Critical Evaluation

Reflecting upon your portfolio submission in the light of the research undertaken as well as a practical description of how the proposal would be achieved.

My project idea revolved around Werewolves, and I think that a definite upside to choosing this as my main research is that there is so much reference in film and television that I was in some ways spoilt for choice. The representations of Werewolves in film and TV varied through time, genre and age range so I had to hone in and know from the get go what area I was interested in for my sequence idea as I had to think about how I would create it to the best effect.

A downside is that though there was a lot of visual reference there was barely anything when it came to finding academic resources for the area I was researching, for example the origin of werewolves in terms of location and first recorded sighting. Though all of this information can be found after digging around on the internet, it’s all folktale and varies from page to page as Werewolves are creatures of myths and legends. This meant that my research was more imagery and film/TV based than text when I needed a balance of the two.

As well as working on an individual research idea we also worked as part of a group to help creatively realise an uncanny idea. The basis of the idea for my group was pulling a heart out of a chest. The idea though seemingly difficult when viewed on television and in movies was very easy to achieve. In that sense it gladly made me realise that what you see on TV is never too hard to recreate in your own back yard. On the other hand if starting the project again I would improve the idea by adding something more to this premise, such as making the man eat the heart, or have him plunge straight into his chest. As in comparison to the other groups who used green screen for their pieces’ it made ours look a little one dimensional and bland. In the future I know that I should try and be as creative as possible no matter how impossible the idea sounds. This is something that I slowly started to realise as I built my research idea and the proposal for the film sequence it would be implemented in.

I have already talked about how my academic research was light due to the nature of the topic; therefore if I was to restart the project I would consider picking a topic that was more solid. At one point my research was a mixture of Costume in the 18^th Century and Werewolves. If I had chosen to go in the formers direction then I would have had a balance of academic and visual resources for reference.

The other negative point that links on, is that I have had to remember that both life in the 18^th Century and Werewolfism can't be the front for my research and therefore, there were points where I needed to step back and give slightly more attention to the detailing when it comes to the Werewolves.

A plus side of choosing to study Werewolves as part of my research is that it is an original topic. Though there may not be a lot of academic resources on the topic there is a trail of myths and legends spread throughout online articles and books. Luckily this subject matter is one that I have had an interest in over the years so I have found it enjoyable to find little bits of information that can be used if I were to make the film sequence. One example is that during my research I found that Werewolves are found mainly in the European Countryside. This has helped me in my decision for the location of my sequence to take place; The Derbyshire countryside, which may not be as European as the French Countryside but still, looks the part.
Another plus side of my research idea is that because of the time period it is set in I have had to research to find the right type of location I could film in as well as the costume for the main character as authenticity is a big part of what I am trying to achieve. So by researching these other small elemental details surrounding life in the 1700's it has helped me plump out my research topic as in many ways both subjects are intertwined.

During the production process of the workshop project there were a range of issues as well as successes that have taught me a few things.

The first issue that comes to mind is that we only had three people in the group, which at times became quite a hindrance. When it came to the day of production the producer had elected himself as our actor as he couldn't find someone else to do the job. This meant that I had to be the Producer and the Director, talking to the Cinematographer about the shots that I wanted as well as directing the actor and keeping an eye on the set to make sure everything was in place. Though keeping my eye on every task was slightly stressful because of the short time frame we had to film, in some ways working in a smaller group had its advantages. It meant that not everyone was crowding around the camera to see what had been done as space was limited with the extra people and equipment, it also meant that nobody was sitting around redundant.

From this I learnt that it is possible to get everything done no matter how difficult it seems at first, as long as you know what needs to be done so you can do it as efficiently as possible.

No matter how simple the idea turned out from the original proposal a definite success is that it did work; the act of having a man take his heart out of his chest. This was the main principal of the idea in the first place. The only negative point I can take from this is that it was a lot simpler to achieve than I first imagined and especially whilst watching the other groups I wish we really could have creatively achieved having a man take his heart out of his own chest (not going through a button down shirt). Also though I did make a fake heart out of foam and plastic tubes, it was just for experimental purposes, therefore it felt almost like a cheat that when we used a pig's heart for the actual production. Though the foam one may not have been realistic it would have been interesting to see how it would have looked on camera or how we could have manipulated it in post to look more realistic.

