Alien:The Nostromo interior

leading from

Alien: Nostromo

 

 

a) Researching films and NASA materials, with advice from technical experts

 

a.i) Looking at other films

 

In approaching the filming, they were very concerned about avoiding any clear or direct influence from previous space productions.  

 

They watched 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY a couple of times; we saw STAR WARS and CLOSE ENCOUNTERS each a couple of times, and such things as SILENT RUNNING.  

 

Their objective was to avoid as much as possible any clear reference to any of them. Of course, this was difficult, because there are certain factors, certain idioms of supposed intergalactic space flight that are unavoidable, and in fact it was hard to avoid some of the idioms which they were almost forced into by the very subject matter - but they made a very honest effort to avoid this.

 

Michael Seymour the production designer had great admiration for all of these productions.

 

He found Star Wars to be a very beautiful and complex piece of design, and it was far more cosmetic than they wanted.  

 

They were trying to approach their subject in a much more workaday way.

 

He decided that something such as 2001 A Space Odyssey even after over a decade stood head and shoulders abover everything else .

Although they had elements of this in Alien, they tried to avoid direct similarities.

 

Of course CLOSE ENCOUNTERS was not directly involved with space flight, although it had some wonderfully strange vehicles flashing through the sky and so Michael Seymour thought that they managed avoided any direct comparison with those.

 

Meawnhile he found Silent Running to be a very admirable piece and there were qualities about it that were very very interesting, but it was all done aboard an aircraft carrier with sets built into it, which he found to be a very clever idea

 

a.ii) NASA research material

 

They were able to get some rather interesting research material from NASA, from the Aeronautical Museum in Washington, which had rather detailed pictures of Space Lab and other assorted things.

 

What they could is find as much as possible in the way of pictures and photographs of earlier space vehicles, but of course none of them were particularly large.

 

So they would take elements of them and really expand them.

 

 

a.iii) Help from people with technical or engineering aptitudes

 

There were various people working with them who had technical or engineering aptitudes and they would suggest various possibilities.

 

Ridley Scott would marvel at the enthusiasm that Dan O'Bannon and Ron Cobb would have in this way

 

There were some nice and very clever people , all with seperate ideas and they tended to pool the ideas into make them work towards the concept

 

 

1. Michael Seymour: In approaching the filming of ALIEN we were very concerned about avoiding any clear or direct influence from previous space productions. We took the trouble to show ourselves 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY a couple of times; we saw STAR WARS and CLOSE ENCOUNTERS each a couple of times, and such things as SILENT RUNNING.  Our objective was to avoid as much as possible any clear reference to any of them. Of course, this was difficult, because there are certain factors, certain idioms of supposed intergalactic space flight that are unavoidable, and it's hard, in fact, to avoid some of the idioms which one is almost forced into by the very subject matter - but we made a very honest effort to avoid this. (American Cinematography, August 1979 p777 and 804)
2. Michael Seymour: I have a great admiration for all of the productions I have mentioned. Something like STAR WARS, which is a very beautiful and complex piece of design, was, we felt, more cosmetic than we wanted. We were trying to approach our subject in a much more workaday way. Something like "2001", even after a decade, stands sort of head and shoulders above everything else. That, again, was a very austere, very cold piece of design, and although we have some elements of that in ALIEN, we again tried to avoid direct similarities. CLOSE ENCOUNTERS was, of course, not directly involved with space flight, although it had some wonderfully strange vehicles flashing through the sky - but I think we avoided any direct comparison with those. SILENT RUNNING was a very admirable piece and there are qualities about it that are very, very interesting, but it was all done aboard an aircraft carrier with the sets built into it - which is a very clever ideas.(American Cinematography, August 1979 p804)
3. Ron Cobb: So you go out and see a big big bunch of machinery out of out of erm a jet engine and turn that into a column or a device that you put on the wall. Hundreds of empty television cases sitting on the back of the stage and you wonder what that's for and about a day later you'd see them all stapled to the wall as sort of vents and things, just salvaged and turned upside down, painted a weird colour, add a hose and stick it on the wall and you get the benefit of all that machining you know so you wouldn't have to duplicate in wood and styrofoam and it would look so real. (Alien Saga documentary)
4. Michael Seymour: Despite all our efforts to avoid copying, I'm sure inevitably the accusation will be made, because on any such ship there will be certain essential pieces of equipment - navigational aids, communication systems, controls for whatever the power sources are. We accepted the fact that there were these requirements and that we tried to build a concept for each of them which would look realistic.
   
