Chuk Nowak: 313 Presents

Detroit, Michigan-based photographer Chuk Nowak recently created images for Evil Dead: The Musical and its production companies Sweat Equity Studio and 313 Presents. Evil Dead: The Musical has been playing for ten years in Detroit, and Chuk found a way to capture the campy horror of the show.

We were lucky in that they were already in dress rehearsal for the show, so we had set pieces built to work with. We used an entryway in the set, and I backlit the actors with a red-gelled strobe to create a “demonic” light and a big octa box in front overhead. A background plate of a wooded area I had in my library was added in post to obscure the rigging backstage and to add some appropriate atmosphere. The blood was added in post as well as a color grade to mesh with the overall red tones of the shows brand guide.

Creating still images to promote a horror/musical was thematically challenging. After a few calls with the creative/marketing team, we decided that we wanted the images to reference the show’s setting as well as the presence of blood (there’s literally a fountain that sprays into the audience Gallagher style) without being gory. If you’re familiar with the genre of films this is based on, it’s more about camp and cliche than frights and shocks.

Credits:

Creative Directors: Jamie Warrow and Michael Lopetrone

See more of Chuk at chuknowak.com!

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