THE PACK Message Boards

It depends on the movie, but right now, this is a compendium of werewolf info, really.

I think Freeborn will influence werewolf movies on its own. Others may ask what we think, but everything's pretty much here. Overall though, I think all of us want this movie to influence the genre.

Yes, this is more about werewolves overall than anything else.

I would love to start a whole new set of discussions about a completely "Different" Werewolf Movie...or Novel...or Comic Book...or whatever, that incorperates plot points, abilities and settings that would be completely WRONG for Freeborn, but very exiting to see in another Werewolf related production.
Focusing all our opinons on a single project is making alot of us (including myself) look very "one track minded", and making it appear as if some of us only want to see ONE kind of Werewolf story and ONE kind of Werewolf...which simply is not true.

I agree wholeheartedly. For example, I like werewolves that are based on a biological idea, grounded basically in realism and physics (as much as werewolves can be, anyway), and I also like the idea of magical werewolves, like in the movie Ladyhawke or in the novel Operation Chaos. Even though I don't want magical lycanthropes in Freeborn, I would love to see them in some other well-done werewolf movie.

We should continue with our forward momentum, but it's not just about movies; it's about an idea, and about the execution of that idea in a more intelligent and elegant manner. We're tired of seeing our favorite image, to many of us now a form of identity, reduced to slathering mindlessness.

This I also agree with very much. What we have going on here is an important fan contribution to the werewolf genre. Any genre will grow stale if it keeps spitting out the same ideas for 60 years while not listening to its fan base. Most people think werewolves are lame, because werewolf movies are generally lame, but we pack members know that the fault doesn't lie with werewolves as an idea, it lies in the movie industry's habits.

It's a long shot, but I figure that with so many creative minds in the Pack, it's inevitable that at least one of us will be able to use the publicity from the Pack to influence and promote a work of their own. Once that happens, I imagine said individual will want to put his idea to the same test Anthony Brownrigg submitted his to, and the first people s/he'll alert will be the rest of us.

This is one reason why I framed my original question as how we want to conduct ourselves after Freeborn. Because that moment is when the pack will have its greatest publicity, and thus its greatest chance of attracting another werewolf film producer or attracting support for one of our own projects.

I want a werewolf to be realistic too, but with a bit of some unrealistic stuff that would be there to amuse the reader more.

Keep your eyes peeled. I'm working on a story that has three werewolves, a weresnake, a werepanther, a werelion, a weretiger, a wereeagle, a weremonkey, a werehorse and a werebull traveling through Nepal and India. Those are the main characters: others include weregryphons, a weretortoise, wererats, weredolphins, wereboars, a Makara, and allusions to even weirder beings.

Sorry, but what is a Makara?

Gish wrote:

Keep your eyes peeled. I'm working on a story that has three werewolves, a weresnake, a werepanther, a werelion, a weretiger, a wereeagle, a weremonkey, a werehorse and a werebull traveling through Nepal and India. Those are the main characters: others include weregryphons, a weretortoise, wererats, weredolphins, wereboars, a Makara, and allusions to even weirder beings.

Sorry, but what is a Makara?

"In mythology, Makara is half animal half fish. For example, he is sometimes described as having the head of an elephant and the body of a fish. He is generally large and lives in the ocean rather than in lakes or streams."





Google is your friend.

-- Vilkacis

Yes, the Cusp is at hand.

This film in my opinion has been venturing further away from specifically 'Freeborn' topics as time goes on. I'm happy about this. Werewolves in general, and various topics are what Freeborn is made up of. New ideas and new theories, and other films, and other stories, etc. are all part of this world, and the pack in general. Freeborn is not meant to be a manufactured werewolf legend in its own right, but rather a culmination of werewolf loves from everyone, freeborn related, or not.

So as the pack has continued to grow, so should its topics. Other filmmakers, other writers, artists, and the like should all be free to express their ideas here, and feel no ill will that their ideas might be shot down, or looked at differently just because they might not be 'freeborn' in nature. If someone wants to invite the directors, or writers of other popular films to talk here then go for it!

Life is made up of all of us. Our differences as well as our similarities. Vive la difference!

Anthony Brownrigg

Thanks. Even though that's officially unofficial, your word is still pretty much considered very definitive around here, given what you're doing for us.

Once people notice Freeborn, The Pack can serve as a reference for future artists to know what fits the mind of the devoted werewolf fan. It could also serve as a test for a new model of marketing--one that is more artist-friendly and audience-friendly than the conventional dogma of formulas in use today.

Scott Gardener wrote:Thanks. Even though that's officially unofficial, your word is still pretty much considered very definitive around here, given what you're doing for us.

