Pirates of the Caribbean 4
On Stranger Tides
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From Coming Soon
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides Set Visit!
Source: Ben Mortimer
February 3, 2011
"Jack is actually captured and brought in to visit the King of England. [He] makes an escape, and we have a chase through the streets of London in the 1750s."
John Myhre, the production designer on Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is excitedly describing a sequence near the beginning of the film. It's been minutes since we were introduced to him, on the backlot of Pinewood Studios, England, and it's already clear this is a man who loves his job.
"So we started out needing to have streets that looked like they're rich and regal and royal, and we're using Greenwich Naval academy at the start of that," Myhre's description of the scene moves from what we see, to the logistics behind it, "And then we need to be right down on the wharfs, so the working area, down near the water. We'll show you the set we actually built for that".
With that, Myhre leads us through a maze of camera vehicles, workmen and replica 18th Century carts, towards a vast wall at the back of the working area. As he does so, he continues talking about the chase, "We needed a place that looks like really down by the wharfs, and that we could have an awful lot of control, so we have to build [it] as a backlot piece."
It's then that we walk past the 'wall,' and it becomes apparent that it is, in fact, the rear of the 'backlot piece.' To our right is the wharf, a structure about thirty feet tall that wouldn't look out of place on the banks of the Thames; to our left is a narrow, cobbled street � a stylised version of London in 1750 that looks like it's straight out of a Disney park.
Walking up the street is a somewhat bizarre experience. In spite of knowing full well that the buildings are, literally, a fa�ade, it's almost impossible to reconcile this with what we're seeing: a winding, slightly claustrophobic London alley, complete with timber framed buildings and low-hanging masonry. What's really remarkable is that this is only one iteration of the street, as Myhre explains.
"We're actually changing this street, a couple times to make it look longer. You know it's just this tiny piece of a street. We're filming it in three different ways, making it feel like it's three times as long. So we're changing dressing, and taking buildings down and changing it out a little bit."
As we walk back down the street towards the wharf, Myhre stops by a building, "this is our Captain's Daughter's Pub," he opens the door, allowing us to glimpse the interior. It's sparsely furnished, and doesn't look quite right � sort of a sketch of the inside of a pub. Myhre explains, "[these are] some of the architectural elements, so, when you're on this street, that's all you see in the door."
A few minutes later, after a brief walk through the studio lot, we're once more outside The Captain's Daughter, this time inside a sound stage. Here it is the exterior that is a sketched-out version, the shape is the same, and there are cobbles on the floor outside, but the door is missing, and the other side of the street has been rendered with a matte painting. "The actual door we had for our set here is out on the back lot right now," Myhre tells us, "some of the pieces that would be inside are out there now, so we'd open up the door in the back lot, and it leads into here."
Inside the pub it is very small, and very cluttered. In addition to the counter, ceiling supports, imitation candles and a hell of a lot of furniture, are some very 21st Century touches: an air conditioning unit, a selection of stands and all sorts of clutter, "Now what you guys are all seeing is the what the shooting crew does to our beautiful sets", Myhre laments "When the shooting crew comes in, this is all dressed beautifully, all the furniture, chairs, everything is in the perfect place, candles lit, everything gorgeous. But when they shoot, they need to be able to clear portions out, so if we're filming somebody at the bar area over there, they'd have the actors there, but they would literally just take all this away".
At the back of the Captain's Daughter is a door that leads through to the Storeroom set. Myhre shows us through. In contrast to the previous room, with it's low ceiling, and cramped conditions, the Storeroom is vast, about 30 feet across, by 40 feet deep, with walls that reach up nearly as high as the room is wide.
Around the side and back walls is a mezzanine, with props scattered along it, and a ramp leading up. Beneath are more props, and in the centre, what appears to be a huge drain, at least six feet in diameter, with a grate over the top. Myhre seems justifiably proud of the set, and the team who built it, "I think, I just got the best construction and paint and plaster team I could ever dream of having here in England, and the local art department here, our supervisor and art director, Gary Freeman is just astonishing."
In the far corner of the room is a large round table surrounded with chairs, set up for interviews. It was here that we spoke with screenwriter Terry Rossio, one half of the writing team behind the three previous "Pirates" films, as well as "On Stranger Tides."
