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Concept Art Challenge #1: Design A New Universal Monster - Page 2

post #51 of 112
12/1/09 at 12:01pm
I like both your designs, but the title The Ghoul was used in 1933 for a Boris Karloff film.

I like how Dickson's character trailed off into a series of watered down sequels. Sounds about right for the time.
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post #52 of 112
12/1/09 at 12:12pm
I am frantically doing my last drawing now! Shit! Only got back from Barcelona late last night. Gonna stick all the other sketches up here in a bit, even if I end up drifting uselessly past the deadline.
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post #53 of 112
12/1/09 at 12:26pm
Thread Starter 
The following are excerpts and photos from the book The Vault of Forgotten Frights: Raiding Hollywood's Lost Horror History by Thomas G. Aylesworth.


On Tod Browning's abandoned film The Devil of River Burn:

Quote:
In 1927 Tod Browning brought a story pitch to MGM studio head Nicholas Schenck for a film he intended to develop with Lon Chaney as the lead. The director and actor had just previously collaborated that same year on The Unknown and London After Midnight for the studio. The story concerned demonic possession and exorcism, a subject in which Browning had recently become fascinated with. While interested, Schenck, who had just inherited control of the studio after the death of his business partner Marcus Loew, ultimately passed on the idea deeming it too risky in both theme and expense. This being four years before the success of Dracula, Schenck feared the religious aspects of the story might be found offensive and the overtly supernatural qualities of the main antagonist may be too much for audiences of the time.

In 1930 Browning was approached to direct Dracula by the new head of Universal Studios, Carl Laemmle, Jr. who also intended for the film to star Lon Chaney. It was during these early stages of production on Dracula that it is believed Browning sell the young studio chief on his demon possession story.

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While the complete outline Browning used to pitch the project has never been uncovered, the basic story has been pieced together over the years. Set in 1913, and titled The Devil of River Burn, the story centered around the rather conventional narrative hook of a young couple, Silvester Corbett and Margaret Booth, who, while traveling across Europe to the former's family home to announce their plans to marry, find themselves in a small village that harbors a dark and terrible history.

Upon arrival, Margaret is immediately beset by strange occurrences. She spys a mysterious robed man standing on a bridge overlooking a river not far from the village. She approaches him and he warns her that the town is cursed and that she and her companion must leave at once. Fearful of the man's intense gaze, she stumbles backwards and falls from the bridge into the icy water below. The screen fades to black and we are shown a nightmarish vision of a robed man with devilish bat wings hovering over burning ruins. In his hand it appears that he is holding something that at a glance looks like a devil's head. It is an image straight out of an illustration of Dante's Inferno. Margaret awakes. She is safe and in bed. Silvester and the village doctor(no doubt to be played by Edward Sloan) stand over her. She describes her dream to them and her meeting with the man on the bridge. She learns from Sylvester that it was this robed stranger who had rescued her and brought her to the physician's doorstep.

Through a mountain of exposition (no doubt to be delivered by Edward Sloan),and a convenient (and one would think budget saving) series of historically illustrated tapestries, we learn that in the early 1500s the village was plagued by Satan, himself, who had taken up haunting the high banks of the nearby River Norry in the form of a terrifying winged and multi-headed dragon. A villager named Oswyn Chernocke set himself to prayers and was said to have been visited one night by St. Peter in a dream. St. Peter gave the man the knowledge of how to exorcise the devil from his land. A Proud and resourceful man, Oswyn set forth alone to do battle with the river dwelling monster. Reciting prayers, blessings, and invocations imparted to him in the dream, Oswyn was able to subdue the beast just long enough to land a well aimed and deep cutting blow of his sword managing to sever one of the dragon's seven heads. Surprised, the wounded beast shuffled its form back into the river and a belching bubble of sulfur and fire signaled that it had wormed its way back down into the pit from whence it came. Oswyn at once, and without caution or forethought, snatched up the head and brought it back to the village where it was burned to much celebration. But the head Oswyn had severed was pride and when he brought his trophy back he never gave glory and blessing to god for his victory. And with that sin he was cursed as was the land and the waters of the nearby Norry which forever more would be known as The River Burn.