Once people notice Freeborn, The Pack can serve as a reference for future artists to know what fits the mind of the devoted werewolf fan. It could also serve as a test for a new model of marketing--one that is more artist-friendly and audience-friendly than the conventional dogma of formulas in use today.

Yes, but does it have to be werewolves in general?

Can it be possible for "The Pack" to go beyond werewolves and talk about something else?

The future holds the key.

Well, I can see The Pack talking about differnt types of werewolves(durr) and different species of wereanimals. Nothing really off that topic though, like a sport movie

Figarou wrote:

Scott Gardener wrote:Thanks. Even though that's officially unofficial, your word is still pretty much considered very definitive around here, given what you're doing for us.

Once people notice Freeborn, The Pack can serve as a reference for future artists to know what fits the mind of the devoted werewolf fan. It could also serve as a test for a new model of marketing--one that is more artist-friendly and audience-friendly than the conventional dogma of formulas in use today.

Yes, but does it have to be werewolves in general?

Can it be possible for "The Pack" to go beyond werewolves and talk about something else?

The future holds the key.

I think that we should probably stick in the general vicinity of werewolves and other shapeshifters. Personally, I think that if this chat board became a forum for fan input for the next zombie movie, we'd lose most of our current members. Although, if this board successfully helped birth, say, a couple of werewolf movies and a weretiger movie, then perhaps some of us would want to branch out and start campaigning for the ultimate dragon movie. I could easily see that. I just don't see such radical branching out happening successfully anytime soon. If we become too unfocused, we aren't going to be able to influence any films. It is also true that the genre of werewolves and shapeshifters seems to need more fan help than any other genre. Although, I could be wrong. Perhaps there is a huge, underappreciated majority of zombie fans out there who are wishing desperately for a return to the Haitian Voodoo style of zombie instead of the virus/bite-induced modern zombie.

These are the types of movies (or other stuff) that I think we should influence, in order of my preference:

-more werewolves
-dragons
-succubi and incubi
-unicorns
-centuars

I'm not really a big fan of the idea of doing other shapeshifter movies (such as weretiger or werelion), I think that's too close to werewolves. I want to stick with cryptozoology, however. I think that'd be a good overall topic for the pack to discuss: any and all creatures that are cryptozoological in nature, or anything magical or unreal.

I don't want to get too far away from magic and crypto stuff, however. I think that's spreading ourselves too thin. But those are just my opinions.

my biggest thing about the whole thing would be the fakers, i like to call them e-tards. back in the day i use to be a huge raver. back then people went to get high, but there were many who went cuz of the music and dancing (thats me). now days those of us that loved to g dance and get away from it all have been taken over by these kids that go just for ex and the lights, and those damn glowstick. the same thing with this movie. you will have new people all the time. but have to weed out the fakers, who is just a fan, from the real deal.

just look at what underwold did to vamps and goth clubs....

can we maby talk about ducks






Edit: that was kindy random

I definately think that After Freeborn, there will definately be more attention put towards this kind of Forum, with Directors looking to gather a broad audience of thoughts and options to determine what they, the audience, wants.

I know Freeborn will turn out to be a good movie, and it will be because so many folks have contributed to the material that makes up the heart of Freeborn: "What should a Werewolf be?"

I personally find fascinating is the similarity and mirroring of mythological creatures thoughout cultures of the world. Werewolves (and werecreatures) are one, Dragons are another that is seen in cultures thoughout the world, as many as 40 -different- cultures have a dragon of some kind, from Asia, to Europe to Central america with the Mayans and Aztecs.

but in anycase, Freeborn may give rise to a sequel of sorts, maybe of a lone werewolf or pack of them searching for more of their own kind, or possibly their origins, or other were-creatures.

i'd suggest taking a look at 30days of night and it's sequel, Dark Days
30days of night deals with vampires attacking Barrows alaska during it's month long darkness
Dark days deals with a survivor from 30days, who publishes a book, detailing and trying to prove Vampires existance and what they are. Of course the vampires can't have that, vampires, like Werewolves, rely on humans not believing in them to be able to survive, and cannot be safe if their secrets are exposed and flooded out to the world.

Freeborn will get talked about, even if it stays a cult phenomenon. If it were to break out into the mainstream, however, you can bet that forums like this will spring up all over the place. Maybe we can overthrow the dogma of marketing departments in other areas of our lives. Think, ladies, how nice it would be to see clothes that fit you! Remember how good music on the radio was before about ten years ago, when the music industry decided to homogenize everything to the lowest common denominator? How many things have you wanted to see, but knew would never be as long as marketing departments assumed nobody wanted it?!?

