Alien: Planning the Bridge set

leading from

  Alien: Nostromo

 

a) Planning The Bridge Set
 

The next order came to Roger was "We're putting you in charge of the bridge because that's where we're shooting first"

 

So he left one of the dressing gangs to continue the corridors and so he went to start the bridge set. 

 

This made sense as the story begins there after the crew wake up from hypersleep. 

 

This would give the actors a chance to bond together as a crew. 

 

This set was very large, built up above the floor on a four-foot rostrum.

He first went alone and spent time looking at the set still under construction, and tried to imagine it dressed, and what they would need.

Ridley had asked Michael Seymour to lower the entire bridge several times during the construction of the set because he wanted to have a claustrophobic feeling to the scenes. 

 

When production stalled after Jon Finch was taken ill during filming and had to be replaced by John Hurt.

Although this process drove Michael Seymour and construction head Bill Welch mad because of the work involved, it was really the only way to see how it looked. 

 

 

1. Roger Christian: A turning point I left one dressing gang to continue the corridors, and went to start the bridge set. The bridge scenes were chosen to be first up on the schedule when filming began. It made sense as the story begins there after the crew wake from hypersleep. It would give the actors a chance to bond together as a crew. This really was a huge set, built up above the floor on a four-foot rostrum. I first went alone and spent time looking at the set still under construction, and tried to imagine it dressed, and what we would need. Ridley had asked Michael Seymour to lower the entire ceiling of the bridge several times during the construction of the set; he wanted that claustrophobic feeling to the scenes. Though this process drove Michael Seymour and construction head Bill Welch mad because of the work involved, it was really the only way to see how it looked. (Cinema Alchemist, published 19 April 2016) 

 

 

Interior view of the Apollo 11 command module "Columbia"

 

b) Lowering the bridge ceiling

 

By lowering the ceiling down he could get it in the Cinemascope frame all the time, Roger thought that it looked like a giant aircraft cockpit, crammed and suffocating. 

 

They had also been looking at the Apollo space capsules that were being launched into space, and they were so cramped.

 

There were also overhead switches and controls just above in reach, and once they began dressing it that way, it began to look so real to him. 

 

Filming the widescreen format with a ratio of two to one meant that you saw a wider view of the scene but less height.

Gordon Carroll who was about 6ft 5in tall, complained about the height as he had to stoop, as did Michael Seymour, who was also tall. 

 

Both had to bend to walk in it and Michael’s problem was he had to absorb the cost of changing the set so many times and the time it took from an already too-tight schedule, but the only way to really see how it worked was trial and error.

 

 

1. Roger Christian: By lowering the ceiling down he could get it in the CinemaScope frame all the time, so it really looked like a giant airplane cockpit: crammed and suffocating. Filming the widescreen format with a ratio of two to one meant that you saw a wider view of the scene but less height. Most filmmakers who do epic-scale movies prefer this format as it fills the cinema screens with a much larger image, a huge landscape. Gordon Carroll, who was about 6ft 5in tall, complained about the height as he had to stoop, as did Michael, who is also tall. Both had to bend to walk in it and Michael’s problem was he had to absorb the cost of changing the set so many times and the time it took from an already too-tight schedule, but the only way to really see how it worked was trial and error. (Cinema Alchemist, published 19 April 2016) 
2. Starburst: Which part of the Nostromo did you enjoy working on the most? .
   
   Roger Christian:  It was the bridge. With the original concept paintings, one was more like the Star Trek bridge, with big windows and seats in it, but we had this idea of looking at Apollo space capsules that went up and down, they were so cramped. Nick Allder and I got old aeroplane seats from fighter jets. He is so clever, they made those able to slide in and out, so the crew had that to do. We fixed up switches for them that would operate things. (Starburst #486, 2024)
   

 

 

the Nostromo bridge

 

 

 

c) Analyzing the requirements of the bridge

Roger analyzed in detail what he though would be required for the bridge and called a very important meeting on the unfinished set with his dressing team Nicky Allder and his crew, Guy Hudson, Roger Nichols, Dennis Lowe, Roger Shaw, Ian Whittaker, and the various electricians— to go through what he saw that they needed to plan for.

Roger told Nick that they would need to have pilot and crew seats and he would have to make them functional on sliders and adapt them for each crew member.

They needed harnesses, and these had to look like real flight-deck restraints. Roger suggested that they find discarded seats and harnesses from fighter jets, as these would already look the part. 

 

Even if they got one or two in it would be great reference to begin with. 

 

He also suggested they buy in scrap from large jetliner cockpits, and from any military aircraft if they could find them. 

 

These could then be adapted by Nicky’s team and made practical.

As the Nostromo crew fought the turbulence descending to the alien planet, the audience would see the crewmembers fighting to control the ship as it bucked and jerked around. 

 

Each crewmember had a flight position and particular requirements as the Nostromo descended down to the alien planet and landed, so they needed six sets of flight controls. 

 

 

1. Roger Christian: Having analyzed in detail what I thought would be required for the bridge, I called a very important meeting on the unfinished set with my dressing team— Nick Allder and his crew, Guy Hudson, Roger Nichols, Dennis Lowe, Roger Shaw, Ian Whittaker, and the electricians— to go through what I saw we needed to plan for. I told Nick we would need to have pilot and crew seats and he would have to make them functional on sliders and adapt them for each crew member. We needed harnesses, and they had to look like real flight-deck restraints. I suggested we find discarded seats and harnesses from fighter jets, as these would already look the part. Even if we got one or two in it would be great reference to begin with. I also suggested they buy in scrap from large jetliner cockpits, and from any military aircraft if they could find them. These could then be adapted by Nick’s team and made practical. As they fought the turbulence descending to the alien planet we would see the crewmembers fighting to control the ship as it bucked and jerked around. Each crewmember had a flight position and particular requirements as the Nostromo descended down to the alien planet and landed, so we needed six sets of flight controls. (Cinema Alchemist, published 19 April 2016)