"We're in the world of ghosts stories, and stories of the sea, and elements that are associated with pirates, sort of gothic elements, historical elements, romantic elements," Rossio explains, "Within that world, there are certain things that we get excited about defining what they are; like for example the Flying Dutchman, Davy Jones, Davy Jones' Locker, those sorts of things are in the public consciousness but maybe not quite clearly defined."
This technique, of layering a novel take on popular myths and legends with elements of the real world clearly appeals to Rossio, and it's something he seems to have relished this time round.
"When you have an opportunity to then actually do another 'Pirates of the Caribbean' film, you can't help but say, well let's see: mermaids, we've mentioned them but we haven't really explored them; The Fountain of Youth, that's something people know about but what is it really? Black Beard, Queen Anne's Revenge is his ship, those are elements that sort of scream out because they're iconic, somewhat well known, but yet undefined. So how cool it will be to define those sort of things?"
As well as the combination of real world and myth, the other element common to films in the "Pirates" franchise is Captain Jack Sparrow.
The man who stole the first three films from nominal protagonist Elizabeth Swann has taken centre stage in this movie and has influenced the direction of the script, both in character, with Rossio and writing partner Ted Elliot frequently asking themselves, "what haven't we put him through yet, what haven't we explored, what hasn't he done emotionally?" and as actor Johnny Depp, who worked closely with the writing team during the development process, as Rossio explains.
"We had more early meetings with Johnny in terms of talking about what he was interested in doing, and then when we presented story elements, or presented plot elements, he was really involved. He was surprisingly, I think--surprising is not the right word--he was more involved, or significantly involved in coming up with story lines, inventing characters, creating moments that we would then fashion, shape and then go back, and pitch yet again. So that was different."
While some screenwriters might resent the hands-on involvement of an actor in the writing process, Rossio is positive about the experience, "I personally would be frightened if it was only my opinion that was putting these things together, I wouldn't want that, you don't go into this, you don't get anywhere unless you make use of the collective talent that's assembled around you, and you have to be open to it, even when it conflicts with your own point of view."
The fourth film in the "Pirates" franchise, "On Stranger Tides," has a new director in Rob Marshall, and a slight change in tone from the previous films, with a much keener eye on history, and a clearer idea of when it takes place. Rossio considers this shift in tone to actually be very much in keeping with the franchise, "One thing that is consistent is the need for reinvention, certainly I know that Gore [Verbinski] felt that way. The second film he didn't want to have to be like the first, and the third shouldn't be like the second. And then we all can't help but come into the fourth and say� in this installment, what are some things that we haven't done that stuff fit within the world? And bringing in some reading on some more actually historical references, we've done it before, but maybe not quite so much. So you turn up the dial on that a little bit."
For Myhre, this accuracy helped to inform the look of the film, and distinguish it from it's predecessors, "In the previous movies, there seemed to be quite a wide range in terms of historical accuracy, and I think they did, 'as long as it made sense, find out what's the most fun thing to use.' We picked a date of 1750, we all got together in a room, and said, 'right, let's have a date we can pick and choose from, so we said 1750� and if it was a bit earlier, or just a hair later, maybe we'd do what was most fun for the storytelling, but we're in that range, we're saying mid-1700s."
As we continue our tour, Myhre leads us out of the Storeroom, and into a small construction site. Immediately outside of the set, workmen are building pieces of a wall, Myhre apologizes, "They really, really liked the sequence in there [The Storeroom], and they've actually decided to add a couple beats to it because they like it so much, so we're going to be shooting this first unit, I think again on Wednesday, and it's put us behind on a set that we're building."
Not one to let the small matter of several hundred square feet of set being in the way to stop him, however, Myhre and his crew have been building the next set, a corridor in a Spanish palace, in any spare space they can find, and suspending finished pieces from the ceiling, where they will remain until the Captain's Daughter and Storeroom sets can be dismantled and moved out of the way.
To give us an idea of how the finished set will look, Myhre produces a scale model, "I'm always big on building models to show people what the sets are going to look like, and so this is going to be a Spanish Corridor, for the Spanish King to get some information at the beginning of the movie," he tells us, "It was inspired by� The Alhambra. I want to make it look very, very, very different from anything we're going to see in England, so we're taking a lot of the Moorish influence on the architecture." Even as just a scale model and a few half-built walls, the intricate work that has gone into the set is impressive.