Further Story points are only touched upon vaguely in Browning's correspondences with Chaney and Laemmle, Jr. Horror conventions would lead one to presume that the mysterious robed figure on the bridge and the cursed Oswyn were one and the same. That being the case, Oswyn's curse would seem to have left him with a severe case of longevity. Newly discovered design drawings and make-up and costume photo tests, coupled with the knowledge that exorcism was an early inspiration for the story gives a good indication of how the tale was intended to unfold.


Oswyn would appear to be set up as a tragic character with that first meeting on the bridge with Margaret. He did, after all, save her. But appearances can always be deceiving. Especially when dealing with a story about the devil. It is through the design work and photo tests on an unknown actor(?) that we learn what form the curse had befallen the poor prideful Oswyn. The hand that snatched up the grotesque head, carried it back to the village and threw it into the fire had transformed overnight into that very same head. No blade could sever it. Fire had no effect. No priest could bind its lips and Oswyn was driven to madness by the silver tongued temptations of the demon that he could never be free of. But even worse was that the head could gain complete control over Oswyn. In a fit of hysteria he had it covered in molten iron and shackles and chains placed around its neck in fear of what it would have him do when it took control over him. This was how Browning had envisoned demonic possesion and it becomes at once easily understandable why Nicholas Schenck passed on the project in 1927. Even Carl Lammale jr, an admitted horror enthusiast who had been looking for horror properties to develop for the studio, reportedly had trepidations upon first hearing the ghoulish tale.

It was this hesitation on the part of Laemmle, Jr. coupled with the death of Lon Chaney Sr. that more than likely doomed the project. Chaney's death was rumored to have resulted in Browning losing most of his enthusiasm for directing Dracula. The same may have understandably happened for The Devil of River Burn. Laemmle, Jr. also began suggesting story changes to Browning. Like Schenck before him, he feared it would be too much for audiences and wanted to downplay the demonic imagery. At one point he suggested reconfiguring the story to an Asian setting and incorporating Chinese mythology. Later he suggested simply changing the title to The Dragon of River Burn, a suggestion that actually stuck for awhile through development since one of the inspirations for Browning were the tales of saints doing battle with dragons. Browning felt the symbolic tales of Christianity's battle against evil would play itself out in its most literal form with the character of Oswyn who would now embody man's struggle with his own darkest impulses. But More arguments between Browning and the studio chief would later ensue concerning the look of the demonically possessed main character.

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Aside from The Totem, a pet project that Universal's head of make-up department Jack Pierce had nurtured alongside producer E.M. Asher (and was also affectionately, if somewhat dismissively, known around the studio as simply a chance for Pierce to stick Karloff in a taller pair of boots), and The Lurk of Midnight Murk, which centered around a detective who is shot from behind, dumped in a swamp and rises from the mud and murk as an inhuman but sympathetic creature bent on solving his own murder, The Devil of River Burn was one prospective Universal horror film that came closest to actually getting the go ahead to commence filming. There is no doubt that the studio was spending money to develop the project.

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One early and ghastly effect suggested by Browning to Jack Pierce was that when the devil's iron encrusted eyelids opened Oswyn's eyes would simultaneously sink into his skull leaving two empty sockets. This idea was abandoned early on and it was decided that Oswyn's eyes would simply roll back in his head to white and he would seemingly go into a trance when the demon took control of him. This effect would also be aided by a simple bit of Hollywood trickery. An actor wearing an iron demon mask that allowed his eyes to show would kneel in front of the actor portraying Oswyn creating an unsettling illusion.


