Depp/Burton DARK SHADOWS Is In Production!!

[Mysterious Benefactor]

TVMCCA Terry McCarty
@DrewAtHitFix ......by Dan Curtis' 1970 feature HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS. If Tim mimics the bloody Gothic camp of that film, I'll be happy.
6 hours ago

Many others won't.

(And I don't know how anyone could describe hoDS in any way as "camp."  )

278 days 13 hours 14 minutes 20 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[michael c]

there is the unfortunate tendency to confuse anything that is highly dated as being "campy".

the reality of this situation is that for most the general public the entire DS experience is a classic piece of high camp.

i no longer think it's worth getting defensive or upset about. i've just come to accept it.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Normally these are so far behind what we already know that I don't bother to post links to them. Not to mention they're not always particularly accurate. And most of what's in this one we do indeed already know. But there are also a few bits on Ivan Kaye's career and some background on the mansion used in Beckenham Place Park. (Plus there's the Julia graphic at the top.):

Exciting Dark Shadows Updates

278 days 6 hours 32 minutes 38 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[Mysterious Benefactor]

ferntomlinson Fern Tomlinson
Just seen the #DarkShadows film set in Bourne Woods where #JohnnyDepp was filming last week - sooooo cool!
14 minutes ago

It's interesting that, if they really have finished shooting there, they haven't begun to take the set down yet...

277 days 12 hours 58 minutes 24 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Was just over at JOHNNYDEPPZONE after not looking in for over a week, and apparently I missed this tweet:

podwinkle David Beevers
Had a great visit to Pinewood today. Saw the set of the new Johny Depp film- a whole town with harbour and 6 or so full size fishing boats
1 Aug

That sounds pretty much like what we saw in the background of the photo of Lee Nicholas Harris (which no one there seems to have come across yet - though it is pretty well hidden).

277 days 6 hours 38 minutes 33 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Late as per usual at checking my e-mail and just came across a link to this:

Pfeiffer on the Move...

So, unless she wears a wig in the film (which is certainly possible), it looks like LIz may indeed be blonde...

277 days 6 hours 26 minutes 26 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[michael c]

i'm not super familiar with burton's work but doesn't he favor wigs in a big way?

i'm recalling the promo pix for "alice" and all the actresses were wearing very fantastical wigs.

and didn't we hear awhile back of a theatrical wigmaker being hired?

still i suppose liz could be blond(it seems like vicki's a redhead after all). even so i imagine she'll be rather elaborately coiffed.

[madscntst]

i'm not super familiar with burton's work but doesn't he favor wigs in a big way?

Hmm, I think it depends on the movie.  Alice and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory were heavy on the fantasy, so I think there were a lot of wigs and exaggerated looks.  But I think that for a lot of films, they use their own hair.  That's not to say a wig coudn't be used, though- I think that Winona Ryder and Christina Ricci used wigs for Edward Scissorhands and Sleepy Hollow, respectively.  I'm thinking that for the 1700's stuff, the men might be wearing wigs. 

Personally, I wouldn't mind Pfeiffer being a blonde Liz, especially having a blonde daughter, but I do hope that her hairstyle will be somewhat conservative and elite-looking.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Finally got around to hunting up the latest batch of DS film tweets:

TheMattEvers Matt Evers
Good night KIDZ..early early start tomorrow. So excited to work with TIm Burton!
18 hours ago

TheMattEvers
Oh how I've missed catering... Sleepy people on set of Dark Shadows today. granted it's half 7 and ready to go. Have a good 1 today!
9 hours ago

TheMattEvers
So honored to work alongside Tim Burton. Eva Green is stunning!
3 hours ago

TheMattEvers
Off to @trainfresh... My 6am on set call is not helping my tiredness today. MOOOO TIV VVVAATTTIOOON!
1 hour ago

A bit of reasearch quickly turned up that this guy is a famous (to some) English figure skater. But I guess he's into acting now. That, or there will be figure skating in the film.  


And:

DandyAshSparrow Ash Tucker
Still holding out for work on #DarkShadows . Third Time Lucky....
8 hours ago


And also this:

4DMax_Ltd Duncan M B Lees
#4DMax are off Up North again to scan elite athletes. Followed by a week of #3D scanning for TV and film, including Mr Deep and Ms Moretz
3 hours ago

This explains a lot. I wondering why this firm was working on the film when it was no longer going to be shot in 3D. But DUH! Of course they would be doing 3D scans of some of the actors for special effects. And what's really interesting about that tweet is that we expect such special effects for Johnny Depp/Barnabas, but not necessarily for Chloe Moretz/Carolyn. Now I'm really intrigued about what's going on with Carolyn in the film!