It seems that constructing sets in one place for assembly elsewhere is a common occurrence on this shoot. In another soundstage a crew is building Postillion's Cabin; a set that will ultimately be mounted on a gimble, enabling it to be rocked back and forth, as in the story it teeters precariously on the top of a mountain. To allow them to "get ahead of things," Myhre explains that they are building the set on the ground, while the gimble is itself pieced together. Once the set is built, he continues, "It will all come apart and we'll crane up the heavy pieces."
In addition to having to build a set that could be tilted on a gimble, the crew have also been using Pinewood's famous Underwater Stage. Here they faced another unique challenge, building sets that worked near, and even under the water. Myhre is confident they won't have any difficulties, "It's all been pre-built, so it'll just be lowered� It's all going to be pre-built, pre-painted."
At the side of the colossal water tank, is a perfect replica of the wharf we saw on the backlot. Myhre reveals, "Johnny Depp's character and Angelica, Penelope Cruz's character, this is part of their escape along the river Thames."
Leaving the Underwater Stage, we walk past the studio's exterior water tank, a structure capable of holding 806,000 gallons of water, Myhre notices it and laments, "Where Barbossa is threatening to execute pirates, trying to get information out of them, and it would be genius to be able to use this, but 'X-Men' is using it� so we might end up just building it on the backlot, and having to create a bit of a pool with water in to make it feel like it's the Thames."
Once more we walk across the lot, and into another soundstage. Unlike the previous stages we have been on, this one is packed. Not only are there several vast sets inside, but a throng of people milling around, as they prepare one of them for a take. Myhre steers us into one of the sets that isn't currently being used: an ornate courtroom.
"We wanted to find an old, 18th Century court of law, and one of the first things that we found is that there are some that are still around, that are beautiful, but they're all filled to the brim with furniture like this, with all the walls, and dividing areas, and tables and chairs; a filming company just couldn't film like this. We need to be able to move things around," Myhre tells us, "So, what we've devised is a set that, when it's all in, will have all of these railings and dividers and walls, but everything is going to be on wheels. It's hard to see with the light in there, but the bottom part of the back wall comes out, and everything is on wheels and just rolls out; so we can clear one side of this in about ten minutes, and then if they need it back, we roll it back in and clear out the other side."
Teasingly, he continues, "This will be a fun scene where Jack will meet up with some of his old friends from the previous movies."
Next to the courtroom set is the Painted Hall, a cavernous space, based upon the real life Painted Hall at Greenwich Hospital in London. It is in this room that Jack is brought before King George II, as well as his former shipmate Barbossa. From a balcony in an off-camera area of the set, we watch as the crew prepares for a take. Extras stand patiently while veteran British character actor Richard Griffiths sits across a table from a stand in Jack Sparrow. Eventually, everybody is ready for a take, and we're ushered out, to end up crowded around a monitor for the duration of the take.
Of course, it wouldn't be a "Pirates" film without a suitable villain, and this time round, Jack is facing off against Blackbeard, brought to life by Ian McShane. To contrast with other pirates who appeared in the series, there was a desire to make Blackbeard more threatening, as Myhre explains.
"We wanted to make Blackbeard the scariest pirate. It was something we were saying that was interesting, there hasn't really been a scary pirate in the 'Pirates' movies" he continues, "we wanted to make his ships as scary as possible. So we made the sails blood red, it almost looks like something you'd see at the bottom of a butcher shop."
The cabin of Blackbeard's ship reflects this. Even with much of the set dressing removed it's an imposing space, with dark walls, complimented by skull and bone motifs throughout. At the rear is a huge stained glass window featuring a skeleton consumed by fire. Dangling from the back of the ship used for filming is a cage where Blackbeard burns his victims to death, and here a rig has been set up behind the stained glass to give the impression of a flickering fire shining through the window.
As we look around the room, Myhre tries to give us an impression of what it looked like while it was dressed, "This was filled with all of his looted treasure, from all over the world, his desk was up against the stain glassed window� The whole ship had a skeletal theme to it," his eyes then fall on a cabinet, standing against a wall, "and then this is, is a treasure cabinet where he keeps some very, very, very special treasure in."
Myhre opens the cabinet, which is filled with ships in bottles. Once more teasing a plot point, Myhre mentions, "These are being used as a reference, as reference props for the actors, and they'll actually all be replaced with CG ships, with magical movement inside." Unfortunately, once more that small piece of information was all he was willing to give up.
