ALIEN MAKERS VII (1 hour 38mins).....Memories from people who worked on ALIEN (1979).
Phil Rae describes his time in the model shop working on the Narcissus, John Wolff recalls his experience with The Who's laser in the Egg Chamber and Roger Christian remembers the Nostromo bridge build.
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Alien Makers VI (55 mins)......Memories from people who worked on ALIEN (1979).
Rob Dickinson talks about early CGI & Mia Bonzanigo remembers her time with HR Giger when they both worked on ALIEN (1979).
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Alien Makers V (90 mins)......Memories from people who worked on ALIEN (1979).
David Watkins, Joyce Voysey, Robert Voysey, Dick Budden and Pat Lowry all contribute.
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Alien Makers IV (90 mins) - Memories from people who worked on ALIEN (1979).
Nick Allder, Michael Seymour and Dennis Lowe all contribute.
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Alien Makers III ver 2 (42 mins 44secs) - H.R. Giger created one of the great iconic symbols of the cinema for the film 'Alien', here he talks about his work and the future of his projects including his Museum and Giger Bar at Gruyeres, Switzerland.
Giger has since changed his mind on how he wants to be remembered at the end of the original film and this version has been recut only with that in mind.
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Alien Makers II (1 hour 33 mins) - Memories from people who worked on ALIEN (1979).
Ivor Powell (Associate Producer), Brian Johnson (SFX Supervisor), Sandy Lieberson (Vice President 20th Century Fox - Europe in 1979), Tim Ayling (Son of Denys - Model Lighting Cameraman) and Terry Rawlings (Film Editor) all contribute.
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During my interview with Terry way back in 2009 I asked if I could scan every page of his personal script and publish it online on the website 'Alien Experience' as they had so kindly given me space to publish the first two 'Alien Makers' films.
Recently I decided to represent all of the pages in the form of a flip book so it would be a lot easier to navigate through. Just click on the Alien script below.
Alien Makers (1 hour 20 mins) - Memories from people who worked on ALIEN (1979). Rone Hone, Roger Nichols, Neil Swan, Brian Eke, John Hatt, Martin Bower, Simon Deering, Jon Sorensen, Bill Pearson all contribute.
Jon Sorensen has made his music 'ALIEN 5' available for free download from HERE
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This period was a fantastic time in the film industry and I remember well the relaxed and thoughtful ways we all set about making the models under the guidance of Effects Supervisors Brian Johnson and Nick Allder. Ron Hone was the boss in the model shop, it was like a large family when we would plough into the canteen at Bray Studios for breakfast ( I can still taste it now! ) and exit contented knowing that the day was going to be creative. I didn't know anyone who didn't like their job and and for about 5 more years that spirit endured throughout various movies until the 80's arrived......from then on the accountants took over.
In the early days (when the Nostromo was repainted grey from the original yellow colour) we had a surprise visit from a photographer and porn star/model doing a photoshoot in the Bray Studios car park for a newspaper like News of the World or The Guardian.... The model Mary Millington noticed the modelmakers in the workshop (see what I did there?) and in her own inimitable way showed them all how to 'Do it properly'.....WARNING - clicking on the photo below might cause extreme feelings of anxiety.
Ridley Scott sets up a shot for the undocking of Nostromo - Jon Sorensen waits patiently on the far right.
Jon dulls down reflections for Denys Ayling (Model Lighting Cameraman)
Detailing on the underside of the half size Nostromo that Jon spent 2 months working on. It was only used for one shot.
These Refinery shots below were taken with a Hasselblad (2 1/4" square) and the planets were superimposed in the camera, they were meant to be printed and presented to whoever wanted them on the crew. The quality from the lens was outstanding.
Martin Bower next to the yellow Nostromo
Thanks to Simon Deering for this beautifully composed Nostromo shot.
Jon Sorensen works on some of the Refinery detail
Digging through the negatives I found these two.
At the beginning of the production Nick Allder asked me to paint a sign for the Alien model shop at Bray Studios - I came up with these two signs and they lasted a few months and disappeared. ........I was no sign writer as you can see!!....
An example of texture for the planets: This came from a trick I learned at art college, a tray of white spirit and pour in some aluminium paint, light with a lamp either side and convection currents will start to produce globules in a cellular form as detailed as the lens will resolve. The paint or spirit can be coloured with powder pigment and with a little patience it's possible to roll off a lot of surfaces. These transparencies can then be projected onto a white painted sphere. I still have 30 trannies of the original surface textures but most of them weren't used. A Hasselblad was used to take these shots.
This is the actual planet surface used in the film as described above. Thanks to Jon Sorensen for keeping this relic safe.
This is my old Agfamatic 6008 that took most of my studio snaps - it loaded 110 cassette negative and fitted into the back pocket - it still works today.
Guy Hudson taking a cigarette break, Dennis Lowe spraying up a galaxy on black plastic stretched sheet.
I spent a couple of months rigging the Nostromo with neon strips and spotlights that would mimic the Mother Ship from Close Encounters, these were sequenced using motorised rotary switches. Ridley came over from Shepperton after shooting and took a look at my work then made the decision to scrap the idea - such is life!
The Narcissus in the docking bay being worked on in the model workshop
Various Alien head designs on a manikin from the Roger Nichols collection.
Alien suit
Original crew screening invite - Thanks to Roger Nichols for supplying some extra photos during this period.
