THE WOLFMAN

Design And Locations
Due to the fact that the werewolf only rears his head late on a moonlit eve, a number of night shoots were required for the production. From the beginning, the filmmakers knew it would a long slog for the crew, who practically spent the first six weeks shrouded by waterproof tents as they donned their wet-weather gear.

One of the fundamental differences between the 1941 and the 2010 versions of the monster movie is the era in which it is set. The original stuck to its present day in Wales, while this film takes us back to Victorian England in the year 1890. The period of the film was chosen for many reasons. Foremost was the fact that a dirty, suspenseful, smoggy London lit by gas lamps and a foggy, sleepy hamlet would create a spooky atmosphere synonymous with a classic horror film. As his crew designed the world that he and cinematographer Johnson shot, director Johnston had but one dictum for his team: "Make sure we're all making the same film.” He explains: "My crew was all very conscious of what the period was and what it needed to look like. For the visuals, I wanted to give them a lot of flexibility and leeway to help me tell the story. I'm really happy with the way it looks: cold, gritty and bleak.”

Sleepy Hollow's Academy Award®-winning production designer Rick Heinrichs discusses his involvement in creating a period horror film: "Shooting in England was a wonderful experience and a challenge to get back the look and feel of Victorian London; the face of the city has changed so much over time. Unfortunately, World War II decimated London and quite a bit of the 19th century has been lost because of the bombing.” Heinrichs had to target certain areas of the city that still exist to give him a foundation to build upon—either through practical sets his team created or with the constant help of the visual effects divisions.

One of the designer's most ambitious tasks was finding a location for the Talbot family manor. "It's so important to the story, and it had to be very carefully selected,” says Heinrichs. "All of its characteristics needed to help the visual narrative of the story. In many horror films, the default choice of design would be a Gothic structure, but we wanted to avoid the clichéd scary-mansion look of many horror films and present the energy of the house itself through its design.”

After scouting throughout England, the crew found Chatsworth House in Derbyshire, which is currently owned and occupied by the duke and duchess of Devonshire. The house, or the "Palace of the Peak” as it is known, was first built in the 1500s, and Andrew Robert Buxton Cavendish is the 11th duke to reside on the magnificent grounds.

Chatsworth House provided multiple facades for the four different looks Heinrichs and Johnston wanted for the house. Fortunately, the duke and duchess allowed the art department to modify the exterior of the manor temporarily. This allowed the crew to "overgrow” the gardens and prepare the front of the house to give it the appearance of a desolate, unloved and unkempt residence to which no man would eagerly return.

Heinrichs elaborates on Johnston's mandate to show duality throughout the picture: "The story we tell is about a man who is struggling with two sides of nature: the civilized side conditioned by society and the animal that lives within. We felt it would be a good idea to have these two natures represented visually in the family house. We started with a very clean, classic structure and we added grass and greens to make it look neglected and disused, as well as woolly—to represent the animal inside him.”

It was Heinrichs' mission to design an environment that reflected how the Talbots live or, as he puts it, to "show the saint and the sinner.” Every exterior is battling<

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