As we walked out of the cabin of Blackbeard's boat, Myhre drew our attention to the mast and huge red sail in front of us, as well as the railings that ran around the edge of the deck. Much like the door to The Captain's Daughter, these were actually used on the ship, and then brought over from Hawaii for the sake of continuity. As Myhre explains though, they wouldn't be staying in England long.
"We're going to have to get all this stuff back to Hawaii because Disney's doing a resort hotel. They're going to keep the ship up there. So all this stuff, like a week or two after we're done shooting is sent back."
This is a strange turn of events for Myhre, a man who has been on the "Pirates of the Caribbean" ride every year since he was five, and who was bitterly disappointed to miss out on working on the first three Pirates of the Caribbean movies, to have something he's designed be a part of that mythos. He sums it up rather eloquently though, "I have the best job in the world, I get to build pirate ships."
During our visit to the Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides set, Johnny Depp took some time to have an unscheduled chat with us. Although brief, Depp covers some interesting points, including filming in London, working with Penelope Cruz and having input into the script.
Q: Have you enjoyed London here, how was the filming in Greenwich, it looked like a lot of fun?
Johnny Depp: Yeah Greenwich is beautiful, Greenwich is gorgeous. You know the thing about filming in Greenwich for me was basically all stunts, so it's kind of hopping from one carriage to another... I prefer scenes myself, but you know...
Q: Is it, is it important for you to do that yourself, you like to actually get involved with the action?
Depp: Yeah, I mean yeah sure because there's a, there's a physical language to the character that I think is important. You know, so even though the stunt double, Chris [Leps], has got [it] down to a fine science, it's still times you got to see Captain Jack's head in there I suppose, and now and again.
Q: How are you enjoying working with Rob Marshall. Is it so much different?
Depp: Oh what a treat, you know what a, what a, I mean different, every filmmaker's different, every filmmaker has a different approach, but I mean, a treat, a real gift. He's, he's truly uh� I mean first and foremost, he's a very, he's a wonderful man, like very kind and, and collaborative, but with fantastic ideas. And, a brilliant sort of� handle on, on scene and story and shape, I suppose. Shape, yeah I know he's really special.
Q: You contributed to the script yourself this time largely, how did you enjoy that?
Depp: Well, I mean all, I just you know it's like, you know going into a think tank basically you know, and just kind of throwing ideas around. If something sparks, it sparks. You know and if they accept it, they accept it, and luckily, you know or thankfully they did, I mean hopefully for the better. But no, they were very receptive to, to just kind of throwing ideas around, just to keep it, to make it different and to keep it very fresh. As opposed to just, well here comes another one, you know another sequel or something. But just to try to keep things a bit different you know.
Q: How do you do Captain Sparrow this time. Could we see any new aspect of him this time?
Depp: Well, there was a sex change� I mean, you know, I honestly think you know this whole thing about characters and character arcs and finding themselves and this and that. I honestly think old Captain Jack has found himself a long time ago. I don't, I don't think there's any more room to... He can't go any further, I think he's at the, he's hit a wall as it were.
Q: How's it been working with Penelope? Is she a match for Captain Jack?
Depp: Oh yeah, she's, she's a serious force to be reckoned with Penelope, I mean we did a film together years ago called "Blow"� I could've said we did "Blow" together years ago�
Q: That would have been a headline there, wouldn't it?
Depp: Yeah so we did this film "Blow" together, which was wonderful, I mean she's really a treat, she's, yeah, she's a heavy hitter. You can throw all kinds of stuff out there into the atmosphere and she'll snatch up something and throw a curve ball back at you, so she's... It's very stimulating, she's someone I adore, you know one of my best friends, so yeah it's been great, it's been great having her.
While we were visiting the set of Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides, ComingSoon.net sat down with producer Jerry Bruckheimer to discuss the forthcoming film, how it relates to the previous installments of the franchise, and what we can expect in the future.
Q: So how, how are you enjoying [Twitter]?
Bruckheimer: I mean it's a lot of fun, yeah I got a bunch of stuff, pictures that I just haven't downloaded them off the computer yet. I'm going to start sending them out, if they allow me.
