"There is nothing scary about shooting a film," Kim Gottlieb-Walker muses. "The entire process of making a horror film is pure fun!"
She should know. The photographer was on set with director John Carpenter to capture candid moments from his most iconic horror and sci-fi films. Gottlieb-Walker was first tapped by Carpenter's producing partner Debra Hill to shoot Halloween in 1978. She then returned as unit photographer for The Fog, Escape from New York, Halloween II, and Christine.
"This was a chance for me to show what it was like to work with John — all the laughter and the pleasure of working with talented friends," she wrote in an e-mail interview. "The book is very much a love letter."
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The book includes plenty of commentary from key cast and crew members, along with insight from Carpenter himself. Gottlieb-Walker even learned some new facts about her former colleagues. The late John Chambers, an effects crew member on Halloween II, for example, developed a needle-in-the-eye gag for the 1981 slasher film, before moving on to concoct a fake sci-fi production that was used as a cover to free six Americans trapped in Tehran during the Iranian hostage crisis. He was later portrayed by John Goodman in the movie Argo.
"It's amazing to see how many people who started their careers with these films as production assistants went on to become major producers and directors," she says.
Carpenter was famously involved in every aspect of filming, from directing to helping with the score. Gottlieb-Walker said this appreciation for the entire film-making process made her job easier. On the Halloween set, for example, she didn't have access to sound-proof "blimps" for her cameras, so she could not shoot during quiet sound takes.
"John understood the value of the stills, so he always made sure I was able to get the shots I needed," she says. "After getting the scene shot for the movie camera, he would often say, 'Now do it again for Kim!' That is a rare and wonderful thing for a still photographer!"
Sarah Eberspacher is an associate editor at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked as a sports reporter at The Livingston County Daily Press & Argus and The Arizona Republic. She graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.
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