There are a few films that I used as the focal point for my research; Van Helsing (Sommers 2004), Underworld (Wiseman, 2003) and Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter (Bekmambetov, 2012) being the main few.

Van Helsing being a supernatural hunter is one of the main themes of the movie, the basis of my film is about being hunted. In my sequence the main character Annabeth is being hunted by the man that killed her father, and then as the movie goes on (Though this isn't part of the sequence I am focusing on) she trains to become a hunter and get revenge on them. The idea for the training sequence was implemented from Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter. The secondary character in Van Helsing; Anna Valerious (Played by Kate Beckinsale) was my main point of inspiration for the transformation of Annabeth from damsel in distress to huntress.

The tone of my film was inspired by Underworld in the sense that it uses a blue/grey colour pallet the whole way through. This is juxtaposed with film noir style of camera movements and storytelling like that of Sin City (Rodriguez, Miller, Tarantino, 2005). As part of the Audio Visual element of my film sequence proposal I talked about how I would be imitating this look. As well as that, other parts I talked about i.e.; the fluid camera movements and the x-ray type long shots, are all elements noted in Film Noir, and I thought it would really suit as my story is a little dark and dramatic with many plot twists and unexpected conclusions.   

Theories discussed in sessions have focused solely around the uncanny, and with this in mind is why I have chosen to include a supernatural being as part of my piece. Out of the large range of beings I could have chosen I elected for Werewolves. Films such as Twilight (Hardwicke, 2008) have really hyped down the traditional personification and elected a more over exaggeration one of Vampires. Shows such as Charmed have removed the fear and ugliness that witches traditionally used to be more commonly known for. These points are what swayed my decision to use a Werewolf, though the two previously mentioned were part of the original consideration.

I haven't learnt any practical skills from the workshop sessions that I have then decided to use in my piece. Though what I have done is use the things I have done and seen as a point of inspiration for creatively realising obstacles. For example as part of my filmic sequence I have described that Annabeth's father gets his neck ripped out. I now know that achieving this wouldn't be too hard. As one solution; I could use a carrier bag painted the same skin tone as the victim’s skin, then have it filled with fake blood, thus allowing it to burst free and splatter when opened. This is just one of the ideas I have in mind but without the sessions I would have thought achieving something like that would have been difficult and expensive.  This is the knowledge that I know will also useful when it comes to me making other projects in the future.

I didn't have a particular age group in mind when I started building the idea of filmic sequence based on the research I was gathering. Though because I knew that it was going to be part of the fantasy horror genre I knew that it wouldn't be watchable for people under the age of at least twelve. In terms of the audience it is aimed towards, I believe that the genre will draw in its own audience, as fantasy horror is a niche genre and that with the added bonus of Werewolves will help to narrow down the people that would view the movie. What I really don't want to happen to the piece is that it is taken into the fold of this generations’ fandom whereby it carves away at the edges of the roughness I want the feel of the movie to give off, ending up like movies such as the Twilight franchise and slowly also The Hunger Games (Ross, 2012) franchise. Overall the sequence I believe should gain an emotional response from the viewers in terms of the shocking scenes and the violence of death. This all automatically puts Annabeth on a pedestal for surviving the ordeal and seeking revenge, making her a strong lead that should gain a following from mainly the female viewers.

I have integrated my learning experiences and how I have questioned the creative process throughout this evaluation. I have also looked at both the workshop and the research finished products from an objective and subjective view point, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of them both and have spoken about my work in contexts of how it will be perceived by the audience on a viewing basis and on a social context basis. Therefore as a final point and to summarise, when it comes to the story of both elements, in terms of the workshop project, the original proposal tells the dark story of an unhealthy man but in the end there was no real story arc to what happens. The perception that will come from the audience is more of an observatory one which wasn’t the original agenda. My filmic sequence on the other hand I feel tells a complete story, leaving a slight hook at the end that keeps the audience wanting to know more. It would have been nice to achieve something similar for the workshop piece but overall both strands have taught me about how to best creatively realise a project idea.

