Alien Resurrection: Sylvain Despretz sticks to his guns

Leading from

Alien Resurrection : Sylvain Despretz

 

a) Sylvain joins the art team
Sylvain was a big fan of the universe of Alien when he was growing up and so he had so many ideas of his own and projections as to what he would like to see in it, and joining the art team meant that he would be able to contribute a little bit of that.

The art department would work months before any visual effects would be debated. The ideas had to be drawn and worked out first, before anyone could disucss how to execute them. The visual effects were more concerned with the Shoot and Post-Production that they were with "First Unit" Pre-Production which was the art department.

However, it was not unusual for the Visual Effects Team to bring their own art crew to do more artwork in Post Production phase. Jean-Pierre's idea also was that it was never a good idea to allow people whose role it would be to make something affect a design because the risk is too great and they will always favour a solution which makes things easier for themselves. He felt it was better to let the designers design and let another department worry about how to carry it out. Alien Resurrection would become an example of this

1. Sylvain Despretz: There was no distinction as to who did what, it was a little bit like the ....ski brothers, you know, nobody's actually stopped the clock to say who did what. For a long time, a lot of people were talking about Powell Pressberger, knowing for sure how much Pressberger intervened, and I think erm, and I think Caro and Jeunet were a little bit like that, it was, it was um, sort of erm, two headed entity, and I got the sense that at the time Jean-Pierre was offered the job, basically they were both offered the job, but I think Caro turned it down. (Alien resurrection documentary)
2. Propimage: Do you ever closely work with any of the SFX guys?
   
Sylvain Despretz: Not Really. On any film of that size, the Art Department begins work months before any Visual Effects issue has been debated; in a way, the ideas have to be drawn and worked out first, before people can discuss how to execute them. The Visual Effects are more concerned with the Shoot and Post Production than they are with "First Unit" Pre-Production (that's us). Nowadays, it's not unusual to see a VFX team bring in their own art crew, to do more artwork in the Post Production phase. At any rate, Jean Pierre Jeunet once told me he felt it was never a good idea to allow people whose role it will be to "make something work" affect a design because the risk is too great that they will always favor a solution which makes things easier for themselves. He felt it was better to let designer's design, then let another department worry about how to carry it out. This was at least the case with Alien Resurrection. (http://www.popimage.com/industrial/080800sylint.html)
3. Sylvain Despretz: I love the ALIEN world. I was a big fan of it growing up, so I had many of my own ideas and projections as to what I would like to see in it, and to some extent, I was able to contribute a little bit of that (Starlog 252, p37)
4. Sylvain Despretz: Being hired by the production designer means something different from being hired by the director, and ALIEN Resurrection was a case in point. (Starlog 252, p36) 
5. Sylvain Despretz: I got along fine with Nigel and did my best to sail through it as gracefully as possible. I never intended to threaten his authority. I ran every choice by him before presenting it and forced myself to operate under his guidance. Politically, it was a very interesting experience, because the tensions were really high sometimes. Who was going to design the ship, who was going to do this and that? It was very competitive."(Starlog 252, p36) 

 

 

 

b) Into The Art Department 
While the Alien Resurrection art department all respected Alien, they wanted to do something different this time around, which meant eschewing H.R.Giger's biomechanical influence for most part and looking for different kinds of textures and details.

Nigel Phelps ran the department, Sylvain got on well with Nigel and would would do his best to sail through the situations present as gracefully as possible. Nigel would never threaten him with his authority , and Sylvain would run every choice by him before presenting it and his forced himself to operate under Nigel's guidance. He found it a politically interesting experience because tensions would rise high sometimes. They were throwing around questions about who was going to design the ship, who was going to do this and that. It became a competitive scene.
 
