David F. Sandberg

1 sketch, 14 claims, and 20 fun items attributed to them. What was said about them.

Personality, episode by episode

The Big Picture: 'Shazam!’ and the Future of the DCEU With David F. Sandberg | Interview (guest)

Sandberg loves genre, popcorn movies, horror, comedy, and science fiction, and says he wants to make a good time at the movies. He is a gearhead about how cameras and effects work and has a strong filmic memory. He is self-effacing and openly doubtful about himself.

Stances

  • There was no studio mandate on tone, and he liked making a movie that stands on its own
  • Casting for enthusiasm matters most
  • Spectacle is tedious to shoot
  • Wants a rest before deciding on Shazam 2

Humor: Self-deprecating and casual, from asking when to say action to the warp-zone line.

In their words

  • “I want to make movies that are a good time at the movies” (0:37:41)
  • “tons of self-doubt” (0:20:27)

Their shows' recurring bits

Running bits, not opinions; a critic read aloud is cited, not present.

The Big Picture

Their claims

Showing 1–14 of 14 claims.

  1. lineage (lineage): Shazam! → Big. Sandberg says the studio pitched it to him as Big with superpowers.
    “it's basically uh, big, but with superpowers”
    The Big Picture · 'Shazam!’ and the Future of the DCEU With David F. Sandberg | Interview · 0:14:30 · David F. Sandberg (0.95 sure it was them)
  2. craft (craft): Annabelle: Creation → Shazam!. Sandberg brought back his Annabelle: Creation costume designer, who had not done a superhero suit before.
    “costume designer, Leah Butler, who I worked with on Alba Creation”
    The Big Picture · 'Shazam!’ and the Future of the DCEU With David F. Sandberg | Interview · 0:23:14 · David F. Sandberg (0.95 sure it was them)
  3. career (career): Jennifer Spence → Shazam!. Sandberg says production designer Spence stepped up alongside his returning crew on Shazam!.
    “or production design, Jennifer Spence, and like it felt like we all got to step up together.”
    The Big Picture · 'Shazam!’ and the Future of the DCEU With David F. Sandberg | Interview · 0:23:14 · David F. Sandberg (0.95 sure it was them)
  4. what-if (what-if): Shazam! → Black Adam (planned). The earlier Shazam script was Shazam versus Black Adam; it was judged too much for one movie, so Black Adam was cut.
    “we have this script that's basically Shazam versus Black Adam, which is a long time nemesis”
    The Big Picture · 'Shazam!’ and the Future of the DCEU With David F. Sandberg | Interview · 0:24:29 · David F. Sandberg (0.95 sure it was them)
  5. craft (craft): Shazam! → War of the Worlds. Sandberg wanted buildings to explode as in Spielberg's War of the Worlds when the tripods fire.
    “the buildings explode in War of the Worlds, the Spielbergs, you know, when the tripods shoot through the buildings”
    The Big Picture · 'Shazam!’ and the Future of the DCEU With David F. Sandberg | Interview · 0:26:01 · David F. Sandberg (0.70 sure it was them)
  6. craft (craft): David F. Sandberg → Lights Out (2.5-minute short and feature). On his no-budget films Sandberg did everything himself, from the music to the visual effects and the editing.
    “I was the one doing everything, you know, from the music to the visual effects and the editing.”
    The Big Picture · 'Shazam!’ and the Future of the DCEU With David F. Sandberg | Interview · 0:26:39 · David F. Sandberg (0.95 sure it was them)
  7. craft (craft): David F. Sandberg → Shazam!. Sandberg shot himself with action figures to show the previs team the action he wanted.
    “on this movie, I just shoot myself playing with action figures.”
    The Big Picture · 'Shazam!’ and the Future of the DCEU With David F. Sandberg | Interview · 0:27:06 · David F. Sandberg (0.95 sure it was them)
  8. theme (theme): Annabelle: Creation → Shazam!. Sandberg liked that, like Annabelle: Creation, Shazam! sits in a shared universe but stands as its own story.
    “even though it is a sequel in this part of the universe, it was a prequel with all new characters and like a new story”
    The Big Picture · 'Shazam!’ and the Future of the DCEU With David F. Sandberg | Interview · 0:29:53 · David F. Sandberg (0.95 sure it was them)
  9. craft (craft): James → Annabelle: Creation. James felt Annabelle's first design looked too evil, so her features were softened.
    “James actually felt that she was almost too obviously evil looking”
    The Big Picture · 'Shazam!’ and the Future of the DCEU With David F. Sandberg | Interview · 0:30:12 · David F. Sandberg (0.95 sure it was them)
  10. people (people): Annabelle: Creation → Shazam!. Grace Fulton, who plays Mary, was an easy cast because Sandberg had worked with her on Annabelle: Creation.
    “Grace Fulton, who plays Mary, because I worked with her on, um, uh, Annabelle Creation”
    The Big Picture · 'Shazam!’ and the Future of the DCEU With David F. Sandberg | Interview · 0:32:27 · David F. Sandberg (0.95 sure it was them)
  11. career (career): Lights Out (2.5-minute short and feature) → Annabelle: Creation. Sandberg moved from Lights Out straight to Annabelle: Creation, attached during Lights Out's post.
    “during post on lights out, I'd already been attached to Annabelle Creation”
    The Big Picture · 'Shazam!’ and the Future of the DCEU With David F. Sandberg | Interview · 0:41:03 · David F. Sandberg (0.90 sure it was them)
  12. career (career): David F. Sandberg → Alicia Vikander / Joel Kinnaman / Alexander Skarsgard. Sandberg contrasts himself with the Hollywood Swedes, who came up through Swedish film, with the community never inviting him.
    “they all came here, sort of the same path through Swedish movies”
    The Big Picture · 'Shazam!’ and the Future of the DCEU With David F. Sandberg | Interview · 0:43:04 · David F. Sandberg (0.90 sure it was them)
  13. people (people): Fede Alvarez → The Girl in the Spider's Web. Sandberg met Alvarez, who directed The Girl in the Spider's Web, and asked what shooting in Sweden is like.
    “who directed the girl in the spider's web”
    The Big Picture · 'Shazam!’ and the Future of the DCEU With David F. Sandberg | Interview · 0:43:23 · David F. Sandberg (0.90 sure it was them)
  14. people (people): Dragged Across Concrete → Jennifer Carpenter. Sandberg told his wife to see Jennifer Carpenter's part in Dragged Across Concrete.
    “remember Jennifer Carpenter, you know, from like Dexter?”
    The Big Picture · 'Shazam!’ and the Future of the DCEU With David F. Sandberg | Interview · 0:44:07 · David F. Sandberg (0.95 sure it was them)

