Editing The Evil Dead (section)

==Production==
[[File:Sam Raimi by Gage Skidmore.jpg|alt=A man sitting next to a microphone placed on a table.|[[Sam Raimi]] wrote and directed the short film ''[[Within the Woods]]'' to generate the interest of investors for ''The Evil Dead''. |thumb|right|upright]]

===Background and writing===
[[Sam Raimi]] and [[Bruce Campbell]] grew up together, and have been friends from an early age.{{sfn|Dixon|2010|p=161}} The duo made several low-budget [[Super 8 mm film]] projects together.{{sfn|Campbell|2002|p=65}} Several were comedies, including ''[[Clockwork (film)|Clockwork]]'' and ''[[It's Murder!]]''.{{sfn|Egan|2011|p=16}}{{sfn|Campbell|2002|p=66}} Shooting a suspense scene in ''It's Murder!'' inspired them to approach careers in the horror genre; after researching horror cinema at [[drive-in theater]]s, Raimi was set on directing a horror film, opting to shoot a [[proof of concept]] [[short film]] – described by the director as a "prototype" – that would attract the interest of financiers, and use the funds raised to shoot a full-length project.{{sfn|Campbell|2002|p=66}}{{sfn|Becker|2006|p=64}} The short film that Raimi created was called ''[[Within the Woods]]'', which was produced for $1,600.{{sfn|Lamberson|2008|p=84}} For ''The Evil Dead'', Raimi required over $100,000.{{sfn|Campbell|2002|p=85–88}}

To generate funds to produce the film, Raimi approached Phil Gillis, a lawyer to one of his friends.{{sfn|Campbell|2002|p=85–88}}{{sfn|Konow|2012|p=412–413}} Raimi showed him ''Within the Woods'', and although Gillis was not impressed by the short film, he offered Raimi legal advice on how to produce ''The Evil Dead''. With his advice in mind, Raimi asked a variety of people for donations, and even eventually "begged" some.{{sfn|Campbell|2002|p=85–88}} Campbell had to ask several of his own family members, and Raimi asked every individual he thought might be interested.{{sfn|Campbell|2002|p=85–88}} He eventually raised enough money to produce a full-length film, though not the full amount he originally wanted.{{sfn|Campbell|2002|p=85–88}} Raimi said the film cost $375,000.<ref name="BobbieWygant">{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ccmkooeo5g&t=627s| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/6Ccmkooeo5g| archive-date=December 11, 2021|title=Sam Raimi "Darkman" 8/4/90 - Bobbie Wygant Archive|date=September 18, 2020|access-date=April 15, 2021|via=YouTube|url-status=live}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

With enough money to produce the film, Raimi and Campbell set out to make what was then titled ''Book of the Dead'', a name inspired by Raimi's interest in the fiction of [[H. P. Lovecraft]].{{sfn|Campbell|2002|p=66}}<ref name="thingstoknow"/> The film was supposed to be a remake of ''Within the Woods'', with higher production values and a full-length running time. Raimi turned 20 just before shooting began, and he considered the project his "[[rite of passage]]".{{sfn|Campbell|2002|p=95}}

===Pre-production and casting===
[[File:Betsy Baker, Ellen Sandweiss, and Theresa Tilly.jpg|thumb|[[Betsy Baker]], [[Ellen Sandweiss]], and [[Theresa Tilly]] in 2009]]

