Tim Burton Discusses the Tone of Dark Shadows and Whether He'll Shoot in 3-D
Posted 05.31.11 by Ryan
A couple of weeks ago, production began on director Tim Burton's adaptation of Dark Shadows, based on the Gothic soap opera that played on ABC from 1966 to 1971.
Burton took a short break from the England-set production to attend an opening of his artwork at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, where he spoke to The Wrap about the movie, which will star Johnny Depp as the the vampire Barnabas Collins. While Burton's last movie, Alice in Wonderland was shot in 3-D, Burton revealed in the interview that he wouldn't be shooting in the increasingly popular format.
I have no plans for that. I loved doing Alice in 3D. Frankenweenie, gonna do that in 3D. There’s people like, "Everything’s gonna be in 3D," or "I hate 3D!" I think people should have a choice. I don’t think it should be forced on anybody. At the same time, it’s great, some of it. It’s like "Yes or no!? 3D! Yes or no?!" It’s like, well, you know, come on, whatever, some yes, some no.
With Dark Shadows in such an early stage, Burton struggled to describe the movie's tone, at one point calling it "a weird tone" that may not borrow much from the soap opera on which it is based.
I’m early into it because it’s a funny tone, and that’s part of what the vibe of the show is, and there’s something about it that we want to get. But when you look at it, it’s pretty bad. I’m hoping that it will be — it’s early days, let’s put it — I’m very intrigued by the tone. It’s a real ethereal tone we’re trying to go for and I don’t know yet.
Dark Shadows was written by Seth Grahame-Smith (author and screenwriter for Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, which Burton is producing) and is apparently filled with some complicated moments. Burton revealed that "we’re not starting with the simple stuff; we're sort of getting right in there" which hopefully means that the macabre aspect of the source material won't be marginalized.
"You like to kind of sneak up on it a little bit," said Burton. "But this one we just kind of slammed right into it." Hopefully, the results will blend the "weird," "funny" and "ethereal" tones into one cohesive mix, but then, those three words describe most Tim Burton movies.
Next Showing: Dark Shadows opens May 11, 2012