARK SHADOWS Is In Production!!

I was sort of just joking about Joe Haskell (though you never know!)   Love Perez!

More about Camelot (which is apparently just starting in England) and other things than it is about the Depp/DS film - but all of it is interesting - particularly when she discusses playing evil:

Eva Green interview: Playing evil

But one of the things we do learn with regard to the Depp/DS film is that the dialect coach I mentioned being added to the list of behind the scenes personnel and suspected may be helping the actors with a Maine accent may not be because the interview reveals that Green is working with a dialect coach to perfect an American accent. Though, of course, the dialect coach could be doing both.  

340 days 13 hours 3 minutes 13 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton DARK SHADOWS is released(ET)!!

2011 MTV Movie Awards -

Best Breakout Star: Chloe Grace Moretz

Biggest Badass Star: Chloe Grace Moretz
(Beating out Joseph Gordon-Levitt.)

She won two out of her three categories. Not bad.  

339 days 23 hours 31 minutes 45 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton DARK SHADOWS is released(ET)!!

Chloe Moretz to Fans: Thank You for Voting!

In the video she says she'd just gotten to set and wanted to make the video to thank her fans. One presumes the video wasn't actually shot on one of the DS sets but in some other area of Pinewood. But who knows...

339 days 12 hours 16 minutes 60 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton DARK SHADOWS is released(ET)!!

I was surprised to notice today that, despite the several dozen articles posted about the Depp/DS film last week, it actually fell down to #522 (from #397) on IMDb's MOVIEmeter.    But I guess the fact that the film won't be shot in 3D wasn't a subject to get people to look up the film on IMDb.


Changing reels, I've noticed that there's been a lot of speculation in other DS venues about how much time the Depp/DS film will/should spend in the past. Some are even saying that they think at least half of the film should be spent in the past fleshing out Barnabas, Angelique and Josette's (presuming Josette or a Josette-type character will indeed be seen in the flesh) relationship before the action even shifts to the present.

Going by WB's press release, it would appear that the plot will unfold in a linear fashion, meaning starting with 1752, jumping directly to 1772, and then jumping directly to 1972. Though that doesn't necessarily have to be the case. Events in the past could easily be told as flashbacks as needed within the present day plot - and that's actually a device that Burton has used in his past films, including Sleepy Hollow and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. But even if the plot is told in a completely linear fashion, I'm not so sure that a full half of the film should be devoted to the past or if that would be something Burton & Co. are even seriously considering. To me it seems more likely that the past events will be dealt with quickly but adequately enough to establish the backstory before the film's main story unfolds in the present of 1972. The vast majority of the known characters live in 1972, so I can't see them not being the main focus of the film.

What do others think? Would you like to see the story told in a completely linear fashion? Starting in the present but then featuring flashbacks to the past as needed? Or perhaps even through some combination of both where the barebones of the past are dealt with first and then fleshed out as needed through flashbacks once the plot shifts to the present? And how much of the film's time should be devoted to dealing with the past?

339 days 7 hours 23 minutes 53 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton DARK SHADOWS is released(ET)!!

Tons more "Collinwood" set photos have been posted on a Chloe Moretz' Web site!!
(At first I thought it was Chloe Moretz' own Web site - but her url is slightly different - plus they have bits of Collinwood's backstory wrong.    Apparently they haven't read the WB Press Release.)

'Collinwood' - Johnny Depp's Dark Shadows set Under Construction

I have to say I'm loving what I'm seeing!  

339 days 7 hours 12 minutes 37 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton DARK SHADOWS is released(ET)!!

Gosh. It looks as if they're making a copy of the Collinwood facade out in the middle of the woods.

It seems strange that they would bother to spend the money to do this in this age of CGI.  Interesting.

Thanks for the link, MB.

G.

Oh wow, love all these new pix!  It's starting to really look like something.  Love the fencing/railing touches.  Gothik, even though Tim uses CGI, he really doesn't like it, and much prefers for there to be something "real" for the actors to look at and be in while they're acting.  That's why it was so weird that Alice In Wonderland was nearly all CGI, though of course much of it had to be 

MB, I'm not a screenplay writer and could never imagine how difficult it must be to incorporate all the story elements and still have it flow nicely for a ~2 hr. film.  That said, I'm hoping that the majority of the film will take place in the present.  The back story is necessary and I hope they don't just gloss over it, but I fear that too much time in the past could bog down the story.  They need to explain the past, but the story has to move forward in the present, IMHO.  I think that I would also prefer for the past to be shown in a series of flashbacks, revealing more and more of what happened in the past as it goes along.  But a linear timeline could be great too, as long as it's not told too dryly.  Agh, if only we knew!  But have less than a year before we know!