Proposal for Film Sequence

CPR Proposal First Draft

http://www.scribd.com/doc/117041584/CPR-Proposal-First-Draft

Bibliography

Books and E-books

McMahon-Coleman. K and Weaver. R;
Werewolves and Other Shapeshifters in Popular Culture, 2012, McFarland & Co. 

Tudor. A;
Why Horror? The Peculiar Pleasures Of A Popular Genre, 2003/2009, Cambridge University Press.
http://frog.kingsbridgecollege.org.uk/frogweb/OldIntranet/departments/media_studies/documents/Horror/Why%20horror%20-%20The%20peculiar%20pleasures%20of%20a%20popular%20genre%20ANDREW%20TUDOR.pdf
[Last Accessed 17/12/12]

Wells. P;
The Horror Genre: From Beelzebub to Blair Witch, 2001, Columbia University Press

Other

Ovid, Metamorphoses
http://classics.mit.edu/Ovid/metam.html
[Last Accessed 17/12/12]

A brief history of Werewolves; http://dl.id.au/?f=1

Annonymous; Compare and Contrast; The Horrors Of Werewolves
http://teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews/magazines/scope/pdfs/SCOPE-103111-ThenNow.pdf

http://www.therianthropes.com/were_fiction_timeline.htm

Research Summary: How I would create my own monster.

I have already talked about getting or creating the costume as well as my choices when it comes to the location. That leaves the make up of the Werewolf. Looking back at my previous research I have decided that the best things to do will be to model my Werewolf to look like Tyler Posey aka Scott Mcall on MTV's Teen Wolf.

Based on my other research point I believe this will be best achieved by following these make up steps



And buying these props.

Though I could also make the nails myself I this I prefer these as they look more threatening and manly. Also as there is only going to be one character that we will see in close up werewolf form then I only the one set. Or maybe two to be on the safe side.

Something I didn't mention before were the eyes. This can be sorted easily enough by buying coloured contacts. [All contacts vary between 10.99 and 16.99 and can be used for up to 30days]

Black Eyes: Normally associated with Demons

 Red Eyes: Normally associated with Blood Thirsty Vampires

 Silver Eyes: Normally associated with Wizards

 White Eyes: Normally associated with Werewolves or Psychics

 Yellow Eyes: Normally associated with Werewolves, Snakes, Demons

The ones that appealed to me the most were the White ones as it feels both eerie and frightening not coming across as too cheesy/cliché or over the top as red or yellow ones might have. Also it reminds me of the moon, which is as we know a key element of Werewolf-ism
http://www.eyesbright.com/ As an alternative, coloured contacts are also sold at drugstores and costume shops for around the same price range.

Research Summary: Creating the 18th Century In Your Own Backyard

The main areas where I will need to make the scene look the most realistic in terms of period style and setting will be in the office and with costume, especially with Annabeths dress.

In terms of dressing the office in the case that I wouldn't be able to use the Chatsworth House I figured we would just have to wallpaper our own space, so I looked at the  style of wall papering that was present in 18th century houses

Then I went and checked HomeBase to see what they offered that was similar and would create the best effect at the most cost effective price.

This method though looks like it would be quite costly. A cheaper alternative could be to make prints on long plain pieces of paper

I think making the men look believable will be easy enough, as suits can be tailored/amended or have things added to them to make them look like they're from another era. The costume for the main character Annabeth on the other hand will prove the hardest as so far the only things I have been able to find in terms of just buying a costume are tacky looking Halloween costumes. Where the material looks like it could rip with ease and the colours were too fluorescent. Also a lot of the websites were American.

http://www.amasquerade.com/costumes_pirates_and_18thcentury.asp

These costumes can only be rented; http://www.largerthanlifestagewear.co.uk/costume_18th.htm

Solutions could involve combining the use of two different costumes if i cant find one that looks  a imagined.
I could buy a costume and use it as a model in order to duplicate my own, calling in the assistance of some fashion/design students to help with sizings etc. If I was forced to use an outfit from the costume shop, then because the visual of the piece is very dark and gritty I think the look will be altered and perhaps the cheesiness of it won't be obvious

If it came down to having to make my own costume then there are a range of books and videos that would come in handy.

