leading from
a) Cocoon on the wall
a.i.1) Dane thought that part of the reason why Disney got in on Fede’s whole thing was he had a clear ision from the outset, so there wasn't much that near enough ended up on the floor , for example the cocoon
a.i.2) It was a nerve wracking time for Dane, because he had just met all of these people that he was now working with and also he happened to be a fan of his stuff so he was very nervous and he was lashing up with ideas thinking such things s “all right man I'm going to try the shit that I want to try, and you feel free to shoot it down or change it or push against it you know” as he was concerned about scaring the director.
a.i.3) What had stumped him was, number one, it probably was early on and Fede wanted to try Dane out. Meanwhile Dane as was everyone, was nervous about Fede giving the jobs for them to someone else, because everything seemed to be up for grabs.
a.i.4) Dane would overzealously produce work, and some of it he thought was really bad and some of it was really rough.
Eventually, he just felt so crushed by how bad what he was doing was,
He ended up going into the garage and sculpting it.
a.i.5) Evolving from the space cocoon
The Xenomorph cocoon seemed to have started off as the ore shrapnel cocoon from the Nostromo.
It was near wnough stuck onto the Xenomorph, and that is how that came to be.
Finally, Fede agreed with that, and then weeks later came back and went, “No, I want to change it. I want it to be like the creature made a cocoon for itself, and that cocoon material should mimic what is in Aliens.”
Because the audience ideally would have seen the hive and what they do in the earlier films
And Dane responded, “Yes, okay, fair enough.”
And so that also translated into one of the final versions of the wall opening.
Basically, keep it Aliens,because we know what it looks like when they make a cocoon or a wall kind of organic structure, we know that.
He always near enough saw the creation of the cocoon being that the alien beast is pulling secreted resin and building it as it is going, in whatever its form, rather than it hunkering down and then it grew on top of him.
It creates that cocoon, and then that cocoon grows rigid and it cracks out of it.
Interviewer: so tell me about the design of the Cocoon um because we saw from from the the designs that you've released uh the the sort of concept of it saw some of the egg morphing in there which I really appreciated I really liked that uh it's something which it's very like some people love it some people hate it I really like I really like the idea of egg morphing
Dane: yeah
Interviewer: um so what what what was the design what was the what was the notes that you got as well uh from Fede, what was the direction that you, and what was it that you ultimately wanted to bring and did bring?
Dane: yeah uh well that was it was like a nerve-wracking kind of time because um you I mean also you've just met these people that you're now working with you know and also again like I happen to really be a fan of Fede’s stuff so I was like triple nervous you know um and that was me kind of lashing out I was like “all right man I'm I'm I'm going to try the shit that I want to try, and uh you know you feel free to shoot it down or change it or push against it you know” and you don't know sometimes they can scare a director off uh sometimes
Aaron Percival: That cocoon on the wall is brand new. That is something introduced entirely for this film. And it would seem that it was probably, alongside the Offspring, the hardest design challenge you faced while working on Alien: Romulus. Walk us through that design process. Why was this the thing that stumped you, and how did you arrive at that final disgusting take on it?
Dane Hallett: What had stumped me was, number one, I think it was early on and Fede wanted to try me out. And I was nervous about him giving the job to someone else. I think we all were because everything was kind of up for grabs. I would overzealously produce work, and some of it was really bad and some of it was really rough. Eventually, I just got so crushed by how bad what I was doing was, I ended up going into the garage and sculpting it. I very quickly knocked something out of the same material, the monster clay that is on my desk.
❮❯And that is how I sculpted it. And then I sculpted the opening on the front of it. It is a birth canal, man. You want to see it stretch out, and you see it do that. So yes, that is kind of how that went down. But also, then they just started to get a sense, Fede started to get a sense of, “Oh, he loves playing with dimensions and depth.” And at this point, it is a bit of a joke, but all of that translucent stuff, trying to register depth with something so kind of basic. It is a basic oval shape, an egg shape, trying to add another dimension of interest to it. That is what I enjoyed doing. Aaron Percival: The bone ribs were an interesting choice as well.
Dane Hallett: Yes. I think, from memory, I hope I am not conflating memories here, but the Xenomorph cocoon started off as the ore shrapnel from the Nostromo. It was like it glommed onto the Xenomorph, and that is how that came to be. Finally, Fede agreed with that, and then weeks later came back and went, “No, I want to change it. I want it to be like the creature made a cocoon for itself, and that cocoon material should mimic what is in Aliens.” Because you have seen the hive and what they do. And I was like, “Yes, okay, fair enough.”
