Alien Covenant: Centipede Facehugger by Stephane Levallois

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a) Centipede Facehugger running (24th November 2015)

Centipede facehugger running, with long penis for laying eggs deep into the throat. 

This continues to explore the idea of that Carlos Huante explored back in the Prometheus production for the hammerpede.



b)  Centipede Facehugger (24th November 2015)

The centipede facehugger rolls up into a ball, and crosses its legs, and has a pair of lungs sticking out either side of the base of the tail. 

Beneath the head, it is like the underside of a snail, but with stingers

Alien Covenant: Concept art by Stephane Levallois



https://alienexplorations.blogspot.com/2020/05/alien-covenantstephan-lavallois-baby.html
j) Baby Neomorph
 
 
  
 
 
k) Later backburster design
 
 


l) Tackling the final adult Neomorph


Paradise Xenomorph with skull made up from plates by Stephane Levallois

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P1?: This creature has retractable claws that go back into the arm, a head with plates that can slide slightly under one another. Torn bones extending from the back and the hips. Extra sinews and ligaments, and muscled legs to climb.




P2. This creature's head can turn slightly, it has plates under the a translucent skin, and a hole in the skin where the mouth would be.

Alien Covenant: Adult Neomorph by Stephane Levallois

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a) In October, Levallois worked on an illustration of a colour version of his Neomorph concept,

Here we have illustration number 2 with arms with near humanoid arms, while the feet were of the triple jointed type

It appeared to go along with the general idea of the Deacon creature from Prometheus, reflecting the interest that Ridley had about Goblin Sharks for the creature.

Perhaps the peak of the front of the upper part of the face might remind some people of some sort of a cycling helmet.

  1. Stephane Levallois: mon neomorph intermediaire... (https://www.facebook.com September 27, 2017 ) Google translation: My intermediate neomorph..
  2. Stephane Levallois: neomorph adult 2 color first concept (Art station)

Adult Neomorph adult 2 13th October 2015


b) Here the paper looks as if it might be labeled as the 14th, and here we see drawings 3 and 4, while 3 has arms like bare birds wings, and feet like birds legs

  1. Stephane Levallois: une de mes premières propositions pour le neomorph... (https://www.facebook.com/ September 27, 2017) Google translation: One of my first proposals for the...
  2. Stephane Levallois: neomorph adult 2 color first concept p2 (Art station)


Stephane Levallois, 13th October 2015




Alien Covenant: Stephane Levallois' Ledward's infection

First Landing

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p3

P4



p5


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Alien Covenant: Stephane Lavallois' storyboards for the Discovery of the Dreadnought

Alien Covenant: Artwork by Matt Hatton

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Portrait of Elizabeth Shaw



a) Portrait of Elizabeth Shaw
When Matt Hatton drew this unused image of Shaw as David's icon, there was no real answer to whether she was alive or not.

There was no brief really apart from the fact David tortured her. Hatton thought that she would be the encapsulation of his love and hat for humanity and there was no way to really be sure of what was real and what was not.

  1. matthatt0nThis does not bode well... (unused) Shaw as David's icon painting. Drawing. You know what I mean. Is she alive? Hard to say. Pencil charcoal and Photoshop. #aliencovenant #conceptartist (https://www.instagram.com/p/BUkGJ70Fes2/?taken-by=matthatt0n)
  2. matthatt0n@bea_utiful24 Thanks so much! As for Shaw no brief really bar that he tortured her but I thought (and it is sort of in the movie) that she was the encapsulation of his love/hate of humanity. And that we can't be sure what was real and what was not. And unlikely but even if they were just drawings what an ironically human way to manifest his creativity!
    (https://www.instagram.com/p/BUkGJ70Fes2/?taken-by=matthatt0n)

Portrait of Elizabeth Shaw


b) Portrait of Elizabeth Shaw (2)
Hatton did another drawing of Shaw along this theme, and found himself slightly inspired by Giger's Li II, mainly in the eyes.

