When it comes to the blending of horror and comedy, there’s something of a spectrum. On one side you have something like Shaun of the Dead, which is primarily a comedy that happens to feature aesthetic elements of horror (namely, zombies). On the other side, you have something like Sam Raimi’s original The Evil Dead: on the surface a fairly gnarly horror movie, but which belies a slapstick sensibility to its gory gags. Widow’s Bay sits squarely in the middle of that spectrum. The horrifying elements of its story are played almost entirely straight, while the characters these horrors befall just happen to be eccentric weirdos. When you learn that series creator Katie Dippold’s initial idea for this began as a spec script for Parks and Recreation, things kind of fall into place. Effectively, Widow’s Bay asks the question, “what if a town like Pawnee, Indiana was beset by an ancient, evil curse?”
Camera Operator had the opportunity to speak with A camera and Steadicam operator Michael Fuchs, SOC along with B camera operator John Garrett about balancing these tones of horror and comedy, finding a cohesive visual through line, for a series that dabbles in a “monster of the week” structure, and working alongside a rotating roster of directors and DPs.
Mayor Tom Loftis has big plans for the little New England island community of Widow’s Bay. He hopes that he can fashion this odd little town into a major tourist destination, a la Martha’s Vineyard, reinvigorating the town’s economy and building better prospects for his teenage son. There’s just one problem: Widow’s Bay is cursed. As the island awakens and hungers for its centuries’ old debt of human sacrifice, Loftis, along with his assistant Patricia Moyer, and local crank Wyck Crawford must uncover the island’s history in the hopes of undoing whatever covenant has cursed this town. Widow’s Bay is created by Katie Dippold, and stars Matthew Rhys, Kate O’Flynn, Kevin Carroll, Dale Dickey, Kingston Rumi Southwick, and Stephen Root.
