The Metamorphosis - becoming a Wolf in 1941 vs. 2010

The Wolfman of 2010 relied heavily on the use of of computer generated images to display the man-into-werewolf transistion of Benicio Del Toro. On the opposite end of the spectrum was the Lon Chaney Jr.'s 1941 transistion from man to monster. In the pre-digital version the camera focuses on the hands and face of Chaney as he becomes a monster. This sequence is done using make-up and lighting effects. The camera stops with the display of the increasingly lupine apperence of the hands and face of Chaney. The complete metamorphosis of the actor is left to the imagination of the audience. In 2010 the metamorphosis is seen by the audience completley. Bencicio Del Toro is at first a man, then he slowly, painfully becomes the beast, with nothing left to the imagination of the audience. Of course, in 2010 the filmmakers are much more capable of caputring the metamorphosis than they were when making the original in 1941. The capability of the digital age allows the filmmakers to display every detail of the transisition, using every range of camera proxemics from intimate onto public. Even so, the CGI adds a quality of silliness to the film. Silliness where in the 1941 the transistion was to be seen as more sinister. The sinister nature of the transistion in the 1941 version stems from the use of very intimate camera proxemics. These close range allow the audience to feel the intense, uneasy, entrapped state that is overcoming Lon Chaney Jr.