Q&A with "Dark Shadows" Costume Designer Colleen Atwood

Adam Tschorn of the Los Angeles Times conducted an interview with acclaimed Dark Shadows costume designer Colleen Atwood:

Between the original series, the vampire genre and the not-so-distant '70s, there was no shortage of source material, so where did you turn for inspiration?

Some of it was from reference materials and some of it I remember from growing up in the '70s. Then there was also a nod to the old show. I tried to pay homage to that with things like Johnny's little cape coat that he wears.

In costume on the cover of Entertainment Weekly, Depp looks like he's wearing a forest green cape. Is Barnabas Collins a vampire of a different color?

It's actually a very, very dark green wool, but that tends to actually [show up on screen] as black with a little bit of highlighting, which sometimes works better.

Was that made for him or was it a vintage find? It seems like there might be a lot of '70s stuff at vintage shops and flea markets.

We made it; about 75% of the principals' costumes were made. For the day players and the crowd scenes, it was mostly rental stock that came from the U.S. because it's an American story and the clothes had a different feeling from the British stuff.

Was this a fun movie to costume?

It's a period that when you look back on it, you can't kind of believe that people really did it. Most of us could remember what it was like, so we had a good laugh when people came to set.

Where did you source the fabrics — the paisleys, the velvets, the laces — for the pieces that were made?

There's a great textile fair in London called the Hammersmith Textile Fair that takes place once a month or so, and I was a regular visitor to that on my Sundays because they had some great stuff.

What was the inspiration for some of the principal characters' costumes?

For Johnny's character, we wanted to keep him really simple and singular but also have a nod to the period. I had fun with finding all the potential things that crossed over from the 18th century to 1972 — there ended up being a lot of emphasis on the collar.

One standout piece Barnabas Collins wears is a silk smoking jacket covered in a wavy pattern that looks almost like feathers or flower petals. What's the story behind that?

I loved that because it was so Tim [Burton]. It's a weird swirly pattern that from far away I suppose could be feathers, but when you see it close up it's more like those weird bull's-eye things Tim likes. It's actually an original piece — probably from the '40s — that I found at a flea market.

What about for Eva Green, who plays a witch named Angelique Bouchard?

A line in the script described Eva's character as looking like she'd stepped out of a Virginia Slims ad, so we went with a sleek, businessy look when we introduced her into the story. She's a totally modern woman, so we didn't want the sort of witchy look you would expect.

The most eye-catching piece Angelique wears is a floor-length, bosom-baring, body-hugging, blood-red dress covered in sparkling paillettes. Was that a vintage find?

Oh, no, that was made. You don't find a dress like that that fits the way it does on the rack, honey.

And Michelle Pfeiffer's family matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard? Was there a kind of Karen Carpenter vibe going on there?

She was a marriage of a few different influences, including a David Bailey book called "Birth of the Cool" that has all these ultra-glamorous girls with that big hair and that look. It was a combination that fit Michelle to a T.

Judging by the assortment of macramé owl earrings she wears — and a secret that's revealed in the movie — are we to assume the family matriarch has a '70s-appropriate appreciation of the fiber arts?

I had these girls on my team who took great joy in making them for Michelle — they were very crafty. Michelle got really into the macramé too. She would ask if we could make some in a certain color or with eyes or sitting on a branch. She became part of the process.

She also favors a lot of very large and very ornate necklaces. Where did those come from?

The necklaces were these weird copper and enamel crafts people made back then. I remember these jewelry classes — I was way too little to take them, but my mom did — that taught everybody how to make this kind of wire and enamel pieces. We figured that if [her character] was into macramé, she probably would have branched out into making metal pieces as well. The pieces she's wearing are actually vintage ones I found on Portobello Road in London.

Atwood on Depp's "Dark Shadows" Vampire Look

MTV News spoke with acclaimed costume designer Colleen Atwood recently. The three-time-Oscar winner described working on Dark Shadows with star Johnny Depp.

"Johnny's very open about what things are in the process, but he really lets people present things to him. He never really pushes at all," Atwood said. "Sometimes he doesn't even look in the mirror in his fittings. It's so funny. It's pretty amazing. People would be surprised, because I think they have this image of Johnny, because he's so stylish always, but he really feels his costumes more than looks at them, and the movement and the feeling in them is really important."

"He plays a vampire who wouldn't normally go out in the daytime, but we wanted him to be able to have outings, so I did two or three different hat shapes and we tried them once he got his hair and makeup on," said Atwood. "I also found these amazing hundred-year-old sunglasses, but they were too small ... so I took them and had them copied. And the color of the sunglasses and the color of the hat and his costume coat, which was a really dark green, is one of our favorite combos we've come up with in our work together."

Dark Shadows included, Atwood and Depp have collaborated on eight films together, including five other Tim Burton films (Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and Alice in Wonderland). During all of those years, Atwood says the two have built a successful working relationship, saying, "There's a lot of trust there for both of us, so it's a nice process, because ... if he has an idea, it comes from someplace; it's not just some wanky fashion idea."

Video: Colleen Atwood on "Dark Shadows"

Colleen Atwood briefly talked about the forthcoming Dark Shadows film. The costume designer has said that she has just helped Johnny Depp into his Barnabas Collins costume for the first time. She has also read the script, saying that it is "really funny," and says that, like the soap opera it is based upon, "will still be campy, I'm sure."

"Alice" Wins Two Oscars

Alice in Wonderland won two of the three Oscars it was nominated for this Sunday at the 83rd annual Academy Awards.

The film won in the categories of Best Costume Design, with Colleen Atwood receiving her third Oscar, and Best Art Direction, given to Robert Stromberg (Production Designer) and Karen O'Hara (Set Decorator).

Here is Atwood's acceptance speech:

"Thank you to the Academy and especially to my fellow nominees who are just so much fun to sit with tonight and who have been so supportive, it's great to be part of such a great group of people. The story, "Alice in Wonderland," was described by its publisher in 1865 as a story valued for its rare imagination, priceless humor, and power to transport the reader into a world of pure fantasy, a gift to us all. The heart of any movie lies with the director and I've been incredibly lucky on this and many films to work with the singular Tim Burton. Tim's imagination along with the amazing cast Johnny's incandescent Hatter, Mia's Alice for all girls, all times, Helena's the fearless big headed Queen, and our crystalline snowflake princess, Anne Hathaway, made my job a delight. We had the support of a production team headed by Richard Zanuck and Katterli Frauenfelder. Supported by Joe Roth, Suzanne and Jen Todd, and Disney, but I couldn't have done it without my team Christine Cantella and my entire group. Thank you all very much."

