This week, as a special treat, here's a newly created version of the classic 1967 Dark Shadows cast photograph, presented in colour for the first time. I work as a graphic designer and digital illustrator, and have wanted to have a go at doing this for ages. I love this shoot and experimented with it a while back, unpicking the heavy fish-eye distortion on original. That tweaked frame was eventually used on the cover of the Return to Collinwood book.
Pictured are (L-R), David Henesy (David Collins), Kathryn Leigh Scott (Maggie Evans), Sharon Smyth (Sarah Collins), Anthony George (Burke Devlin), Robert Gerringer (Dr. Woodard), Nancy Barrett (Carolyn Stoddard), Dennis Patrick (Jason McGuire), Alexandra Moltke (Victoria Winters), John Karlen (Willie Loomis), Jonathan Frid (Barnabas Collins), Grayson Hall (Dr. Julia Hoffman), Clarice Blackburn (Mrs Johnson), Dana Elcar (Sheriff Patterson), Louis Edmonds (Roger Collins) and Joan Bennett (Elizabeth Collins Stoddard).
In common with most other soaps of the era, formal photo sessions for Dark Shadows were few and far between. During the five years of production, only two group photographs are thought to have been taken – this one in 1967, and a second the following year. Shot in June 1967, during the week of episodes that followed Elizabeth's shocking wedding day confession, the production team succeeded in gathering almost the entire cast – David Ford (Sam Evans) and Joel Crothers (Joe Haskell) were the only regulars absent.
Shot to mark the first anniversary of Dark Shadows, amazingly the pictures remained unseen for over 30 years, languishing in ABC-TV's photo archives until they were uncovered in 1998. Since then, this shoot has become one of the most widely-seen from Dark Shadows, with Tim Burton even creating a version of his own to promote the recent feature film. A few other pictures taken on the same day were published at the time, including a shot of Barnabas looking menacingly over Elizabeth's shoulder and Barnabas alone peering through cobwebs in the Collinwood basement with his arms outstretched.
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8 comments:
Absolutely, beautiful. Thanks, Stuart.
Stuart, this is beautiful! Nice work! You know, I've always preferred the other posed photo from the same photo shoot--the one where everyone looks so serious, dour, menacing...like they're all hiding secrets--which, as we know, they are! Would love to see you work your magic on that one as well, but I'm sure you've had your fill! I remember this dress on Liz--it was celery green and yellow.
Any chance of a hi resolution copy of this? I'd love to print it out and put it up on my wall. Great work, by the way! And someone should license it and make a tee shirt. I'd sure buy one (I already have a poor quality one of the b/w photo).
Just when you think Jonathan Frid couldnt be any more gorgeous!
That is probably the most beautiful and accurate colorization work that I have ever seen! Stunning.
Very good colorization of the picture. Now if MPI home video can colorize the black & white episodes of Dark Shadows, that would be awesome.
Splendid work there with the colorizing to this vintage DARK SHADOWS Family group photo. Great job, Stuart nicely done, like your Facebook page too!! Another DS's group-photo that I like alot is when their standing along the Stairway case.
Stu! DS-Con SWAG if I do say so my self. We would all buy the poster suitable for framing! A++
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