Source Quotes

1. While the Resurrection art department all respected ALIEN,they wanted to do something different this time around, which meant eschewing H.R. Giger's biomechanical influence for the most part and looking for different kinds of textures and detail.(Starlog 252, p37)
2. It was while working on The Fifth Element that Despretz first met Jean-Pierre Jeunet who was negotiating with Fox at the time to direct ALIEN Resurrection. Once Jeunet was officially on the film, he hired Despretz as a storyboard and conceptual artist which could have meant a potential conflict with production designer Nigel (Judge Dredd) Phelps.(Starlog 252, p36)

 

 

c) Beginning with storyboards
Despretz started doing the storyboards early in the year, but after a while, he got pulled further and further into designing weapons which played a big part in the movie.

 

 

 

 

d) Guns and wheelchairs
 
d.i) Evolution of the armed wheelchair idea
They knew that there was going to be a wheelchair that would transport the character Vriess (played by Dominique Pinon) around the ship, but the idea that it was going to conceal weapons wasn't implied in the script. Sylvain Despretz was to draw the initial outlines of the wheelchair. It suddenly came as an idea to Jean-Pierre that the crew of the Betty as a band of smugglers, would hide their weapons in plane sight, in something as unlikely as a wheelchair and so it became clear to him that his wheelchair itself was going to be the arsenal 

 

See: Alien Resurrection : Motorised wheelchair (1997) by Sylvain Despretz for an exploration of the illustration in comparison to other artwork

 

Source: Facebook page for Los ángeles - a book of drawings and writing about movies.

 
 
d.ii) Based upon tanks
The strategy allowed the unarmed Betty pirates to smuggle their weapons onto the Auriga. In fact Jeunet wanted the wheelchair itself to resemble a tank, referring to books about assault tanks.
 He saw the drawings that Sylvain Despretz based upon the tanks, and liked a certain one (as seen above) very much, and then they found ways to conceal weapons in it.

 

 

Same image of the motorised wheelchair by Sylvain Despretz but with different tones (source: http://www.metaprogram.net/)

 

d.iii) Construction
Eric Allard's special effects team built the contraption, a 700 hundred-pound mobile monstrosity that ambled around on heavy-armoured tracks. Althought the base did, in fact look like a tank, Allard actually borrowed it from a robot in his shop and tacked it onto a weathered metal chair. Dominique Pinon, who spent much of the film seated in his creation, became adept at moving it about the stage by joystick controls on the arms. The special effects department also directed the chair by remote control, when the sets were too small or too crowded for Pinon to navigate himself. Eric Allard's All Effects crew were also responsible for the fabrication and resolution of the various weapons and defensive equipment used throughout the course of the film.

Source Quotes

1. Sylvain Despretz: I started doing the storyboards early in the year, but after a while, I got pulled more and more towards designing weapons, which played a big part in the movie. They were connected to a wheelchair that one of the characters wheels himself around the ship on. It's actually a moving arsenal, and the idea was to conceal weapons in plain sight so we created the wheelchair and then found ways to conceal weapons in it. (Starlog 252, p36)
2. In addition to costumes, an array of special gadgets and hardware contributed to the film's palette. Designed by the art department and fabricated by All Effects, they were futuristic in function, but their design was in contemporary form. The wheelchair that transported Vriess as well as a cache of weapons was a particularly ingenious invention. Although Vriess's chair was scripted, its secret armory evolved.
   'We knew there was going to be a wheelchair, but the idea that it was going to conceal weapons wasn't implied in the script, recalls Sylvain Despretz, who was to draw the initial outlines of the wheelchair, "It wasn't specifically written, but it's an idea that came to Jean-Pierre, that the crew of the Betty, a band of smugglers, would hide their weapons in plain sight, in something as unlikely as a wheelchair. It became clear to him that this wheelchair itself was going to be the arsenal."
   
   The strategy allowed the "unarmed" Betty pirates to smuggle their weapons onto the Auriga. In fact, Jeunet wanted the wheelchair itself to resemble a tank, referring to books about assault tanks.
   
