Subscribe
Follow Us
The recent remake, or reimagining, of The Crow is in movie theaters starring Bill Skarsgård. It took a village to find a new iteration of the character, who was most famously portrayed by Brandon Lee in the 1994 movie, including tattoo artist Nikola Prijic.
While plenty was made of Skarsgård in the first look at the new Crow movie, Prijic shook it off. One thing he emphasized during ClutchPoints' interview with him is that Rupert Sanders' movie is a completely different take on the IP. It sounds like he based the Bill Skarsgård-led iteration on the comic book series.
Prijic broke down the process of creating temporary tattoos for The Crow, why fans of the comic books will like the new movie, and his hope that fans take away from it.
The Crow tattoo artist Nikola Prijic on the Bill Skarsgård-led remake
ClutchPoints: What was your journey making tattoos? And then I don't know how many other movies you've done, but can you talk to me about this whole journey of getting into this movie?
Nikola Prijic: Well, I've done a lot of tattoo for movies, TV shows, and theater plays. I live in Belgrade, Serbia, and my company is based there. And one moment, like 10 years ago, Serbia became a really big place for foreign productions, especially the ones from the US and UK.
So there was this movie that was shot by and directed by Ralph Fiennes [Coriolanus], I think Jared Butler was in it, [and] Vanessa Redgrave. So I was called to design some of the tattoos.
Then I met this key makeup artist on that movie, Daniel Parker, and a year later we agreed and formed a company for realistic temporary tattoos that would be like specialized for movies and TV shows. He was actually a makeup artist on this one [The Crow] and he called me to [work on it].
Honoring the comic books
CP; Do you have a connection to the old Crow movie or even the comics that it's based on?
NP: Not really, because I was really young when the first one [came] out, and I know that people were really hyped about it. They really loved it, even now I have a friend that has a Crow tattoo, and she's like, “If you make this into s**tty movie, I'm gonna kill you blah blah blah.”
I'm like, “I was just working [on it].” [laughs] So people really loved the old one, but as I only said once, this is a totally different thing.
It is called The Crow, and Rupert [Sanders] was using the comic book as a base for the movie, and honestly, I think he used [the] comic book [more] than the original Crow [movie].
So for the fans who are really into the comic book and into the movie, they're going to see that easily. For the fans who are just into the movie and who never read a comic book, they're probably not going to notice that. But he has some scenes that are [the] same as in a comic book, and people are going to see that.
What I want to say to the fans is to please try to look at a movie with an open heart, because it is called The Crow, but this is not the remake of the old Crow. This is a vision of Rupert Sanders — his vision of how he thinks, how he thinks the Crow should look, and he's a big fan of the comic book. That's why I think the fans of the comic book are gonna really like this one.
Making something new
CP; A lot was made of Bill Skarsgård's look when they released that first image, and it looks a lot different than the previous one.
NP: For me, it's a cool thing, Imagine that you're really regurgitating something that was [done], that would be really lame.
CP: One of the biggest features is Bill Skarsgård's character, he has tattoos, Was this a decision by Rupert and the whole crew to add tattoos to the character?
NP: Yeah, I think Rupert's idea was basically he wanted to make this modern version of Eric Draven, and his inspiration was these rappers in the past five years like Lil Wayne, all these guys that have tattooed faces and all these like random tattoos.
That was his inspiration. He wanted to make something that people nowadays, especially kids, are going to resonate with. That's why he has all these random [tattoos], and a lot of these homemade scratcher style tattoos.
CP: There are a lot of tattoos, are any of them Easter eggs, references to old movies, anything like that?
NP: There is one, I wouldn't call it an Easter egg, but Bill Skarsgård, he asked for the poem [by] H. P. Lovecraft. He sent us a few poems, and he was like, “[Can] you guys can do anything with this?”
So I made a design, and that's the one [on] his back. So, that was something that the actor wanted. Which I think is really cool because it's a cool poem and I think it goes nicely with the movie.
Because he's from Sweden, I think he asked for the zip code of the part of the city where he lived, or where he still lives. So yeah, it's a really small tattoo, but it's there.
Bill Skarsgård went above and beyond in The Crow
CP: I didn't realize he was so involved. So were you communicating with him pretty heavily during this movie?
