Depp/Burton DARK SHADOWS Is In Production!!

Apparently the defensive articles are popping up to combat all the negative ones. Here's one that dozens of people on Twitter have tweeted a link to:

Johnny Depp Was Born to Play 'Dark Shadows' Vamp (VIDEO)

It's also interesting that more people seem to be tweeting their support for the film. 

And while we're on the subject of the paparazzi pics, it would seem that with each passing hour it's much less likely that WB and/or Burton & Co. are going to make any sort of statement or release any sort of official photo/film clip. I mean, it's already been almost three days since the pics surfaced and there hasn't been a peep. And I'd suspect that if there isn't anything by the beginning of next week, it's not likely that anything will be released. And if it does turn out that way, I can't say that will surprise me all that much because responses are rarely issued in these sorts of situations. And as I laid out in one of my previous posts, depending on what category you fall closest to, you'll probably take from that what you will.  

237 days 11 hours 50 minutes 25 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

Maybe if Burton cast 86 year old Frid & Joan Bennett's skeleton as Barnabas & Liz it would make people happy?

Not gonna lie, I would pay to see that (probably not for the right reasons, though), maybe without the remains of the fabulous Joan Bennett, however.   

Being only an amateur filmmaker, I most certainly can't say I'm an expert in all of the ways that the film image can be manipulated in post-production. However, the stark contrast between Bella's and Johnny's skin tones in the photos is so striking that I cannot imagine what they would do to make him look anything less than unnatural.

Two possibilities that I can think of for the look of Barnabas here are:

1)  He's using a sunblock (I think this has already been mentioned by someone else).  At first I thought "Yeah, right"--but the more I thought about it, and considered the gloves and hat along with the makeup, it does seem reasonable.

2)  He's dressed up for a costume party.  He could be making fun of his resemblance to his "ancestor".  This would fit right in with the "funny" quality that so many people have ascribed to the screenplay.  (Although, Vicki doesn't seem to be too much into costume parties, then...)

Ooh--another idea!  Still with the costume party theme, but what we're seeing is in the 18th century, and it's Josette and Barnabas dressing as their future selves!   

I've heard that sun-screen with a ton of zinq in it is exceptionally effective.  I had a second thought regarding how he looks with all the white make up on.  It leaves his face with absolutely no character, no story-to-tell as it were.  If you compare the look to JF, you can see right away that his (JF) BC had a face that was interesting, it made me want to hear and see what his story was. JD's BC has a face that just looks freakish and doesn't even qualify as monstrous.  See how Victoria walks close to him as if she has some sort of a relationship going on with him?  It's just not believeable.  I'd just keep gulping and subconsciously holding back and trying to keep from gasping at the mere sight of him. Unless of course, somehow he won me over.

It could be the Beauty and the Beast scene.

It could be the Beauty and the Beast scene.

Now there's an idea!  How cool!  LOL!

I'm going to go with the sunblock angle.  I think that's what the hat, gloves, and sunglasses indicate.

i'm still not really sure what all the fuss is about. this is tim burton and johnny depp. and he is playing a vampire after all.

we've always known that this was going to be far out. this isn't 1991. this isn't ben cross. they're not going for generic soap opera sexiness.

i'm not really sure what "franchise" we're supposed to be protecting either. an old soap opera? some comic books? a few audiodramas?

DS is important to "us". we take it seriously. we care about it. but to the general public, if it's remembered at all, the word "campy" is what seems to get thrown around the most so this is par for the course. they remember the chromekey, bats on strings and blatant teleprompter readings. or they remember wigs, miniskirts and muttonchop sideburns.

for them it's lighthearted fun. they're not emotionally invested in barnabas and josette. so it seems like that's what the filmmakers are going for. lighthearted fun with a bit of scariness and drama. we're not getting our soap opera back. i think it's going to be fun and i'm looking forward to it.

and again, i'm sure this makes sense within the context of the film. as has been suggested barnabas is probably protecting himself from the sun. indoors or at night he doesn't wear sunglasses, gloves and a hat so i'm sure he looks much less strange for most of the film.

There are still negative tweets on Twitter - but more and more positive tweets are also showing up, particularly because of Chloe Moretz' recent remark that the film will be a lot like Sleepy Hollow.

236 days 12 hours 46 minutes 0 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

Of course it could be a costume party after all, and he's going as Michael Jackson. 

Just keep in mind that Depp said his Barnabas portrayal would be a tribute to J Frid, one of his childhood idols, and that KL Scott has said she was pleased by what she saw when she was on set.

I forgot to mention that last night I finally got around to watching my DVD of Let Me In. I was really quite impressed with Chloe Moretz (having only previously seen her when she was still quite young in The Amityville Horror, (500) Days of Summer and the TV show Dirty Sexy Money), and now I'm really looking forward to her take on Carolyn. And when I watched the extras I discovered that the film has another connection to DS because Andrew Clement, who did the makeup for the film, also handled the special makeup effects for the '04 DS pilot.

I also keep forgetting to mention that last week I finally watched my Blu-ray of Casino Royale. I was really quite impressed with Eva Green, too. And we should only be so lucky that she has as much chemistry with Depp as she did with Daniel Craig. And there's another DS connection in this movie, too - Ivana Milicevic, who played Angelique in the '04 DS pilot. Sadly though, the once and future Angeliques only shared one scene together, and they were so far in the background in the scene that posting a capture would be a waste of the forum's Web space because you wouldn't really be able to see them.  

It's funny how there are seemingly many connections between the Depp/DS film and the '04 DS pilot because, as was previously mentioned on the forum, Jessica Chastain and Chloe Moretz, the once and future Carolyns, will both be appearing in the upcoming film Texas Killing Fields.

236 days 11 hours 41 minutes 53 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

Gotta mention just how much I adored Let Me In.  'Tis easily on my list of "Top Ten Vampire Movies" and much of the credit goes to both underage leads.  Looking back on it now, Kodi Smitt McPhee's Owen made me thinks of the kind of childhood Barnabas is likely to have had--lonely, with an essentially absent father and a mother numbing herself with wine and religion.  And Chloe Grace Moretz as Abby made a vampire of incredible pathos.  Honestly, compared to her Barnabas might as well have been Lestat!

And Chloe Grace Moretz as Abby made a vampire of incredible pathos.  Honestly, compared to her Barnabas might as well have been Lestat!

This is very true.

It will be very interesting to see how much pathos Depp brings to Barn...

236 days 7 hours 48 minutes 49 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

WowUnicorns Ella watkins
Johnny depp was in my town today. I didn't see him. He is filming dark shadows near where I live.
5 hours ago

Unfortunately her profile doesn't say where she lives.

236 days 4 hours 59 minutes 8 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!