This is the ninth Academy Award nomination for Colleen Atwood. She was previously nominated for:

NINE (2009) -- Nominee, Costume Design
SWEENEY TODD THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET (2007) -- Nominee, Costume Design
MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA (2005) -- Winner, Costume Design
LEMONY SNICKET'S A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS (2004) -- Nominee, Costume Design
CHICAGO (2002) -- Winner, Costume Design
SLEEPY HOLLOW (1999) -- Nominee, Costume Design
BELOVED (1998) -- Nominee, Costume Design
LITTLE WOMEN (1994) -- Nominee, Costume Design

Atwood also filled out a questionnaire sheet, giving us some tidbits of her interests, inspirations, and memories from working on Alice (click the thumbnail to enlarge the image):



And here is the joined acceptnce speech from Stromberg and O'Hara:


STROMBERG: Why didn't I lose that 20 lbs? First of all, the other nominees, Guy, all you guys deserve to be up here. Everyone at Disney from Iger and Ross and Bailey, Bruce Hendricks, Art Repola, the great Joe Roth. The Art Department led by Stefan Dechant, Crissy Wilson, and Todd Cherniawsky. This great set decorator. I'm standing here because of three people, Ken Ralston, the great Richard Zanuck, and the wacky world of Tim Burton. There he is!

O'HARA: Tim, this is yours. Thank you.

STROMBERG: Meet me with a saw because half of this is yours. There's one last bit of art direction for a Tim Burton Film. There it is. Thank You Academy and to my wife and kids and I dedicate this to my Dad.

This is the third Academy Award nomination for Robert Stromberg. He was previously nominated for:

AVATAR (2009) -- Winner, Art Direction
MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD (2003) -- Nominee, Visual Effects

This is the second Academy Award nomination for Karen O'Hara. She was previously nominated for:

THE COLOR OF MONEY (1986) -- Nominee, Art Direction



Daniel Haim of Bloginity interviewed O'Hara and Stromberg back stage:

Q. Congratulations. What did you put on top of the Oscar? Oh, now I can see it.

A. You couldn’t see it? It’s a little Mad Hatter’s hat.

Q. Did you make that?

A. I had one of my prop makers make it, and I just thought it was a nice little punctuation to the end of the show. Could you not see it on the broadcast? You could see it.

Q. Congratulations. I just want to ask you, what was your biggest production design challenge on this film because it seemed like every scene probably would have been, but can you talk about that, but also in terms of set direction, what was your biggest challenge?

A. Well, you know, any time you work on a Tim Burton film, there’s a bar that you have to meet, and the challenge for a film like this is that we had a great deal of digital sets, but there were some challenging physical sets. And the biggest challenge was sort of making sure the director, the actors knew where they were at all times in these green environments through, having virtual versions of those sets available to them; physical models, and illustrations.

Q. The Academy made a big splash of connecting art direction, cinematography, and yet Alice’s other big below the line nomination is in visual effects. So, in an increasingly rendered age, what is the relationship between production design and the visual effects department?

A. You guys ask a set decorating question next. Well, I come from visual effects. But the difference between how we work now in these types of films is that the production designer is involved with the visual effects probably more heavily, and involved more in post production, which is actually good because the way it normally works is the production designer will sort of leave after the end of principal photography, and then you are relying on visual effects people to fill in those green screens. So, this keeps a more cohesive design coming from visual effects myself.

Q. This is your second in a row in art direction after your first nomination being in visual effects. Where do you see your art evolving from here?

A. I should probably retire (laughs). You know, I feel honestly, I feel that I’ve always done creative things, but design is design no matter what you do, no matter what form. We have lots of new technology that we’re trying and I feel like we are pioneering fusing art and machine. I am very proud of that because the next generation of kids coming up will know what they are doing.

Q. I just want to get some reaction from you, you’ve been up there before is it different the second time, and I want to hear from both of you about this?

A. Stromberg: Honestly, I was not expecting it. I was sort of following INCEPTION. I thought it had the upper hand this year, but I’m very proud that it was recognized and very happy to win, but all the nominees I take my hat off to.

A. Karen O’Hara: I think that the most difficult time that we had was when Johnny decided to walk across the table and suddenly all of our china and our tables, we had to triplicate. Other than that, though, we had a wonderful time working with Tim and this is really a nod to him and his supportive artists.
A. [Stromberg] Thank you all.

Q. Thank you, and congratulations.


Alice was also nominated for Best Visual Effects, but Inception took home that prize.

"Alice" Gets Three Oscar Nods

Alice in Wonderland has received three nominations for the Academy Awards this year:

-Best Art Direction:
Robert Stromberg (Production Design); Karen O'Hara (Set Decoration)

"This is the third Academy Award nomination for Robert Stromberg. He was previously nominated for:

AVATAR (2009) -- Winner, Art Direction
MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD (2003) -- Nominee, Visual Effects

This is the second Academy Award nomination for Karen O'Hara. She was previously nominated for:

THE COLOR OF MONEY (1986) -- Nominee, Art Direction"


-Best Costume Design:
Colleen Atwood

"This is the ninth Academy Award nomination for Colleen Atwood. She was previously nominated for:

NINE (2009) -- Nominee, Costume Design
SWEENEY TODD THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET (2007) -- Nominee, Costume Design
MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA (2005) -- Winner, Costume Design
LEMONY SNICKET'S A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS (2004) -- Nominee, Costume Design
CHICAGO (2002) -- Winner, Costume Design
SLEEPY HOLLOW (1999) -- Nominee, Costume Design
BELOVED (1998) -- Nominee, Costume Design
LITTLE WOMEN (1994) -- Nominee, Costume Design"


-Best Visual Effects:
Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips

This is the eighth Academy Award nomination for Ken Ralston. He was previously nominated for:
FORREST GUMP (1994) Winner, Visual Effects
DEATH BECOMES HER (1992) Winner, Visual Effects
BACK TO THE FUTURE PART II (1989) Nominee, Visual Effects
WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT (1988) Winner, Visual Effects
COCOON (1985) Winner, Visual Effects
RETURN OF THE JEDI (1983) Winner, Special Achievement Award (Visual Effects)
DRAGONSLAYER (1981) Nominee, Visual Effects

These are the first Academy Award nominations for David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips.


In related news, Helena Bonham Carter has been nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in The King's Speech, one of the most acclaimed films of 2010.

You can see the televised 83rd Academy Awards on Sunday, February 27th, at 8:00 pm Eastern Time on CBS.

