'300' wolf - How they did it...

In the film '300' there is a famous scene with a quite realistic looking wolf in it and I wanted to know how they managed to create such an impressive representation of a real wolf and I found this article on the website www.popularmechanics.com.

(To see the clip of the wolf scene in '300', click here)

The New Normal

A WOLF IN DIGITAL CLOTHING

In today's movie making, the creative work that takes place on a computer can be as important as what goes on in front of the camera. In the big-screen adaptation of Frank Miller's historical graphic novel 300 (above), the future Spartan King Leonidas fends off a wolf. On set, visual-effects supervisor Chris Watts tried using a robotic wolf (top) for the scene, but it was eventually covered up by a computer-generated version of the animal (shown midrender, below).

Digital effects such as 300's virtual wolf are remarkable not because they are groundbreaking — the use of computer-generated imagery (CGI) in cinema dates back to the 2D pixel-vision of a robotic Yul Brynner in 1973's Westworld — but because this technology is now a standard part of the moviemaking toolkit. The impact of digital technology on Hollywood has been gradual but all-encompassing. Today, a movie can be shot, edited and distributed — from camera to theater and beyond — without involving a single frame of film. The transformation is at least as sweeping as the introduction of sound or color in the early 20th century, and it is changing both the business and the art form of cinema. Cinematographers, long resistant to digital image recording, are starting to embrace the use of digital cameras, shooting clean-looking footage that's easier to manipulate than film. Commonly available software allows small special effects shops such as Hybride to render entire virtual worlds and blend them seamlessly with live-action shots. Scenes that would have required elaborate sets 25 years ago can now be shot against a blue or green screen, and the setting can be filled in later — and then tweaked until the director is satisfied.

Title Sequences

I've just read through the webpage that is mentioned in my previous post and it presents some interesting ideas. I found it particularly interesting that on their website the most commonly searched opening sequences are those that belong to the "darker" films, such as se7en, etc. I think it's true that most opening credits for those darker films -psychological thrillers, etc. - usually have more of an effect on the audience than the opening credits of a comedy/light-hearted film.
For example, the opening credits for Juno have been produced using incredible effects but as it goes on for a long time, it loses it's effect and the audience are not concerned with what's going on in the credits because they know they won't have to concentrate hard throughout the film to be able to understand what's happening. Whereas in a film like Se7en, the audience needs to focus for the duration of the film, including in the opening sequence, in order to keep up with the storyline.