Their fun items

Showing 1–20 of 20 fun items.

  1. fun, about David F. Sandberg: As a kid in Sweden he loved a comic that crossed Superman and Spider-Man and never knew about the DC versus Marvel divide.
    “I had this comic book that I really loved that was Superman and Spider-Man fighting together.”
    The Big Picture · 'Shazam!’ and the Future of the DCEU With David F. Sandberg | Interview · 0:14:02 · David F. Sandberg (0.95 sure it was them)
  2. fun, about Lights Out (2.5-minute short and feature): The short went viral: 17,000 views, then 70,000 a minute later.
    “we went to like Vimeo and to check the views and it was like 17,000”
    The Big Picture · 'Shazam!’ and the Future of the DCEU With David F. Sandberg | Interview · 0:15:18 · David F. Sandberg (0.95 sure it was them)
  3. fun, about Lights Out (2.5-minute short and feature): Sandberg compares sudden Hollywood access to the warp zone in Super Mario Bros.
    “I keep saying that it's like hitting the warp zone and Super Mario Brothers”
    The Big Picture · 'Shazam!’ and the Future of the DCEU With David F. Sandberg | Interview · 0:16:59 · David F. Sandberg (0.95 sure it was them)
  4. fun, about Lights Out (2.5-minute short and feature): He had never been on a professional set before directing, and had to ask his first AD when to say action.
    “I had to take my 1st AD aside and like ask him, like, so when do I say action?”
    The Big Picture · 'Shazam!’ and the Future of the DCEU With David F. Sandberg | Interview · 0:19:53 · David F. Sandberg (0.95 sure it was them)
  5. fun, about Lights Out (2.5-minute short and feature): Crew friction on his first feature, resolved by showing he knew cameras.
    “no, I actually know how cameras work”
    The Big Picture · 'Shazam!’ and the Future of the DCEU With David F. Sandberg | Interview · 0:20:45 · David F. Sandberg (0.90 sure it was them)
  6. fun, about Lights Out (2.5-minute short and feature): Trade secret: schedules and budgets are guesswork, and you can ask the studio for an extra day.
    “schedules and budgets in movies are guesswork, you know?”
    The Big Picture · 'Shazam!’ and the Future of the DCEU With David F. Sandberg | Interview · 0:22:01 · David F. Sandberg (0.95 sure it was them)
  7. fun, about David F. Sandberg: He remembers films so well that he knows songs by the movie they were in.
    “whenever I know a song, she's like, all right, what movie was it in?”
    The Big Picture · 'Shazam!’ and the Future of the DCEU With David F. Sandberg | Interview · 0:25:35 · David F. Sandberg (0.95 sure it was them)
  8. fun, about Shazam!: Sandberg previsualized scenes by filming himself with action figures and handing it to the CG team.
    “I just shoot myself playing with action figures.”
    The Big Picture · 'Shazam!’ and the Future of the DCEU With David F. Sandberg | Interview · 0:27:06 · David F. Sandberg (0.95 sure it was them)
  9. fun, about Shazam!: Why communication is hard: even a gray line on a graphic gets returned wrong several times.
    “yeah, I want a gray line down here.”
    The Big Picture · 'Shazam!’ and the Future of the DCEU With David F. Sandberg | Interview · 0:28:02 · David F. Sandberg (0.90 sure it was them)
  10. fun, about Annabelle: Creation: The doll was redesigned and softened because it looked too obviously evil.
    “James actually felt that she was almost too obviously evil looking”
