American Cinematographer - November 2016 - 33

Mr. Roper (Damien Garvey), is
possessed outside the Value Stop, Garbett
used several techniques to send the
camera careening over, under and
through cars in the location's large parking lot. Moving shots underneath parked
vehicles were achieved with the F55
mounted on a remote-controlled car,
while a more elaborate shot hurtling
across the lot, up and over shopping carts
and into a close-up of the screaming
Garvey was done with the F55 on the
Movi mounted via a quick-release mechanism to a Technocrane; the arm brought
the camera low over the ground and up
over the carts before the operator
detached and ran with the Movi to
complete the shot.
Each subsequent director brought
a slightly different approach, Garbett
explains. "Rick Jacobson is a big fan of
having the camera on the shoulder. He
likes to shoot at a quick pace, with a lot of
freedom; this is particularly reflected in
action-oriented episodes that have a lot of
cuts and high visual energy. Tony Tilse
and Mark Beesley liked using the 30-foot
Technocrane in season one and the 23foot Scorpio throughout season two. The
one thing everyone had in common is the
desire to keep the camera moving. The
Technocrane and Scorpio were run
expertly by key grip Kayne Asher.
"The main idea John and I had for
the camerawork was to always have some
form of movement, a background tremor
or resonance that maintains a constant
visual tension," Garbett continues. "We
also used moments of emphasis and
punctuation. For example, when someone runs into frame from around a corner
or enters a room, there's a quick push-in
to a close-up."
Ash vs Evil Dead has achieved
many of its imaginatively gory effects incamera, but the vagaries of a television
schedule meant there was little time for
testing. "The special-effects and prosthetics departments regularly sent
through videos showing us what they
were working on, but we often didn't see
the final prosthetic or effect until the day
it was to be shot," says Garbett.
Laughing, he adds, "I relied on a combi-

While investigating a country home, police detective Amanda Fisher (Jill Marie Jones, bottom)
comes face to face with Lucy (Marissa Stott), who is possessed by a Deadite.

nation of previous experience and keeping my fingers crossed!"
Cavill notes, "It was instantly
apparent if the effect had succeeded or
not, and we had an amazing specialeffects and prosthetics team that could
make any necessary adjustments on the
spot. It's such a good way to work, for
crew and cast. Even if the effect itself is
completely absurd, achieving it incamera with Bruce and the others really
reacting to being hit with gallons of fake
blood, bits of gore and heaven knows
what else was always gold and very
funny - pretty much what the Evil
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Dead franchise is about."
"We didn't over-stylize the visuals, because the subject matter is already
so outrageous and insane," explains
Garbett. "The world had to be visually
convincing. No matter how insane
things get, it should feel grounded, as if
these things could possibly be happening just next door."
Production designer Nick Bassett
agrees. "Designing a show with a heavy
use of prosthetics, demonic creatures,
wire work and hyper-violent action, it
was important to keep the sets naturalistic," he says. "Ash vs Evil Dead is horror,
November 2016

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