Video: Atwood on "Wonderland" Costumes

Acclaimed costume designer Colleen Atwood talks about the wardrobes of Alice in Wonderland in this video:

Video: Costume Designer Atwood on "Wonderland" Inspirations

Here's a brief video of acclaimed and award-winning costume designer Colleen Atwood discussing the inspirations for her work on Alice in Wonderland:

Mark Salisbury on the making of "Wonderland"

Mark Salisbury, who has written extensively about the art and films of Tim Burton, has a detailed article written for the Telegraph on the making of Alice in Wonderland. Here is the entire article.

BEWARE OF SPOILERS!!:


In a cavernous soundstage at Culver City Studios in Los Angeles in November 2008, Johnny Depp stands before a massive green backdrop wearing a frizzy orange wig, turquoise frock-coat over a red waistcoat, and a chequered kilt complete with sporran. On his legs he has striped socks, one blue and turquoise, the other red and cream. On his head is a top hat, with hatpins and price tag tucked into a silk ribbon. In his hands he wields a huge broadsword that is almost as tall as he is. With his white-painted face, rouged cheeks and fluorescent green contact lenses, Depp is almost unrecognisable. But as Alice in Wonderland’s Mad Hatter, he is suitably freaky. No surprise really, given that the man behind the camera is Tim Burton and together he and Depp have, over the past two decades, created a memorable series of onscreen oddballs, including Edward Scissorhands and Willy Wonka.

Next to Depp is Alice herself, played by the Australian newcomer Mia Wasikowska, but looking quite unlike any Alice you have ever seen. In a Joan of Arc suit of armour, tight blond curls cascading past her shoulders, a steely-eyed Wasikowska sits atop a green animal-shaped box on poles, being carried by men dressed entirely in green, brandishing her own sword to the imaginary hordes of the Red Queen’s army; playing-cards loyal to Helena Bonham Carter’s monstrous-headed monarch that will be added to the scene via computer-generated imagery (CGI) in the coming months. 'There’s definitely not a whole lot to draw from in terms of your environment,’ Wasikowska admits during a break in filming. 'It’s good that it leaves a lot of room for your own imagination, but it is kind of hard to jump into a moment. You have to imagine you’re sitting on a beast, it’s all dark and gloomy and there’s one army here, the Red Army, and another army here, the White Army.’

To create his 3D version of Lewis Carroll’s hallucinatory classic Burton is shooting his actors in front of green screens rather than on real sets, then using the latest digital technology to insert sets, props, backgrounds and even some characters into the frame in post-production – the colour green chosen as it is so far removed from skin tone. He dabbled with this technique for several sequences on his previous film – a very bloody adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s horror musical, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, which also starred Depp – and was intrigued enough to commit fully to the process for this. And so, apart from those scenes featuring Alice in the real world – which he filmed in Cornwall for two weeks before the production relocated to Los Angeles – Burton has spent the past few weeks in this sterile, all-green environment and has several more to go.

Outside, the Californian air is heavy with ash, raining down from several wildfires raging around Los Angeles. Inside, conditions are not much better. The green itself is a bilious shade, bordering on the fluorescent. The film’s Oscar-winning producer, Richard Zanuck, says that sickness and lethargy have been a constant problem among cast and crew. Burton has even had special lavender lenses fitted into his glasses to combat the effect.

'The novelty of the green wears off very quickly,’ Depp says in his trailer later, the Hatter’s make-up now gone. 'It’s exhausting, actually. I mean, I like an obstacle – I don’t mind having to spew dialogue while having to step over dolly track while some guy is holding a card and I’m talking to a piece of tape. But the green beats you up. You’re kind of befuddled at the end of the day.’

Many of Carroll’s creations will be fully animated characters, including the Dormouse, the White Rabbit, the March Hare and the Cheshire Cat, and Burton has amassed an eclectic group of British actors to voice them, among them Michael Sheen, Stephen Fry, Christopher Lee, Paul Whitehouse and Barbara Windsor. On set, these characters are represented either by green cardboard cutouts, full-size models or actors dressed in green. The tubby twins Tweedledum and Tweedledee are being played by Little Britain star Matt Lucas, but only his rubbery features will make the finished film, although all his movements are being recorded to provide the basis for the digital Tweedles.

As Burton readies a close-up of Depp and Wasikowska, he has a 4ft-long model of the finished set brought out for his actors to look at. One of his monitors has an image of the set with a temporary digital background. 'It’s really helpful to go and see the screen, the composite one, and think, “OK, that’s where we are”,’ Bonham Carter says. 'You’ve always got a hell of a lot of imagining anyway. You just do a bit more.’

Tall and rangy, his mass of unruly black hair peppered grey, and wearing black shirt, black jeans and scuffed black boots, Burton wastes little time between set-ups. With his actors in place, he heads back to his monitors, settles in his chair, and picks up a microphone. 'Come on, kids,’ he shouts, his cheerful voice booming around the soundstage, 'let’s put on a show.’

Written by the Rev Charles Dodgson, a mathematics lecturer at Christ Church, Oxford, under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland first appeared in 1865, and was followed six years later by Through the Looking-Glass And What Alice Found There. The books, now published together under the more familiar title of Alice in Wonderland, told of a little girl’s journey into an alternate land populated by bizarre characters, and changed the landscape of children’s literature. A century and a half later, they continue to delight. 'It’s still new. It’s still fresh,’ Depp says. 'If it were written yesterday and released on shelves today, people would still be as amazed by it as they were then.

It’s a monumental achievement.’ Cinema was quick to latch on to Alice’s appeal, the first film appearing in 1903. And while there have been frequent attempts to adapt the story since, notably Walt Disney’s 1951 cartoon, none has truly managed to capture the anarchic spirit and surreal, nonsensical, fever-dream logic of Carroll’s writing. But if anyone can, Burton can.

The American screenwriter Linda Woolverton, whose credits include Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King, had been considering doing something with Carroll’s world for some time, but couldn’t find a way into the story. 'I wrote this at a very dark time in my life,’ she says. 'A lot of bad things had happened –death, divorce, moving across the country – so I was kind of down the rabbit hole myself at the time.’ It was only when she thought of making Alice older and bringing her back to Wonderland that it all came into focus. 'I got an image of her standing at a very crucial moment in her life, looking over and seeing this rabbit leaning against the tree, looking at her, knowing she had to put a pin in this crucial decision and follow this rabbit, because that was her destiny.’