And so that also translated into one of the final versions of the wall opening. Basically, keep it Aliens,because we know what it looks like when they make a cocoon or a wall kind of organic structure, we know that. And the way I was imagining that the cocoon existed was that it was not like he hunkered down and then it grew on top of him. I always sort of saw it as he is pulling secreted resin and building it as it is going, in whatever its form. It creates that cocoon, and then that cocoon grows rigid and it cracks out of it.
b) An image that Dane wanted to draw
Dane used to have a toad That When it wanted to hibernatewould develop a sick mucus membrane around itself And then it would pull it over itself to create his cocoon. He also had this footage of when frogs moult or when they need to hibernate the mucus on the skin looks really tough but they can separate it so they rub their skin and pull it put it down until finally they can turn themselves into a little mochi snack And he thought, “yes, man that would be sick if I just how the alien does it as well”.
He had done a couple of little drawings up there in the world where he near leaned on that idea a little bit, but he never drew a picture of this for the Alien film productions and he thought that he would like to do one where perhaps the creature is pulling the resin from it itself to create whatever it's going to make.
He thought that would look very interesting in an extreme way.
- Dane: I had this footage of when frogs moult, or when frogs need to hibernate. The mucus on the skin looks really tough, but they can separate it. So they rub their skin and pull it, pull it down until finally they can turn themselves into a little mochi snack. And I thought, “Yes, man, that would be sick if that is how the Alien does it as well.” https://www.avpgalaxy.net/website/interviews/dane-hallett/4/
- Dane: I I've never drawn this but I would like to do it where where they I would love to think that they're pulling the resin from it itself to create whatever it's going to make, I think that would look sick you know or I I used to have this toad that uh when it wanted to hibernate like itwould develop this thick mucous membrane around itself and then it will pull it it will pull it over itself like this to create its cocoon um I think that would look sick I've done like a couple of little drawings out there in the world where I sort of lean on that a a little bit but I don't know maybe the next one maybe I'll get to show that
Interviewer: Yeah, no I I like that idea I like that idea a lot (Mr H’s Reviews https://youtu.be/9bgYP2J9blA?is=JXilrqfy8aHjZCnZ
c) Sculpting a cocoon maquette
It was taking Dane a long time to do such a basic shape to get it right. So he was disappointed in himself.
He boiled it so that it was jelly, so that he could get the proportions right and he could jam it all in together.
And then he could trust the lighting fully if he hit it with a strong light., the whole creature fits into this space and there is no negative space.
Dane’s background was in prop making.
When he first got into the film industry, he was in special effects and making props.
He didn’t know if he was ever necessarily a good prop maker, but he had the ability to use lateral thinking.
There are all these other ways you can solve the problem.
If he is hard up against a design and he is disappointed in himself, that disappointment can poison his productivity.
He could lose all of his calm demeanor and when that happened to him, he freaked out,
He might have been doing one drawing for four hours, and this would seem stupid.
Sometimes it helps him to just do blind drawings after that, or to bust out of that nonsense.
But in that case, he was just disappointed in himself as well.
He went forth to make it, he was going to put all the parts on it and just see what he could do. And that is how that came about.
Self-loathing sometimes really helped him out.
Adam Zeller: And speaking of that other cocoon, or the chrysalis as it is sometimes called at the beginning of the film, one of our Patreon supporters, Thomas Kane, asked about it. My understanding is that you boiled a NECA Alien figure and wrapped wire around it to get inspiration for the hardened cocoon Big Chap that was found at the beginning of the movie. My question is, how did you get the idea to do that when designing Big Chap’s cocoon, and do you always have such a creative approach when designing things for other films?
Dane Hallett: Only when I am messing up badly. It forces you to be a bit more creative. It was taking me a long time to do such a basic shape to get it right. So I was disappointed in myself. I didn’t melt it down, but I boiled it so that it was jelly, so that I could get the proportions right and I could jam it all in together. And then I could trust the lighting fully if I hit it with a strong light. Oh, the whole creature fits into this space and there is no negative space. And so that is how I did that.
