<P> Principal photography for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory started on June 21, 2004 at Pinewood Studios in England . Director Tim Burton and composer Danny Elfman found filming somewhat difficult because they were simultaneously working on Corpse Bride . The Wonka Factory exterior was coincidentally constructed on the same backlot Burton had used for Gotham City in Batman (1989). The ceremonial scene required 500 local extras . The Chocolate Room / River setpiece filled Pinewood's 007 Stage . As a consequence of British Equity rules, which state that children can only work four and a half hours a day, filming for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory took six months, ending in December 2004 . </P> <P> The architecture of the Bucket family home was influenced by Burton's visit to Roald Dahl's writing hut . Like the book, the film has a "timeless" setting and is not set in a specific country . "We've tried not to pinpoint it to any place," production designer Alex McDowell explained . "The cars, in fact, drive down the middle of the road ." The town, whose design was shaped by the black and white urban photography of Bill Brandt, as well as Pittsburgh and Northern England, is arranged like a medieval village, with Wonka's estate on top and the Bucket shack below . The filmmakers also used fascist architecture for Wonka's factory exterior, and designed most of the sets on 360 ° sound stages, similar to cycloramas . Burton biographer Mark Salisbury wrote that Charlie and the Chocolate Factory "melds 1950s and' 70s visuals with a futuristic sensibility that seems straight out of a 1960s sense of the future ." The "TV Room" was patterned after photographs from the films 2001: A Space Odyssey, Danger: Diabolik, and THX 1138 . Danger Diabolik also served as inspiration for the Nut Room and Inventing Room . </P> <P> Tim Burton avoided using too many digital effects because he wanted the younger actors to feel as if they were working in a realistic environment . As a result, forced perspective techniques, oversized props and scale models were used to avoid computer - generated imagery (CGI). Deep Roy was cast to play the Oompa - Loompas based on his previous collaborations with Burton on Planet of the Apes and Big Fish . The actor was able to play various Oompa - Loompas using split screen photography, digital and front projection effects . "Tim told me that the Oompa - Loompas were strictly programmed, like robots--all they do is work, work, work," Roy commented . "So when it comes time to dance, they're like a regiment; they do the same steps ." </P> <P> A practical method was considered for the scene in which Violet Beauregarde turns blue and swells up into a giant 10 - foot blueberry . A suit with an air hose was considered at one point for the beginnings of the swelling scene, before the decision was made to do the entire transformation in CGI . The visual effects house Cinesite was recruited for this assignment . In some shots of AnnaSophia Robb's head, a facial prosthetic was worn to give the impression that her cheeks had swelled up as well . Because this decision was made late in the film's production, any traces of Violet's blueberry scene were omitted from trailers or promotional material . </P>

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