Burton’s film takes place a decade after the events of Carroll’s book and incorporates a lot of the themes and characters from the original. 'But it’s an entirely different story, a different Alice,’ Wasikowska says. 'She’s grieving from the loss of her father and feels very isolated and alone and awkward in her skin. She doesn’t fit into the society she’s a part of, and she doesn’t like what’s expected of her, which is to get married and be a good wife.’ Finding herself being proposed to at garden party, Alice spots a familiar-looking white rabbit, and consequently follows him down a hole and into Wonderland. What she finds is, according to Burton, 'a place in decline, overgrown, a little bit depressed, with a slightly haunted quality to it.’ His vision of Wonderland – devoid of colour and life under the oppressive rule of the Red Queen – was inspired by the work of Arthur Rackham, who illustrated the 1907 edition of Alice in Wonderland, as well as a black-and-white photograph of a family having tea during the Second World War with London, dishevelled, in the background.

After being reacquainted with the Mad Hatter, Alice is taken to see the wise, old, hookah-smoking Caterpillar (Alan Rickman), who informs her that her presence in Wonderland is no accident. Rather, according to ancient prophecy, she has returned to slay the Red Queen’s dreaded Jabberwocky and bring about the end of her reign. Wasikowska found her character easy to relate to. 'Returning to Wonderland is Alice rediscovering who she is and having the strength to be more self-assured when she comes back,’ she says. 'Alice is such an iconic character. I wasn’t sure at first how much they wanted to play with that, or how different they wanted to make her. Tim decided it was important to keep some of the iconic nature. So, for me, the challenge was finding Alice the teenage girl, and bringing that to the story. I wanted to make her real to teenagers and young adults.’

Burton had been determined to cast an unknown as Alice. 'She had that emotional toughness; standing her ground in a way which makes her kind of an older person but with a younger person’s mentality,’ he says. Anne Hathaway, who plays the White Queen, says, 'I love watching her work because it’s very quiet what she’s doing but it goes so deep, and every time she says a line it’s as though she’s saying it for the first time.’

Despite having only 40 days to complete the green screen section – roughly 90 per cent of the film – the atmosphere on set is fun and familial. Burton favours working with many of the same key creative personnel time and time again. Between takes, he and Depp laugh and joke constantly, their current obsession orange-haired characters in cinema and television. On a shelf beneath his monitors Burton has a collection of toy dart guns of varying calibre; he selects one as he waits for another shot to be readied, firing it into the ceiling.

Alice marks the seventh time Burton and Depp have worked together since Edward Scissorhands in 1989, and for Depp it is always a joy. 'He leaves you such room to play, to mess around. That’s the opportunity you dream of as an actor, to say, “Look I’d like to try something. It might be absolute crap, but I’d like to see if it works.” If you don’t try to push a little harder or go a little bit outside, what’s the point? And if it doesn’t work, he’ll just say, “All right, you tried it, now try this.” But when it pays off, and I hear that cackle off screen, that’s when I know I’ve hit something on the nose, for Tim.’

Depp was in Chicago filming Public Enemies when Burton called to discuss the Mad Hatter. 'The funny thing is, I had just re-read the book, so it was still pretty fresh in my mind,’ Depp says. He was keen to incorporate into the film a number of lines from the book that he thought were key to the character. 'He says, “I’m investigating things that begin with the letter M.” When you dig a little deeper you find out why. It’s because of the mercury.’ Depp’s research revealed the term 'mad as a hatter’ had an unfortunate basis in fact. Hatters suffered from mercury poisoning, a side effect of the millinery process, which would affect the mind.

In creating the Hatter’s look, Depp felt his entire body would have been affected by the mercury and he worked closely with Patty Duke, who has been his make-up artist for 18 years, and the costume designer Colleen Atwood, whom he also met on Edward Scissorhands, to bring him to life. 'He’s a little bit punked out, but he has a lot of accoutrements on his costume that are the tools of a hatmaker’s trade,’ Atwood says. 'He has a bandolier of thread, he has ribbons tied on – all things he can make a hat with at any moment. At the first fitting I found all these crazy thimbles and showed them to Johnny. He stuck them on his fingers and started playing music on them. We had a lot of fun with all those bits that add to the character and he can use when he’s doing the part.’

The following day Burton is directing a scene in which Hathaway’s White Queen banishes her older sister, Bonham Carter’s Red Queen, from Wonderland. Hathaway wears a small green box on her head that, in post-production, will be digitally transformed into a crown, and she seems to glide across the stage floor, her hands raised like Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard. 'It’s like she’s on wheels, and her hands begin talking before she does,’ says Depp, who admits to being a little envious of Hathaway’s performance. 'In a way, her hands have their own personality. There is a part of it that’s really subtle and a part of it that’s really out there. It’s like Glinda the Good Witch on some sort of hallucinogen.’

Although on the film for only nine days, Hathaway has immersed herself in her role. 'I wanted the White Queen to have the punk spirit of Debbie Harry, the etherealness of [the American artist] Dan Flavin, and the glamour and grace and emotion of Greta Garbo,’ she says, pointing to a postcard on her trailer’s fridge door featuring one of Flavin’s signature fluorescent tube light sculptures. 'That kind of reminded me of their relationship, the way the red’s pushing down on the white. It’s actually three red tubes for every white one, and the white one is still the more dominant.’

Bonham Carter met Burton in 2000 when he cast her as a chimpanzee in his remake of Planet of the Apes. The pair became romantically involved when Burton moved to London the following year after his break-up with the model and actress Lisa Marie. Since then they have worked together on six films and have two children, Billy, six, and Nell, two. 'I didn’t know, as ever, if I was going to be in it,’ Bonham Carter says. 'I assumed not. Then everybody else seemed to know before me, and Tim said, “Obviously it’s you,” and showed me the first drawing he’d done of the Red Queen, and there’s this doodle of a really angry woman with a big head.’ Her transformation into the Red Queen requires three hours in make-up each day. The result, physically inspired by Bette Davis’s Elizabeth I, is startling, especially for her son who, along with his younger sister, is visiting mum and dad at work today. 'Billy doesn’t want to look at me,’ she shrugs. 'I don’t know if he’s scared or embarrassed. Nell – not a problem. Nothing fazes that girl.’

Alice in Wonderland requires somewhere in the region of 2,000 visual effect shots, a considerable number, particularly given the film’s relatively tight production schedule. When I meet Burton in November 2009, a year later, the pressure to complete the effects in time for the film’s March release date is clear. For an artist used to controlling every detail, micro-managing each CGI shot has been arduous and time-consuming. 'There’s never a shot where I just go, “Great!” ’ he sighs. 'There are comments on everything. There may be 20 comments per shot. Maybe more. And you’re talking 2,000 shots, so there’s lots of dealing with stuff. You make a comment and you may not see the results of that for a month or two.’

