Creating a Darker Look at Santa
The long-awaited sequel to the 2003 holiday cult classic, Bad Santa (directed by Terry Zwigoff), Bad Santa 2 is directed by Mark Waters (Vampire Academy, Mean Girls). Theo Van de Sande, ASC (Blade, Cruel Intentions, Wayne’s World) shot the dark comedy with Panasonic VariCam 35 4K cinema cameras. Comedy or not, Waters and Van de Sande wanted the film to have a darker look. For developing the look of Bad Santa 2, Van de Sande did not use any visual references, including the original Bad Santa (shot by Jamie Anderson).