Quote:
A design sketch found amongst special effects pioneer John P. Fulton's notes indicates that a small figurine of a demonic, winged Osywn was planned to be fabricated. Along with models and painted backgrounds, this may have been how Browning planned to capture the nightmare images that plague Margaret throughout the story. It is not known whether it would have been later revealed that Oswyn actually was hiding a pair of bat wings under his robe (one more souvenir acquired from his unfortunate curse), or if Browning only intended his full devilish form to appear only in Margaret's visions.
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post #54 of 112
12/1/09 at 12:38pm
Nice! I would have awarded extra points if the actor was Lon Chaney (playing both Oswyn and the demon head through cutting and trick photography), but I'm guessing that human form is somehow personalized on your end. Thorough stuff!
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post #55 of 112
12/1/09 at 12:40pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil View Post
but I'm guessing that human form is somehow personalized on your end. Thorough stuff!
I'd say. It's me. I decided to cast myself as a Universal monster. Helpful that I can be an evil looking bastard when I so desire.
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post #56 of 112
12/1/09 at 12:44pm
Only got back from being away in Barcelona late last night... went away Friday so I have been trying my best to get mine done today... if i am correct about timezones I estimate I have almost precisely fuck all time left until deadline! Am on my last sketch now, scribbling away like a frantic idiot!


^ A & P, that stuff is fantastic!
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post #57 of 112
12/1/09 at 12:46pm
Thread Starter 
You've got about 13 minutes left. If you want, you can just post the designs you already have completed.
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post #58 of 112
12/1/09 at 12:47pm
Thread Starter 
Jesus...(looking above) I might as well have written a full script.
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post #59 of 112
12/1/09 at 12:54pm
Yeah, it was meaty.
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post #60 of 112
12/1/09 at 12:56pm
Thread Starter 
The write-up was the last thing I did. No time to call in an editor. I bolded the necessary sections.
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post #61 of 112
12/1/09 at 1:02pm
Thread Starter 
And..done. Sorry you couldn't get your entry finished in time, Brundleflyboy. Post them up, though. Would love to see them. Will start up the poll here in a sec.
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post #62 of 112
12/1/09 at 1:09pm
Thread Starter 
Brundle, do you just want to use that sketch you posted earlier in the thread for The Spring Heeled Jack as your entry?
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post #63 of 112
12/1/09 at 1:13pm
There has been some great stuff so far... pissed that I am still doing my main drawing and missed the deadline (never been punctual!)

Here's my brainstorms and some sketches that I did manage to rifle off...







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post #64 of 112
12/1/09 at 1:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Abbott & Prospero View Post
Brundle, do you just want to use that sketch you posted earlier in the thread for The Spring Heeled Jack as your entry?

Just putting up my images now... no scanner so I have to photograph them and then load 'em on to my mac.

Though unfinished my last drawing I am doing is closer to what I had in mind so I am gonna plop it up here unfinished if that's okay?

(doing it now!)

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post #65 of 112
12/1/09 at 1:58pm
Thread Starter 
So...so tired. Crunch timing this thing wasn't a good idea. But I still intend on doing more of theses challenges in the future. Will probably start a thread for suggestions and ideas on what the next subject could be.
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post #66 of 112
12/1/09 at 1:58pm
'The Spook' is fucking hilarious... I am laughing myself into Satan's fiery embrace!

^ I don't regret my long weekend eating and drinking fine food in Barca; but I would've liked to have put more time into this... I'm already thinking of what we could do next whilst at the same time berating myself for fucking this'un up a bit.

Ah well... the stuff that is here makes for one helluva great thread.
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post #67 of 112
12/1/09 at 2:04pm
Choosing who to vote for was really really hard. Great work all.
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post #68 of 112
12/1/09 at 3:09pm
For what it is worth, I finally finished my picture... a bit like the special kid finishing the race after everyone has gone home.

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post #69 of 112
12/1/09 at 3:11pm
Well, I'd like to see Jack Pierce try that shit.

Looks Stan Winston-y/Fright Night-ish. Good stuff!
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post #70 of 112
12/1/09 at 3:15pm
My general style is waaaaay too cartoonish for this theme. Seriously, everyone's in here look fantastic and completely fitting in with the tone of Universal Monsters. I think I may try my hand at The Spook in a more fitting style for fun. Maybe maybe...
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post #71 of 112
12/1/09 at 3:24pm
BrundleFlyboy, very good looking piece, I enjoy seeing the progress of your sketches and seeing what you've come up with.

I hope another concept art challenge will be held, given that my semester is winding down I'll love to join in on the next one!!
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post #72 of 112
12/1/09 at 3:39pm
I think the Devil of River Burn might be even more suited to Hammer films. For some reason I have an easier time picturing it in lurid 60's Technicolor than 30s black and white.
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post #73 of 112
12/1/09 at 3:51pm
Cheers, Phil... yeah, all said and done it smacks of my love of 80s horror; didn't even think about that until you said it! Glad you liked some of my stuff as well Nick, hope you join the fun next time!

