Angela Quinton

Animated short “CARN” shows savagery’s bloody consequences

This prize-winning animated short film by Jeff Le Bars – submitted as his final project at Ecole d’art Emile Cohl – is a perfectly-executed morality tale, gorgeous to look at and exquisite in its brutality. I can’t really discuss it without spoiling the story, so please watch it and then let’s talk about it in the comments. Suffice it to say every frame is beautifully designed, the sound and music (by Sylvain Livenais) are perfect, and there are two smash cuts in it that are so fucking harrowing I’ve watched it a half-dozen times and still get goosebumps.

You can see more of Le Bars’ work on his web site. I’m cold, so cold.

Angela Quinton Nov. 15th 2013

Weekly Werewolf Art: “Out Comes the Wolf” by Mary Doodles

This week’s feature is a video of artist / vlogger / all-around nice person Mary Doodles painting a man caught in the eye of the full moon. She is seriously going nuts with those watercolours, which freaks me out because the last time I tried anything with watercolours a man drowned. Mary’s got it under control, though, even when she’s literally just dumping colour into a puddle of water.

She dedicates the storybook-macabre results to “that very special lycanthropic person in my life”, which is sentiment I can appreciate, given that I’m married to an artist who indulges my lycanthropic side as well. You can see more of Mary’s work on her YouTube channel or her web site.

Angela Quinton Nov. 14th 2013

The playable werewolves of “The Elder Scrolls Online” look nasty in a good way

If you liked stalking the hills of Skyrim as a werewolf, I’ve got some good news: Bethesda Softworks and Zenimax Online Studios are working on the next Elder Scrolls game, and the playable werewolves are even more elaborate than Skyrim’s lycanthropes. The Elder Scrolls Online is a MMORPG set in the continent of Tamriel, a millennium before the events of Skyrim. The game is currently in closed beta, but in the months leading up to the game’s release, Bethesda is sharing a lot of material about the game’s planning and development, and one of the latest news posts gives us “a peek at the creation of the player version of the werewolf”.

The werewolf’s model and combat animations need to convey a sense of unrestrained savagery. Werewolves use their incredible strength to leap through the air towards their unfortunate targets; they devour them with fervor. They often hunt in packs, destroying everything they can hunt down. We used references like video of hyenas gorging on a zebra to get the feel just right, adding touches like bloodstains on the muzzle after a good feast.

I’m not the biggest fan of digitigrade legs or oversized tails, but overall I really like the character design! He looks nasty in all the ways a werewolf ought to be nasty.

For more details, including the effort that went into making the werewolves’ sound design appropriately bestial, check out the news post on the game’s official site. The Elder Scrolls Online comes out in Spring 2014, and will be available for Windows, OS X, Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

Angela Quinton Nov. 13th 2013

Bigfoot Vs. Werewolves comic “Savage” coming to theatres

Did you know that in 2009, Shadowline / Image Comics published a comic miniseries that pitted against each other a pack of werewolves, Bigfoot, a psychotic monster hunter and a shoe salesman? I sure didn’t, which just goes to show how much potentially excellent werewolf content is out there, waiting to be discovered by people with short attention spans (that’s me, I’m talking about me). Savage was written by Jeff Frank & Steve Niles and drawn by Mike Mayhew. It ran for four issues in 2009, and it was good enough that even two years after it came out, folks were speculating that it would make a great film.

Now it seems that those folks are probably going to get their wish. As originally reported by TheWrap, the film rights to Savage have been acquired (excited face!) by the guys responsible for Agent Cody Banks and the Twilight films (concerned face).

Pathbender’s E. Thompson (“Hansel and Gretel Get Baked”) and John Adams will produce the movie, while Outlier’s Mark Morgan (“The Twilight Saga”) will executive produce.

I want to say something snarky about the involvement of these guys, but I was recently a total asshole about something that’s not even out, and I don’t have it in me to take digs at two guys who actually seem super good at their jobs (making movies that make a lot of money). The fact is, there might be another werewolf movie, and even if it’s about werewolves who shed their human skin and hassle cows, that’s a good thing.

For more info on Savage, I recommend reading these two great pieces on Comic Book Resources:

Angela Quinton Nov. 12th 2013

“Bitten” looks like it sucks worse than a bad joke about vampires

I tried reading Bitten back when there were rumours that it was going to be adapted into a feature film starring Angelina Jolie. I stopped after the first dozen pages or so. I don’t remember why, although I think I remember being irritated by something happening in an orchard or forest. My point is, I don’t know enough about Kelley Armstrong‘s writing to have a defensible opinion about Bitten the book, or the other 12 books in the series. My point is that Syfy’s upcoming TV series based on Bitten looks bad.

It looks really, really bad. Execrable.