   "The wheelchair came straight out of that. Jean-Pierre saw the drawing I based upon these tanks and that's the one he liked", Despretz says. (The Making of Alien Resurrection, p38)
3. Eric Allard's special effects team built the contraption, a 700 hundred-pound mobile monstrosity that ambled around on heavy-armoured tracks. Althought the base did, in fact look like a tank, Allard actually borrowed it from a robot in his shop and tacked it onto a weathered metal chair. Dominique Pinon, who spent much of the film seated in his creation, became adept at moving it about the stage by joystick controls on the arms. The special effects department also directed the chair by remote control, when the sets were too small or too crowded for Pinon to navigate himself. Eric Allard's All Effects crew were also responsible for the fabrication and resolution of the various weapons and defensive equipment used throughout the course of the film. (The Making of Alien Resurrection, p38)
    

Hand gun (source: http://www.metaprogram.net/)

e) Just Guns

Sylvain also designed guns. There was a gun made that actually followed his work closely enough. He went over to the  set on night and Sigourney Weaver  was perhaps waiting to do a take as Ripley 8 and she was walking around, she had a gun strapped on and he had designed it. He recalled the afternoon when he designed that gun, it was a quick design, just a quick little sketch and, seeing Sigourney dressed up as the Ripley character with his gun, he was very very happy about it, it was a satisfying moment.

1.  Lot #40 - ALIEN RESURRECTION (1997) - USM Shock Rifle
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   Estimate: $6,000 - $8,000
   
       •    Our expert’s notes 
This lot will be sold on Wednesday August 26th (day 1 of the auction.) Lots 1-433 will be sold on day 1 (lots 434-870 will be sold on day 2). The auction will begin at 10:00AM PDT. Lots are sold sequentially so there is no preset ending time. A live streaming broadcast of the auction will be available on auction days.

A USM shock rifle from the production of Jean-Pierre Jeunet's sci-fi horror sequel Alien: Resurrection. The United Systems Military (USM) carried shock rifles as their primary weapons in the 24th century, most notably in the battle against the Xenomorphs aboard the USM Auriga.

The black and silvertone prop rifle is made from machined aluminum and resin with production-made weathering throughout and metal loops attached for a shoulder strap. Several electronic features are built into the rifle and are controlled by several small switches. The first switch turns on a glowing red number counter, simulating an ammo count, that goes down by one digit with each pull of the trigger; flipping this switch on and off again brings the total number down by 10 digits each time. The next switch locks the counter, allowing the trigger to be pulled without affecting the counter. Lastly, a switch on the black attachment on the bottom of the barrel turns the front flashlight on and off. The electronic functions of the rifle are charged by a power plug that connects to a small port in the far back of the stock.

The lot is in good overall condition with some signs of wear from production and age, including scuffing, red stains, and some discoloration to the metal.

Dimensions: 12 x 3 1/2" x 34" (30.5 cm x 9 cm x 86.5 cm)

Contains electronics; see electronics notice in the Buyer's Guide

Estimate: $6,000 - 8,000 Δ\(https://usm.propstoreauction.com/lot-details/index/catalog/267/lot/62151)
2. Mr Flibble whispered his first question to Andrew, who passed it on to Sylvain: Which movie that you've worked on has come closest to mimicking your concept art? 
   Sylvain Despretz: Off the top of my head, I would say ALIEN: RESURRECTION. There's a few things that I think closely mimic [my work]. I had this moment on the set when I went over one night, and Ellen Ripley [Sigourney Weaver] - who was waiting for a take or something - was walking around and she had a gun strapped on that I'd designed. And I remembered the afternoon when I'd designed that gun; it was a quick design, just a quick little sketch. I stood on the set and I looked at Ellen Ripley, and there she was with my gun - and I was very, very happy about it. It was just a nice moment.(http://www.reddwarf.co.uk/features/interviews/sylvain-despretz/)
    

Rifle with grenade launcher (http://www.metaprogram.net)

 

 

The final Lacrima 99 Shockrifle