Mcnooj, I absolutely love what you and Phil came up with as a team; I might be up for a team up next time... something overall more satisfying about illustrating what someone else is conveying to me for some reason.

A realistic take on The Spook, eh? I could be tempted.
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post #74 of 112
12/1/09 at 8:55pm
Thanks Brundle! The idea was all Phil's though. I asked, and he came up with it almost on the spot.

Mark II!! Just messin' around. Still a cartoon.
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post #75 of 112
12/1/09 at 10:52pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by nekkerbee View Post
I think the Devil of River Burn might be even more suited to Hammer films. For some reason I have an easier time picturing it in lurid 60's Technicolor than 30s black and white.
This is actually what caused me to switch gears for a little bit and focus on designing my secondary idea for a character for a little while. I had the same thought as you, but ultimately felt that the subject matter is what gave the vibe you are describing, and that didn't necessarily mean that a character incorporating more overtly satanic imagery and mythology couldn't have been developed at the time. Aside from a standard image of a devil or witch, there wasn't too much folk/myth,/horror iconography left that I could think of that Universal could have feasibly exploited at the time.
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post #76 of 112
12/1/09 at 10:57pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by MoonBaseNick View Post
I hope another concept art challenge will be held, given that my semester is winding down I'll love to join in on the next one!!
I've got some ideas cooking for another one. Thanks again to everyone who participated this time out. This was admittedly a disorganized affair, but I'll chalk it up to this being a test run of the idea. I'll try to organize it a little better next time.
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post #77 of 112
12/1/09 at 11:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Abbott & Prospero View Post
This is actually what caused me to switch gears for a little bit and focus on designing my secondary idea for a character for a little while. I had the same thought as you, but ultimately felt that the subject matter is what gave the vibe you are describing, and that didn't necessarily mean that a character incorporating more overtly satanic imagery and mythology couldn't have been developed at the time. Aside from a standard image of a devil or witch, there wasn't too much folk/myth,/horror iconography left that I could think of that Universal could have feasibly exploited at the time.
Truthfully yours felt almost like an atmospheric Corman affair, cashing in on some spooky imagery and such but with the trippy addition of a head coming out a dude's arm. The eyes rolling back bit when the head-arm wakes up especially.
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post #78 of 112
12/2/09 at 1:39am
Thread Starter 
Yeah, this was a tough one. I was torn between coming up with something that was inspired by long established iconography( in this case depictions of the devil) and designing something unique enough that a more popularized modern notion of those long held ideas could develop over the years - Like werewolf lore being embellished upon in The Wolf Man and those new ideas becoming the more well known and accepted form of the myth.


That said, I probably went to far with the "unique" and should have stuck more with "established". May have been better served by simply taking a shot of a particular actor of the time and drawing them with a Jack Peirce inspired out-of-kit Devil make-up.
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post #79 of 112
12/2/09 at 4:37am
Never really had much time to work on this, but the little I spent, I kind of got interested in the whole idea of the "King in Yellow".



I haven't read the original stories but the King in Yellow is a collection of short stories (by Robert W. Chambers) in which a fictional play of the same name drives readers of it mad.

HP Lovecraft includes references to the King in Yellow in some of his stories. He is described as a being in yellow robes with a smooth and featureless "Pallid Mask", which if he removes it would drive you mad.

Now in my rendering I based the mask on an ancient terracotta Baal mask. One version, he covers even part of his mask, and the eyes would be human but with a small dot like pupils to evoke a sense of madness.

I thought the mask and costume would be simple enough for the era, and mysterious enough. There are descriptions of the King without the mask that are very otherworldly, but I imagined that in these movies, specially back then ... whenever he removes his mask you don't really see his true face.
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post #80 of 112
12/2/09 at 11:21am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcnooj82 View Post
Thanks Brundle! The idea was all Phil's though. I asked, and he came up with it almost on the spot.

Mark II!! Just messin' around. Still a cartoon.
Needs more knuckle-dragging!