Q: And that's what I'm sort of curious about. How much do you have to clear through the studio, or can you just decide, like you've done pictures with Johnny, you've done other stuff. Is it sort of like you just saying, f it, let's just put it out there, or�
Bruckheimer: No, no. First of all, any time you do an actor, you have to get their clearance you know, to put anything out. I mean you know Johnny and there's certain people that get photo approval, certain actors where you, you send them through the various channels. But anything I send out, I go through Ryan [Stankevitch � Disney Publicist] or somebody at the studio to see if it's okay because I don't want to step on something they're going to release at the same time. So we all work together.
Q: On a slightly less casual note, after the first three films, you're on the verge of doing a fourth, did you stop and pause, and say, there are certain things we have to do better and or differently, or was it sense of, if it ain't broke, i.e., still profitable, don't fix it?
Bruckheimer: No I think what we did is, we, we started on, on a different direction; during the making of three, and two. Terry and Ted came up with "On Stranger Tides," they found the book. And they said, 'what an interesting way to go,' and we optioned the book. That's how it all started. We didn't look back and say, we just want to start a new chapter, a new chapter. That book gave us a new chapter.
Q: The novel by Tim Powers?
Bruckheimer: Yes.
Q: What sparked the decision to go 3D?
Bruckheimer: I just think it's such an immersive film making. I think it makes you part of the actual filming because you, you're part of the screen and it's closer to you. And we're very adventurous and we decided we want it to be the first big movie, exterior movie to do... "Avatar" was all on stage, or mostly on stage, and I think we're the first picture, big adventure picture that's going to be released that's 3D and actually using 3D cameras.
Q: Did you consider post-conversion?
Bruckheimer: No. It was never a consideration. Initially we had more post-conversion in our budget, but once we started shooting we didn't do it, we didn't need it. There were very few shots that were post-conversions. The only sequence, there was one sequence, the first sequence that we filmed was on a beach that you couldn't get to by land, so everybody had to either take a boat in or helicopter in, and we just couldn't get those big cameras on that beach, so that was... There's only one small sequence that's 2D, and that's being converted.
Q: I was just curious if you can talk about the... I've heard stories with cameras when they're in the heat and humidity, sometimes acting up, and I know you guys shot in Hawaii in the jungle, so could you talk about whether there are any technical challenges that you had to overcome with the 3D cameras, or is everything... Have they reached the point now where the technology is, it can go into the jungle without a problem.
Bruckheimer: Yeah we had problems with rain, and they're very sensitive to cameras. What was the other thing we were having trouble with, with the extreme heat, what was it� There was something with the humidity, there's kind of a mirror in there that we had to keep changing, I guess that we had problems with. But we overcame, it wasn't, it wasn't terrible. Not like we lost a day of filming. We might lose 15 minutes, 20 minutes just, changing, because anytime you have a technical problem with the camera, you have to change two lenses. It's not like you just switch one lens and you fix it, two things have to be fixed. So the convergence again, once cameras go out, you have to reconverge, you have to sit there and figure out how to, how to recalibrate the two cameras. So that takes a few minutes, but nothing terrible.
Q: In terms of continuity between the characters other than Captain Jack, was there any discussion about which characters would return, wouldn't return? Did any big decisions change about who, you know some of the supportive cast would be, you'd bring back for this one?
Bruckheimer: Yeah, I mean we were constantly going back and forth on certain characters to bring back or not. But we tried to streamline the story a little bit, you know make it a little simpler and not have as many characters to follow. That was one of the things we found in editing three, we had so many stories to tie up, and that's why the picture got longer than you would've liked it to have been, had we not added so many characters So we learned from that and said hey, let's not throw as many characters in, make it a little easier on ourselves.
Q: For example, was Captain Barbossa always going to be part of the new story?
Bruckheimer: The way Terry [Rossio] works, and Ted [Elliot] and us is that, is that we start writing out three by five cards of things we'd like to see in the movie, and then we put them up on a big board, Barbossa was always the one who came up on the board because he's such a great actor, Geoffrey [Rush] and we wanted to bring him back. He's so much fun to watch, you know, and so I don't know, decisions are made like that.
Q: You have a new director on this chapter, can you talk about the differences�
Bruckheimer: Completely different backgrounds, you know. Gore [Verbinsky] came out of visual effects and doing commercials. Rob was a dancer and choreographer, and then a stage director and film choreographer.
Q: If I could just follow up on that, there were rumors about other filmmakers possibly getting the gig. Could you explain why you decided on Rob [Marshall]?