  1. matthatt0n: More Shaw. Slight Giger Li 2 influence mainly in the eyes. Charcoal pencil Photoshop. #aliencovenant #conceptart

Engineer dissection (Male)
c) Engineer Dissections

The first thing that Hatton did on the project was an Engineer Dissection, roughly in the style of Leonardo Da Vinci.  

Then he did a female Engineer, but the drawing team were going in an anal-retentive Victorian style for the cross hatching, but decided it would be prohibitive in terms of the time that they had and the amount of work they had to do, and so this became a looser in the manner of Rembrandt style hatching

EngineerDissection (Female)
  1. matthatt0n: First thing I did on the project - Engineer dissection, in a roughly Leonardo style. Also did a female engineer in a more constrained Victorian type of hatching. But it was quickly apparent that that would be prohibitively time-heavy, though tonally appropriate. So Leo and Rembrandt it was. But is it a dissection? Or vivisection? Only David knows for sure! Pen/nibs and inks. #aliencovenant #conceptart (https://www.instagram.com/p/BUjHtV9l-2P/?taken-by=matthatt0n
  2. matthatt0n: It occurred to me that I hadn't posted any female Engineers from Covenant yet. This was actually the second piece I did, right after the Leonardo type dissection. We were investigating going in an anal-retentive Victorian style for the crosshatching but decided it would be prohibitive in terms of the time we had and amount to do. Hence the looser Rembrandt hatching! #aliencovenant #matthatton #conceptart (https://www.instagram.com/p/BY1NwcJFPXk/?taken-by=matthatt0n)
Elizabeth-Shaw 'Immaculate Heart" (I)

d.i) Elizabeth-Shaw 'Immaculate Heart"drawings

Matt was taking two Elizabeth-Shaw 'Immaculate Heart" religious/blasphemous studies to completion but in the end, he chose the profile version.

While he like Florentine drapery, with this forward image, he was showing an allusion to the Virgin Mary's hood/headdress and it was more in key with the idea of religious portraits of the Virgin Mary with her heart exposed.

In the end he preferred the idea of the fishbowl helmet representing the halo, and the engineer's spine in place of her own on the profile


Elizabeth-Shaw 'Immaculate Heart" (II)
d.ii) Matt said to the Set Decorator Victor "What's your decision?" and then the set decorator returned the words "What's YOUR decision?!"

In Matt's story of this event, he found himself putting his hand over his face covering his eyes, perhaps in exasperation.

  1. matthatt0n :Huh. I think I totally forgot to post this with the other Shaw drawings all that time ago (the ones in the "WARNING" Container)! Basically I took two Shaw 'Immaculate Heart" religious/blasphemous studies to completion. In the end I chose the profile version posted previously. While I like the Florentine drapery here with the allusion to Mary's hood/headdress and it's more straight-up like the religious portraits with her heart exposed, in the end I liked the fishbowl helmet doing double duty as a halo and the engineer's spine in place of her own on the profile. And rebreathing stuff. So, y'know, that went in the film! I'd hoped people would get the religious analogy but hey... 😄 Pencil, charcoal, Photoshop. #conceptart #matthatton #aliencovenant #alien #elizabethshaw (https://www.instagram.com/p/BZu8-T5lOPH/?taken-by=matthatt0n)
  2. paintlab: Poor Shaw... beautiful render but I am kinda partial to the profile as well 👍(https://www.instagram.com/p/BZu8-T5lOPH/?taken-by=matthatt0n)
  3. matthatt0n@paintlab Yeah. We thought it was worth taking both all the way then deciding. So I said to the Set Decorator Victor what's your decision? He said what's YOUR decision?! Facepalm. And so it went... 😄 (https://www.instagram.com/p/BZu8-T5lOPH/?taken-by=matthatt0n)
  4. ovidiocartagena: Man, I loved all these. Did you take inspiration in the Museo di la Specola anatomy sculptures in Florence? (https://www.instagram.com/p/BZu8-T5lOPH/?taken-by=matthatt0n)
  5. matthatt0n: @ovidiocartagena That's exactly the inspiration! Or whichever of the two original Florentine schools at the time the 'anatomical venus' was the more decorative. Can't remember names but one was more scientific in presentation the other more 'aesthetically pleasing'! I think that's very David. (https://www.instagram.com/p/BZu8-T5lOPH/?taken-by=matthatt0n)
d.iii) Halos as space helmets

The idea of turning a halo into a space helmet fits in with the Von Daniken/Ancient Astronaut mythos as on the cover of Gerhard R. Steinhäuser - Jesus Christ Heir to the Astronauts, 1976 (See: Prometheus: Jesus Christ Emissary From Outer Space?)

