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Every single werewolf in a werewolf film undergoes a huge transformation process. In the movie "The Wolf Man"(1941) the protagonist Larry Talbot, played by Lon Chaney Jr., goes through a series of optical dissolves in order to achieve the desired affect of transforming into a wolf. Chaney had to sit very still while make up man Jack Pierce applied more and more hair and putty, little by little, to his face to show a gentle transformation into a werewolf. This process was very time consuming and tedious.
John Landis produced "An American Werewolf in London"(1981) and envisioned the transformation process as very violent and painful. When his werewolf underwent transformation from man to wolf, Rick Baker the makeup artist, used an elaborate combination of makeup and what he called change-o-parts made of foam that he could actually change into on camera. Rick Baker won an academy award for his outstanding work.
Nowadays, we see the werewolves morph through computer images called CGI. They use this technique in the popular Twilight series, Underworld, and even in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban when professor Lupin changes into a werewolf. Special thanks for this insight goes to John Landis and his book Monsters in the Movies: 100 years of Cinematic Nightmares.
Great post, I loved seeing the transition of what the ideal image of a werewolf was at different time periods in Hollywood. Do you know if there are any other monsters that have evolved throughout the cinematic years?
ReplyDeleteThanks! I also found this very interesting. I had never taken into account how much work would need to go on in cinema to show the evolution of a monster. I have also read a few other evolution's of monsters in John Landis' book. I'll be sure to put them up for you all to see.
DeleteThe American Werewolf in London is by far one of my most favorite movies of all time. It's fun to see how the slow and methodical have been replaced by 1's & 0's. There may have to be a old movie marathon this weekend showcasing the black and white days. Thanks for posting this. It inspired me to start looking for movies to marathon.
ReplyDeleteIts great to hear that you still take a like the old films. You have to be able to appreciate the original monster movies to appreciate the ones that our generation has out today. And i'll also have to start looking into marathons; I love them. I watched The Walking Dead marathon that was on about two weeks ago and it kept me entertained all week!
DeleteAlthough Jacob from Twilight was a gorgeous werewolf, the new CGI werewolf does not look nearly as authentic as the old-school werewolf. Harry hands and faces look so much more authentic when they aren't created from pixels. Although, the old style werewolves do look really similar to the old Planet of the Apes characters. lol!
ReplyDeleteI thought the exact same thing when I was reading up on the werewolves. The old school werewolves also reminded me of the Planet of the Apes characters lol. Nonetheless, I think that just shows also how far cinema has come with all of their special effects. I don't think the original monsters though could never lose their edge, they still scare me today with CGI or not.
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