Bruckheimer: I just thought he was a premiere filmmaker and I loved his background, I loved that every film he made I thought was unique and, and different. You know Chicago was nominated, won a bunch of academy awards, and he's a premiere director, we checked him out, actors love him. They love him, they'd do anything for him, so that's a great, thing, when you have actors who want to work with the director. You hear tales, tales you know about the screen, you know about directors that they don't like working with. To a T, everybody we talked to, the women, and some of those women, we have a whole group of women on the movie, and it gets real interesting. And he, he handled them all beautifully and they loved him. And then Johnny also you know, he checked Rob out, liked his films, and also found out that actors love working with him. And it's the same case with Penelope wanting to work with him and that was much easier to see her do the movie. It's not the kind of movie she's ever done before, because Rob was directing it, it made it much easier to get her involved because she had just done a movie with him.
Q: These films have gotten successively bigger and bigger and bigger in terms of scope and sweep and visual effects, I mean when you're working on number four, do you stop and look in the mirror and go, Bruckheimer, you beautiful bastard, how are you going to top yourself? Like how do you psyche yourself up?
Bruckheimer: No it's all about story, it's all about your story and your characters, and this one is, even though it was reported that Disney cut the budget and we were being more penurious about it. It's still a huge movie, it's still really big.
Q: Saying that in a huge artificial stock room, I can certainly find that remarkable plausible.
Bruckheimer: Well, if you had been with us a week ago, when we were in Greenwich, and saw 265 extras, that had to be dressed and fed, and make up and wardrobe every morning. And they were there for what a week, two weeks. Two weeks of a lot of people so it's, we're still making a, big, epic movie.
Q: I mean at what point do you feel like Napoleon? At what point does it become like mobilizing the army?
Bruckheimer: Well, every movie is an army. Even small movies, just moving around, if you have a lot of locations, it's a real effort, it's a real organizational feat. That our line producers, and Ads [Assistant Directors] and location people have to deal with.
Q: Can you talk about what your role is in terms of shaping the story, I mean obviously, Ted and Terry brought the book, and you talked about the index cards. But as a producer, how do you�
Bruckheimer: I'm in there, you know in other words, when the cards go up, I'll have him put in that when, when they start formulating things or pitch it to me, I'll be involved, and we'll throw out ideas. So I'm in the room, I'm not in the room all the time; people from my company are, but there's always input, all the way through the process, on everything.
Q: Johnny had input into the script?
Bruckheimer: Absolutely.
Q: In what way?
Bruckheimer: We'll come up with a, a form of a verbal outline where we'll pitch the story and we'll bring him in on it. And he'll say no, I'm not sure about this, why don't we do this. He kind of came up with the Phillip character who's in the movie. It was really his idea to make him a mercenary - not a mercenary, a missionary - It was his idea, so he comes up with interesting ideas that we use.
Q: Terry told us that Johnny was actually very involved in shaping the story, this fourth one.
Bruckheimer: He was.
Q: And that, he, as you said, with Phillip. Is it sort of weird, I mean how often do you have like the big start coming in, and actually giving that many good notes because everyone's talked about how good the script is on this one.
Bruckheimer: When you have smart actors, I think it's really in your best interest to bring them in and work with them if they have good ideas, and most of them do. I've been very fortunate, most of the actors we work with have really terrific ideas, and help you. The wonderful thing about it is, Terry and Ted get all the credit, which is great for them, when good ideas get floated around, so they're very generous in accepting other people's ideas because they know their name goes on the screenplay. They take Johnny's ideas, which are good, and discuss them.
Q: How much of this is all a fresh start for the "Pirates" franchise, I mean obviously, You've got a new team involved, will it spin-off into a new trilogy?
Bruckheimer: We don't know if it'll be a trilogy, but we're already you know throwing around ideas for five, and have a good sense of what we're thinking of doing. So you know certainly started with another, hopefully another, at least one "Pirates," hopefully more.
Q: It doesn't take a great deal of imagination to grasp the large challenges. Locations, large name, actors. What is the challenge that you face on a regular basis that people don't quite get? What's the unexpected problematic difficulty that always surprises you?
Bruckheimer: Stuff happens, you know stuff happens, you know we have rain, we had weather problems. You know just things that you don't expect happen. We have a pregnant actress, that happened. So you know those are issue you've got to deal with, and you roll with it. So you, we try to have really smart people that can solve problems. You know you surround yourself with really smart people you'll be fine.
