The band is dead. Literally. In a late evening frenzy, she drives to the back yard of a remote, abandoned haunted house to hide the evidence. The exhaustive digging begins when suddenly she looks up to see a light go on in the window with a shadowy figure peering down. Her secret's out...
That's the premise of my latest Crypt Studios promo shot "Burying the Band". It's a caught-in-the-act theme with a dark edge and who better to have portray a heavy metal grave digger than the lovely Boston babe with the cool tattoos, Shelley C.!
After pouring through countless modeling profiles, one woman really stood out as being stunningly beautiful and having a strikingly hip look to her. Shelley is one of those models that works well in almost any genre from rockabilly to heavy metal to retro chic to modern alternative (plus she knows how to do her own makeup and hair!). She's a blast to work with too. Always upbeat, smiling and full of life, she brings a great energy to any shoot. She really gets into her work and knows how to run with a concept. I had a good feeling she'd be perfect for this shot.
"Burying the Band" is a two part composite. The first image we shot was the scene with Shelley and the hearse. It was shot at night with a 6 strobe setup; main and fill lights on the model, large overhead softbox on the hearse, gelled strobe for the hearse interior, speedlight behind the lantern, and kicker light behind and to the right of Shelley. The trick was to get just the right digging pose and facial expression.
The second image was the house on the hill shot. I was told of an old creepy abandoned house way out in the backwoods of Massachusetts that I should consider. When I went to scout the location, I pulled up to the house and perched on the peak of the roof was the biggest vulture I'd ever seen. I took that as a sign that this was THE HOUSE to use!
After days of tracking down the owner, I obtained permission and set out to shoot on a clear, starry night. The house needed to be lit but not look too lit. I had my buddy Joe trek up the hill with a giant octabox to fire off multiple flashes to illuminate the front of the place but using a strobe ended up looking like someone fired off multiple flashes to illuminate the place. It was boring and predictable. I hate boring. What I decided to do was employ an LED flashlight and, with the camera's shutter open for a couple minutes, I "painted" the entire front of the house with light. It gave a somewhat eerie feeling to the house as there was no obvious light source coming from any particular direction. It was intended to have a subliminal creepy effect on the viewer.
The shadowy figure in the window is actually a self portrait sillouette I took in an NYC hotel while on another shoot. It looked cool at the time and I figured maybe I could use it someday, somehow. Glad I didn't delete it.
I'd like to thank Shelley (main model), Joe (lighting assistant and all around good guy), Drew (the "dead" musician in the casket), Bill (the other "dead" musician), Siren (a killer model who's worked with me on another Crypt photo and is great to have around), Gregg for allowing me to shoot his incredibly cool and creepy "haunted" house, and Gwen, our gracious hostess who ownes the property we shot the hearse scene on and who provided delicious catering that night!
Here's a link to some side shots and behind-the-scenes images from the various Crypt shoots: Crypt Studios Promo Shots
Crypt Studios: www.cryptstudios.com
Please visit my website: www.gperryimages.com
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All Images Copyright © The Photography of Glenn Perry