   
   
   The bridge, which in the film appeared to be perhaps one of the less complicated parts of the set, was in reality a very rich and elaborate piece, although it was difficult to see the geography of it. The auto dock was also very rich and elaborate. The lower maintenance area was very complicated. I mean they were all quite complicated pieces. I think we had to use our collective imaginations to try to inject some sort of reality into them.
   
   
   We didn't simply rely on our imaginations, however. We were able to get some rather interesting research material from NASA, from the Aeronautical Museum in Washington, which had rather detailed pictures of Space Lab and assorted things. We also tried to find as much as possible in the way of pictures and photographs of earlier space vehicles, but none of them were particularly large. We had to kind of take elements of them and really expand them. We had various people working with us who had technical or engineering aptitudes and they would suggest various possibilities. We had some very nice, very clever people, all with separate ideas and we tended to pool our ideas into making them work towards the concept
   
   
   As I've said, our sets were four-wallers, but in every instance I made sure that a set was constructed in such a way that we were able to take out at any time quite large sections of walls, ceilings, whatever - although we tried to avoid doing this. Nevertheless, I know that inevitably a situation arises where one does want to get the camera into a position that is impossible without moving something, so we designed various quite elaborate and complicated ways of floating sections away, and whenever it was required, we managed to do it quite successfully. (American Cinematographer, August 1979, p804)
5. Michael Seymour: I suppose the most interesting challenge of designing Alien was the fact that one wasn't working from any real reference, in a sense. It was not like one was trying to recreate a medieval castle of Georgian house. We were dealing with something that which, as yet, doesn't really exist, so there was a certain amount of "fiction" in this science fiction exercise. At the same time, what everybody in the group tried to do was to create a sort of reality, so that, hopefully, the audience would actually believe that they were aboard this spacecraft.(American Cinematographer, August 1979, p776)
6. Michael Seymour:  We tried to create a sort of intergalactic supertanker aboard which people lived and worked and slept their way from one galaxy to another for maybe four or five years at a time, collecting ore and oil minerals, potentially for huge profits. But basically they lived on this craft and maintained it. At the same time, they relaxed into an easy sort of casualness, as people might do on that kind of trip. Their clothes were sort of casual and they were a tiny bit greasy and they had relaxed relationships with one another.(American Cinematographer, August 1979, p776)
7. Michael Seymour:  The ship itself had to tend to reflect all of this. There were levels of it that were kind of dirty and greasy and we hoped that the audience would feel that they were in a dirty old engine room where there was steam escaping and that, by doing all this, we could present a sort of believable environment.(American Cinematographer, August 1979, p776)
8. Michael Seymour:  We also tried to convey the idea that the space craft was a very huge piece of machinery which, in turn, was towing an even larger piece of machinery behind it, consisting of a vast collection of derricks and oil refineries and such. With that in mind, we set about creating our own sense of geography - a sort of three deck ship. The top deck was the place where they lived, slept, ate, were doctored, and from which they piloted the ship.  The control room was located there, That was first level, and it added up to a very elaborate composite set. (American Cinematographer, August 1979, p776)
9. Michael Seymour: "One of the basic ideas of all these complicated starship interior sets is that you can actually walk from corridor to corridor,  from bridge to mess,  from mess to infirmary, and so on, thus giving both the actors and the audience the feeling of being inside a vast starship. - both huge and claustrophobic at one and the same time. We wanted people to have the impression that it's a real place, that it's more science fact than science fiction, and also that the whole place is well used, lived in and slightly battered after years of service."(Mediascene #35, p13-15)
   