Q: This film has a third in London, a third on the sea, third in the jungle. Could you talk about the challenges, or what set pieces, or what action set piece for each of those fans can look forward to, or the one you're really looking forward to?
Bruckheimer: God there're so many� there's a wonderful action set piece in here, they're just getting ready to film the beginning of an action set piece that takes us through the streets of Greenwich on a carriage ride. There's a mermaid attack, which is spectacular, there's the Fountain of Youth at the end of the picture which is a great sequence. There's quite a bit for the kids to feast their eyes on and have fun with.
Q: What's some of the new ground that you're covering that you're really excited about?
Bruckheimer: Well, I think just bringing Johnny to London I think is so much fun, the fish out of water aspect of the pirate, meeting with the aristocracy, meeting with the king. We're just having so much fun with it right now. So that's a blast.
Q: Are you able to read a book or watch a documentary for pleasure, or is it just grist through the mill. Are you able to turn it off?
Bruckheimer: Yeah when I play ice hockey, that's about it, which I haven't been. Fortunately, my baggage has gotten lighter since the iPad came out. They send me all the scripts on iPad so it makes it much easier than schlepping all the TV scripts. But I still read all our television scripts, so they're all, in between set ups, you're usually reading, reading a TV script while they're getting ready. So and then watching all the episodes, I usually watch them, on the treadmill, I'm running, I'll usually watch one or two episodes.
Q: This brings me to a good question, what is the day to day life of Jerry Bruckheimer like? When do you get up and when does the work start. And when does it end?
Bruckheimer: Here unfortunately it ends around three in the morning because you know it's around seven [pm] in LA, so it ends then, and I'm up by seven or eight [am], and start watching the TV shows, and get here, after I get a good workout, and spend the rest of the day here, and then meet with the director. We're doing the trailer right now, so you meet with the trailer people after you finish filming and work on the teaser. So we go out to dinner, and get on the phone, finish phone calls back in LA.
Q: In terms of the TV shows, you watch an episode. Have you reached a point now where you're even, there's a lot of edits that you need to make?
Bruckheimer: It's gone through so many people by the time it gets to me, you know goes through our staff, the staff on the TV show, it goes through Warner Brothers, and it goes through the network, and then I get a copy at the same time the network does, so by then it's gone through so many different, hopefully, great minds that there's not much � there's still notes I give them, things I don't quite understand, or think they can do better.
Q: I wanted to ask about, I believe you're involved with the "Lone Ranger." I wanted to know how that's going right now and what else is bubbling up to the surface for you?
Bruckheimer: "The Lone Ranger" I think is, hopefully is going to be pretty soon. And "National Treasure," another one, we're working on that. "Lone Ranger" is going quite well, we just had a meeting with Johnny recently and it was fantastic, so it's going, going good. That one is getting pretty exciting. So I'm excited about another, another big movie with the same team that brought you "Pirates," the first three anyway.
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Depp jokes about Pirates sex change
February 4, 2011
Johnny Depp has said there'll be no major changes to his swashbuckling alter-ego Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides - but joked that he'd had a sex change.
The Golden Globe-nominated actor will reprise his role as the eyeliner-loving pirate in the forthcoming fourth instalment, which also stars Penelope Cruz.
"Well there was a sex change," he told Collider, before adding: "I honestly think old Captain Jack found himself a long time ago. I don't think he can't go any further, I think he's hit a wall as it were."
Johnny gushed about reuniting with Penelope, with whom he starred in Blow.
"She's a serious force to be reckoned with, Penelope. We did a film together years ago called Blow, which was wonderful," he continued.
"She's really a treat, she's a heavy hitter. You can throw all kinds of stuff out there into the atmosphere and she'll snatch up something and throw a curve ball back at you. It's very stimulating, she's someone I adore, one of my best friends, so yeah it's been great having her."
The 47-year-old has enjoyed filming in Greenwich.
"It's been a gas, I mean there's not a bad thing you can say about it," he said.
"Greenwich is beautiful, Greenwich is gorgeous. You know the thing about filming in Greenwich for me was basically all stunts..."
Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, directed by Nine's Rob Marshall, is scheduled for release in May.
Many thanks to the Ladies of Johnny Depp Zone, where many photos come from
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