GIGERS
ALIEN DERELICT SPACE SHIP
When the movie 'Alien' hit cinemas in 1979, it was heralded as a masterpiece of cinema. A lot of that had to do with Ridley Scotts direction. But the movies unique look is owed body and soul to the work of Artist HR Giger.
Writer Dan O Bannon was aware of Gigers work and approached him to come up with the monster for Alien.
With Ridley Scott on board, this allowed Giger full control of all things Alien featured in the movie.
The holy Trinity was complete.
As well as providing paintings and sketches for the Alien creature and its variations, Giger also designed the derelict space ship and its interiors and presented the film crew with his rendition of how the Alien spacecraft might look.
However, Bannon hated the designs, fearing that audiences might think the organic shape was part of the planetoid landscape and demanded changes.
Considering it his best work, Giger refused, stating that the design was obviously a manufactured object and he couldn't possibly conjure up anything better.
He also knew that time on a movie set is a commodity, thus Giger played the waiting game and won out.
O' Bannon, sensing he had outstayed his usefulness to the project, ultimately quit.
As a result, Gigers designs for the derelict model got the go ahead.
At its widest length it was approximately seven to eight feet long. Since the model was not required for any live action sequences requiring movement, it did not need a solid surface. Thus to save time, it was covered in a layer of plastercine and the details merely stuck to it.
Giger was extremely pleased with the outcome.
But had O’Bannon pushed his demands further, the derelict space ship would likely have been more of a conventional crashed rocket affair and the movie as a whole less unique in its design approach.
In 1980, a year after the movie’s release, Giger won an Oscar for Best Visual Effects.
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