Video of Tim Burton in Amsterdam

Here's a video excerpt of Tim Burton taking questions from audience members at the Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival from April 10th, 2008. The video was provided by jordi and shot by Marin Visser, so go to the link listed below to leave comments:

http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=68FCA1oCxmI

"Sweeney Todd" DVD Preview!

To keep you Burtonites even more hungry for the North American release on Tuesday, April 1st, Shocktillyoudrop.com has a video preview of the upcoming DVD of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Featured in the video interview are producers Laurie MacDonald and Richard D. Zanuck, Tim Burton, Helena Bonham Carter, and Johnny Depp. This video snippet is just one of many bonus features to be included on the special 2-disc DVD.

Rare "Ed Wood" Promo Found

A rare promotional video from 1994 advertising Tim Burton's Ed Wood was recently found and posted on YouTube.com by John Erik Taylor. The short video (a little under seven minutes long) was shown at sci-fi conventions before the film's release, and features behind-the-scenes footage and unseen interviews with the cast and crew. This promo wasn't on the Ed Wood DVD, so fans of the film and Tim Burton will find this to be a rare treat.

The promo features interviews with Tim Burton, Johnny Depp, Martin Landau (in a highly memorable and moving performance as an aging Bela Lugosi), Sarah Jessica Parker (as Dolores Fuller, Wood's girlfriend and actress), screenwriters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, and make-up artist Ve Neill (a frequent Burton collaborator who first worked with the director on Beetlejuice).

Here's the link to the video on YouTube.com (you can also watch it below).

Interview with Timothy Spall

The Times of India have interviewed Timothy Spall, who played the twisted Beadle Bamford in Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. In the interview, Spall explains his love of playing despicable characters, working with Johnny Depp and Burton, and more:

Your role in Sweeney Todd... has been much-appreciated. Congrats!
Thank you. I’m very happy with the kind of response the film has garnered. Roles like these are quite interesting and it’s not everyday that one gets to work with such a fabulous team — a superb director and such brilliant co-actors.

You are playing quite a wicked man in Sweeney Todd...
Oh yes. You’d love to hate me. I play a lonely parish, who thinks he’s the most irresistible sexual object, and in an amusing way thinks he’s very beautiful. Whereas, the truth is that he’s a despicable person. He’s a bully and a sexual pervert.

How was it being directed by Tim Burton?
I have been a huge fan of Burton’s work and hoped to be directed by him someday. It’s a pleasure working with him and working with Johnny is yet another thing I was looking forward to.

And how was it finally working with Depp?
It was a fantastic experience. He really enjoys what he’s brought to do. He’s a delightful and pleasant man and I have been a huge admirer. Every woman is in love with Depp, but he’s a very down-to-earth guy.

What was the most challenging thing about doing a musical?
Musicals by terms of their sheer design and magnitude are altogether a different world to be explored. They tend to transform the world and that is a huge challenge. But the way Tim has handled it, he’s using the music and songs to take the action forward. He’s got some great screen actors, but he doesn’t over do it. It’s a fascinating melange of ‘Singlish’ that’s singing in English. And acting while dancing and singing doesn’t come easy.

Timothy Spall and Johnny Depp in Sweeney Todd

How do you manage to be so convincingly despicable on screen?
Now that’s a trade secret I can’t share (laughs).

What do you look for in a role?
I look for roles that stimulate my appetite for good work and stir the actor within. But more than anything else, I absolutely love playing evil and disgusting characters. They evoke a stronger reaction than good characters and to bring about a certain meanness is more challenging for an actor. I love being hated and look forward to people coming up to me and telling me what an evil man I am (laughs).

Like your character Peter Pettigrew in the Harry Potter series?
Yes, very much like that. That was again one role I’m going to cherish forever. Though my grandchildren hoped that I’d not betrayed the Potters (laughs). But I am proud of that role and my grandchildren are proud that their grand-dad’s a part of the Potter family.

But what is Timothy Spall like off the screen?
Oh, I’m a very easy-going person. A normal guy, living a very normal life. I have kids and grand kids. Life’s been good to me and I am enjoy everything it has to offer me.

You’ve watched quite a few Bollywood films...
Yes and I loved the experience. I mean they are so much fun. And they are all so good at singing and dancing. Wow! I have even tried Indian cuisine and simply loved it.

