Dark Shadows: Recasting Dr. Woodard Lessens Audience Sympathy for His Death

I’ve written previously about the importance of actors in creating a character. One example of how recasting an actor can change our feelings about the other characters in the show is the recasting of Dr. Dave Woodard in TV’s Dark Shadows.

The character of Dr. Woodard was introduced in April 1967. Richard Woods portrayed Dr. Woodard for the character’s first two episodes, but Woods was quickly replaced by Robert Gerringer, who made Dr. Woodard his own. Gerringer filled the character with his persona, creating a Dr. Woodard that was intelligent, compassionate, empathetic to his patients, and sympathetic to viewers.

Robert Gerringer as Dr. Dave Woodard

Five months later, Gerringer was replaced by Peter Turgeon. Turgeon’s persona differed markedly from that of Gerringer. Whereas Gerringer was a broad fellow with a gruff voice and full head of hair, Turgeon was thinner, with a higher pitched voice, thinning hair, and eyeglasses. Gerringer appeared strong and solid. Trugeon appeared geeky and prone to hysteria. That his eyes were difficult to see behind his eyeglasses made it that much harder for audiences to emotionally connect with him, to build rapport and empathy.

Peter Turgeon as Dr. Dave Woodard

 

This would have significant ramifications when, less than two weeks later, Barnabas Collins and Dr. Julia Hoffman murder Dr. Woodard. Had they murdered Gerringer’s Woodard, viewers would have felt greater outrage and anger at Barnabas and Julia. But instead, though viewers knew Woodard had been murdered, they didn’t feel it. Turgeon’s geeky Woodard still felt like a stranger to them; he wasn’t the Woodard they had come to know and love.

Barnabas was still scripted as a villain, but he was becoming more beloved by audiences. Had he murdered Gerringer’s Woodard, the audience’s growing sympathy for Barnabas might have slowed, and perhaps never attained the degree it eventually reached.

This was not the reason Dr. Woodard was recast shortly before he was murdered. NABET was on strike and Gerringer refused to cross the picket line to tape Dark Shadows at the ABC network studio. Yet this was the result of the recasting.

I regret the recasting of Dr. Woodard. I think the murder of Gerringer’s Woodard would have made for an emotionally more powerful episode.

=================

For more about creating an effective horror story on film or video, see Horror Film Aesthetics: Creating the Visual Language of Fear. This blog represents a continuing discussion of my views on horror, picking up from where the book left off.

 

Wintery Horror vs. Summer Horror

I am asked, "How does summer horror differ from winter horror in lighting and color?"

I don't think there's a consistently or reliably different aesthetic effect between a wintry vs. summer mise-en-scène. And to the extent there is, I wouldn't focus on lighting or color.

I love wintry horror films, but that's largely a personal taste. I love winter, period. I find gray skies and barren streets emotionally uplifting. Bright, sunny skies depress me. Maybe I have a reverse form of seasonal affective disorder. Perhaps many goths do too. (Although, I am not a goth; I live in khaki.)

Either a winter or a summer setting can support a horror film's story, characters, or themes. The bleak, wintry scenes in Ghost Story support the characters: four old men, in the winter of their lives, their situation frozen, unchanging, by an old, guilty secret. Their elder lives contrast with the flashbacks to their youth, set in summer, when a guiltless future was still before them.

Yes, many people associate winter with bleakness and despair. Filmmakers can exploit this. The stark Canadian winter scenes in The Brood reflect Frank's bleak situation, his marriage "gone cold."


The wintry scenes in The Changling reflect John's depressing situation, having recently lost his wife and daughter in an auto accident.

But bright, sunny summer scenes can also reinforce a film's horror. If not by reflecting the character's bleak situation, then through contrast.

The Final Terror and The Prey (and many summer camp slasher films) are full of sunny outdoors footage -- creating a bright mood which contrasts with the brutal slayings. The Prey's sunny outdoor footage itself embodies contrasts; its footage depicts wildlife prey. Nature is brutal, despite the summer sun -- as is that psycho who grew up in the natural wilds, soon to prey on the campers!

Winter and summer mise-en-scène can both help or hinder a horror film, depending on how is relates to the film's story, characters, or themes. It all depends on context.

=========================

For more about my thinking on mise-en-scène in horror, see Horror Film Aesthetics: Creating the Visual Language of Fear. This blog represents a continuing discussion of my views on horror, picking up from where the book left off.