I was originally going to have Joon draw up Irving Pichel or Paul Muni as a traditional Jewish Golem, as it has cinematic precedent, and might have fit the Universal Monster Canon, in an "Edison and Murnau did Frankenstein and Dracula first, but Universal did the definitive version" kind of way. But I got excited about the idea of a Universal Monster which might have existed, but would be completely unknown today - and why and how that might happen. So I made the monster an offensive, dirty little secret that a studio might try to bury. Plus I know Joon hates black people and would be psyched to draw a racist stereotype.

El Cap's looks like a creepy French film.
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post #81 of 112
12/2/09 at 11:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil View Post
El Cap's looks like a creepy French film.
Crap, was trying to avoid that. At least it looks old ... but that's why i was going with a terracotta mask instead of something smooth and porcelain like.
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post #82 of 112
12/2/09 at 2:41pm
Kinda reminds me of the Deatheater masks in Harry Potter.
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post #83 of 112
12/2/09 at 3:49pm
Thread Starter 
The one in the bottom right corner of Cap's first pic - He's so happy!

I like it, Cap. I had never heard of the King in Yellow. Will have to see what I can find on him.

Only related in theme, but I decided to clean up that scan of my old drawing of Invisible Frankenstein. Added a bit of digital shading to him as well.

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post #84 of 112
12/2/09 at 5:22pm
It's pretty awesome that soon after we did this art challenge, there's a story about classic Universal Monsters on the main page.
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post #85 of 112
12/2/09 at 5:22pm
Which mentions The Spook...
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post #86 of 112
12/2/09 at 5:23pm
With that in mind, for God's sake, please don't make the next challenge a superhero reboot.
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post #87 of 112
12/2/09 at 5:24pm
I suggest a Toho daikaiju monster.
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post #88 of 112
12/2/09 at 5:24pm
Ha! I didn't even notice that. Kudos to Phil!
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post #89 of 112
12/2/09 at 5:28pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil View Post
With that in mind, for God's sake, please don't make the next challenge a superhero reboot.
Heh, no need to worry about that. I've been thinking about a "Design a slasher kill" or "Depict how YOU would be killed by your favorite slasher" challenge.
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post #90 of 112
12/2/09 at 5:32pm
Ooh, a choreography/design challenge. Cool.
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post #91 of 112
12/2/09 at 5:46pm
I wrote an entire outline for a play that was very similar to "The King in Yellow." Great idea, that.
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post #92 of 112
12/2/09 at 6:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Abbott & Prospero View Post
Heh, no need to worry about that. I've been thinking about a "Design a slasher kill" or "Depict how YOU would be killed by your favorite slasher" challenge.
Basically every little doodle I ever did over the past 15 years? Great!

And loved the monster designs, guys. If I was more talented and less lazy I would have been all over this thing.
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post #93 of 112
12/2/09 at 6:21pm
Wanna team up for next time?
I can't draw shit-.
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post #94 of 112
12/2/09 at 6:22pm
I can't draw, either. Fuck it, I'm doing mine in MS Paint the next go-round.

This might be the best contest I've seen on the site. I really love some of those entries.
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post #95 of 112
12/2/09 at 6:43pm
If anyone is interested, I'll team up with an Idea-Man. Horror/slasher isn't really my thing, so my imagination for such things simply can't match up to anyone in this thread.
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post #96 of 112
12/2/09 at 6:47pm
Why you tryin to break up the band, Joon?
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post #97 of 112
12/2/09 at 6:48pm
I feel that I didn't live up to your idea and wanted to bail before you broke my heart. But I'm totally up for another go! With less last-minute antics!
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post #98 of 112
12/2/09 at 6:49pm
I need a good drawing you so we can kick these fools assess.
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post #99 of 112
12/2/09 at 6:49pm
He shouldn't have married Yoko.
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post #100 of 112
12/2/09 at 6:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcnooj82 View Post
I feel that I didn't live up to your idea and wanted to bail before you broke my heart. But I'm totally up for another go! With less last-minute antics!
Baby, you know you're my number one. But I'll loan you out for the next one. First guy to offer me a carton of smokes and a sniff of their old lady's panties can have him.
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