These days, Toronto-based director of photography Gavin Smith finds himself in the company of the residents of Liberty Avenue on the Temple Street Productions/ Showcase series Queer as Folk. Not so long ago, he was hanging out with werewolves, lensing the Canadian cult horror flick sequel Ginger Snaps II: Unleashed, currently on Canuck screens via Seville Pictures. (Lions Gate has international rights.)

The cameraman notes distinct differences in working in the theatrical and TV worlds.

‘When doing a film, you can move the camera to the best possible position and make each shot count, as opposed to television, where one tends to stick to one camera spot,’ says Smith, who also has Degrassi: The Next Generation on his resume. ‘In television, one swaps lenses to get each character’s line in close-up for cutting purposes, whereas in film, I think you take a few more risks as far as where and how you get your coverage.’

Smith was summoned to shoot the second half of GS2 by executive producer John Fawcett, who directed the first film, after veteran commercial shooter Henry Less couldn’t complete the cinematography duties on the $6-million copro between Toronto’s 49th Parallel Films and Calgary’s Combustion.

‘I was vacationing in Barbados at the time, and traded in my bathing shorts for winter gear as soon as I got the call from John to join the crew in Edmonton,’ Smith recalls. ‘I knew it was going to be a challenge, because I had no prep time and had to use a predetermined film package.’

But the DOP wasn’t worried, since he had done second-unit work on various features, including Ginger Snaps. ‘I was used to picking up from someone else’s style,’ he explains.

In GS2, Brett Sullivan, in his feature directorial debut, picks up where the first film ended, as Brigitte (Emily Perkins) finds herself infected with the same virus that fatally doomed her sister Ginger (Katharine Isabelle). As Brigitte is held captive in a rehabilitation facility, battling her inevitable transformation into a werewolf, she is haunted by visions of her dead sister while being stalked by a horrifying new creature.

Smith and Sullivan had collaborated before – Sullivan was the editor on the first film as well as on the 2001 CTV MOW Lucky Girl, which Smith shot. ‘Brett has an excellent visual sense, and he knew what he wanted,’ Smith says.

For his first couple of days of shooting in February 2003, Smith relied on intuition, working out the bugs with Sullivan later.

‘I looked at all the stuff Henry Less had done, and luckily there was a big shift from the first half to the second half of the film,’ the DOP explains. ‘So the second and more climactic part of GS2 could have a different look.’

The crew did not stray much from the look of the original Ginger Snaps film. ‘We still wanted GS2 to have a very gritty, dark feel to it, not glossy or pretty,’ Smith says. ‘There were some differences in color and lighting, but essentially we wanted to keep that grit and make things look almost natural in their ugliness.’

The DOP cites An American Werewolf in London as an inspiration in terms of trying to craft a scary feel, even though both films have comedic elements. ‘The horror genre is very interesting for lighting,’ he says. ‘Some filmmakers choose to go really glossy and Hollywood-style, while others prefer a more gritty, mysterious look.’

The film’s two main locations are a cottage, the interior of which was built in Edmonton’s CanWest Studios, and an abandoned section of an Edmonton rehab clinic built in 1922.

Smith and production designer Todd Cherniawksy discussed a change in the color palette from the first half of the film.

‘With Brigitte finding herself in the clinic in the first half, the film has this greenish-blue look. But when she escapes to return to the cottage where they grew up, the mood is more hopeful, and thus the color tones are warmer yellows and browns,’ Smith explains. ‘But eventually, it begins to mimic the color of blood through harsh reds and darker blacks.’

Sean Jensen was the Steadicam and camera operator on the first Ginger Snaps and took on the same roles on the sequel, manning a Moviecam fitted with Cooke S4 prime lenses. Smith says the crew had a standard prime package, with a wide range of lenses employed throughout the shoot. They shot Fuji F-500 8572 stock, of which the DOP admits to being initially skeptical.

‘The Fuji 500 film would [not] have been my preference, but having seen the print [of Less’ footage] and going back to work with it – in the end, it makes for a really great look for a horror-type film,’ says Smith.

One of the DOP’s more challenging lighting jobs was a scene that occurs in the cottage, when Brigitte comes downstairs from the attic to find the character of Ghost sitting in a corner.

‘Everything had to be dark, and one of the hardest things about lighting darkness is that there is no [practical light source],’ Smith recalls. ‘You’re trying to light a character that shouldn’t look like they’re being lit by anything. I figured out a way of having a lamp fall on the ground, which lit up the character nicely.’

Smith studied at the Ontario College of Art, but interest in photography quickly grew into an interest in movies. ‘I didn’t get a job as a cinematographer at first,’ he recalls. ‘I produced and directed my own shorts, and went on to work as a grip.’

His first gig as camera operator was in 2001, on the feature Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and his range has grown significantly since.

‘In my three years of doing Degrassi, I directed one episode, and [directing is] an area I’d like to move into,’ he explains.

Smith is currently working on episode 11 of Queer as Folk’s fourth season, which debuts on Showcase April 19. Meanwhile, Ginger Snaps II: Unleashed comes out on video and DVD April 13.

-www.gingersnapsthemovie.com