Seventeenth and Eighteenth-Century Fashion in Detail by Avril Hart and Susan North

 

The book goes in to a lot of detail about the stitching, the shape, design and preferable fabric type.

and this website: http://pinterest.com/sew18thcentury/18th-century-gowns/ shows a vast range of possible designs that can be mimicked when following the book pictured above.

Therefore I don't think it will be that hard to make the costume once the material has been obtained, in London I know a range of fabric shops where the right print can be found.

In many ways making my own costume might be slightly more time consuming but I won't have to worry about getting it messy as I would have to if I were renting it. The befits of buying one of the cheap and taky looking costumes would be that I could buy multiple in case of damage, wear, stain or tear.

Lesson: Playing With Fire; Maya

I found the software Maya very complicated to use and follow steps. The effects that it did create were astonishing and quite realistic but after the session I had to find a tutorial on Youtube to help me solidify my understanding.

Luckily this software can be downloaded free and can be used on a normal PC which meant that I had time to slowly learn and play about with what the software could offer. Thus not only learning how to create fire but also a few other hints and tips.
 

Lesson: Green Screening

In todays session we mainly looked at how to manipulate Green Screen as two out of three of the groups used it in their piece. In order to play around with the Green Screen we used the software: Adobe After Effects.

This is a software that I am not all that comfortable with using but I felt that by the end of the lesson I was grasping the basic concepts and could most likely re-create what we had done in session with minimum prompts.

I had a look at a few tutorials online, a lot of them go off tangent or talk a little more about certain elements we didn't explore in lesson but it'd all be beneficial in the long run and they all have the same principal goal.

Lesson: Torture Group

In this session the Green Screen or Torture group filmed their piece. There wasn't a lot for us to do in this session so I helped the group in a vocal way. Making suggestions and providing opinions when needed, mostly in this aspect when Joeley was adding face paint to Marks face to make him looked a little more bruised and battered. And just in little odd jobs that they needed help with. Their scene I think will be particularly interesting to watch if they make a final edit, especially because of the complete green screen aspect as well as the cutting of the finger. Seeing it all come together.

Research: Location

Location...

As the exterior shot of the house will be used for establishing purposes only I found a list on Wikipedia of  18th Century built houses in Sheffield

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Listed_buildings_in_Sheffield_S6

The house that I have however had in mind for the location of the sequence would be Mr Darcy's house in Derbyshire seen most notable in Pride and Prejudice but also in The Duchess, which is also one of the films that I have used in reference to the costume and era i wanted the seen to be set in.

Chatsworth House is located in North Derbyshire which is only a 30minute drive from Sheffield and has many convenient bus routes.

In terms of actual likeliness of being able to use the house to film in I have emailed Stephanie Cliffe as there are opportunities to film in both the interior and exterior of the house but I would be more than pleased if I had the opportunity to just film in the exterior of the building because it also backs a wooded.
Also though the house was built in 1549 certain areas of it have been re constructed around the 18th century, also visually it just looks like like the right area and I don't feel an amateur watcher would know any difference. As the Duchess was set in the 18th century and used the house.


For the wood/forest sequence then I though Ecclesall Woods would be a good location to use as it is close and easy to get to via public transport. It also has a lot of areas that can be used to create a different feel, as none of it looks the same

Research: Costume

Costume...
Using Dress Up Game software I have gotten I rough idea of what I want the main character to be dressed like...