Perhaps HR Giger did this sort of thing in his Biomechanical Landscape (1976) near enough transforming a Nativity scene by Guido da Siena from the 1270s, but in a way that it was difficult to tell what they were for. (See: Biomechanic Landscape I )


d.iv) See:  David's nightmare drawing with two figures in a womb

http://alienexplorations.blogspot.co.uk/2017/06/alien-covenant-davids-nightmare.html


 e)  Alien foetuses and skulls

Matt went with the idea that David the android would investigate congenital and extreme abnormalities, perhaps in pursuit of finding more elastic/hardy qualities for the 'xenomorph' (although the skull  in the middle bottom of the image is a normal baby skull.

So there would be exploration of existing conditions such as hydrocephalus in babies in terms of rapid structural growth/expansion to allow for a bigger brainpan for example, or an ideal shape etc.

Matt explored the Beauchene Skull process which was an exploded skull, that was a disarticulated human skull that has been painstakingly reassembled on a stand with jointed, movable supports that allows for the moving and studying of the skull as a whole or each piece individually. 

It was named after the mid-1800s French anatomist Claude Beauchene who was known to have developed this method to display the anatomy of the head. Beauchene would meticulously clean a skull, separate its bones, and mount them on a stand designed to exhibit them at once individually and in context.  
A part of this process was to fill the skull with rice, saturate it so that it swelled and split the bone along the natural fault lines. It was a process attributed to the French but as Matt wondered, it may have originally from Leonardo Da Vinci.








Matt produced an early version of a the alien foetus piece. 

He thought that the dome of the skull might form a long sensory array or use different bandwidths for its vision. 

He also liked the idea that the alien might would see thermally like a snake, seeing it as logical. 

Going beyond the obvious dragon metaphors and beasts being afraid of fire, there was the idea that a flame thrower would temporarily blind it.

Rather than it being a head caught within a spiders web, these are radiating waves.


The drawings continue to go with the possibility that the images are based on David's work on the alien life form or are they his unhinged thoughts. 

Is David with his increasingly fractured mind,  a reliable narrator or not?





  1. "A Beauchene Skull, also known as an exploded skull, is a disarticulated human skull that has been painstakingly reassembled on a stand with jointed, movable supports that allows for the moving and studying of the skull as a whole or each piece individually. In the mid-1800s French anatomist Claude Beauchene developed this method to  display the anatomy of the head. Beauchene would meticulously clean a skull, separate its bones, and mount them on a stand designed to exhibit them at once individually and in context. " (http://www.radio-guy.net/website/medical/medical_1_image_html/med1f.html)
  2. Matt Hatton: Back to Alien: Covenant! I thought David would investigate congenital and extreme abnormalities maybe in pursuit of finding more elastic/hardy qualities for the xeno (although that skull middle bottom is a normal baby skull - those critters are weird!). For instance looking at existing conditions like hydrocephalus in babies/foetuses in terms of rapid structural growth/expansion maybe to allow for a bigger brainpan for example or an 'ideal' shape etc. Also as in the old days using the beauchene process where the skull was filled with rice and then saturated so it swelled and split the bone along the natural faultlines. Attributed to the French but may have actually come from Leonardo. Of course the inference is that it the Gigerish horror could have happened in a very unnatural way... Sorry dunno where the proper scan is right now! Pencil, nibs/Indian ink, watercolour. #conceptartist #aliencovenant #beauchene (https://www.instagram.com/p/BU84P5sl1wH/?taken-by=matthatt0n)
  3. Matt Hatton: Detail of early version of the foetus piece. As I was saying in the beauchene one, David is exploring on his way to creating the 'perfect' xeno. And after extending the brainpan laterally (it only needs to turn its head to widen the scan), the dome might form a long sensory array or use different bandwidths for its vision. I thought it might be cool and logical if the xeno 'sees' thermally like a snake. So beyond the obvious dragon metaphors and beasts being afraid of fire, that a flamethrower will temporarily blind it. So both things are true. As shown here with radiating waves and so on. I know fans are astoundingly literal these days (and to be fair the way the films have gone does encourage that) but it doesn't matter if no-one notices - the backstory I make is primarily to lend a consistency in approach. Which is different to the drawings contradicting each other intentionally. I wanted to continue David's unreliable narrator idea into the work. Are these actually his works or his unhinged thoughts? Anyway like I say it leads to imagery that might not have happened otherwise. I hope. 😝. Pencil on Japanese paper. #aliencovenant #conceptartist #xenomorph #matthatton (https://www.instagram.com/p/BU897v_FMOB/?taken-by=matthatt0n
  4. Matt Hatton: Alien foetus studies. I wrote a whole backstory into the scientific notation charting David's unraveling and increasingly fractured mind. Doesn't matter if no-one ever sees it but a good way to imbue the imagery with a consistency of approach and avoid any legal/copyright issues! 😄 Pencil, charcoal, Photoshop. #aliencovenant #conceptartist (https://www.instagram.com/p/BUj7l_TFelk/?taken-by=matthatt0n

