And Yet Another New Slideshow

[michael c]

I really might have to upgrade to blueray just to catch these scenes...


g I was just saying the other day that one of my favorite scenes in the film was the introductory dining room scene...before the gruesome twosome even shows up. another would be the "a vampire!" scene with julia and liz in the drawing room. again, sans vampire or witch.


which isn't to say depp and green didn't bring a lot of distinction to their roles. it's just that it all goes into maximum overdrive when they're onscreen. especially together.



for me the essence of the whole thing is this eccentric group of people living in this falling down mansion in maine. not monsters. I could take or leave that element of it or at least appreciate it in some moderation. and when it gets too far out(think late 1968)it starts to derail for me. that's why I found the film's final cacophonous scene("i'm a werewolf...WOOF".)so off putting. for me that's the worst of DS storytelling. not the best.


in terms of the OS i always enjoy the character driven periods and storylines just touched by supernatural elements...a ghost here, a vampire there...rather than having them hit me over the head with a sledgehammer and driving the entire plot into the nonsensical. i appreciate those moments in the film as well. i definitely wanted more of liz, julia, roger and vicki. the above scene typifies that.

[tragic bat]

 I watched most or all of those deleted scenes on youtube back when the bluray had just come out (the clips were on one of the DS blogs too.)  They were great character moments, and I think we needed about another hour of them to justify the explosive finale.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

If you haven't seen the entire deleted scene, it may seem as if Elizabeth's quote for today -

[spoiler]1972 (Deleted) - Elizabeth: 'You know, Julia, sometimes I really loathe you.'[/spoiler]

- is directly related to her quote from yesterday -

[spoiler]1972 (Deleted) - Elizabeth: 'Oh, God, Julia. Can't we ever just have a chat? Does everything have to be analysis?[/spoiler]

- but it actually isn't because some of the scene is skipped in the slideshow (I would have loved to have included it all, but there's only so much room ).

What happens in between is [spoiler]Julia asks Elizabeth if at least she trusts Barnabas. Elizabeth replies that of course she does - why else would she have let Barnabas take David out for a walk at night? To that Julia sarcastically retorts, "Oh, no, you're right. What kind of woman would let their little nephew run off with a stranger unless she was certain it was safe?" - and I love the expression on Julia's face after she asks it:

[/spoiler] And to that Elizabeth delivers today's quote. It's a fascinating exchange and says so much about their relationship. But more on that after tomorrow's quote comes up...

[Gothick]

I am quite curious about this scene, but I just checked Youtube, and there's no sign of it on there.  Pity.

G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And with today's concluding quote from the scene -

[spoiler]1972 (Deleted) - Julia: 'First true thing you've said all night.[/spoiler]

- obviously Julia reveals that she's not having any of Elizabeth's attempted explanations for Barnabas' odd behavior. But what's also obvious from the scene is that Elizabeth and Julia are friends and the type of friends whose relationship can withstand a bit of prickliness, which is no doubt why Julia refered to Elizabeth as "the bitch" when describing her to Vicki earlier in the film. And no doubt, especially given her "loathe" comment directed at Julia, Elizabeth would say the same of Julia under the right circumstances.    And as I said at the outset when this deleted scene started in the slideshow, I'm really quite disappointed that this scene was cut. It's fantastic on just so many levels. And the fact that it was cut really makes me even more disappointed that we didn't get any sort of commentary from director Burton, or editor Chris Lebenzon, or even any one or some combination of the many producers because any one or more of them might have told us what the reasoning(s) was(were) behind the deleted scenes being cut.

And getting back to something I'd mentioned in one of the spoilered sections from yesterday's post (though which isn't really a spoiler in and of itself) is that it would be very interesting to know if there really was a scene scripted/shot in which Barnabas took David for a walk. The current deleted scene is listed as Scene #59 on the Blu-ray, and the upcoming scene in the slideshow, which is also a deleted scene - and one one which happens to feature Barnabas and David in David's room - is listed as Scene #61, so there is a missing Scene #60. And there is possible photographic evidence for the walking scene because there's a behind the scenes photo that could quite possibly be from the shooting of it:

Not only is Gully McGrath wearing the same turtleneck that David is wearing in the dining room scene (a turtleneck he doesn't wear in any of the outdoor beach scenes in the film), but he's also wearing David's coat (a coat he doesn't wear in any of the outdoor beach scenes in the film, though a coat David does indeed wear (with a completely different turtleneck) when they visit the dilapidated Collins Cannery building). So...

(And special thanks must be extended to Midnite for finding that color photo. I mentioned to her yesterday that I was positive I'd recently come across a B&W photo of Depp and McGrath shooting an outdoor scene in which David was wearing the coat, but that for the life of me I couldn't seem to locate it. (I was practically positive that it was in The Visual Companion book, which I looked through recently - but it's not.) So, Midnite went above and beyond by combing through her stuff and the Internet and she came across the color photo, which is even better potential evidence for the walking scene because we can see the color of the turtleneck David is wearing.

Thanks so, so much, Midnite!  )

[Gothick]

Impressive and intriguing.  Thanks, Midnite & MB!