 

I feel as if these looks give off the right sense of style and wealth in the 18th Century that my character would come from. The colours vary in terms of what it says about the leading lady. The Blue (Which is also one of the colours in my colour pallet) suggests calmness, juxtaposed with the white patterning and the light brown hair we are lead to assume that the character is very innocent. The Purple clothing suggests royalty, that matched with the white hair which we are lead to assume is a wig (which is natural in those times) perhaps makes us believe that she has something to hide, she is not as posh as she comes across or she is incredibly pretentious about her social standing. Final the gold clothing again exudes wealth but the dark hair and long gloves make you more suspicious of this character, thinking that she perhaps has a mischievous nature.

In terms of what I am looking to create I am leaning towards the final out fit choice.
This is for a few reasons.
-Material Wise it would be cheaper to get something without a pattern
-The Design is uncomplicated
-The colour would be easy to find at many fabric shops meaning I could hunt for the cheapest option

My theory is that werewolves must have been able to live in secret as humans for decades if there are only rare sightings once in a full moon, therefore I thought it was important to give one of antagonist the impression of wealthy humanity with a dash of werewolf.

The idea is that a lot of his body is covered so there are only certain aspects that I need to manipulate to give them the werewolf physique. Such as the animal teeth and claws, I can add long and tangled side burns as well as a tail.
That is something that I never noticed about the werewolves in my research. While they were in that in between phase they had no tails. That can be my unique aspect to the werewolves I create when they are half in form.

Lesson: Filming the uncanny

In todays lesson we finally got round to filming our uncanny piece with the help on the cinematography class.

When we got into the studio, someone had tidied up our set probably mistakenly thinking that we didn't mean to leave it looking like a mess. We didnt have time to get it back looking as we last left it so we had to make do and make sure that the camera focused on the corner where all the acting would be taking place.

Although the shots that needed to be filmed were very basic, it took a lot longer than expected, this is due to the lights needing to be set up with every shot.

Jacob was our actor as he was handling the pigs heart, first we got him to try and look a little dirty and gresy as he was after all living in a hovel  then I celotaped a ziplock bag to his chest which we then filled with a little fake blood before inserting the heart. As Jacob would be sitting down for the whole of production it we didn't have to worry about the bag and heart falling out. I was director so stayed close to the camera and made sure the shots were the right angle and keeping an eye to show no props were being shown (Gaffe tape inside shirt etc). Sadly because there were only 3 people in our group including Jacob the Producer who was acting in the piece I didn't get more than a glance at what the "Mirror Group" were filming as I had to be on set at all times. From was I did see it looked like everything was going exactly to plan and the actress they were using looked like she was doing a decent job.

Overall  though the filming went relatively smoothly, the "Heart Out Of Chest" bit was a lot more simple to achieve than was originally assumed especially as we didn't get to use the heart that I had made in the previous session. I think it would have been nicer to have had a few more complicated barriers to creatively realise.

Research: Creating The Monster

In my previous post about Transformation we have seen me research into the various props I could acquire to create the monster but I felt that as well as that it may be beneficial to scour the interweb and find people who have done it themselves on budget and to see if I could maybe find how they create the effect on various films and TV sequences....


I think this look was very powerful especially seeing how easy it was to create, this also confirmed my idea about using acrylic nails for the claws. Something I didn't consider is that I could use nail clippers to help me mould the shape. Also I forgot that it doesn't have to be perfect, in fact the more rugged and raw the better. The only downside from this video is that she was female and that my main werewolf character is male.



This video on the other hand was at a major professional level but I felt using the werewolf prosthetic would be risky as I wouldn't be using an expert and though I could essentially do it myself or find another member of the team to I think it's just to overkill for the sophisticated werewolf look I was going for. Although the videos maker does have a website with a range of fake wounds and monster transformation effects that I found very interesting because of how real they looked. It is a little pricey but if I could get the effects just like the pictures then I think it would be worth it, especially if I ever need to create any gaping wounds or scarring.
http://www.nimbacreations.com/special-effects-supplies/

I think that both videos have given me sufficient information so that I could use them as a step by step guide if need be.