10. Michael Seymour: "After all, the crew members of the 'Nostromo are really interstellar truckers, just doing their ordinary day-to-day work who happen to operate a complex space-tug instead of a truck along the motorways of Earth (Screen international, p20, Saturday 1st September, 1979,Mediascene #35, p13 ) 
11. Michael Seymour:" They're freebooters, in a way, who extract appropriate oils and minerals from planets, tow them back to Earth, and share the proceeds."(Mediascene #35, p13)
    
12. Screen International:"The top, or A level, consisted of the astronauts' living areas, the mess room, the computer annex, the infirmary, linking corridors and the most spectacular area, the operational bridge. The bridge consisted of masses of technical equipment, including 40 television screens (fed from an offstage video centre), hundreds of switches, and thousand of flashing indicator lights
    
    
    Filling the walls were banks of circuits and electronic equipment prepared by the props and construction department, using parts from old aircrafts, automobiles and radio and television sets
    
    
    A similar amount of detail went into the construction of B level, the general maintenance level, and C level containing the vast engine rooms plus a network of machinery filled corridors"(Screen international, p20, Saturday 1st September, 1979)
    
13. The A level houses the astronauts' living area, mess room, computer annex, infirmary, linking corridors and most importantly, the spectacular operational bridge where, amidst a veritable technological wonderland, the seven crew members sit at their individual leather seats navigating the space-tug. Production designer Michael Seymour points out that the operational bridge on the Nostromo is probably the most technologically detailed and authentic scientific movie set ever constructed.
    
    
    The astronauts are surrounded by forty variously-sized television screens showing computer readouts, technological and navigational information, maps and views of the space area outside. From a production viewpoint, this information was fed to the screens via a special intricate video-centre, with numerous banks of circuits and electronic equipment, ingeniously made up from old aircraft, automobiles, radios and television sets.
    
    
    "We must have spent thousands of pounds on scrap from old jet aircraft engines particularly." said Les Dilley, co-art director with Roger Christian. "And it's paid off handsomely because it looks so authentic." Dilley and Christian, incidentally both won oscars for their work on Star Wars - Dilley as co-art director and Christian as set director. Alien costume designer John Mollo also won an Oscar for his contribution to Star Wars. (Mediascene #35, p13) 
14. American Cinematographer: Walking down a corridor from the bridge, one comes to the mess room where the crew eat and relax. There is a small kitchen area, with various foods in powder form neatly capsuled and easily identified by tiny models of food, e.g. a miniature banana, orange or apple. Unbreakable crockery is neatly arranged on shelves and there is a sink, too, since even astronauts have to wash up.
    
    
    A stroll down another padded and illuminated corridor brings one to the infirmary, equipped with drug, an operating table which glides out of sight into the wall and a full set of surgical instruments suspended overhead.
    
    
    In another section of A level is the remarkable "hyper-sleep" area where the crew can sleep for extended periods of time in a flower-petal-like, perspex enclosed beds. An intersecting lobby houses two large, perspect fronted wardrobe cases, containing spare space suits for the crew, complete with helmets and other accoutrements. The Nostromo's movements are guided by a remarkable computer which the astronauts call "Mother" because it's technological identification is "MU/TH/UR 6000..."
    
    
    Later sequences for ALIEN were filmed on the two lower levels of the Nostromo, built seperately on other stages: B level, the general maintenance area, and C level, containing the vast engine rooms plus a seemingly endless network of complex machinery-filled corridors and the giant "claw room," into which the huge landing claws of the spaceship retract when not in use.
    
    
    The basic plan of these complicated starship interior sets allows one to actually walk from corridor to corridor, from bridge to mess, from mess to infirmary and so on, thus giving the actors and the audience the feeling of being inside a vast spacecraft, both huge and claustrophobic at the same time. Says producer Michael Seymour, "We wanted people to have the impression that it's a real place, that it's more science fact than science fiction, and also that the whole place is well used, lived in and slightly battered after years of service."(American Cinematographer p766-820 August 1979)
    

 

 

 

 

b) See:  Beginning with a 3D balsa wood model 

 

 

c) Three separate levels 

c.i) Three levels

 

There were about three levels to the Nostromo worked out: A, B and C levels 

 

There were very complicated sets were built that actually helped to give the feeling of actually being in a Starship interior both huge and claustrophobic, and it was supposed to be a piece of extremely advanced technology.