    The Big Picture · 'Shazam!’ and the Future of the DCEU With David F. Sandberg | Interview · 0:30:12 · David F. Sandberg (0.90 sure it was them)
  11. fun, about Zachary Levi: Sandberg had never seen Chuck, which he counts as an advantage.
    “I'd never seen Chuck, which is probably a good thing because that meant I didn't have any preconceived notions.”
    The Big Picture · 'Shazam!’ and the Future of the DCEU With David F. Sandberg | Interview · 0:30:45 · David F. Sandberg (0.95 sure it was them)
  12. fun, about Zachary Levi: He first auditioned for a different character; Sandberg saw the tape and knew he was Shazam.
    “He was actually auditioning for a different character.”
    The Big Picture · 'Shazam!’ and the Future of the DCEU With David F. Sandberg | Interview · 0:31:25 · David F. Sandberg (0.95 sure it was them)
  13. fun, about Zachary Levi: Sandberg on what made Levi right: adult actors dumb down to play kids, Levi carries the enthusiasm instead.
    “a lot of actors, you know, if they're adults, they dumb themselves down, you know, to play a kid”
    The Big Picture · 'Shazam!’ and the Future of the DCEU With David F. Sandberg | Interview · 0:31:46 · David F. Sandberg (0.95 sure it was them)
  14. fun, about Shazam!: Casting rule: to be Shazam you must audition, since no one had seen these adult actors play a child.
    “we had this rule that if you want to be Shazam, you have to come in and audition”
    The Big Picture · 'Shazam!’ and the Future of the DCEU With David F. Sandberg | Interview · 0:31:59 · David F. Sandberg (0.95 sure it was them)
  15. fun, about Shazam!: Sandberg on big VFX films: spectacle on screen is tedious to shoot.
    “the more spectacular it looks on screen, the more boring it probably was to shoot”
    The Big Picture · 'Shazam!’ and the Future of the DCEU With David F. Sandberg | Interview · 0:35:09 · David F. Sandberg (0.95 sure it was them)
  16. fun, about Lights Out (2.5-minute short and feature): Green lights are loose: the crew had the office and the big train before official approval.
    “We had the big train, we had everything before we got our green lights.”
    The Big Picture · 'Shazam!’ and the Future of the DCEU With David F. Sandberg | Interview · 0:39:48 · David F. Sandberg (0.90 sure it was them)
  17. fun, about Shazam 2 (possible sequel): Asked about a sequel, Sandberg compares it to asking a marathoner to run another.
    “you're asking someone who just ran a marathon”
    The Big Picture · 'Shazam!’ and the Future of the DCEU With David F. Sandberg | Interview · 0:40:38 · David F. Sandberg (0.95 sure it was them)
  18. fun, about Annabelle: Creation: He left Annabelle: Creation's set early one day to attend the Lights Out premiere.
    “I have to go to the premiere of my other movie.”
    The Big Picture · 'Shazam!’ and the Future of the DCEU With David F. Sandberg | Interview · 0:41:48 · David F. Sandberg (0.95 sure it was them)
  19. fun, about David F. Sandberg: On the Hollywood Swedes' get-togethers.
    “but we've never been invited”
    The Big Picture · 'Shazam!’ and the Future of the DCEU With David F. Sandberg | Interview · 0:42:58 · David F. Sandberg (0.90 sure it was them)
  20. fun, about Dragged Across Concrete: His last great watch: long, slow, brutal, and he shows his wife horrible things.
    “I have a tendency of showing Lotta really horrible things.”
    The Big Picture · 'Shazam!’ and the Future of the DCEU With David F. Sandberg | Interview · 0:43:56 · David F. Sandberg (0.95 sure it was them)