Despite the frustrations, Depp believes Burton’s vision will, ultimately, prove worth it. 'Alice in Wonderland – if you’re not walking on a tightrope, juggling super-sharp knives, there’s really no reason to do it,’ he says. 'Because if you’re not willing to get into the same arena or take the same chances as Charles Dodgson did, what’s the point? Tim is that guy who will get up on that high wire and juggle double-edged daggers to amaze and astound us all. He couldn’t have bitten off anything bigger to chew. This is almost lunatic time. To choose to grab Alice in Wonderland, that in itself is one thing, and then to do it to the Tim Burton level is madness. It’s so huge because, whether it’s the CGI or the green screen or the 3D or the live action, he’s done it all here. It’s the greatest undertaking I’ve heard of.’

"Alice in Wonderland": Disney's "Ultimate Fan Event"

Walt Disney Pictures has just released a very thorough press release on what is being called the "Ultimate Fan Event" for devoted Alice in Wonderland fanatics:

BURBANK, Calif., Feb 04, 2010 --WALT DISNEY PICTURES AND BUENA VISTA RECORDS JOIN FORCES WITH HOT TOPIC, KIIS-FM, MYSPACE AND MUSICAL ARTISTS FROM "ALMOST ALICE" FOR ULTIMATE FAN EVENT FEB. 19, 2010, AT HOLLYWOOD & HIGHLAND CENTER

Film Stars, Filmmakers and Artists 3OH!3, Metro Station, Family Force 5, Kerli and Never Shout Never on Concert Roster; Entire Event to be Streamed Live on MySpace

Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Records join forces with Hot Topic, KIIS-FM, MySpace and musical artists from the upcoming album "Almost Alice" for a great big ultimate fan event celebrating this Spring's most anticipated 3D motion picture "ALICE IN WONDERLAND." The star-studded concert event kicks off at 5 p.m. on Feb. 19, 2010, at the Hollywood & Highland Center's Central Courtyard. Featuring five musical acts, a visit from director Tim Burton to introduce select members of the "ALICE IN WONDERLAND" cast, plus opportunities to win prizes,including a sneak peek of actual film footage, the ultimate fan event will be streamed live on MySpace at www.myspace.com/wonderland.

An Entertainment Extravaganza

The event's featured artists will do a short set, including their song from "Almost Alice." Artists/songs include 3OH!3 ("Follow Me Down"), Metro Station ("Where's My Angel"), Family Force 5 ("Topsy Turvy"), Kerli ("Tea Party"), and Never Shout Never ("Sea What We Seas").

Available March 2, 2010, "Almost Alice" is a 16-song compilation featuring the film's end credit track "Alice," written and performed by Avril Lavigne, plus songs from artists including All American Rejects, The Cure's Robert Smith, Franz Ferdinand and Shinedown. Hot Topic's exclusive expanded version includes three bonus tracks. The album is a companion to the film's soundtrack, which features the score by composer Danny Elfman.

Hot Topic's Hollywood locale (3rd level of Hollywood & Highland Center) has been transformed to a mad version of Wonderland even the Hatter would enjoy. Hot Topic hosts the event and features exclusive "ALICE IN WONDERLAND"-themed products now available at Hot Topic stores nationwide and online. Beginning Monday, February 8, the first 250 customers who purchase any 3OH!3 t-shirt and preorder the "Almost Alice" CD will receive a wristband that will grant access to a special meet-and-greet with the band 3OH!3, entry into the concert's preferred viewing pit and admission into the special 3D sneak peek of footage from the film at the El Capitan Theatre after the concert event.

KIIS-FM, 104.3 MyFM and 98.7 FM will give away VIP preferred viewing pit wristbands to listeners between now and event day. Additional VIP tickets will be given away via MySpace, Facebook and Twitter. VIP attendees will be treated to a special 3D sneak peek of footage from the film at Hollywood's El Capitan Theatre immediately following the event.

Fans are encouraged to dress up in costumes inspired by characters from "ALICE IN WONDERLAND." Costumes will be judged on site by Academy Award(R)-winner Colleen Atwood, costume designer for the film. Winners will be invited to attend the special sneak peek at the El Capitan.

KIIS-FM's Manny on the Streets will be the on-stage host for the event. Quddus from MySpace and theQside.com, Roslynn Cobarrubias from MySpace Music and Philip DeFranco from YouTube will be on hand as backstage hosts, interviewing key players along the way.

MySpace and Facebook will host the exclusive live streams of the event at www.myspace.com/wonderland and www.facebook.com/aliceinwonderland, powered by Ustream. Viewers around the world can experience the event first-hand, see exclusive backstage interviews with talent and interact by posting comments and questions to the page. Become a Fan on Facebook @ www.facebook.com/aliceinwonderland

SOURCE: Walt Disney Pictures


Again, the extravaganza will take place on Friday, February 19th, from 5:00 - 7:00 PM at the Hollywood & Highland Center, Hollywood, CA. Click here for the Facebook event page.

Burton, Wasikowska, Atwood, and Schaub on "Wonderland"

Rotten Tomatoes spoke with Tim Burton, Mia Wasikowska, costume designer Colleen Atwood, and animation supervisor David Schaub to learn more about the making of Alice in Wonderland.

Why did Burton choose to make Alice? Because he was underwhelmed with other cinematic adaptations that he had seen. "All the other versions of Alice I've seen were lacking a narrative dynamic," he tells RT. "They were just a series of absurdist tales with one weird character after another and not too much of a context. So you watch it thinking, 'Oh, that's weird,' and 'Yeah, that's strange,' without ever paying attention to the story plot points."

How is Burton's Alice going to avoid those pitfalls? "We tried to give all of the characters a bit more of a foundation and a more simple, grounded story to work off all the weird stuff," he explains. "I mean, they're obviously all mad. But we have tried to give each of them a particular madness and a bit more depth."



Burton also explained how much of the effects were done in a trial and error process. One experiment that didn't make the cut was the motion capture technology. "We suited the Tweedles (Matt Lucas) and the Knave of Hearts (Crispin Glover, pictured) for motion capture," explains animation supervisor David Schaub. "The Knave is eight feet tall so we thought that motion capture would be the best method. But Crispin had to be on stilts for eye line purposes, so all of the captured images looked like a guy on stilts. It was clunky." Was it frustrating to have to throw away the footage? "It's Tim's choice," shrugs Schaub. "He knows what's out there and he makes choices based on the films he sees and the techniques used."

"We discussed what we like and don't like about motion capture," admits Burton. "Personally, I think it looks weird."