Lesson: Set Creation Part Two

It became increasingly harder to make the set look like a bedroom as there are a lot of props needed to create something that believable. I felt as if we were just looking for things to add to the room to fill the space that things just started to get a little ridiculous in terms of the messages on the walls and the dirt and stains that was splashed around the area. This being said, as time progressed so did our idea and after a discussion with Joeley we decided that the space would be best suited to look like a squatters area.

This meant that we it wouldn't look so sparse and that we had a little more creative outlet in terms of this new set design idea. Sadly our Art Director wasn't around to concur the idea so as Director I creatively decided to go ahead. As per an idea from martin we took random but matching strips of wallpaper and pasted them on to the wall to make it look old and peeled, as if the majority came off a long time ago and parts refused to let go. I felt this helped give the space the forgotten look that surrounded the squatters corner.

A key aspect if the piece is to have a heart being pulled out of a chest. Jacob wanted to use a pigs heart.... which would have been sufficient but I still thought it would be nice to play around with how one might go about achieving this without the use of an actual organ. I then started hunting around for material and decided to go with yellow foam.

I then began trying to make it heart shaped before I got Jacob to paint it heart coloured. It was suggested that the edges shouldn't be smooth and and to give it a rougher and more worn look which I did my just pinching off the edges as opposed to just cutting it with scissors.

I added tubes which Tom painted white to pass for Arteries and Veins and with that we had our make shift heart.

Whilst the boys were painting I started to experiment with what effect the foam would have when reacting with fake blood which I made using Strawberry sauce, Red food colouring and water. I had to use acrylic paint to thicken the mixture as there was no Coco Powder or Cornflour on hand (As known per a recipe I have used in the past) This gave the mixture a more "raised" and less smooth look but I felt that this wouldn't cause a major problem when it came to production. What I did find was that what I expected to happen with the sponge did not. I expected the sponge to absorb the mixture quite heavily and thus with a slight squeeze of the fist allow blood to come pumping out of its pores. What did happen was this: Firstly the heart was completely taken to the fake blood mixture, which meant that any painting we did to it prior would not be noticed (On the other hand the sponge was yellow so I suppose it was best we got rid of that straight away) Secondly the sponge seemed to be a little too good at absorbing as it took a lot of squeezing to actually get any of the fake blood mixture out of it.

Though I only tested the effects on a small duplicate of the real fake heart so results on a larger scale might be different. Also this made me realise that we would need a lot of fake blood mixture, but this wouldn't be to difficult as we need the mixture to be quite runny for obvious absorption reasons.


This session was useful for experimentation and I also felt that I learnt something from watching the other two groups work. From the mirror group they just had a lovely set that you could see a lot of effort and planning went into.

As for the torture group the way they created the finger chopping really made me start thinking and understanding how the budget creative thinking really worked. How you can find anything from something.

Lesson: Set Creation Part One

In todays session we started to create the backdrop for our individual sets.

The uncanny piece we're working on is set in the bedroom of a messy student/young person. After the boards were put up to give a two wall space for us to create our scene, we proceeded to paint the space white, as this was the easiest colour to make look dingy. Once the painting had been done and dried we used watered down acrylic paint to give dirt marks all around the set. Then we added a dirty carpet to the set to give it that homely look. The set still looked quite sparse so then I had the idea to have messages around the walls to give it a more student-y feel.

After that we called it a day and decided to bring in props for our next session.

Seeing how easy it was to find various items such as carpet, wallpaper and paint and just jump in there and create something was very inspiring.
This session was very useful as it has started to give me an idea for how I would go about creating the office space that I need for my sequential idea.

Research: Moodboard for Film Sequence Idea

My mood board for my film sequence where I have highlighted four key areas that will be fundamental in the sequence.

I used the online software Glogster to make my moodboard, it is one that I have been using for a few years to create moodboards, I find it very easy to work with and it helps you create the feel and tone of your moodboard through its background suggestions and texts etc.