 

It was built as a four wall set and it was a complete set once you got inside.

 

People who came onto the stage from the outside saw a lot of wood along with other bits and pieces, as with all sets, but once they got inside they often could't find their way out. 

 

It was like a maze. 

 

c.ii) Geography

Also they built it as a large composite set because the intention was to do a number of long tracking shots down the corridors, arriving at various points such as the mess hall, the auto dock area, the hypersleep area where the characters are first seen to take up and the bridge which was a very complicated place where they were all sitting,

 

The intention was to make people feel as if it were like being in a real spacecraft. 

 

It was suppsed to be as if it were actually a real place, well used, lived in and slightly battered after years of service. 

 

One could walk from corridor to corridor, from bridge to mess, from mess to infirmary.

 

 

c.iii)  Ron Cobb's observations

 

Ron Cobb was observant of the results, how he couldn't walk through a wall, that he would have to enter a real hatch, and go down real corridors to get wherever they were shooting that day.

 

From inside of there, he could see nothing of the stage and so everywhere he looked, he would see the spacecraft as if it were on a location in an actual spacship shooting the movie.

 

He noticed how it really helped the actors because it was very claustrophobic and also very isolating

 

 

c.iv) Seymour's concerns

 

While the production team had to create a sense of geography for themselves in order to provide orientation for working with it, but Michael Seymour wondered when he viewed the final film whether the audience, not really conditioned to the production teams way of thinking about it would see the geography quite so clearly

 

 

1. Michael Seymour: We built it as a four-wall set, and it was a complete set once you got inside it. People who came onto the stage from the outside saw a lot of wood and bits and pieces, as with all sets, but once they got inside they often couldn't find their way out. It was like a maze. (American Cinematography, August 1979 p777)
2. Michael Seymour: We want people to have the impression that it's a real place, that it's more science-fact than science-fiction.  And also that the whole place is well used., lived in and slightly battered after years of service. (Screen International , Saturday 1st September 1979. p20)
3. Screen International: The three bridges consisted of masses of technical equipment, including 40 television screens ( fed from an off stage video control), hundreds of switches, and thousands of flashing indicator lights.(Screen International , Saturday 1st September 1979, p20)
4. Screen International: Walking onto the set of "Alien" at Shepperton Studios last year, you could have been forgiven for thinking you had stumbled upon a real space craft. (Screen International , Saturday 1st September 1979, p20)
5. Screen International: For covering most of C stage at the studios was an incredibly detailed set representing the top level of the space-tug Nostromo (Screen International , Saturday 1st September 1979, p20)  
6. Screen International: The script called for a well-used slightly battered spacecraft, with three-levels or decks. Screen International , Saturday 1st September 1979, p20)
7. Michael Seymour: One of the basic ideas of all these complicated interior sets, is that you can actually walk from corridor to corridor, from bridge to mess, from mess to infirmary, and so on, thus giving both the actors and the audience the feeling of being inside a vast space craft - both huge and claustrophobic at one and the same time (Screen International , Saturday 1st September 1979, p20)
8. Ron Cobb:You couldn't walk through a wall ever, you would have to enter a real hatch and go down real corridors to get to wherever you're shooting that day, and and you saw nothing of the stage, you know, everywhere you looked, you would see spacecraft, spacecraft and all the lighting was practical, inside the craft like you are on location, so it felt like you were on a spaceship shooting a movie, and it really helped the actors because it was very claustrophobic and it was also very isolating. (Alien Saga documentary)
9. Michael Seymour: Having decided on those elements, we tried to produce within the set a very detailed and complicated feeling that one was inside a piece of extremely advanced technology. We built it as a large composite set, because the intention was to do a number of long tracking shots down the corridors, arriving at various points like the mess hall, the auto dock area, the hyper-sleep area (where we first see the characters wake up) and the bridge, which was a really complicated place where they were all sitting. (American Cinematography, August 1979 p777)
10. Michael Seymour: We built it as a four-wall set and it was a complete set once you got inside it. People who came onto the stage from the outside saw a lot of wood and bits and pieces, as with all sets - but once they got inside they often couldn't find their way out. It was like a maze. (American Cinematographer, August 1979, p776) 
11. Michael Seymour: As I say, we had to sort of create this sense of geography for ourselves in order to provide orientation for working with it, but I wondered, as I viewed the final film, whether the audience, not really conditioned to our sort of thinking about it, would see the geography quite so clearly .(American Cinematographer, August 1979, p776).
12. Ron Cobb: "I'm really so happy that I had so much input into the design of the movie. I had a free reign on the Earth technology because there were very few people who had any thoughts on this area. I jumped right into it. I thought that the spaceship should be depicted in a fairly naturalistic way. Ridley and a lot of other people wanted to go much more heavily into fantasy. The finished effect is a mixture. The spaceship is sort of a cross between an art deco dance hall and a World War II bomber. It works on screen though. Ridley wielded it together in a soft romantic light (future life # 11, july 1979, p31 )

