-Sigh-...Teen Wolf

[Fenrisson]

I think most MTV shows would be a lot more entertaining with werewolves. Like, locked on set with the "actors."

[Marcus]

I think Britain's Got Talent would be more fun with werewolves, where if the act gets three buzzes from the judges, the werewolves are released muahaha!!

[Moonreaper]

Love it hahaha, Everyone wins!

[komodo]

Andrew of Werewolf News is a guy who's tastes are quite similar to my own. So when he has something to say, I take note and he interviewed one of the producers of the show recently.

werewolf-news.com/2011/05/teen-wolf-producer-jeff-davis-talks-with-werewolf-news-adjusts-my-expectations-to-awesome/#comments

Important bits:

Nevertheless, I wrote back, explaining that I wanted to like the show, but “when I read the PR, or try to suss out the story from the trailers, everything I see says ‘this is not meant for you, 30-year-old guy who likes monsters… This is for teenagers who are too cool to like Twilight but who still want to see hunky werewolves with their shirts off.’”

Jeff’s response was surprisingly unguarded.

I have to admit the Teen Wolf previews so far are shrewdly targeted toward the Twilight crowd. Before writing the pilot script I actually read the first two books in that series. I wanted to see what the appeal was. But the movies… I couldn’t finish the first one.

Okay, fair enough. I couldn’t even get 50 pages into the first book. But does this marketing effort mean that the show is really going to be Twilight with no vampires? Apparently not! Writes Jeff:

One of the things I’ve told the network over and over is ‘I’m not doing Gossip Girl with werewolves.’ I’ve said it many time but The Lost Boys has really been our paradigm. That twist in the end when the kids realize that Max is actually the head vampire and has been after their mom all along was just goddamn perfect. That’s the kind of storytelling we’re going for.

He also commented on that whole “using ‘Teen Wolf’ as a recognizable brand” thing I took a dig at him for in that earlier post.

What the New York Times article didn’t put in was that I also said “corporate branding aside, when I sit down to work with the writers on the episodes we don’t think to ourselves ‘how can we pad Viacom’s bottom line’ but how can we tell a great story?”

With so much concern for authentic storytelling, then, why is the show being marketed like this? He didn’t come out and say so, but in talking with him I got a sense that the creators of new TV shows don’t have much control over how networks market them. What Jeff sees as The Lost Boys with werewolves probably looks more to MTV like an investment to be marketed to a profitable demographic as broadly and enticingly as possible. So let’s leave the marketing to the marketers. What about the show itself?

One of the most reassuring things Jeff shared with me was his opinion of The Wolfman. That’s the one that jaded me, I told him, and I imagine a lot of other werewolf fans feel the same. I was so excited about that film, even after Mark Romanek left as director, and the final product was such a compromised piecemeal let-down (other than Rick Baker’s work) that my defensive reaction was to feel like a chump for having been so excited in the first place, for ever having trusted Hollywood to “get it right”. Turns out, the guys in charge of Teen Wolf felt the same way about it, and aren’t about to make the same mistakes.

Russell Mulcahy (my director and co-executive producer who you probably know is a genre nut) and I went to The Wolfman as soon as it came out. What a shocking disappointment. Somewhere along the development process you knew they were trying to go for what Coppola did with Dracula. But there was just no style. No story. And the end was two hairy guys wrestling in a living room. But knowing studio politics and development hell I feel for the guys behind the camera. I’m sure they had the best of intentions and were probably just as disappointed as the audience.

Speaking of hairy guys, I was particularly interested to hear more about the werewolf special effects. It’s clear from the trailers that they’re not doing the lazy “fade to a real wolf” thing, but the practical effects we’ve seen so far look pretty tame. This is a real make-or-break issue for me – even if I don’t particularly like the story, a good werewolf suit / makeup will go far. Yes, I’m superficial. Luckily, it sounds like they take the appearances of their werewolves seriously:

When we started, Russell and I knew we wanted to do makeup effects. Using real wolves just seems like a cop out. But makeup effects… after dealing with it for two years, it’s tough, believe me. We were reshooting Tyler’s makeup shots from the pilot all the way at the end of our six month shoot because we had finally gotten it to a point where we liked it. I actually will pick up scissors in the makeup trailer and clip Tyler’s sideburns myself. I’m sure I drive the makeup artists crazy.

We wanted our werewolves to have a kind of progression. Tyler Posey’s werewolf look was meant to be something a little more Pan’s Labyrinth, a teen wolf and not yet a real werewolf. Tyler Hoechlin who plays Derek Hale will look a bit more monstrous. We gave him far more pronounced cheeks, a stronger brow, sharper looking teeth. And then there’s the other one… the one you only get a glimpse of in that extended trailer. That’s a combination of creature FX done by KNB (Greg Nicotero) and CGI done by EdenFX. Russell and I spent a lot of time on the design for that werewolf. And it’s damn expensive to get it right. We want it to be scary as hell.

What can I say? My hope is restored a bit.

Also, one of the commentators claimed to have a picture of one of the werewolves.

Linked to avoid spoilers: img228.imageshack.us/img228/3530/wolfr.png

That looks pretty good to me. Obviously a Wolfman type design, but I like Wolfman style werewolves anyway.

This may not be such a disaster after all...

[Fenrisson]

Huh. Way to go, Komodo. Now you have me actually curious about/slightly hopeful for this against ALL my better judgement.

[komodo]

Me to, it's an odd feeling. Cynicism warring with optimism, but June Fifth is drawing ever closer. I guess all we can do is wait and see...

[Fenrisson]

I guess so. It's hard not to be cynical as hell about this, but I guess I'll give it a try...

It actually kind of hurt to say that.

[komodo]

May 26, 2011 21:53:29 GMT -5 Fenrisson said:

I guess so. It's hard not to be cynical as hell about this, but I guess I'll give it a try...

At there very least, it should boost some good werewolf effects. if that picture I posted is real, then if if the show sucks than we might be able to bring something out of it.

It actually kind of hurt to say that.

Lol.

[Fenrisson]

True. Good werewolf effects is always a plus, no matter the rest of the material, since it can be a good inspiration for future projects.

[Moonreaper]

Im an effects critic, but it is not that hard for me to approve of effects as long as effort is shown. Meaning CG can go jump off a bridge. That pic does look pretty nice by the way.

[Marcus]

Over in the UK, it's scheduled for a JULY release on SKY LIVING, or at least that's what I found in a post on the internet.

[komodo]

Yeah, well it premieres tomorrow night. I'll have to catch the second showing at 1:00 though so you'll probably not get my thoughts on the show until Monday or Tuesday.

[komodo]

Did anyone catch the premiere?

[Marcus]

just seen an advert for this series for UK TV. Looks like it'll start sometime this month.

Problem is I don't remember what side it said, or what day, or time, or date. Did anyone else catch the UK date for it?

[hyena]

You can watch it online here
www.mtv.com/videos/teen-wolf-ep-1-pilot/1665042/playlist.jhtml#series=2211&seriesId=31789&channelId=1