But my background was in prop making. When I first got into the film industry, I was in special effects and making props. I don’t know if I was ever necessarily a good prop maker, but I guess it is that lateral thinking. There are all these other ways you can solve the problem. If I am hard up against a design and I am disappointed in myself, that disappointment can poison my productivity. You lose all of your cool. When that happens to me and I freak out, I think I was doing one drawing for four hours. This is stupid. Sometimes it helps to just do blind drawings after that, or to bust out of that nonsense. But in that case, I was just disappointed in myself as well. I am going to make it, I am going to put all the parts on it and just see what I can do. And that is how that came about. Self-loathing. I mean, sometimes it really helps you out. https://www.avpgalaxy.net/website/interviews/dane-hallett/ Dane Hallett: Partly spooked by the talent already on board Romulus, and my admiration for Fede, I was choking on the cocoon shape, trying to get it just right. After many drawings, I sculpted one out of frustration, photographed it, then painted over it..Here is that rough sculpt and then the photos of the final one on set taken by Fede a few months later.. Did I say I loved this job, already!? (
Instagram, 3rd September 2024)
d) Ideas carried over by the black goo
d.i.1) Dane was worried that they’d say “oh this guy, he doesn't get it, you know” when really of course as a commercial artist he was actually employed to have to , if he was good then he could figure out what they want and what they need and in that case he was just lashing out.
He was near enough asking himself “what would I do if I was making this movie? how would I do this?” He wanted as many kind of textural callbacks to the almost like behind the scenes, such as you can they obviously were inspired by the egg cocoons from the alien nest scene shown in the director cut of Alien, although Dane referred to it using an online fan term, as “the egg morphing stuff” from a deleted scene that was reintroduced in the layer Director’s cut, as if he knew nothing about the nature of this part of the alien’s life cycle at all as the original Alien production saw it, and as much more interested in James Cameron‘s erroneous understanding of the human to eggs stage that had nothing to do with the original Alien production.
He tried to sneak in sculptural forms such as the Space Jockey’s ribcage that in Prometheus was revealed to be like a shell that enclosed the pilot sitting in the chair, even if they thought it was the armour that the engineers wear when he meant their flight suit.
He thought it might also be a grown part of it, and in one of his drawings, it showed the face like a space jockey because if that black goo was what this Prometheus made it out to be, he wondered what are they were using it for other than making monsters, but as audience would find out, the company Weyland-Yutani is interested in it. Perhaps it could be turned into armour or used to turn a person into a Giger-esque biomechanical suit.
d.i.2) A lot of people have since asked Dane now “oh is this something that's specific to that genetic code of the xenomorph” or “is that a life cycle thing that they have”
d..i.3) Of course this wasn’t known to be an actual idea that Ridley Scott had for the alien beast in Alien bur he had thought about showing an intermediary stage of some sort
Dane: they go “oh this guy's he's he doesn't get it you know” when really of course as a commercial artist you you are actually employed to get it um you have to you have to if you're good then you can figure out what they want and what they need and uh in that case I was just lashing out I was like “what would I do if I was making this movie? how would I do this?” you know and I wanted as many kind of textural callbacks to the almost like behind the scenes shit, you know like you can see those obviously those are deleted scenes the egg morphing stuff is a deleted scene, but then there's also the the other sculptures that I tried to sneak in there and even I like I tried to infer like almost like the jockey’s or the jockey costume uh as it is now after Prometheus that armor that they wear, maybe that that's also grown you know like that could be a part of it and that's where you can in one of those drawings that I shared you can kind of see that that face and just like maybe cuz if that black shit is as zany as Prometheus made it out to be I mean what what what else are they using it for you know obviously it makes monsters but you know like the company's interested in it maybe because you can turn it into armor or you can use it to turn yourself into like a Giger suit you know what I mean so
e) Placing the cocoon
e.i.1) Dane had placed the cocoon on the floor, rather than at the top of the wall, but thankfully Fede didn't get scared . He came back and said to Dane “no no man it's more like this you know” and then went onto say “no no man um think of the tunnel like think of the tunnel like this and the guy finds it there you know”
e.i.2) Dane responded with words to the effect of “okay alright” and would then ask questions like “is it inset, like did the creature set itself in a groove?”
e.i.3) It was because corridors can have like grooves and like that was like what a cockroach would do that. it’s very rarely just going to do it in the middle, it's going to go in the corner or in the groove of something.
e.i.4) Whether Fede got back to him specifically about that kind of stuff faded from memory, but Dane started to incorporate it and that's where he began to infer and it was visible in his drawings you can where he was inferring that there's more information behind the wall than the viewer can see.