October 2016

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Sunday 30th October
1) Today I went to see the Wifredo Lam exhibition at the Tate Modern, and I realised looking at the work that HR Giger obviously had been familiar with his work and referenced it often. I suddenly thought about Lam's little horned heads that represented the spirit of Elegua the messenger god and how it turned up in Giger's Vlad Tepes. But looking at Lam's work which was Picasso-esque and various items in various paintings coming out over and over again in slightly different variations might make Giger take ideas repeated in various paintings as a language rather than just looking at a painting and thinking that he copied one idea directly from one painting because it might appear in another painting by Lam. It probably might be a question of working it out and getting to know more of Lam's work that wasn't shown at the exhibition or at least was overlooked. But at least Giger's Vlad Tepes was a starting point.

Saturday 29th October 2016
1) Updated: Developing the story of Ring after watching the Koji Suzuki interview on the Arrow's blu-ray release of Hideo Nakata's Dark Water. Indeed I believe that perhaps echoes from Ring consciously or unconsciously got into Alien 3

Wednesday 26th October 2016 
1) Added: Giger's "Witches Dance" and "Necronom IX" reference Otto Dix's "Skat Players- Card Playing War Invalids" (1920)

Tuesday 25th October 2016
1) Added Marc Caro and Alien based on the Dennis Lowe interview. A wonderful thing today is the fact that Dennis' Lowe's latest Alien Makers came out today and am very glad to realise this. I'll be able to add more information about the production

Monday 24th October 2016
1) Added When Michael Fassbender First Saw Alien. This comes from a recent interview where he briefly talks about Alien Covenant.
2) Added index page for Noomi Rapace
3) Created a separate page for When Noomi Rapace saw Alien that was originally a part of the page Noomi Rapace plays Elizabeth Shaw. 

Sunday 23rd October 2016
1) Added: Alien: Brett's cargo pants. This is nothing more than a copy and paste of images and information from Propstore 
2) Added: Alien : Sylvain Despretz and the Space Jockey. Very little to be said about that other that his own personal issues with the film industry being discussed and how he likened himself to the space jockey transmitting his warning signal because of this. It would be nice if he talked about his ideas on Alien a little more but as least we have a few fragments. Were there any personal aliens, facehuggers and chestbursters that he would have liked to talk about?

Saturday 22nd October  2016

1) Updated the page about the film Communion adding images from the scene where the alien creature is unmasked since my copy of the blu-ray came through the door this morning.

Friday 21st October 2016
1) Added: Alien: Space Jockey design references anti-shock seatfrom Jack Kirby illustration for S.H.I.E.L.D.?

Thursday 20th October 2016
1) Added bits of information from a report by Yaphet Kotto to the section about the chest burster scene. See:  Setting Up The  Shot, False Start,   The Splattering  and added also another page Yaphet discovers a box.