Raimi asked for help and assistance from several of his friends and past collaborators to make ''The Evil Dead''.{{sfn|Campbell|2002|p=95}} Campbell offered to produce the film alongside Tapert, and was subsequently cast as [[Ash Williams]], the main character, since his producing responsibilities made him the only actor willing to stay during the production's entirety.{{sfn|Kenneth Muir|2004|p=23–24}} To acquire more actors for the project, Raimi put an ad in ''[[The Detroit News]]''. [[Betsy Baker]] was one of the actresses who responded, and [[Ellen Sandweiss]], who appeared in ''Within the Woods'', was also cast.{{sfn|Campbell|2002|p=95}} The crew consisted almost entirely of Raimi and Campbell's friends and family. The special make-up effects artist for ''Within the Woods'', [[Tom Sullivan (special effects artist)|Tom Sullivan]], was brought on to compose the effects after expressing a positive reaction to working with Raimi.{{sfn|Kenneth Muir|2004|p=23–24}} He helped create many of the film's [[foam latex]] and [[fake blood]] effects, and added coffee as an extra ingredient to the traditional fake blood formula of [[corn syrup]] and [[food coloring]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Konow |first=David |date=July 21, 2014 |title=How The Evil Dead's Tom Sullivan Mastered Low-Budget Effects |url=https://www.tested.com/art/movies/462662-how-evil-deads-tom-sullivan-mastered-low-budget-effects/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190217220311/https://www.tested.com/art/movies/462662-how-evil-deads-tom-sullivan-mastered-low-budget-effects/ |archive-date=February 17, 2019 |access-date=February 17, 2019 |website=Tested.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://medium.com/applaudience/evil-dead-effects-master-tom-sullivan-honored-39568ab07b21|title="Evil Dead" Effects Master Tom Sullivan Honored|last=Grabowski|first=William|date=January 19, 2017|website=[[Medium (website)|Medium]]|access-date=February 17, 2019|archive-date=February 18, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190218082024/https://medium.com/applaudience/evil-dead-effects-master-tom-sullivan-honored-39568ab07b21|url-status=live}}</ref>

Without any formal assistance from location scouts, the cast had to find filming locations on their own. The crew initially attempted to shoot the film in Raimi's hometown of [[Royal Oak, Michigan]], but instead chose [[Morristown, Tennessee]], as it was the only state that expressed enthusiasm for the project. The crew quickly found a remote cabin located several miles away from any other buildings. During pre-production, the 13 crew members had to stay at the cabin, leading to several people sleeping in the same room. The living conditions were notoriously difficult, with several arguments breaking out between crew members.{{sfn|Campbell|2002|p=96–98}}

Steve Frankel was the only carpenter on set, which made him the art direction's sole contributor.{{sfn|Campbell|2002|p=93–94}} For exterior shots, Frankel had to produce several elaborate props with a circular saw. Otherwise, the cabin mostly remained the way it was found during production. The cabin had no plumbing, but phone lines were connected to it.{{sfn|Campbell|2002|p=96–98}}{{sfn|Egan|2011|p=14}}

===Principal photography===
The film was made on [[Kodak]] [[16mm]] film stock with a rented camera.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Reilly |first=Claire |date=November 2, 2016 |title=Bruce Campbell on 16mm film, iPhones and why horror must go 'up the butt' |url=https://www.cnet.com/culture/bruce-campbell-ash-evil-dead-iphones-horror-starz-stan/ |access-date=March 17, 2022 |website=CNET |language=en |archive-date=March 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220317125428/https://www.cnet.com/culture/bruce-campbell-ash-evil-dead-iphones-horror-starz-stan/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The inexperienced crew made filming a "comedy of errors".{{sfn|Campbell|2002|p=101}} The first day of filming led to them getting lost in the woods during a scene shot on a bridge.{{sfn|Campbell|2002|p=101}} Several crew members were injured during the shoot, and because of the cabin's remoteness, securing medical assistance was difficult.{{sfn|Konow|2012|p=419–422}} One notably gruesome moment on set involved ripping off Baker's eyelashes during removal of her face-mask.{{sfn|Campbell|2002|p=93–94}} Because of the low budget, contact lenses as thick as glass{{clarify|date=May 2021|reason=How thick is glass?}} had to be applied to the actors to achieve the "demonic eyes" effect.{{sfn|Campbell|2002|p=93–94}} The lenses took ten minutes to apply, and could only be left on for about 15 minutes because eyes could not "breathe" with them applied.{{sfn|Campbell|2002|p=93–94}} Campbell later commented that to get the effect of wearing these lenses, they had to put "[[Tupperware]]" over their eyes.{{sfn|Campbell|2002|p=93–94}}

Raimi developed a sense of ''[[mise en scène]]'', coming up with ideas for scenes at a fast rate.{{sfn|Konow|2012|p=412–413}} He had drawn several crude illustrations to help him break down the flow of scenes. The crew was surprised when Raimi began using [[Dutch angle]]s during shots to build atmosphere during scenes.{{sfn|Campbell|2002|p=102–103}} To accommodate Raimi's style of direction, several elaborate, low-budget rigs had to be built, since the crew could not afford a [[camera dolly]]. One involved the "vas-o-cam", which relied on a mounted camera that was slid down long wooden platforms to create a more fluid sense of motion.{{sfn|Campbell|2002|p=102–103}}