Dane: anyway that that's where all that stuff came from and I was just like lashing out like just like getting all of that shit out of my system and thankfully uh Fede didn't get scared and he came back and says “no no man it's more like this you know” like “okay all right” so I didn't know it was going to be upside down I didn't know that like I didn't see any storyboards at the time so I was just making it all up um but then every time I like I could smell like oh maybe maybe he's thinking about this or maybe they're thinking about that then I would just I would just lean into it like so yeah
Interviewer: Oh okay so so I mean look the Cocoon itself I think it's a fantastic design I think it's genuinely really really really great and it's very it's very Giger very very Giger but without being without being an homage almost uh I think it's something which he would have looked at you know and probably gone “yeah, no, I approve of that “
Dane: yeah I'm sorry
Interviewer: what what I mean it's very vaginal right
Dane::yeah, yeah of course
Interviewer: out out the way and and it should be
Dane: yes
Interviewer: um because I think the alien franchise the alien franchise has really lost the
Dane: psychosexual
Interviewer: yeah the sort of sexual horror aspect
Dane: absolutely yeah , yeah
Interviewer: um and that and that is integral to it's integral to the horror that you know the the the xenomorph exhibits on the audience
Dane: yeah
Interviewer: so I really really appreciated that with the the Cocoon design um so you know obviously we've jumped ahead a little bit because I know you did some work on the chest burster
Dane: mmhmm
Interviewer: but the Cocoon itself so what was your thinking what is it like how does it make it because it's this tiny little chest burster what was your thought process overall
Dane: um well I think you know I mean Fede had an opinion about like sort of everything so when I when when he sees like the broad strokes of those egg morphing ones right so what that does is that provides an opportunity for him to push against something you know and it's the same for every director I mean that that's why in this field you can't afford to be necessarily attached to everything you do like I mean I try to because I want to put myself into it but when those ideas just get cut down you just you just hack it you just go oh “okay it's not right, it’s not quite it” but but it helps to guide them so they'll it's almost like when they know what they don't want it will encourage them to find what they do want you know a good director
Interviewer: Yeah
Dane: and um and so Fede would kind of like go “no no man um think of the tunnel like think of the tunnel like this and the guy finds it there you know”
I go “okay all right” and then I would ask questions I'm like “is it in it set, like did the creature set itself in a groove you know like, ‘cause you know corridors can have like grooves and like that's like a cockroach would do that cockroach is very rarely just going to do it like in the middle it's going to go like in the corner or in the groove of something you know and um uh I can't remember if you got back to me specifically about that kind of stuff but I started to incorporate it and that's where I began to infer and you can see in those drawings you can where I was inferring that there's more information behind the wall than you actually see you know
Mr H’s Reviews
https://youtu.be/9bgYP2J9blA?is=JXilrqfy8aHjZCnZ
f.i) No idea how the chestburster got up the wall
If it came about like the chestburster which Dane referred to as the little “Bambi burster” creating its little cocoon. (NB HR Giger referred to the oxburster for Alien 3, that came out with its legs developed and able to stand looking like a little Bambi)
Dane didn’t know how it got up there.
He would imagine it was like the big alien beast in Alien 3 is on top of the ledge along corridor.
Ot the big Alien beast at the end when it's in the Narcissus, where it's laying down it and its opening its mouth and its tongue with jaws comes out which to Dane seemed just like a snake that has just shed its skin and it was stretching
And so Dane imagined that the maybe the Bambi is doing the exact same thing up there in the grooves of all the cables and stuff of that corridor and then that's where it sort of sets itself up.
- Dane:and in terms of it being like a little Bambi burster creating its little cocoon I don't know how it got up there I imagine it's like like like the alien and alien 3 is ontop of the roof and all that sort of shit, or or the big chap at the end when it's in the when it's in the um the little ship the um the Name Escapes me but where it's laying down it and and its mouth comes out where it's just like it's like a snake that has just shed its skin and it's just like stretching you know uh and so I imagine that the maybe the Bambi's doing the exact same thing up there in the grooves of of all the cables and shit of that of that Corridor and then that's where it sort of sets itself up and then again up, I (Mr H’s Reviews https://youtu.be/9bgYP2J9blA?is=JXilrqfy8aHjZCnZ)
g) Artwork by Dane Hallett
g.i) Using Giger's earlier version Brett egg as seen in Giger's Alien book
Dane Hallett: Early exploration of the cocoon where I tried to incorporate elements from Alien. (
https://www.instagram.com 2nd September 2024)
g.ii) Painting of the cocooned form
g.iii) Using Giger's painting of the cocooned Brett as a starting point
g.iv) Cocoon illustrations starting off with the Brett Egg from Alien for reference
g.v) Cocoon illustrations
g.vi) Alien in the birth sack
g.vii) Cocoon illustrations
g.viii) Cocoon
g.ix) Cocoon
g.x) Cocoon
g.xi) Alien in birth sack superimposed over the cocoon
g.xii) The cocoon where the wall and the ceiling meet