So any plans of coming to India?
I would love to. In fact, I have been to Pakistan, but missed India. That’s high on my list of hot travel destinations. And once there, I’d certainly look forward to meeting all you guys.

Yet Another "Todd" Interview

Yup, another Sweeney Todd related interview from the UK. Tim Burton, Johnny Depp, and Timothy Spall discuss musicals and the violence in the movie.

Burton and Depp on "Culture Show"

With Sweeney Todd making its UK debut on Friday, there is still plenty of advertising and promotions going around. Johnny Depp and Tim Burton discuss their latest collaboration in this video from "Culture Show." Depp recalls Iggy Pop and Anthony Newley inspired his voice for Todd and Peter Lorre helped him with the acting.

"The South Bank Show": Tim Burton Episode

Think you've seen everything there is to see and know everything there is to know about Tim Burton? Think again. "The South Bank Show," an award-winning television arts magazine show from Britain, has come out with a new episode featuring the director with rare footage, information, and interviews (with Tim, Danny Elfman, Rich Heinrichs, Helena Bonham Carter, Johnny Depp, and many others) you may never have seen before. From his youngest years and earliest ventures into film (including his student movie "Houdini" and his 2D animated short, "Stalk of the Celery Monster") to the present day, the episode encompasses a great deal of the filmmaker's works.

Little Tim on a pony. Shocking.

Tim Burton in "Houdini."


"Stalk of the Celery Monster"

A young Rich Heinrichs and Tim Burton being interviewed, with puppets from Vincent (1982) between them.

Sketch of Mrs. Lovett and Todd by Burton for Sweeney Todd

Watch the episode on YouTube (in multiple segments) or on Stage6 (which is in one piece. You can also download the video from the Stage6 link). Video courtesy of John Erik Taylor.

40 Minute Tim Burton Video Interview

A new episode of "Lunch with David," starring David Poland, has been put on the Internet. In it, Tim Burton is interviewed. The filmmaker discusses cinematography, Sweeney Todd, his own style, and much, much more. The video is nearly 40 minutes long and very informative. Click here! (BEWARE OF SPOILERS!)

The Visual Effects of "Sweeney Todd"

Tara DiLullo Bennett from VFXWorld interviewed Gary Brozenich of The Moving Picture Co. (MPC) in London on how the visual effects team of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street helped bring Tim Burton's vision to life. Here is an excerpt (more can be read on the link provided -- BEWARE OF SPOILERS!):

Tara DiLullo Bennett: MPC has long worked with Tim Burton on previous projects, so was it just a given that your team came to work on Sweeney Todd?

Gary Brozenich: MPC has a long working relationship with Tim, including Big Fish, Corpse Bride, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and his Killers video. Chas Jarrett was the production vfx supervisor (on Todd) and he and I had a long working relationship at MPC, where he was a sup for many years. I think it was the combination of those relationships that made Tim comfortable that we could deliver what he needed for Todd.

TDB: How was it working with Tim on this project?

GB: As we are image-makers by trade, it is always great to work with a strong visual director. Tim is also very familiar with the medium and us as a company, which always helps. Also, the whole team was very excited about the project. We all saw it as a great chance to work with him on this outrageously black story, which posed such a great creative fit to his visual style. Tim also gave us a lot of room to participate in the visual development of the environments we created, but his "big picture" view of the film, how it all cut, its overall look and mood was very strongly guided by him.

TDB: What does he ask of a vfx house and, in return, how involved is he in your process since he's all about the visuals?

GB: There was some working and reworking of shot layouts and some concepts at various stages, but the visual feel of the film was clear from the start. As we were never intending to do very obvious FX work, we needed to fit in with the tone and beat of it all, no matter how comprehensive our content in the shot. In that way, [Production Designer] Dante Ferretti's subtly stylized set designs were the obvious present and clear guide [for us].

TDB: Most people will just focus on the practical effects in Sweeney because of the gore and blood, but Burton always adds a digital level to all his films. So what was his plan in merging the two for this adaptation?

GB: We did augment some of the blood work in the film and cleaned up a few bits of rigging, but the vast majority of it was in camera. It looks great! The special effects team did a great job and spent a long time prepping, and it really paid off. There were a few shots where Tim wanted more ability to add grace and control to the forms made by spilled blood and we were able to help there.

Digital Effects Supervisor Gary Brozenich (inset)

TDB: Was Tim's goal to only have seamless, invisible vfx? If not, what were the key elements and sequences you had to plan and create?