[[File:WW Chicago 2015 - Evil Dead 15 (21037548012).jpg|Sam Raimi's brother [[Ted Raimi]] was the "[[fake shemp]]" in several scenes.|thumb|left|upright]]

A camera trick used to emulate a [[Steadicam]] inexpensively was the "[[shaky camera|shaky cam]]", which involved mounting the camera to a piece of wood and having two camera operators sprint around the swamp.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tested.com/art/movies/454928-low-budget-camera-tech-sam-raimis-evil-dead/|title=The Low Budget Camera Tech of Sam Raimi's Evil Dead|last=Konow|first=David|date=April 18, 2013|website=Tested.com|access-date=May 7, 2013|archive-date=April 20, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130420024719/http://www.tested.com/art/movies/454928-low-budget-camera-tech-sam-raimis-evil-dead/|url-status=dead}}</ref> During scenes involving the unseen force in the woods watching the characters, Raimi had to run through the woods with the makeshift rig, jumping over logs and stones.{{sfn|Campbell|2002|p=102–103}} This often proved difficult due to mist in the swamp.{{sfn|Kenneth Muir|2004|p=309}} The film's final scene was shot with the camera mounted to a bike, while it was quickly driven through the cabin to create a seamless [[long take]].{{sfn|Campbell|2002|p=102–103}}

Raimi had been a big fan of ''[[The Three Stooges]]'' during his youth, which inspired him to use "[[Fake Shemp]]s" during production.{{sfn|Egan|2011|p=16}}{{sfn|Konow|2012|p=412–413}}{{sfn|Kenneth Muir|2004|p=115}} In any scene that required a background shot of a character, he used another actor as a substitute if the original actor was preoccupied.{{sfn|Campbell|2002|p=111–112}} During a [[close-up]] involving Richard DeManicor's hand opening a curtain, Raimi used his own hand in the scene since it was more convenient.{{Citation needed|date=May 2019}} His brother [[Ted Raimi]] was used as a "Fake Shemp" in many scenes when the original actor was either busy or preoccupied.{{sfn|Campbell|2002|p=111–112}}

Raimi enjoyed "torturing" his actors.<ref name="ouch">{{cite video|title=One by One We Will Take You: The Untold Saga of The Evil Dead|type=documentary|location=''The Evil Dead'' Ultimate Edition DVD|year=2007|publisher=Anchor Bay Entertainment}}</ref>{{sfn|Kenneth Muir|2004|p=507}} Raimi believed that to capture pain and anger in his actors, he had to abuse them a little at times, saying, "if everyone was in extreme pain and misery, that would translate into a horror".<ref name="ouch"/> Producer [[Robert Tapert]] agreed with Raimi, commenting that he "enjoyed when an actor bleeds."<ref name="ouch"/> While shooting a scene with Campbell running down a hill, Campbell tripped and injured his leg.{{sfn|Campbell|2002|p=107–109}} Raimi enjoyed poking Campbell's injury with a stick he found in the woods. Because of the copious amounts of blood in the film, the crew produced gallons of [[fake blood]] with [[Associated British Foods|Karo corn syrup]].{{sfn|Konow|2012|p=419–422}}{{sfn|Campbell|2002|p=107–109}} It took Campbell hours to remove the sticky substance from himself.{{sfn|Campbell|2002|p=107–109}} Several actors had inadvertently been stabbed or thrown into objects during production.<ref name="ouch"/>{{sfn|Campbell|2002|p=107–109}} During the last few days on set, the conditions had become so extreme the crew began burning furniture to stay warm. Since at that point only exterior shots needed to be filmed, they burned nearly every piece of furniture left.{{sfn|Campbell|2002|p=116–117}} Several actors went days without showering, and because of the freezing conditions, several caught [[Common cold|colds]] and other illnesses. Campbell later described the filming process as nearly "twelve weeks of mirthless exercise in agony", though he allowed that he did manage to have fun while on set.{{sfn|Campbell|2002|p=107–109}} On January 23, 1980, filming was finished and almost every crew member left the set to return home, with Campbell staying with Raimi.{{sfn|Campbell|2002|p=116–117}} While looking over the footage that had been shot, Raimi discovered that a few [[Pick-up (filmmaking)|pick-ups]] were required to fill in missing shots. Four days of re-shoots were then done to complete the film.{{sfn|Campbell|2002|p=128}} The final moment involved Campbell having "monster-guts" splattered on him in the basement.{{sfn|Campbell|2002|p=128}}