Other technological tricks were more successful, but still challenging. "We basically have three live-action characters," explains David Schaub. "They are Alice (Mia Wasikowska), The Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) and The White Queen (Anne Hathaway). The Tweedles and the Knave of Hearts are real heads blended onto animated bodies. That creates a special look that you won't have seen before. It's very cool. Meanwhile, Helena Bonham Carter's character (The Red Queen) is an amalgamation of all kinds of different techniques, which we then distorted." One of the most difficult characters to create was The Cheshire Cat. "That was hard because he actually floats," says Schaub. "So we had to think, if a cat could float, how would a cat float? Then he's got this huge grin the whole time, which causes problems because he's got to have emotions. But how do you make him anything other than happy when he's got this permanent smile? It was intense."

Wonderland itself is almost entirely CGI. "There is one significant prop where Alice steps into Wonderland and goes down some stairs," says Schaub. "That was an amazing piece of architecture. But everything else is a CG environment."

The end result may look incredible, but it was hardly thrilling for Mia Wasikowska. "It was three months of green screen," she sighs. "So I had to try and keep the energy up and remember that there will be an animated character in front of me. But it's hard when you're acting opposite nothing but sticky tape and tennis balls."


While the Red Queen was a technical amalgamation, the Mad Hatter was a creative mix. "It's funny," laughs costume designer Colleen Atwood. "Tim, Johnny and I had all made sketches of what we thought the Mad Hatter should look like. Then, when we sat down to discuss it, we realised they were all really similar!" One intriguing aspect of the Mad Hatter's costume is that it changes colour according to his mood. "It's like a mood ring," explains Atwood. "I made his suits in different colours, with layers of other colours, and then they enhanced it with CGI. It's going to look really fun."


Atwood had great enthusiasm for Wasikowska, as well. "She's just an amazing young woman," Atwood gushes to RT. "Her head is not up in the clouds and she's a really hard worker with a great sense of humour -- something you need on a film as crazy as this. She's definitely channeling Cate Blanchett in the sense that both actresses are extremely talented but very grounded. Plus they're both Australian."

Tim Burton agrees: "Mia has an old soul, but there are elements of her that feel very young and naïve," he explains. "She's perfect to play Alice at this stage of her life because she is at a crossroads, and the film's journey is her finding out who she is and what she wants. Although this is probably the weirdest, most abstract movie that she will ever be in. I mean, it's weird even for me."

Is Wasikowska feeling the pressure? "A little bit," she nervously laughed. "I'm excited to see the finished product but, of course, there is a certain amount of anxiety that comes with it. Having said that, I have such faith in Tim and everybody on this film, so I'm not really worried."

Colleen Atwood on Burton, "Alice": "It's Going to Be Amazing"

Renowned award-winning costume designer and frequent Burton collaborator Colleen Atwood sat down for an interview with MovieLine.com, and discussed how she met Tim Burton, how new technology has affected her method of designing costumes for Alice in Wonderland, what we can expect from Burton's upcoming Alice in Wonderland, and much more:

You’ve worked with Johnny Depp many times now.

I have … Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow … Let’s see … Sweeney Todd, Alice in Wonderland …

It must be a treat to design for an actor who can disappear so seamlessly inside his characters.

He really is a chameleon, and he takes on the character in the clothes. They don’t ever look like costumes on him; they look real, and that really helps my job.

Your partnership with Tim Burton — how did the two of you first come together?

I was recommended to him on Edward Scissorhands by a production designer — Bo Welch — who I’d work with prior to that. So I met Tim through him, and we clicked in our own way, and we’ve managed to have a long run together and still enjoy working together. I just went to Tim’s show at MoMA last night, and it was fantastic. Really amazing.

Do you conceive of the costumes together through sketches? I know he frequently begins on paper.

There’s something that he captures that is kind of the soul of the character on paper, and there’s often costume elements, but we’re not married to that at all. I mean, for sure on Edward Scissorhands, because there was so much involved with that, but with the Mad Hatter, with Sweeney, with those costumes, he really doesn’t give me a drawing and say, “This is what I want.” I think it’s because he knows the other people working with him are artists, so he gets very excited and enthusiastic when we show him what we have. He has a wonderful eye himself, and so he’ll a little magical touch to something.

How did the new 3-D technology he used in Alice in Wonderland affect your designs?

I did a lot of the computer animated costumes — I knew what the animated world was going to be, and I knew a bit about 3-D anyway, and so I sort of tried to make stuff that you could play with in 3-D. Stuff that pops in and out. We ended up physically making a lot of the other stuff and it would later end up being animated. It really helped Tim to see things as physical costumes first, and it gave the animators a lot of help as far as depth and texture and things like that. I think what we’re going to see now is the mixture of live and animated people and costumes in an animated world. It’s going to be a really amazing, fun thing for the audience.


I know he wanted to depart with the traditional narrative. How tied were you to the original illustrations, and what were you reference points for designing a new Alice in Wonderland?

It was really freeing, because there’s Lewis Caroll’s own drawings, of which there aren’t very many and they’re quite simple. As Alice went through various eras, there’s classic references for them. Because this is so different from what people are going to expect — Alice isn’t a ten-year-old girl, she’s a young woman — there’s a nod to the classical need for that. But once she goes into Wonderland, we took it to another place. The Hatter has a hat and the recognizable elements, but we explored the world of hat makers in London in the period. So we pulled from that for inspiration more than the previous illustrations, and Johnny used that for his character. They called hatters “mad hatters” because they used these toxic glues and dyes all the time, and they were actually quite mad, a lot of them. So it was quite cool to read about that business in that time, and that they were actually quite in demand and made a quite decent living at that period.



Now when you do something historically accurate and less fanciful than something like Alice in Wonderland, such as Public Enemies, how much research goes into it before you even sketch your first drawing?

In a story like Public Enemies, it’s about people who existed, so you go to that trough, using what few images of them existed. Actually when I do period work, I really like to read about the period as much as I like to look at pictures, because sometimes the written word is much better at conveying what their lives were really like and how much they had, and where their clothes came from. Because a lot of time, people dressed in their Sunday best to pose for a picture. They didn’t take snapshots until much later — there certainly wasn’t much of that going on in the 1930s.

For most of these guys, it was mugshots and prison entrance and exit clothes, but I had a lot of people do online research, and Michael Mann of course had been on the project for a long time and had very deep research and was quite specific. The production designer usually starts a show before I do and they usually have a depth of research. So it’s a combination of all that.


You have some TV credits as well, such as The Tick. Did you design The Tick’s costume?

