Last week I wrote a director profile on three-time Academy Award winner James Cameron. This week, I’m going behind the scenes on one of Cameron’s most successful films---Aliens. Aliens, the sequel to Ridley Scott’s box office hit horror film Alien, ramped up the action from the first film, turning the film into an action/adventure film rather than a horror picture. Among the aliens used in the second installment, the Queen Alien was by far the most impressive creature.
For the most part, the crew was able to reuse the creature designs from the first Alien film. The alien in the first film was (for most scenes) a seven-foot man in an intricately designed alien costume. For close-up shots (ex: the head of the alien), an animatronic was used. This method was reused for some scenes in Aliens. However, in this sequel, the Queen alien was significantly larger than the other aliens (about twice as tall). As a result, a new design would have to be implemented (Aliens Special Edition Blu-Ray).
For the most part, the crew was able to reuse the creature designs from the first Alien film. The alien in the first film was (for most scenes) a seven-foot man in an intricately designed alien costume. For close-up shots (ex: the head of the alien), an animatronic was used. This method was reused for some scenes in Aliens. However, in this sequel, the Queen alien was significantly larger than the other aliens (about twice as tall). As a result, a new design would have to be implemented (Aliens Special Edition Blu-Ray).
A "soldier" alien, like the one shown above sneaking up on Newt (Carrie Henn), was a man in a costume. This wasn't sufficient, however, to create the Queen alien.
A number of techniques ended up being used to create the Queen alien. A crane was used to stabilize the main body of the creature. The head and neck of the alien was hydraulically controlled. Creature effects coordinator Tom Woodruff, Jr. stated, “As simple as it was at the time, it was very effective. We had hydraulic lines that ran from the neck controls to a little support stand that literally had steering wheels on it to crank the Queen’s head around. That whole process was new and exciting to see on something of that size.” The crew ended up using the hydraulic method for other parts of the alien as well, with the body, tilt, and turn being accomplished this way (Aliens Special Edition Blu-Ray).
Other body parts of the alien, such as the legs, utilized the puppeteer method. Another creature effects coordinator commented, “Her legs are puppeted externally by puppeteers, rods, etc that would move her legs.” Specific parts of the Queen’s face, such as the lips, jaw, and tongue were controlled by cables that allowed complete movement. Ultimately, 14-16 operators were needed to make the Queen alien completely mobile. The producer of the film, Gale Hurd, noted, “She was huge, she weighed a lot, and to choreograph the movements of the Queen with the two people that were creating her movements was always a challenge and did eat up quite a bit of production time. On the other hand, we got every shot that we needed within our shooting schedule, which remained on budget and on schedule” (Aliens Special Edition Blu-Ray).
Other body parts of the alien, such as the legs, utilized the puppeteer method. Another creature effects coordinator commented, “Her legs are puppeted externally by puppeteers, rods, etc that would move her legs.” Specific parts of the Queen’s face, such as the lips, jaw, and tongue were controlled by cables that allowed complete movement. Ultimately, 14-16 operators were needed to make the Queen alien completely mobile. The producer of the film, Gale Hurd, noted, “She was huge, she weighed a lot, and to choreograph the movements of the Queen with the two people that were creating her movements was always a challenge and did eat up quite a bit of production time. On the other hand, we got every shot that we needed within our shooting schedule, which remained on budget and on schedule” (Aliens Special Edition Blu-Ray).
Crew of Aliens on set with the Queen alien.
So as you can see, a lot of behind-the-scenes hard work and time went in to making the terrifying Queen alien you see in the final cut of the film. Much creativity and various methods for movement were necessary to make the alien look as realistically as possible. In the end, Aliens, raised the bar even higher for special effects in films.
Written by Anthony Watkins
WORKS CITED
Aliens. Screenplay by James Cameron. Dir. James Cameron. Prod. Gale Anne Hurd. 1986. Special Edition Blu-Ray. Twentieth Century Fox, 1986.
Written by Anthony Watkins
WORKS CITED
Aliens. Screenplay by James Cameron. Dir. James Cameron. Prod. Gale Anne Hurd. 1986. Special Edition Blu-Ray. Twentieth Century Fox, 1986.
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