 

 

plan for the Nostromo bridge

plan for A deck

 

 

d) The upper deck

 

d.i) "A" Deck

"A" deck consisted of the astronauts' living areas, the mess room, the computer annex, the infirmary, linking corridors and the most spectacular area, the operational bridge. 

 

 

d.ii) The bridge

The bridge consisted of masses of technical equipment, including 40 television screens (fed from an offstage video centre), hundreds of switches, and thousand of flashing indicator lights

In the crew quarters level, it's like where the staff of the Hilton hotel would live. 

 

The walls are covered in modularized padding designs. 

 

There are ten thousand of every item for the various ships of the fleet but on a plastic Hilton-ish level

Walking down a corridor from the bridge, one comes to the mess room where the crew eat and relax. 

 

1. Screen International: The top, or A level, consisted of the astronauts' living areas, the mess room, the computer annex, the infirmary, linking corridors and the most spectacular area, the operational bridge. (Screen International , Saturday 1st September 1979, p20)
   

 

The Nostromo bridge set

 

d.iii) The commissary

 

There is a small kitchen area, with various foods in powder form neatly capsuled and easily identified by tiny models of food, e.g. a miniature banana, orange or apple. 

 

It contained unbreakable crockery

 

See: Nostromo commissary images

 

 

 

 

d.iii) Walls

 
Filling the walls were banks of circuits and electronic equipment prepared by the props and construction department, using parts from old aircrafts, automobiles and radio and television sets.

 

1. Screen International: Filling the walls were banks of circuits and electronic equipment prepared by the props and the construction departments, using parts from old aircraft, automobiles, and radio and television sets.(Screen International , Saturday 1st September 1979, p20)
2. Screen International: A similar amount of detail went into the construction on B level, the  general maintenance level, and C level, containing the vast engine rooms plus a network of complex machinery-filled corridors (Screen International , Saturday 1st September 1979, p20)

e) The middle deck

 
A similar amount of detail went into "B" deck, the general maintenance level seem as electronic and technical with a certain amount of styling and design for the crew.

1. Michael Seymour: The next level was supposed to be one of general technical maintenance, in the sense that the engine room was there (where two characters spent much of their time) . (American Cinematography, August 1979 p776)

 

 

f) The lower deck

"C" deck was really the hold of the freighter with open untreated pipes and electronics. 

 

It contained the vast engine rooms, a network of machinery filled corridors. 

 

It had garages where they parked various bits of equipment that they might need for different purposes such as the flying machines, tractors and so, on. 

 

There was also a compartment into which one of the hydraulic legs of the ship was folded.

 

Ridley hoped to show the crew using something from their garage to get out and carry out ship repairs but it became unfeasible.

1. Michael Seymour: The third level was a different kind of maintenance area which contained a sort of a garage full of space vehicles. There was also a compartment into which one of the hydraulic legs of the ship was folded. (American Cinematography, August 1979 p776)