Yeah. The pilot.


Is it true The Tick’s moving antennae cost $1 million to produce?

Not the ones I did. Maybe later when they did the series they spent more money, but I did the pilot. I remember the amount that costume cost, as a matter of fact, and the budget for that kind of TV pilot is usually much higher. I didn’t have the kind of R&D you get when they decide to really go for it.


What was the most expensive costume you’ve ever made?

I’d say probably the most expensive costumes I’ve ever made were the costumes in The Planet of the Apes, because of the research and development that went into them and the amount of layers. I got the cost per costume down, but because it involved so many processes, with sculpting, and bodysuits, and cool suits, and oversuits, and helmets, and footwear, and handwear, that had to work for action and look like monkeys, that was probably the most expensive per-unit costume ever. The period stuff I spend a lot of time on, I have good textile artists. They’re not cheap, but they’re not out of control expensive either, because you have to make it work.




Speaking of making it work, do you watch Project Runway?

I have watched Project Runway, but I’m not a devout watcher of it. But I think it’s a great show, what I’ve seen of it, and I think Tim Gunn is a very positive, amazing guy.


I ask because they’ll often dismiss something on the show as looking “too costumey,” and I’m wondering if you take offense to that.

No, because I think the street world that it’s in is different. People like to stir up the fashion vs. costume world, and I think what they mean by “too costumey” is that it’s too much, or not real enough for everyday wear. You couldn’t say that about John Galliano’s shows, right? I mean they’re awesome and they’re total costume. It’s just a different thing. They do like to slag off costumes a bit — not on that show, but in the fashion world. I don’t know why they feel they have to compete.


Are you ever tempted to, or maybe you do, design your own clothes?

You know, it’s strange. Like, I’ve designed my Oscar dresses and my people have made them for me, but my own clothes per se that I wear? No — but I do a lot of fitting. Like I’ll buy something and completely recut it. I’m so used to thinking that my clothes are fairly neutral, it’s other people’s clothes I like to design.


Next up you’re working on yet another Johnny Depp film — The Rum Diary. What’s the look you’re going for there?

Well, it’s real. It’s a guy that goes to Puerto Rico in 1960, who’s kind of like an average guy. He shows up with very few clothes. There’s contrasts in the story, between the haves and the have-nots, the Union Carbides vs. the locals, so I pushed that side of the contrast a bit. But it’s very research-oriented and real clothes a lot.

Burton Explains His Art

Andy Warhol, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons... Tim Burton? Perhaps the well-established film director will become another name associated with the world of pop art. Ron Magliozzi, curator of the MoMA exhibition, seems to think so: "It may be that Tim will rival Warhol when it comes to output and international reputation in the various forms of artistic expression," Magliozzi said, according to The Independent. "Instead of using films to interpret the art, let's use the art to interpret the films. The art is the most important thing. The films are secondary."

But art critic Brian Sewell is dismissive of the notion. "I think curators are ill advised and usually wrong," he said. "I don't think there can ever be another Warhol. There could never be anybody who excels at that skilled merchandising of multiples. There was a small genius there, but I think Tim Burton – I wouldn't believe it of somebody so insignificant. It's a bit like when Paul McCartney's art was compared to Rothko. I think this will be a flash in the pan."

Whatever your thoughts on pop art may be, Burton's work has gathered a lot of interest. In anticipation of the upcoming gigantic Tim Burton art exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Tim Burton explained some of his artwork. The MoMA exhibition will include over 700 pieces from Burton's personal collection, as well as artifacts from his many films. Burton also made a specially commissioned sculpture for the museum. Here are a couple of samples, with some explanations from the artist/filmmaker himself:



Untitled (Blue Girl with Bouquet) 1992-1999
"I'd just done Batman Returns — after big movies, it's nice to go do something of your own. It was the first time I'd worked with a Polaroid camera, and it was so theatrical. So this person in my office, Leticia Rogers, and the costume designer Colleen Atwood, and I did our own fun photo shoot. I had some drawings I did for my book, and I thought it would be fun to fool around with these in live-action. And a little bit of that turned into the Sally character in The Nightmare Before Christmas."




Untitled (Picasso Woman) 1980-1990
"I used to go to the mall a lot — there's a lot of interesting people to look at, and you could sit there with nobody paying attention to you. I remember having a kind of mind-blowing experience where I was very frustrated drawing, struggling to fit in, and I said, 'Fuck it, I can't. I'm just going to draw the way I'm going to draw.' I had a couple good teachers who told me to just be myself. I didn't worry about physics or reality, and it freed me up to capture the way I saw a person."

The Green Man 1996-1998
Burton described this as a kind of self-portrait and memento mori. It’s about "a feeling of being in a pub in England, thinking about my grandmother who had died, and feeling the connections she had with me." The sharp edges of the triangular blue mask invoke her death in a traumatic accident. The stitching all over the man’s face is "a symbol for the internal, an indicator of a person's different sides and struggle to keep it together." The coat is classic Burton gothicism: "the exact opposite of Southern California," where he incongruously grew up. A stripes are another common trend in Burton's art. "I was depressed and disconnected. I couldn't feel my hands. I bought some striped socks and suddenly felt very connected to the Earth again. I have strange things happen to me."

The artwork displayed is on a variety of surfaces and mediums, ranging from canvas to notebooks to cocktail napkins. "Sometimes these things look like they're just weird," Burton says, "but I don't keep a journal or a diary. They help me to remember a certain feeling—they become time capsules."


Most of the artifacts from the vast exhibition are from Burton's home in Belsize Park in north-west London.

"It's hard for me to fathom, truthfully," he said, "because it's so outside my experience or culture. When they asked me about it I couldn't quite believe it. You feel quite vulnerable when you show a movie and this is even stranger. In a movie things go by quickly, like a moving target. This is like – oh gee. I'm a bit disturbed, really."

Burton also told New York Magazine, "It's like opening up an old closet or something — like 'Oh! What's all this crap?'"

See some of Burton's 'old crap' in 33 slides.

(All images are courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art and Tim Burton.)

Pre-Order "The Art of Tim Burton" Book

From TimBurton.com:

Available for pre-order this November - The Art of Tim BurtonStandard and Deluxe Edition books!

The Art of Tim Burton is the definitive compilation of forty years of Tim Burton's artistry, including film concepts and hundreds of illustrations from his personal archives, edited under the creative guidance of Burton himself. This comprehensive 434 page book is grouped into thirteen chapters that examine common themes in Burton's work, from his fascination with clowns to his passion for misunderstood monsters, to his delight in the oddities of people. Many of Burton's friends and collaborators offer their thoughts, insight and anecdotes about Tim Burton's style and artistic approach to life.

