Nightmare Before Christmas 3D Opening Night at the El Capitan
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Schaeffer mentioned one such mistake. During the Town Hall meeting, while the Mayor was speaking, white flecks suddenly appeared to fall on him. After carefully checking the scene, the crew determined that it was either dandruff or lint, accidentally dropped on a long ago night of shooting. “We left it in,�? Schaeffer chuckled.
Thompson next turned to photographer Jim Aupperle, asking him what it was like on the set shooting Jack and Sally. “It was old school technology,�? Aupperle said, “It is exciting to see it in this computer era.�? He said that some of the equipment used to shoot Nightmare Before Christmas was quite old. One piece had actually been used for Citizen Kane, some fifty years earlier. He said that the experience was as much like putting on a stage show as shooting a film. Watching it, in turn, is in some ways like seeing a stage production.
Thompson noted that one memorable song almost didn’t make it into the show. Sally’s Lament had been animated and shot when it was considered for removal. Aupperle recalled that animator Trey Thomas was in suspense after learning that executives from Disney felt the number was slowing the action in the latter part of the film. Finally he and the photographer were granted a reprieve when they were told, “Tim likes it—it stays.�?
The first surprise of the evening came next. Thompson coyly mentioned that photographer Aupperle had brought along “something�? to show the crowd. Fellow photographer Anthony Scott had shot home video during the making of Nightmare. (Scott, a devotee of the art form, maintains the web site StopMotionAnimation.com.) A short film had been edited together from the rare footage, and was presented to the appreciative crowd. Among the things to watch for, said Aupperle, were a glimpse of the puppet vault (“Toys ‘R Us on steroids,�? he called it) and the final shot, taken on the last day the crew viewed the “dailies,�? footage in unedited form seen in the screening room.
As the lights dimmed, the soundtrack began… without video. After a member of the panel quipped that Nightmare always was considered a “dark�? film, the two minute compilation played.
Afterward, animator Belzer explained that dailies were the improv sessions of stop motion. Because the work had to be done without any correction or backing up, it was only in looking at the unedited film that the artists could know if their efforts yielded the desired results.
Aupperle agreed that the dailies were a time of great suspense. The photographers added fire, smoke and water effects as double exposures. At the time they didn’t use computers or even optical printers; it was all done in the camera. The concern, he said, was that, “The animator’s work is gonna be perfect, I hope I don’t screw it up!�?
Schaeffer recalled a less than perfect scene that caused some concern at ILM. In the scene where the residents of Halloweentown arrive for the town meeting, there was discussion of how to best handle the Clown riding in from the left, Witches flying in from the right, and so on. Finally, someone pointed out the jittery Mayor’s car in the corner.
Moderator Thompson next turned to Ken Page, asking him for thoughts about playing Oogie Boogie, the villain of The Nightmare Before Christmas. How had he arrived at the sound of Oogie Boogie?
“It’s somewhere between the voice of the Exorcist and the Cowardly Lion from the Wizard of Oz,�? Page said. He mentioned particularly his admiration for the work of Mercedes McCambridge, the voice of the demon in The Exorcist. As he created the character voice for the animated bag of bugs, Page became concerned he might take the characterization too far. After spending some time with the crew, though, Page realized, “I was as weird as they were!�?
Thompson asked if it was true that Tim Burton had modeled Oogie Boogie’s performance on Cab Calloway. Page reflected a moment before agreeing that the singing was definitely in that style. He especially noted the influence of Calloway’s recording of St. James Infirmary.