Summing up the production decades later, Campbell remarked: "It's low-budget, it's got rough edges," but even so, "there are parts of that movie that are visually stunning."<ref>{{cite web|title=Actor Bruce Campbell opens up about filming 'Evil Dead' as film celebrates 40th anniversary|url=https://www.dispatch.com/story/entertainment/2021/10/06/bruce-campbell-candid-making-evil-dead-40-years-ago/5992194001/|last=Tonguette|first=Peter|publisher=The Columbus Dispatch|date=October 6, 2021|access-date=October 18, 2021|archive-date=October 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211018173542/https://www.dispatch.com/story/entertainment/2021/10/06/bruce-campbell-candid-making-evil-dead-40-years-ago/5992194001/|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Editing===
[[File:COEN Brothers (cannesPH).jpg|alt=Two men in button-up shirts smiling.|Joel Coen ''(pictured right'') of the [[Coen brothers]] helped to edit the film.|thumb|right]]

After the extensive filming process, Raimi had a "mountain of footage" that he had to put together.{{sfn|Konow|2012|p=419–422}}{{sfn|Campbell|2002|p=129–132}} He chose a [[Detroit]] editing association, where he met Edna Paul, to cut the film. Paul's assistant was Joel Coen of the [[Coen brothers]], who helped with the film's editing.{{sfn|Campbell|2002|p=129–132}}{{sfn|Eddie|2010|p=15}} Paul edited a majority of the film, although Coen edited the shed sequence. Coen had been inspired by Raimi's ''Within the Woods'' and liked the idea of producing a prototype film to help build the interest of investors.{{sfn|Eddie|2010|p=15}}{{sfn|Pooley|1987|p=44}} Joel used the concept to help make ''[[Blood Simple]]'' with his brother Ethan, and he and Raimi became friends following the editing process.<ref name="thingstoknow">{{cite web|url=http://blogs.amctv.com/movie-blog/2010/10/evil-dead-facts.php|title=Ten Things You Might Not Know About the Evil Dead Trilogy|author=AMC staff|date=October 28, 2008|website=[[AMC (TV channel)|Filmcritic.com]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111227054237/http://blogs.amctv.com/movie-blog/2010/10/evil-dead-facts.php|archive-date=December 27, 2011|url-status=dead|access-date=July 12, 2012}}</ref>{{sfn|Pooley|1987|p=44}}

The film's first cut ran at around 117 minutes, which Campbell called an impressive achievement in light of the 65-minute length of the [[screenplay]]. The cut scenes were to focus on the main character's lamentation of not being able to save the victims from their deaths, but was edited down to make the film less "grim and depressing" and to be a more marketable 85 minutes.{{sfn|Campbell|2002|p=129–132}} Raimi was inspired by the fact that [[Brian De Palma]] was editing his own film ''[[Blow Out]]'' with [[John Travolta]] at the same [[Sound stage|sound facility]].{{sfn|Campbell|2002|p=129–132}} One of the most intricate moments during editing was the [[Stop motion|stop-motion animation]] sequence where the corpses "melted", which took hours to cut properly.{{sfn|Campbell|2002|p=129–132}} The film had unique [[Sound effect|sounds]] that required extensive recording from the crew.{{sfn|Campbell|2002|p=129–132}}{{sfn|Egan|2011|p=17}} Several sounds were not recorded properly during shooting, which meant the effects had to be redone in the [[Film editing|editing rooms]]. Dead [[chicken]]s were stabbed to replicate the sounds of mutilated flesh, and Campbell had to scream into a microphone for several hours.{{sfn|Campbell|2002|p=129–132}}

Much like ''Within the Woods'', ''The Evil Dead'' needed to be blown up to [[35 mm movie film|35mm]], the industry standard, to be played at movie theaters.{{sfn|Campbell|2002|p=129–132}} The relatively large budget made this a much simpler process with ''The Evil Dead'' than it had been with the short film.{{sfn|Campbell|2002|p=129–132}}