Monday 3rd October 2016
1) Added: Chris Foss's unused Harkonnen Flagship design (1975) references the Kinder egg wrapper?

Saturday 1st October 2016
1) Added: French film director Christophe Gans and his appreciation of Alien

Alien Covenant: Plaza full of the remains of black mummified engineers references HR Giger's Egg Silo exterior painting (work 378) (1978) for Alien?


 
 
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and   

 

HR Giger's Egg Silo exterior painting (work 378) (1978)

 

 

a) Remains of a lost civilisation in Giger's painting

a.i) If one looks at HR Giger's Egg Silo exterior painting (work 378) (1978) for Alien as if before this breast shaped building,  one can look at the rock formations and see how HR Giger had incorporated suggestions of figures merged with the magma rock, as if these were abstract fossilised remains of people of a long gone civilisation caught dancing around before now half buried Cthulhu like idol on the left

a.ii) These fossilised figures may not have been intended to be one thing or another really other than something to put in a painting to make it interesting and relate to ideas that he liked, with the idea of Ridley could see what he liked about it and they could take it further. The silo was never used but of course the painting was still there to stir some ideas.

a.iii) During the Alien production, Ridley Scott did appear to find some interest in transforming the landscape into suggestions of fossilised remains at least in storyboards, even if it didn't quite show up that way in the final film (See: Storyboard of skeleton in the rock 1978 by Ridley Scott)

 

Fossilised remnants of a long gone people
 

 

 

b.) Into the Engineer's city

b.i) In the film Alien Covenant, we encounter this city on a far distant planet where a species of humanoid named the Engineers live, and once David the android had reached there with Elizabeth Shaw in the Juggernaut space craft, he dropped the cargo of urns containing black goo upon the welcoming party.


Alien Covenant: Many engineer corpses litter the plaza, some are still upright in death   
 

 
 
b.ii) Of course as the goo rained down upon them,  this caused a strange biological reaction and they all died as if suddenly becoming suddenly mummified in the place where they stood, leaving their remains littered around the grounds of the plaza.


Alien Covenant: David approaches the stairway with Engineer corpses on either side
 

b.iii) In the film we see David the android leading the crew of the Covenant across the plaza full of Engineer corpses.

 

Alien Covenant: Plaza with corpses, some still nearly standing before the great domed building.

b.iv) In that scene, in the background the there is the large domed building that might have been created as an alternative to this egg silo and the crowds of black mummified figures replace these curiously fossilized ones.

 
 
Alien Covenant: David leads the Covenant crew across the Engineer filled plaza

Mycenaean lentoid gem showing a sacred palm and wild goat

a) Illustration of a Mycenaean lentoid showing a sacred palm and wild goat from Palaeokastro in Crete from "The Mycenaean Tree and Pillar Cult and Its Mediterranean Relations" by Arthur Evans published in 1901.


 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 

c) Referenced in  HR Giger's Biomechanical Landscape II (work 298a) (1976)?

 

 

 

d) Referenced in Jean Delville's Treasures of Satan (1895) ?

 

 

Minoan lentoid gem showing a sacred palm and wild goat (1200bc approx) referenced in assemblage of illustrations for Alice In Wonderland (From a book published 1923. Was this published earlier?) by John Tenniel

 

 
 
 
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a) Page with an assemblage of illustrations for Alice In Wonderland (From a book published 1923. Was this published earlier?) by John Tenniel
 
 
 
 
 
b) I'm not keen on the comparison because each image is from separate illustrations which might all reference something else, but I suppose some fit into place. 
 
As far as I know the lentoid would have nothing to do with the desert stone pectoral above




 
 
 
c) Circular nodules on the lower of the hind legs become the eyes of the cat


 
 
 
 
d) The mid part of of the long tailed creature becomes the dodo head and neck

 
 
 
 
e) The horns and the neck of the wild goat become the caterpillar with hookah


 
 
 
 
f) The lower part of the sacred palm becomes the upper half of the frog footman
 

 
 
 
g) The upper part of the sacred palm becomes the newt