Ah... That's Better

Werewolf Head

A much better werewolf head. This is more of what I had in mind.

Wolf-Man

My werewolf is based on the more traditional werewolves that appeared in films such as:


Werewolf of London (1935)

The Wolf-Man (1941)

The Curse of the Werewolf (1961)

I have always preferred this style to the more wolf-like and it is simply because you still see the human in the face. Modern werewolves are too monstrous, trying to be tough and bullish. 

To me they just stop being scary. Above are examples from Van Helsing (2004. They just become a dragon for the hero to slay, instead of a supernatural transformation.

The original design is better because I can believe that this was once a human. Where in the werewolf mythos, does it say you become a huge monster. It doesn't, your body merely turns animalistic and that is why I prefer it. Plus I find seeing the human's eyes through the make-up sad and therefore more frightening. So there we are... my lecture on werewolves.

Again I find the feet gross, the way they are suspended like that.

Vampire Wolf

As mentioned before, Dracula can shape-shift into a wolf. Well I decided to design it so that it is a mix of wolf and bat. I think this gives it a demon dog look, much like the one in An American Werewolf in London.

The head is obviously based on a bat, but also the tail, which on a bat is membrane like, but on this design that would be useless. So I morphed that with a wolf's tail and VOILA! The bottom image is just to show that this is a flat faced wolf, still keeping the once human element and it is actually how I prefer my werewolves, but we'll move on to that later. The front legs, i think are out of proportion, but hopefully you get the idea. I think I wanted an Alpha-Male vibe to it, since it is Dracula.

It actually looks like Panthro!

Vampire Bat

I'm designing classic monster in the hope they will be useful for future films. First up we'll start with Vampires.

No, NO! Proper vampires. Ones that actually vant to suck your blood. Ones that shun from the day light. Ones that don't look at girls mysteriously, with a constipated face and begin a frustrating franchise of back and forthing and end with a vampire cesarian! Ones like... Christopher Lee, show 'em how to do it Chris--

-- My God he's awesome!


No these are vampiric beasts. In Bram Stoker's original novel of Dracula, the title Count could shape shift into a bat, a wolf and smoke. I probably won't draw the smoke, but below you can see the bat and wolf. I decided to make the bat more monstrous, but the size of a human. It just seems more threatening. Plus it's an interesting design. I'm pleased how this turned out. In fact this is a design I have been trying to crack for a couple of years. If I find the older version I'll post it. It turns out I just needed to make the face more bat-like. I tried to colour it, but because of the cross-hatching... well it didn't happen, but I imagine it to be like a dull, dusty brown. 

The last image is torn from Van Helsing's book on Vampires. I took a lot from bats, such as the hands for feet, which look very creepy, but are also reminiscent of ape feet, so it is not just bats that are present here. Where the wings bridge the outside wrist to the shoulder were based on actual bats. Using nature as an influence grounds the design. It makes the audience believe it and that is important.

PERFECT MOVIE: THE SHADOW

Alright. I know it has been a few weeks since I last did this, but I have seriously been struggling with the Flash Gordon cast. Basically I am stuck on Flash and Dale. So that will come eventually, I just need more work on it. With that said let's dive into this edition of Perfect Movie starring my favourite Pulp hero, The SHADOW!

THE MORE YOU KNOW!
Originally a narrator for the radio, the character was so popular that he was given his own book The Shadow Magazine in 1931. Soon he gained his own radio show, which was a big deal back then, with Orson Welles providing the voice of the character. These radio shows are fantastic and I listen to them all the time. The Shadows abilities vary due to the media. In the original magazine he was only a masked vigilante, then in the radio series he was an invisible avenger, which he gained travelling east. This is great because he is just a voice that tricks the villains into "Spilling the beans" as they panic under his reputation. 


THE CAST


Let's start with cast this time.


The Shadow/ Lamont Cranston: The Shadow has a distinct face, with the long crooked nose and hypnotic eyes. Plus he needs a great voice, with a sinister laugh and wicked sense of humour. If this were the 80s I would cast Timothy Dalton. However this is not, therefore I choose Hugo Weaving, who we have all seen in The Lord of the Rings (2001-2003) and The Matrix films (1999- 2003)- huh he sure likes trilogies! However we also saw him in V For Vendetta as the only thing that actually worked in that film. In that he provided a dark sense of humour and he wasn't as monotonous as Elrond or Mr. Smith (which was their character). So there we are Hugo Weaving as The Shadow and his alter-ego "wealthy young man about town" Lamont Cranston.

Margot Lane: Margot Lane was Lamont Cranston's assistant who often helped The Shadow in his investigations. She knew his identity, which is something I always like. She was never a damsel-in-distress, in fact she often saved The Shadow's life. For Margot we need someone who has that classic 1930s/40s vibe. I was going to say Marion Cotillard, but I want to save her for my Batman episode. I think I am going to go for someone younger, just so that it doesn't seem like a middle-age film. Plus I don't want Lamont and Margot to have a relationship, because he always seemed like he was only concentrating of crime fighting. So I am going to choose Carey Mulligan, because she is young, but has that old world feel, plus she's a good actress which helps.

There weren't a lot of reoccurring villains in the radio show (that's what I am familiar with), so I guess it down to the crew.

CREW

What I love about The Shadow is that it was dark, with a lot of plots involving the wrong man in jail. With that we need a director who has experience in the gangster/ street setting, but also with dark and fantastic. With that it seems obvious to choose Matthew Vaughn, who started his career with Layer Cake and more recently X- Men: First Class, then somewhere in the middle with Kick- Ass. He is a very competent director who has dealings with both.

I would want the film to be set in the pulp era, just because that is all the fun, but it probably wouldn't be a successful move. I would expect to see it in the modern setting, but I would like it to have that feel of a gritty 40s set, kind of like the first Burton Batman. 

Wait a minute, with the Nolan Batman films at an end, what's next for the Caped Crusader? Looks like it's my duty to find out! See... the Oli-Signal!!

I AM OZ! The Great and Powerful!

Although the Wicked Witch is universally accepted as the scariest part of The Wizard of Oz (1939), for me personally it was always that ominous fake head the wizard had. I mean jeez-- This is the "Wonderful Wizard of Oz!"