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Why are Dragons usually wyverns in non animated movies?

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AntDog
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08 Mar 2015, 1:22 pm

mr_bigmouth_502 wrote:
By the way, what do you think of Chinese dragons, like the more serpentine, wingless variety? I think they're pretty cool myself, though I still prefer the bipedal, four-limbed Western variety.

I like them too, I think they may have originally been envisioned as ones with wings too (as can be seen as clouds where wings are on European ones even in very old depictions of them).



izzeme
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09 Mar 2015, 6:10 am

Wyverns are a lot easier to animate indeed. also, due to wyverns being called dragons all the time, public perception changed to expect wyverns rather than true dragons; i myself have accepted this as simply a fact.

One thing that specifically ticked me off, however, was in 'the hobbit', part 1 actually, then Smaug attacks the dwarf city.
the guards shouting "Drake", while that is actually a male dragon, incapable of both flight and fire breath.
Smaug itself is supposed to be female, in order to fly and breath fire, or even to become as big as he/she/it is displayed (both in the movies and the books), all lore i referenced depicts drakes (male dragons) as being the size of an elephant, not much bigger.



Jono
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09 Mar 2015, 6:23 am

izzeme wrote:
Wyverns are a lot easier to animate indeed. also, due to wyverns being called dragons all the time, public perception changed to expect wyverns rather than true dragons; i myself have accepted this as simply a fact.

One thing that specifically ticked me off, however, was in 'the hobbit', part 1 actually, then Smaug attacks the dwarf city.
the guards shouting "Drake", while that is actually a male dragon, incapable of both flight and fire breath.
Smaug itself is supposed to be female, in order to fly and breath fire, or even to become as big as he/she/it is displayed (both in the movies and the books), all lore i referenced depicts drakes (male dragons) as being the size of an elephant, not much bigger.


Smaug was supposed to be female? I thought that Smaug was male in the book.



AntDog
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09 Mar 2015, 11:48 am

I don't remember Smaug being female in the book.
In the world of Arda (Middle Earth) "Fire Drake" means it breathes fire while "Cold Drake" means it does not. The word "Drake" has no relation to the gender of a dragon in JRR Tolkien's world.



Neon Noir
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12 Mar 2015, 7:21 pm

HereBeDragons wrote:
CGI dragons are easier to create with two less limbs. Also, having four limbs would make them look bulky and fill up the screen. Finally, CGI animators have to constantly figure out when the dragon should shift here, or move a foot there (not doing so makes the dragon look unrealistic in a non-animated film), and two less legs makes this task easier.


izzeme wrote:
Wyverns are a lot easier to animate indeed. also, due to wyverns being called dragons all the time, public perception changed to expect wyverns rather than true dragons; i myself have accepted this as simply a fact.



I think that this nailed it, but it also got me to thinking: the movements of most modern film creatures are based on the movements of studied animals, and there are no flying quadrupeds to the best of my knowledge. Could it be that there just isn't a way to animate a realistic, traditional dragon in full motion without calling attention to the CGI itself?



izzeme
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13 Mar 2015, 10:00 am

Neon Noir wrote:
izzeme wrote:
Wyverns are a lot easier to animate indeed. also, due to wyverns being called dragons all the time, public perception changed to expect wyverns rather than true dragons; i myself have accepted this as simply a fact.



I think that this nailed it, but it also got me to thinking: the movements of most modern film creatures are based on the movements of studied animals, and there are no flying quadrupeds to the best of my knowledge. Could it be that there just isn't a way to animate a realistic, traditional dragon in full motion without calling attention to the CGI itself?


That's part of why wyverns are easier to animate than dragons; you can grab a bat for the wyvern, which is nearly the same outside fysiolegy, just a mammal instead of a reptile. For a dragon, best you get is a bumblebee, which is truly different, wrong body shape (thick, no neck), moves different (than expected) and has 6 legs



Neon Noir
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15 Mar 2015, 7:32 pm

izzeme wrote:

That's part of why wyverns are easier to animate than dragons; you can grab a bat for the wyvern, which is nearly the same outside fysiolegy, just a mammal instead of a reptile. For a dragon, best you get is a bumblebee, which is truly different, wrong body shape (thick, no neck), moves different (than expected) and has 6 legs


Basically this. haha

Image



AntDog
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21 Mar 2015, 9:41 pm

Neon Noir wrote:
Basically this. haha

Image

There is a Fischer Price Imaginext dragon with 6 legs. Out of all the ones I see at Walmart it's the only dragon that I noticed wasn't fat. :?:
izzeme wrote:

That's part of why wyverns are easier to animate than dragons; you can grab a bat for the wyvern, which is nearly the same outside fysiolegy, just a mammal instead of a reptile. For a dragon, best you get is a bumblebee, which is truly different, wrong body shape (thick, no neck), moves different (than expected) and has 6 legs


I could understand how making dragons wyverns makes more sense to those with different beliefs but why is it extremely persistent outside animation? They are Dragons! They are supposed to be magical not some byproduct of evolution (which I don't believe in).



AntDog
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07 Apr 2015, 12:00 pm

Finally a movie with a 4 legged dragon has been released
The Dragon Drago (a.k.a Hissyoxyillammochogannatoss) in Dragonheart 3 is such a cute pretty Dragon compared to the previous 2. 8O
Finally that counter previously mentioned has been reset.
I heard a Pete's Dragon remake is in the works too.
Hopefully Elliot's not fat like the 70's movie and they don't wyvernify him like Weta did with Smaug. :roll:



AntDog
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09 Apr 2015, 10:40 pm

There is an example of a really cool looking 6 legged dragon in the 1998 Merlin mini series. I remember seeing it on Sci fi a while ago when they had themed movie weekends.