GB: There are always moments, particularly in period films, where you know that a scene would not be possible without vfx content. But there are a lot of moments in Sweeney Todd that I hope the audience has no idea they are looking at a CG environment. In that sense, we were aiming for seamless work. The imagery is also very much about Tim's visual style, which can push some boundaries of reality, so seamless, also, meant not jarring with the visual style of the whole of the film. Our primarily concern was the creation of digital sets and environments. The whole production was shot on stages, which ranged from full on builds that only required a top up where the build hit the lights, to a set extension where the street required views beyond the limits of the stage. In some cases, the actors were shot on entirely green stages and we created the entirety of their surroundings. In one case, two of the principles walk down some stairs, through a gate, across a street and stop for a chat in front of a pub. The only practical element is the dressed floor that they're walking on, and the other performers on stage. They even brush up against the CG pub as they walk by.

TDB: Did the break in production [due to the illness of Johnny Depp's daughter] affect your team's work at all? Did you get breathing room or were you just asked to do more to fill the gap with productive time?

GB: The break was positive for us in the creative sense that it gave us more time to prep work for Tim. The shoot schedule was very full on and the original post period was very tight. This made access to TB's time hard to achieve. So, in a way, it did both things. It gave us some creative breathing room and made for very productive time as we headed into post as a result.

TDB: How much time from bid to picture lock did you have to create your pieces?

GB: The whole show lasted about 10 months internally, 11 if you count a few test shots. Post was about four to five months. Some shots/environments required up to six months of work, others were done in weeks.

TDB: How many artists were on the project?

GB: The team was between 50 to 70 artists throughout the shoot and post period.

TDB: When all is said and done, what sequence or element is your favorite in the film?

GB: Eek, my favorite? It's the truly invisible effects shots and sequences that I like best. They are also usually the hardest. There's a few shots mixed into sequences we did that I know no one will question their realistic integrity. They're my personal favorites.

Depp Says Burton Dragged Him Through Manure

Johnny Depp recently recalled one of the worst movie-making experiences in his life in an article. The 44-year-old actor remembered when he and collaborator Tim Burton were shooting the film Sleepy Hollow in 1999 and Burton made Depp hold onto a carriage while "curry"-fueled horses pulled him through the stinking mire.

Depp said, "One morning when we were filming 'Sleepy Hollow', Tim called me to the set, pointed to two large horses strapped to a carriage and said, 'This is what we are going to be doing today.' I was to hold on to the carriage behind the horses, being dragged along through the muck."

"The horses must have fed on curry. I've never smelt anything like that."

Being dragged through feces was just one of many traumatizing feats Depp had to pull working with Tim Burton. Johnny Depp faced another terrifying challenge when they worked on their latest film, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. The actor would have to sing extremely difficult songs while acting as the menacing title role. But Depp felt more confident after taking singing lessons from his partner, French singer Vanessa Paradis.

But Tim Burton insists Johnny "exceeded all expectations" with his vocal performance as the murderous London barber.

He said, "I always had every confidence in him and he needn't have worried at all.

"His performance was wonderful and exceeded all of my expectations. He is a great actor."

Johnny Depp and Tim Burton in West Hollywood, California, on December 5th, 2007.
(AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian, file)

You can see Tim Burton and Johnny Depp discussing these issues with one another and so much more concerning their careers in AOL's Unscripted interview with the two collaborators.

There is also a version of this episode on YouTube.com, in three parts:

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Burton and Depp Interview Each Other with Your Questions

The complete and unscripted video interview between Johnny Depp and Tim Burton is now online. The two ask one another various questions about Sweeney Todd and more, submitted by fans, viewers, and Internet browsers to AOL Movies. Check it out!

Burton and Depp Will Be Taking YOUR Questions

Tonight (that is Wednesday, December 5th) Cinematical.com will be hosting an interview with both Johnny Depp and Tim Burton. The visionary duo will be taking your questions, in part of Cinematical's "Celebrity Interviews: Unscripted." Check back the week of December 17th to see if your question was answered in the video interview!

Nine Clips, Three Featurettes, and Behind-the-Scenes Footage from "Sweeney Todd" Online!