276 days 11 hours 45 minutes 45 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[borgosi]

I think it needs to be pointed out that "Dark Passages" is NOT Kathryn Leigh Scott's first work of fiction, "Murder In Prime Time" was. I think it came out in 2006. I seen this mistake made by more than one writer. I feel like people should do their research if they want to be believed. I don't know if they don't care or if they're lazy, but why should we believe anything they write if even one fact is wrong?

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Yeah, well, as I said when I prefaced the link, one of the reasons I'd never bothered to post a link to that Web site before was because their info isn't always particularly accurate. Though what they did write about Ivan Kaye's career and the background of the Beckenham Place mansion was correct - I made sure of that before I posted the link - and as I also said, that info was the reason I shared the link in this topic.

And as for misinformation, no one here more than I has probably lamented the fact that so much that gets written about DS or its related subjects is not accurate. And I think you've hit the nail on the head exactly as to the reason for that - it's laziness, pure and simple. Though that being said, I don't know if we can go so far as to say that just because some entity gets one fact wrong, that calls everything into question. I seriously doubt there are any newspapers. magazines, TV news/entertainment outlets, Web sites, or even individuals who haven't gotten something wrong on more than one occasion. But that doesn't mean that everything they say is questionable. It's all a matter of degree, reliability, and a track record built up over time.

Now with regard to that Web site, their track record is spotty at best. Which is why it's not likely that many more links to them will ever be posted on the forum again.    And something that's actually quite ironic is that that Web site's accuracy should be called out over something they wrote about KLS when her PomPress DS books contain a variety of inaccuracies...

276 days 2 hours 44 minutes 48 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[michael c]

i'm not sure if this has already been posted elsewhere but there is the typically "misinformed" article and interview with KLS in today's LA Times(which of course KLS could correct if she wanted to).

in it she states that her cameo in the new depp/burton project is the film's "ah ha" moment. i'm sorry but i find it very hard to believe that the film's most pivotal or important or climactic moments revolve around her or any of the other original star's cameos. it's called a "cameo" for a reason.

sounds like her usual maneuvering to keep herself at the center of this thing at all times(don't forget she's got a new book to promote).

[Midnite]

The article is also online:  'Dark Shadows' is still in her blood; Kathryn Leigh Scott, who starred in the ABC vampire soap opera, has filmed an appearance in Tim Burton's film version starring Johnny Depp.

(The title in the print edition, p. 3 of the Calendar section, is "Gothic bloodline.")

Maggie fell in love with Barnabas??!??  Frid carried hangers during the closing credits??!

And why wasn't Selby's photo included with the other DS Denizens?

[Gothick]

She's referring of course to Frid's blooper during 1897, when he accidentally walked across the set that was on cam for the closing credits carrying one of his costumes on a hanger.

It sounds as if she either didn't finish her thought about it, or the reporter garbled what she said.

That's amazing that the original series actors got three days work out of this.  I would love to know what the fees were.  It's good to hear that they were all treated so well.

G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

She's referring of course to Frid's blooper during 1897, when he accidentally walked across the set that was on cam for the closing credits carrying one of his costumes on a hanger.

If I'm not mistaken, I don't believe there were any hangers involved - which is what I think Midnite was trying to say. Plus KLS seems like she might be implying that Frid had changed into his street clothes and was carrying his costume - but he's still dressed in his costume and he's carrying what looks like his street clothes over his arm (not his shoulder) and a pair of shoes.

Though be that as it may, all that has nothing to do with the Depp/DS film, so probably the less discussed about it here in this topic, the better.    (Though anyone who might want to look up the incident is certainly free to start a topic about it. And actually, I'm pretty sure it's featured in DS Bloopers, so it should be pretty easy to find there...)

As for what she really might have been saying about her cameo, who knows?    But presumably we'll see it for ourselves (if it is such an "ah ha" moment, it's not likely to end up on the cutting room floor, which is quite often a real danger with these cameos) and then we can really judge how "ah ha" it is or "ah ha" it isn't.  

275 days 23 hours 52 minutes 35 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!