Editing Shadow of the Vampire (section)

==Production==
The premise of Count Orlok being played by an actual [[Nosferatu (word)|Nosferatu]] in the eponymous film was recorded by [[Adonis A. Kyrou|Ado Kyrou]], who in his 1953 book ''Le Surréalisme au Cinéma'' incorrectly wrote: "The credits name the music hall actor Max Schreck as the vampire's performer, but it is well-known that this information is deliberately untrue. No one has ever been able to reveal the identity of this extraordinary actor whose brilliant face made him forever unrecognizable. [...] What is hidden behind the character of Nosferatu? Could it be Nosferatu himself?" Although ill-informed, Kyrou's notion that the screen monster was also a real-life monster would popularize the mystery around ''Nosferatu''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/story/halloween-2024-max-schreck-nosferatu|title=The Undying Mystery of Max Schreck—the First Nosferatu|date=2024-10-31|access-date=2025-01-10|website=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]|last=Breznican|first=Anthony}}</ref>

The film was produced by [[Nicolas Cage]]'s [[Saturn Films]]. Cage originally intended to play Schreck, but later cast Dafoe when he expressed interest in the role. Cage stated he always wanted Malkovich as Murnau. Cage has previously acted with Malkovich in ''[[Con Air]]'' (1997) and Dafoe in ''[[Wild at Heart (film)|Wild at Heart]]'' (1990).<ref>{{cite news|last=Maslin|first=Janet|title=Con Air (1997) Signs and Symbols on a Thrill Ride|date=6 June 1997|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9F01E1D81E3DF935A35755C0A961958260|access-date=6 July 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Canby|first=Vincent|title=Wild At Heart (1990) Review/Film; In the Eerie Cosmos of David Lynch, Reality Is Reeling|date=17 August 1990|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C0CE5D7123EF934A2575BC0A966958260|access-date=6 July 2015}}</ref> Members of the online game the [[Hollywood Stock Exchange]] were able to donate a small sum towards the film's production in exchange for listing their names on the [[DVD]] release of the film as "virtual producers".<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Swanson |first=Tim |date=2000-10-04 |title=Hollywood Stock Exchange bows pic view |url=https://variety.com/2000/digital/news/hollywood-stock-exchange-bows-pic-view-1117787251/ |access-date=2023-01-10 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref>

The film's working title was ''Burned to Light'', but Merhige decided to change the name of the film when Dafoe asked, "Who's Ed?"; the actor thought the title was ''Burn Ed to Light''.<ref>Bonus features on ''Shadow of the Vampire'' DVD - Interview with [[E. Elias Merhige]].</ref> To create the aesthetic of old film, cinematographer Lou Bogue shot much of the film with [[Kodak]] Vision 800T film stock – a high speed specialty stock with very coarse grain – in [[Super 35|Super 35mm]] format, which further enhanced the effect when cropped and enlarged to anamorphic.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Magid |first=Ron |date=December 2000 |title=Dark Shadows |url=https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ac/ac200012/index.php?startid=73#/p/70 |magazine=[[American Cinematographer]] |volume=81 |issue=12 |pages=68–75 |access-date=January 10, 2022}}</ref>