Cathy

Thanks for the link MB--you are living up to at least half of your name! I'm glad it's not going to be all CGI.

I am thoroughly interested in seeing what that facade is going to look like.  It's really hard to tell with that new "porch" element.  Without that, it really resembled the Carey Mansion, except with the main entrance at the base of the tower.  It still very much resembles it and there are striking similarities in window size and placement, as well as the length of the wings.  I guess we will have to see what the CGI top of the house will look like before we can make any more judgments, and that probably won't happen until after the film is shot.  The paint scheme will give us some insight, though.  I am anxious to see new developments in this beautiful looking "mansion". 

As for the sceenplay, I'd imagine that the backstory, or at least the first part of it, will take place before the full opening credits.  [spoiler]The Collinses will be leaving England on their ship and once they arrive in America[/spoiler], we will most likely see the very familiar shot of the waves below the cliffs of Widows Hill.  After said shot, we will probably be introduced to Collinwood under the reign of [spoiler]Barnabas Collins[/spoiler], leading up to the curse and entombment.  All in all, I imagine it will be VERY short in comparison to the present day story.  You may see flashbacks to the present throughout, as was suggested before, but the initial trip to the past shouldn't extend much beyond 10 minutes, imo.  Our main characters would appear to be Barnabas and Angelique, and that is who most of the attention in the past will be devoted to (at the beginning).  Josette will probably play a part in the initial backstory, but, we will probably hear most of her tale fleshed out when Barnabas meets Victoria. 

It seems strange that they would bother to spend the money to do this in this age of CGI.  Interesting.

This set construction seems geared specifically to the age of CGI.  Notice the blue band at the top of the facade.  That would indicate that everything above the first floor will be CGI.  I'm sure that Collinwood won't be "Gothic Ranch" style!    To create the entire facade in CGI would require that the actors perform all of the scenes involving the Collinwood exterior on a bluescreen (or greenscreen) stage; that creates more challenges for the actors, and would end up not looking as realistic as actually filming on a physical set.  Doing it this way, they're really getting the most bang for the buck.

Wonderful photos. Thanks for the link MB!

i think speculation that half or more of the film will be set in the past is just wishful thinking on the part of 1795 devotees...

given the plot outline and casting information we've received it appears that the story will largely be set in 1972 after the initial setup. there's been no word on casting for joshua and naomi leading me to believe that they will be minor parts and not portrayed by any of the "present time" actors. we also haven't heard anything about significant 1795(or, for these purposes, 1792)players like jeremiah and ben stokes. all of the major casting information has been about the 1972 characters.

my feeling is that the piece will be primarily set in 1972.

^^^ all good points mscbryk, I agree with what you say (other than Thomas McDonnell's casting- he's in the scenes from the past but he's the only major cast member we know about so far who is. Bear in mind, though, that McDonnell says these scenes will be filmed last, so it's possible we'll hear more casting info between now and then).

On another note, here are some more set pix, apparently taken earlier today:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26286848@N02/5808760898/in/photostream/

Edit- or to view as a slideshow, http://www.flickr.com/photos/26286848@N02/sets/72157626907839600/show/

(click the slide show to see additional pix)

The more details they add and the more staging they take away, the more there is to love!    Thanks so much for the link, madscntst.  

Yesterday I was wondering why there was only framing above the left wing. But now that they've added framing to other areas of the set, I'm thinking the framing above the blue is there so that they can extend the blue for the CGI completion of Collinwood.

Yesterday I was also thinking that because of those triangles above the entranceway, perhaps it was going to have a vaulted ceiling. But it doesn't seem that way now, particularly because they've added those diamond shapes, They have me really intrigued to see what they have planned for that roof!

One thing that does seem odd, though, is that it appears as if the main entrance is the only door in what we can see of the house.  

338 days 8 hours 26 minutes 12 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton DARK SHADOWS is released(ET)!!