SUBMITTED BY Timbo

November 7, 2003 — The New York Times profiles Tim Burton, director of "Big Fish", in a comprehensive look at his life and his latest movie.

The following afternoon, when I met again with Burton, he was pacing back and forth, back and forth across a small control room at the Air Studios in Hampstead Heath, a leafy section of London. ''He always paces,'' said Richard Zanuck, who produced ''Big Fish'' and was seated on a couch. ''On location, Tim would pace 50 feet in one direction, then 50 feet back. I realized that it was brilliant, because if a director stops, he'll be deluged with questions. This way, Tim can collect his thoughts without interruption, and only the truly pressing questions get asked. His focus wasn't ever diluted.''

As Burton traversed the room, his longtime collaborator, Danny Elfman, positioned himself in front of a soundboard. Air Studios, which is owned by the legendary Beatles producer Sir George Martin, is located in a renovated Victorian church. To record the score for ''Big Fish,'' an 83-piece orchestra had gathered in front of what was once the church's tabernacle. Small screens projected a scene from the movie as they rehearsed and recorded. ''I want it flat and a little creepy,'' said Elfman, who wrote the ''Big Fish'' score, along with the scores for eight other Burton films. Suddenly, Burton, who was, as always, dressed in black, stopped pacing. He looked at the orchestra and then looked at Elfman and then made a clawlike motion -- to signify scarier or darker or something. Elfman nodded. ''I want it to sound weird and dry,'' he said. Burton said nothing, but seemed to agree. He went back to pacing.

There were to be 52 music cues to record on ''Big Fish,'' and this was dedicated to one 12 1/2-minute segment that was to accompany the end of the movie. ''This will take every brain cell I have,'' Elfman said. Earlier, Burton had remarked that studios are always trying to persuade him to put pop songs in his films. ''Anytime there's been pressure for me to put in a hit song -- and they try, they really try to pressure me -- I tell them I don't really do that. I'm not Puff Daddy. I'm always against a song in a movie. You don't want lyrics. It takes you out of one world and puts you in another.''

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