To see the original file please click the link:  http://www.glogster.com/sarahjenniesteph/creative-project-realisation/g-6l6r2kn4k5nptb38kqqcma0?s=imgglog

Research: Plot Idea

Based on my ideas about setting the scene in the 18th Century and involving the supernatural elements of Werewolves I have come up with a film idea, and most importantly a sequence that will best highlight these elements.

After watching her father be murdered by a group of men who she assumes are demons by their oddly coloured eyes, Annabeth, who was hidden from view during the murder, has to make a break for it. It’s not easy as this involves running through the labyrinth that is her house and the thick wooded area behind it before she even has a shot of reaching some form of safety from her supernatural predators…

The sequence is kept relatively short and shouldn't take more than 10 minutes of screen time. 

Characters needed... 
-Annabeth
-Her Father
-The lead Werewolf 
-Two lackies.

It will involve two major speaking characters though the dialogue will be kept to a minimum, and a few words from the subsidiary characters.

Location would involve....
-An establishing shot of a 18th century styled mansion
-An office decorated in the fashion of the era
-A few corridors
-A back door to escape from
-A forest.

Once more of the sequence idea has been established I will be able to make a prop list for Art direction purposes.

Research: Transformation

It's not just about including a Werewolf in the sequence. A Werewolf is originally a man.... or a woman, so therefore I need to show the transition between the two.

How it's done in various mediums....

This first clip taken from Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban we can see that they actually have the actor (David Thewlis) half made up like a werewolf using make up and other prosthetics before it switches to make the rest of the transition happen using CGI. This is one way I could opt to make my transformation take place but due to budget reasons and my being unfamiliar with the process of CGI this idea isn't very practacle, I could end up spending more time learning the process than making it happen. That being said it still shouldn't be disregarded as an option.  

(Gif doesn't play on a loop, please click to re view)

This transition taken from the 1985 Teen Wolf [As has been referenced a few time prior to this post] I believe is easier to re create whilst still giving the audience a realistic viewing. By having the camera go to and from certain points make it look as though whilst we were watching one the other has taken place. By making the shots so closed this means that I could have the actor in full make up whilst filming instead of stopping and starting production in order to add more make up to the character.

Transition Techniques I have noticed from these gifs and others I have encountered during my research...

Eyes: This can be changed using contact lenses which can easily be acquired from drugstores for around between £10-£15 and they are valid for a month

Mouth: I think this will be the trickiest to accomplish, based on authenticity, I have the idea of Vampires having clean teeth and werewolves being stained and grubby, like animals. You can by fangs from any costume store or online. My choice will be between the following types.

£4.99 (Ebay)

£2.99 (Ebay)

As you can see if I chose to use the werewolf fangs then it's possible that I may loose points in believability.

Claws: My idea was to use fake nails and either file them sharp and then stick them in dirt as opposed to trying to paint them in a dirty fashion. However I could also buy them as the length and style of the usual acrylic nails could prove difficult to obtain...

£16.29 (Ebay)

 £15.77 (Ebay)

Both of these items are from the USA so the time to get here would be at lease 10days, meaning I would have to order them way in advance to avoid delays as well as this it means that I wouldn't be able to assess how authentic they are. Again I could go to costume shops in the local area first before I resort to this option.

Facial Hair: This would be the most difficult, it would require me getting fake sideburns to match the characters hair colour as well as making it match the hair that would be visible on their hands.

(£0.99+ Ebay)

As nothing seems to be available in terms of loose hair to perhaps glue onto the characters hands and eyebrows and various facial parts. I creatively problem solved that if I bought two sets of sideburns or even perhaps a similar colloured wig I could just cut the hair myself to create the loose hair, thus allowing me to use it wherever I saw fit.

Based on these I think that if I decide to use a tail then the best way to do it would be once the character has already transformed, then they can just pull it from behind them during a midshot or a long shot. There are a few that can be found online but it will be difficult to make it more like a dogs scraggely tail than the streamline ones of the cats and panthas and tigers that seem to be in high supply.