Alien: Nostromo's Windows into the Engine Room

leading from

Alien: The Nostromo

windows into the engine room (photo posted by Philip Rae at www.eagletransporter.com/)

a) For the "blink and you'll miss it" engine room sequence, Bill Pearson designed a control section where Ripley is seen through the windows on her way to arm the destruct mechanism. Unfortunately
Sigourney Weaver had left the country at the point, and so in this sequence the character was played by a stand in of a similar build who was the wife of one of the special effects technicians. They shot her on a stage and then they rear projected that footage onto a back panel through the window.

windows into the engine room (photo posted by Philip Rae at www.eagletransporter.com/)

b) The rear window had been shot through a black cutout of a window frame which he traced off an editing screne and then constructed a perspex box to include two of these. As Bill was told it would be seen in a close-up, he detailed the scene with his most prized Tamiya wiggets and even applied some Weylan-Yutani company symbols that had been specially printed onto clear film for use on the main set. The detail shots never made it into the final film.

1. Bill Pearson: For the "blink and you'll miss it" engine room sequence I designed a control section where Ripley (not in fact, Sigourney Weaver, but a stand-in) is seen through windows on her way to arm the destruct mechanism. The rear window has been shot through a black cutout of a window frame, so I traced this off an editing screen then constructed a perspex box to include two of these. As I was told it would be seen in close-up, I detailed it with my most prized Tamiya wiggets and even applied some Weyland Yutani company symbols that had been specially printed onto clear film for use on the main set. The detail shots, however, never made it into the final film (From sketch to screen, p96)
2. Bill Pearson: That's something you see very very fleetingly in the movie, when Sigourney Weaver is er, setting up the destruct sequence, ah, she is seen moving around, one a back panel in two small windows, and that was something I made up so we could actually shoot Sigourney. Unfortunately Sigourney had left, she left the country at that point. So one of the effects technicians had, his wife was of a similar build, and we got her, put her in Sigourney's costume and shot her just on a stage and then we rear projected that image into the window, so it's not Sigourney that's walking around in there (Bill Pearson's June 2013 Two Hour Lecture At 'The City Of Glasgow College' DVD)