Artwork from the following films and projects are included in this book: Alice in Wonderland (2010), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Corpse Bride (both 2005), Big Fish (2003), Planet of the Apes (2001), Sleepy Hollow, (1999), Mars Attacks! (1996), Ed Wood (1994), The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), Batman Returns (1992), Edward Scissorhands (1990), Family Dog (1987), Batman (1989), Beetlejuice (1988), Pee-Wee's Big Adventure (1985), Frankenweenie (1984), Vincent (1982), and Hansel & Gretel (1982). The book also contains additional drawings from his illustrated book of poetry The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories (1997), and from The World of Stainboy web shorts (2000).

Text By: Leah Gallo, Design by: Holly Kempf, Edited by: Derek Frey, Leah Gallo & Holly Kempf

*PLUS*

Personal text contributions by friends and fellow creatives including:

Allison Abbate, Colleen Atwood, John August, Rick Baker, Helena Bonham Carter, Felicity Dahl, Johnny Depp, Danny Devito, Danny Elfman, Carlos Grangel, Ray Harryhausen, Martin Landau, Rick Heinrichs, Christopher Lee, Lindsay Macgowan, Shane Mahan, Ian Mackinnon, Alex Mcdowell, Victoria Price, Ken Ralston, Paul Reubens, Deep Roy, Winona Ryder, and Richard Zanuck.

Pre-orders will be available this November.

For more information please register in the private gallery at TimBurton.com!

Videos from Comic-Con's "Wonderland"

/Film has some more images from the gallery of props, original costumes designed by Colleen Atwood, and set pieces from Alice in Wonderland at Comic-Con, as well as a video (which may include SPOILERS!!!).






Also, FEARNet has a short video interview with Tim Burton:

"Alice" Props and Costumes

Some props, costumes designed by Colleen Atwood, and more from Alice in Wonderland on display at Comic-Con. Pictures courtesy of Ain't It Cool News:

Red Queen Concept Art

Character designer Michael Kutsche has posted a piece of concept art he made of the Red Queen for Alice in Wonderland.

On the DeviantArt page, Kutsche describes his experience with working on the film:


"In 2008 I had the opportunity to do a lot of the character designs for Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland".


I was very lucky to meet Tim Burton as well as Ken Ralston from Sony Imageworks, I've been working directly at the film set in Plymouth and later on at the set in LA, it's been a great time working for one of my favourite directors.
Seeing Johnny Depp's performance was also mindblowing, he's amazingly talented.

Since some images have already been released, including an image of Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen, I thought it could be nice to show the initial concept art.
I had a very quick sketch by Tim Burton to start with, the final costume that Helena is wearing is Colleen Atwood's work, she's a fantastic academy award-winning costume designer.
The artwork is completely done with Corel Painter X.

My IMDb page: [link]

Enjoy!"

"Sweeney Todd" Wins Two Saturn Awards

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street took home two Saturn awards on Tuesday, June 24th.  The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Horror Films honored Tim Burton's musical thriller with the awards for Best Horror Film and Best Costumes, recognizing Colleen Atwood's work on the film.

The film was also nominated for Best Direction (Tim Burton), Best Actor (Johnny Depp), Best Actress (Helena Bonham Carter), Best Supporting Actor (Alan Rickman), Best Writing (John Logan), and Best Make-Up (Peter Owen and Ivana Primorac).  

Frequent Burton collaborator Ve Neill (Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, and make-up and hair stylist for Johnny Depp on Sweeney Todd, among other Burton films) was awarded with a Saturn award for her work on Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.  She shared the prize with Martin Samuel.

For a full list of the winners, click here.

2008 Oscars Results

The winners from the 80th Annual Academy Awards have all been announced. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street was nominated for three awards, and won one Oscar for Best Achievement in Art Direction. Italian production designer Dante Ferretti and his wife, Francesca Lo Schiavo, who was the set designer on the horror-musical, each won an award.

Here are the acceptance speeches by the pair (and more information on their nomination history in this link):

Dante Ferretti:
Thank you to the Academy. And thank you to Tim Burton, fantastic director. Thank you to Richard Zanuck. Thank you to everybody, thank you to my team, all the department, everyone. Thank you, Johnny. And I'm sorry, i forgot something, but I'm very -- thank you anyway.

Francesca Lo Schiavo:
Just i would like to say, this time, thank you, thank you to the Academy. I'm so happy, so grateful. And thank you to Tim Burton. Great director. Johnny Depp and all the actors, Everybody, for this fantastic movie.

Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo hold their Oscars
for their work on the art direction in Sweeney Todd (OSCAR.com)

You can watch a "Thank You Cam" video of the two on the official Oscars website.

Colleen Atwood's costume designs for Sweeney Todd were also nominated, but ultimately lost to Alexandra Byrne's costumes used in Elizabeth: The Golden Age. Johnny Depp was also nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role. However, Daniel Day Lewis, who was predicted as the front runner for the award, received the Oscar for his performance in There Will Be Blood. Previous Burton collaborator Marion Cotillard (who played Josephine in Big Fish) won Best Actress for her performance as Edith Piaf in La Vie en Rose (a.ka. La Mome). Neither Tim Burton nor Helena Bonham Carter were present at the awards ceremony. It is likely that they were with their children in London at the time.

Although the famed costume designer did not take home an Academy Award this year, Oscars.com did have a special treat from Colleen Atwood. Atwood filled out a questionnaire. See her personal answers and stories, in her handwriting (click on the image for a closer view):





Information on the other winners and nominees can be read in this link.

Eight Saturn Award Nominations for "Sweeney Todd"

The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films has given a lot of attention to Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. The non-profit organization, now celebrating its 34th Annual Awards season, has nominated the musical thriller for eight Saturn Awards:

-Best Horror Film
-Best Actor (Johnny Depp)
-Best Actress (Helena Bonham Carter)
-Best Supporting Actor (Alan Rickman)
-Best Direction (Tim Burton)
-Best Writing (John Logan)
-Best Costume (Colleen Atwood)
-Best Make-Up (Peter Owen and Ivana Primorac)


You can read the complete list of this year's nominees and read more about the organization on this link.

This year's show will take place on Tuesday, June 24th, 2008, in Universal City, California.

Atwood's "Todd" Costumes Win Award

Last night, the winners of the 10th annual Costume Designers Guild Awards were announced. Among the recipients was Colleen Atwood, who won a best costume award for the period piece category for her work on Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Atwood and Todd are also up for an Academy Award for costume designs.