Presumably after viewing the cut Depp delivered, the suits mandated cuts to remove material that did not impact directly on the Barnabas/Angelique narrative, because once Barnabas arrives at Collinwood, in the regular release print that's what we get.

Thanks for including these deleted scenes.  You already know my thoughts, so I won't repeat them.

G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

What I'm about to post about doesn't really have anything to do with today's quote specifically - but the bit in Barnabas' quote about how "there was a time long ago when" he "believed..." sort of opens the door to it. But before I get into what I want to post, first let me explain to those who don't own a copy that the film's The Visual Companion book is honestly a treasure trove of very interested things related to the film - and some of those things are detailed storyboards that were created for the film. There are many in the book. And while most are for scenes that we're all familiar with because they're in the film (one from one of the breakfast scenes in the dining room even includes the Wheaties box on the table), there's one from a scene from the prologue that is not:

(Click here for a 1284X1292 version)

Given it includes Barnabas with two apparently admiring women, presumably it's a scene that was to show off that "inveterate playboy" aspect of Barn's character. Though whether it was Depp's Barn or Thomas McDonell's Barn, who knows? The only thing we can discern (from the larger version) is that Collinwood is still under construction in the background, so the scene would have to have taken place before the scene in 1776 in which we see Depp's Barn admiring the finished house. Though given today's quote in the slideshow -

[spoiler]1972 (Deleted) - Barnabas: You know, there was a time long ago when I believed money made the man. When I believed that it was the answer to all that ailed us. But it is not the size of the house that makes the man great, Master David. It is the people he shares it with. Money will come and go. Family is the only real wealth.'[/spoiler]

- obviously Barn at that point wasn't simply just interested with attracting the attentions of many women, he was also interested in accumulating wealth and a bit obsessed with the size of his, uh, house. 

And BTW, today's is the last quote from this current batch of deleted scenes. The next quote from the next deleted scene featured on the Blu-ray will show up in July. 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Presumably after viewing the cut Depp delivered, the suits mandated cuts to remove material that did not impact directly on the Barnabas/Angelique narrative, because once Barnabas arrives at Collinwood, in the regular release print that's what we get.

If we can judge by some of the remarks that Burton made in interviews prior to the release of the film, all through the editing process WB frequently sent him memos about changes they wanted made (though at this point we don't know how much he may have actually changed at their behest). And one thing we also know is that as late as April of 2012 the prologue was still being edited because in an April 6th Wall Street Journal interview, Seth Graham-Smith talks about how he'd just written a new narration for Depp for the prologue.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I'm sad to say that those who may be hoping that Angie's growling of "Where off Route 9?" (and you know who you are ) will be the next quote/capture in the slideshow will be disappointed because it isn't part of the slideshow. I know - bad MB - how could I have done such thing?! But only a certain amount of footage/time has been mapped out for each month, and quite sadly that line didn't make the cut for what needed to be covered for May. But all is not lost because any fans of that line and its delivery can always revisit this snippet from the film that was posted last June:

[spoiler]<a href="http://www.dsboards.com/DeppDS/Route9.swf" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.dsboards.com/DeppDS/Route9.swf</a>[/spoiler]
(You may need to right-click on the image and uncheck/check "play" to start it. And you may need to uncheck "play" to stop it.)

 

[Nicky]

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

(slightly pacified by the clip)

(okay, very pacified by the clip)

I want a teeshirt with that line on it.   

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Trust me - it wasn't easy not to include that line. Not at all!    But of the 17 remaining quotes for May, Angie is featured in 9 of them, so she is well represented. (Only Barnabas, with 10 for May, is more represented - but considering he's around throughout and Angie isn't introduced until halfway through the May quotes, the fact that she gets 9 is honestly more impressive.) And there are some great Angie quotes to come. 

[Nicky]

Fair.  But if the "tea with the tuna" line makes the cut, I'll ...

...why, I'll ...

Okay, I won't anything.  I think it's too cool what you guys are doing.  Love it.   

(Though, to be honest, the "tea with the tuna" line bugs the crap out of me.)

[Gothick]

I couldn't get the box to go from solid to revealing whatever it concealed.  I'll try on my office pewter which has Windows.  For some reason certain features don't seem to work with Safari...

G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Fair.  But if the "tea with the tuna" line makes the cut, I'll ...

...why, I'll ...

Okay, I won't anything.  ...

(Though, to be honest, the "tea with the tuna" line bugs the crap out of me.)

Hmmm - I don't even remember that line or, obviously, what scene it's from. I suppose it didn't make an impression on me. And I guess all that makes it obvious that it hasn't been picked yet. 

I think it's too cool what you guys are doing.  Love it.   

Thanks. It's another one of our labors of love. And about the only drawback to it is how maddening it often is when we have to cut a line we love either because we're limited to only so many quotes per month or because it doesn't quite fit in with the flow we're trying to create for the month. Maybe we should have stretched out the slideshow over two years instead of one! 

[Gothick]

I was able to play that clip you posted just now.  I think I missed the point, but then, I always get distracted by how much like Nancy Barrett Eva Green looks as "Angie."  I always wonder if that was intentional.  Probably not, since I have never seen anyone else comment upon the resemblance, so, like so much else these days, it must all be in my own mind.

I also don't remember the tea with the tuna line.

Fun stuff!

G.