Just a few examples, off the top of my head:

Wolf Lake on DVD

An action movie staring a strong middle-aged woman (think Captain Janeway from Voyager)

Music albums on 80mm CDs, in mp3 format (or wma, or iTunes ac3) with linear notes and cover art in PDF form

iTunes for movies, with out-of-print stuff back in print

cars with mp3 players factory-installed, and not just those marketed to teenagers, like the Scion xB

a tablet PC with a 17 inch screen--make it a Mac, and you'll get a lot of graphic artists' attention

A unified video phone standard, that can replace land lines, cell phones, and VOIP all at once, and deliver what we were supposed to have ever since the 1990s--phones for normal people, where you could see the face of the other person on the line

Computers that don't crash unless there's something actually physically wrong with them

The list could go on, but that really belongs in a different thread. Back to topic!

I think Freeborn will turn heads. I think people will some day say "yeah, I remember that," or "they don't need to do a remake, because the original was just fine!"

It will be intresting to see what will happen after Freeborn is released. Maybe forums like this will become the new trend in filmmaking and other stuff. Maybe controversy will arise because of it; 'does getting imput from the general audience take away from filmmaker creativity/individualality?' ect...

At the very least, Freeborn will be a cult film; I mean, look at the following it has already

Silverclaw wrote:It will be intresting to see what will happen after Freeborn is released. Maybe forums like this will become the new trend in filmmaking and other stuff. Maybe controversy will arise because of it; 'does getting imput from the general audience take away from filmmaker creativity/individualality?' ect...

At the very least, Freeborn will be a cult film; I mean, look at the following it has already

Nope....new ideas can pop up when the filmmaker sees the input of the general audience.

Like it's been said, this place is gonna turn heads for it's originality and open mind to what the consumer actually wants. Woo!

But alas, should this become the norm.. Well, I can't really think of anything truly bad! Movies envisioned by the people, produced by the people who can and introduced by the people who have the power to do so.
Freeborn will most likely be noted for it's original methods.

But back on topic.

We, well moreso those who frequent this site and give the valuble input, should definitely influence more movies should the opportunity arise. Hell, we have the experience on how to effectively deal with this genre, and with that we could definitely move on to improve more and more media. We can finally stop critics giving our feedback for us should we take the opportunity and continue our rampage of feedback, debates and stuff! Rargh! ;)

Excelsia wrote:These are the types of movies (or other stuff) that I think we should influence, in order of my preference:

-more werewolves
-dragons
-unicorns
-centuars

I'm not really a big fan of the idea of doing other shapeshifter movies (such as weretiger or werelion), I think that's too close to werewolves. I want to stick with cryptozoology, however. I think that'd be a good overall topic for the pack to discuss: any and all creatures that are cryptozoological in nature, or anything magical or unreal.

I don't want to get too far away from magic and crypto stuff, however. I think that's spreading ourselves too thin. But those are just my opinions.

I'd like to add incubi and succubi to my earlier list.

Silverclaw wrote:Maybe controversy will arise because of it; 'does getting imput from the general audience take away from filmmaker creativity/individualality?' ect...

Nah, I wouldn't see why. The artist has the final say.

The only thing i fear from boards like this is that producers, artists, etc. give in too much to popular demand, and things start becomeing generic. What I am impressed the most by is not how realistic something is, or how well it fits with my own ideas, but originality. The biggest influince this board will have (i think) will be showing people that things can be changed around, and its usually good to do so. Even if it does end up wierd, or unlikely, such originality in thinking will, more often than not, be rewarded.

I do see how the fan input concept can get abused; I can see a world where people with ideas like Underworld could get squashed because it went against the fan consensus. Fan consensus could become a new form of Hollywood dogma.

That said, for the time being, we're still in the innovative, gee whiz, "why didn't I think of that" phase.

Although this board is a bit of an innovation, the idea behind it isn't new by any means - it's called a focus group - and it can backfire if not done correctly. One of the biggest stinkers in Jethro Tull's career was when they asked fans what they wanted to hear on their next album.

But I'm hoping for good results here. It has good potential for general appeal - especially if advertised well. I've shown the teaser around and people that don't like horror movies seem to want to see this movie (of course, Werewolf movies now days aren't really horror movies - they're adventure/action movies with nonhumans in them).

Therians can't help what they are and the biggest hurdle they have with getting along with nonTherians is that movie inmage that other folks can't seem to get around. If the popular image was improved, maybe the general population could ignore the myth long enough to see the people.