NP: Yeah, because before you start shooting a movie, there are three weeks or maybe a month and then there is this back-and-forth with the director with the actors. Once he's there, you don't have that much time, so everything has to be done quickly.
But I think he was really involved, and he always stated his opinion on the stuff that he doesn't like, stuff he likes. So it was a process. But the idea was to create this guy, like I said, that kind of had a really troubled childhood, and he was growing up in this detention center, so a lot of the tattoos are really bad, done with the needles and by his friends while they're high.
And some of the tattoos are super stupid and very random. I saw some comments when the first trailer was out about the one with his nipple, there is like a Picasso face and there's one eye tattooed and the other eye is his nipple and they're like tears coming down.
People were like, “Oh my God, this is so disgusting! Why would anyone do that?” But that was the idea. Why? Because he's super high, you're getting s**tty tattoos, and you're having stupid ideas.
Ignoring the critics
CP: Did you feel any nerves before the first images of Bill Skarsgård as The Crow came out?
Article Continues Below
NP: No, not really, because when you're shooting every day, when you're doing these tattoos every day, it becomes a daily grind for you, you know?
And in one moment, because sometimes you have like really long shooting hours — sometimes you're there for like 15, 16 hours — once the shooting is done [and] the trailer is out, you're just happy to see it. That's what it's about.
There's no tension at all. That's it. You did your thing, and now nothing is up to you anymore. You can just be happy that it's out.
Using temporary tattoos
CP: How do the temporary tattoos work? Are they like the ones you get as a kid at a festival? Are they being reapplied every day? How do you make sure that they stay on when there are scenes water or on long days?
NP: Well, that's the thing. That's why we made this company. So the thing is, the basic process is the same as those kiddy tattoos that you were talking about.
So you print them on paper, there's [a] special adhesive that goes [on], and you just transfer them on skin. The trick is to design them so they look like real tattoos. And the tattoos that we are producing, they can stay for a few days as long as you're not like really, really sweating, as long as you're not like rubbing [on it] hard, they can stay for a few days.
So sometimes we had them on Bill for like two or three days, and he would have a few shooting days [in a row]. Sometimes we'll touch some of them up, and sometimes we'll have to take them off totally because the ones on his hands and on their fingers, they tend to wear off faster, of course, but the ones like on his chest, they could be there for days.
Reapplying them
CP: If you do have to touch them up, how do you ensure that you are accurately putting them in the same spot? Are you just comparing pictures?
NP: Yeah, of course. First you do the fittings, then once everything is approved, you take photos, you have them around your trailer and every day you do your best to make it the same.
The thing is, with these tattoos, that's the best thing about them — you don't have to draw anything. Once you have the design, you just print it and you just kind of stick it. So it's always the same. Drawing them would be very time consuming, and the actors wouldn't be very happy. Imagine that you had to draw this thing every day in and out, they would go crazy.
[But] this takes like [less time]. You just put it on, put some water, take it [off]. That's it. Put some sealer over. It's done.
CP: I'm sure that there were plenty of tattoo ideas that didn't make it into the movie. Do you know of any off-hand?
NP: Well, I don't know because I still haven't seen the film. I'm probably going to go to the premiere in two weeks in New York.
As I'm here now, I'm gonna go and see it. So I don't know what's featured or what's not. I remember that we did some really cool designs. Actually, one of the designs was by some — I don't want to get the credit wrong — Czech artists or something like that. And it's really nice.
And it was like Eric's art that he did himself on his legs, stick-and-poke style. I really like those because they're super raw and cruel, but I don't know if we're going to see them in the movie.
Go in with an open mind (and heart)
CP: You did say earlier that you wanted fans to go into The Crow with an open heart. What else do you hope that they take away from the movie?
NP: I don't know, I still haven't seen the movie. I just saw the trailers and some stuff that they're putting out on the social media. I think it's going to be a really nice love story, and I'm happy to see [FKA] Twigs in her first acting role.
So I would like to see that because Bill is really professional, and he's so easy to work with. And like when we were there and when he was shooting, he knew that everything was coming [out] so good. So I'm pretty certain that the movie is going to be great. And everything I saw so far was amazing. So. I really think it's going to be a good thing.
The Crow is in theaters.