IESB.net has posted a whopping nine film clips, three featurettes, and behind-the-scenes footage of Sweeney Todd. The videos on the site feature interviews with the cast and crew on the film, and actual segments from the movie itself. There are also several new high-quality pictures from the movie on the link. I haven't looked at any of the videos myself, as to avoid any potential SPOILERS. But for those of you who just can't wait, there's plenty to offer from this website.

More can be seen and heard on the official website for Sweeney Todd, too, including song excerpts, production notes, a photo gallery, and downloads.

Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter in Sweeney Todd.



Johnny Depp and Alan Rickman.

Burton and Depp Video Interview

Tim Burton and Johnny Depp were interviewed by Access Hollywood to promote the upcoming Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. In between laughing, the director and actor discuss their partnership, fatherhood, singing, the blood in the film, Preparation H (don't ask; just watch the video) and more:

http://video.accesshollywood.com/player/?id=189396

Q&A with Johnny Depp, on "Sweeney Todd"

Entertainment Weekly has conducted a question and answer session with Johnny Depp, star of Tim Burton's upcoming Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, on the making of the film. In the interview, Depp says his take on the murderous barber ''makes Sid Vicious look like the innocent paper boy.'' Depp says the wild streak of white hair his character was the result of "this hideous trauma, from being sent away, locked away. That streak of white hair became the shock of that rage." The actor also described the character's eyes as "needed to have experienced too much, you know. That's where the darkness came around them. These heavy rings around his eyes of purple and brown, this kind of awful fatigue and rage. It's like he's never slept."

Photo by Leah Gallo.

Depp also recalls Peter Lorre's performance in the film Mad Love and other horror film actors as being key sources of inspiration. On Lorre's performance, Depp says, "[h]e's unbelievably disturbing. Broken and haunting and sweet. Way ahead of its time, that film and performance. The other sort of God for me is Lon Chaney Sr. Aside from Peter Lorre, he would be the other enormous inspiration. Did you ever see his film The Penalty? It's shocking.... His performance is so heightened and gorgeous. I highly recommend that one."

On the amount of blood and gore in the movie musical, Depp says that he remembers "everyone except [himself] covered in plastic trash bags. There'd be a countdown. Three, two, one... action! And then blammo, you know? The great deluge."

Depp also talks about one of his co-stars, Sacha Baron Cohen (star of Borat, who plays Todd's nemesis, Pirelli). Depp said of Sacha Baron Cohen that "he's kind of today's equivalent to Peter Sellers." When asked how he and his long-time collaborator, director Tim Burton, worked together, Depp described it frankly that they've "never had an argument. The process [on Sweeney] has been as smooth as since way back when. Obviously, you want to come up with a character that you are not going to be embarrassed about. With Tim, I just don't want to let him down. Because, you know, he's a brother. He's my family. So that's one of the scariest sorts of things initially. Just making sure I haven't disappointed Tim. Once we get through that then I can kind of make sure I'm okay with it."

Burton and Depp on the set of Sweeney Todd. Photo by Peter Mountain.

When the interviewer, Steve Daly, said to Depp that he "is going to freak out a lot of pre-pubescent girls with this character," Depp enthusiastically exclaimed, "Ah, finally!"

More of the interview can be read here.

Variety Interviews Tim Burton

Tim Burton was interviewed by Variety on Friday, August 24th, 2007. In the interview, Burton discussed musicals, Sweeney Todd, and Johnny Depp.

Burton said that his favorite musical truly is "Sweeney Todd," because he isn't much of a fan of many musicals. "I do remember liking 'Guys and Dolls,'" the director recalls, "In that one, they don't burst into song. There's a design in the language that fits together with the music and they work together. I don't think that's the case with a lot of musicals."

The filmmaker had seen "Sweeney Todd" performed before, and adored it. "I saw it in London when it first played here. In fact, I saw it several nights in a row." But Burton did not pursue the idea of bringing "Todd" to the big screen at first. "Things happen and you drift into other things. But it is strange; I was looking at some sketches I did many years ago, and the sketches looked like Johnny and Helena in the film. Not that this would have happened several years ago. They weren't old enough."

Burton went on to say that "Sweeney Todd," "doesn't seem like a musical." He continued, saying, "In fact, it's like a silent movie with music. Like an old horror movie. The emotions come through. Johnny enjoyed that silent-actor style of acting. It was liberating."

The director remarked on Depp again. "I told Stephen: 'I know Johnny. I know he wouldn't say yes if he couldn't do it.' "