This is terrible on two levels. First, as a fan of werewolves and horror, I don’t care about the following werewolf tropes, which are present in abundance:

Werewolves that are just big wolves
People transforming for the first time in a cage while an aloof mastermind watches and narrates
Quick close-ups of CG wolves cut to pitch-dropped audio of a lion snarling
Supernatural predjuice against humans manifesting as catty scorn
Low phlegmy breathing presented as animalistic and primal
Wolf pack dynamics forced onto a group of humans who are clearly all selfish assholes (bonus garbage-points for making “Pack” a proper noun)
Male werewolves in human form asserting their alpha dominance

Secondly, as an alive person who watches TV, I absolutely don’t give a shit about:

Plots wherein two secret underground societies wage a secret war against each other while keeping their secrets safe from the world at large, a world that could never understand their secrets
Plots wherein the second act ends with someone saying the words “we need to strike back”
Dramatic exposition dumps between two stone-faced characters wearing coats while standing in a cemetery or park
Sex scenes on a rug in front of a fire
Female actors making sexy-sex faces (but not TOO sexy) for the sake of audience titillation
Male actors removing their too-tight shirts for the sake of audience titillation
Paper-thin portrayals of female empowerment
Any show where the line “someone is turning psychotic murders into werewolves” is delivered with all the seriousness of a guest star detective on an episode of Law & Order: SVU

I try to stay positive on Werewolf News, but this trailer (and its poster, below) have made it clear that Bitten is going to be a terrible show on all levels, and everyone involved with it should feel ashamed of what they’ve done. It’s possible to make a fun, scary, loveably cheeseball TV series about supernatural topics – Syfy’s even done it – but I have no expectations that Bitten will be any of those things. It has all the markings of a bad TV series that celebrates boring werewolf mythos, and I don’t know which offence bums me out more.

The show airs on Syfy and Space sometime next year. If you still want to watch it after reading this, go ahead and Google for more details, because I can’t help you.

Angela Quinton Nov. 8th 2013

“WolfCop” star Leo Fafard discusses his transformation into Lou Garou

The Moose Jaw Times Herald has a nice little chat with Leo Fafard, the Saskatchewan actor playing the eponymous werewolf lawman in WolfCop. Most of the press about the film so far has been about its victory in the CineCoup competition, but now that filming’s actually underway, we get to hear about the rigours of shooting (zero sleep and sub-zero temperatures) and Fafard’s approach to playing Lou Garou.

He said Lou Garou and the post-transformation WolfCop are completely separate from each other, even though they inhabit the same body.

“One’s way more animalistic, not only in his movements but in his attitude,” Fafard said. “The other one’s, I mean, he’s got complexities of his own. He’s a drunk but he’s a cop … he’s a bit of a lost soul.”

Read the rest of the interview here, or for more updates on WolfCop’s progress, check out @WOLFCOPTheMovie on Twitter or the production blog on Tumblr. Stay warm, WolfCop crew!

Angela Quinton Nov. 7th 2013

Weekly Werewolf Art: “Baroness of the Wolf” by Hinchel Or

“Oh shit, and I just shaved this morning…”

probably my last portfolio piece for the year… (probably)

tried out a different kind of lighting here… because having one light source was so five minutes ago.

This piece by Hinchel Or showed up on my Tumblr dashboard yesterday, via Do You Speak Werewolf? (which you should absolutely be following), and my first thought (after “!!!WOW!!!”) was “this Baroness has a problem, and I think it’s about to become an even bigger problem for the other people on the estate”. Let me tell you what I like about this picture. Aside from the technical excellence in the perspective and lighting, there are two things, mainly.

There is an elegant lady.
She is turning into a werewolf.
(bonus round:) tea.

I really hope Hinchel makes this available as a print! If you’d like to do a little compare ‘n’ contrast, you can also see the pencils for this art here.

You can see more of Hinchel’s work on his Tumblr and deviantART sites, both of which are well-stocked with lushly-lit madness and super charming doodles.

Angela Quinton Nov. 6th 2013

Four werewolf projects fight for your crowdsourced dollars

I was away, and now that I’m back I’m finding all these Kickstarter and Indiegogo projects in my inbox, some of which were sent to me weeks ago! In the interest of getting these in front of you as soon as possible, I’m going to forego the in-depth analysis and gang them up here. I think all four of these are great, and they deserve your consideration! Click on a project’s title to visit its page.

End Of The Road

“The 28 Days Later of werewolf movies”. I like where these guys are coming from, and I certainly agree with their premise: werewolf movies traditionally suck. If this pitch video doesn’t win you over, the credits at the end will.

Fright Fight: Online Multiplayer Fighting for Mobile

“…a ‘Smash Bros’ style online multiplayer brawler featuring horror, steampunk, RPG elements… and zombies!” Play as one of four brawlin’ monsters, including a werewolf. I’m not normally down with the iPad controls, but I’d play the heck out of this.

Freeborn: Guts full of awesomeness

“Having a pilot is great, but we want to sell this to cable as a true series. To do that, we need flash in our sales package. Having the makeup and effects in a werewolf show is essential, but it also costs. A lot!” Help them cover their costs and get exclusive access to footage of a full-on werewolf transformation. These folks have been working on Freeborn for a long time and every time I check in, it looks better than ever.

Little Red

“…a comic book series about a werewolf fighting other legendary phenomenon monsters…” I like a mean Red Riding Hood, especially when she’s an unstoppable killing machine.

Best of luck to everyone involved!

Angela Quinton Nov. 5th 2013

Music Video: “Hide On The Moon” by For Those Who Still Exist

Music and video by Kevin Kopacka. The music and lyrics are dreamy/heartbreaking, and I like how well Kevin’s original footage cuts together with clips from other werewolf films to create something that’s simultaneously nostalgic and menacing. Bonus points for nail polish.

Angela Quinton Nov. 5th 2013

“The Skin Trade” Signed, Limited Edition Illustrated Hardcover

These are the WSFA Press hardcover limited edition copies of George R.R. Martin’s werewolf novella I told you about last month, but they’re not pre-orders anymore. They’re signed by Martin and the artist Rick Berry, who did 10 original illustrations + the cover, and at only $35 each, if you want a copy you better hustle – there are only 500 in total!

Angela Quinton Nov. 5th 2013