Alien Explorations: Giger's Alien 3 beast version 2

Leading from

Giger works on Alien 3
and
H R Giger's Art

Alien 3 sculpture ( soure: whatculture.com/)

article still in development

a) Shape shifting alterations
As Giger progressed across August 1990, his own idea was to make an Alien that is not as repulsive or bad.

His new design for a creature was more erotic than his previous alien, near enough like a lethal panther.

In the creature's head, it has a kind of finger brain that would move in the way that wind would blow over reeds, and in addition, the creature has a collar underneath the neck that becomes as lethal as an ax.

It would suddenly open up in such a way that it will be pointed like a saw.

b) A Second Skin
Giger also tried to make a second skin with holes like those in a saxophone that would give off musical note sounds when the wind passes through and allow the Alien to communicate as how it felt would be expressed by sound.

He thought that all his changes and improvements would be used.

(When Alec Gillis found out about this, he thought that Giger had designed a head with valves like a saxophone, (although we can see such valves on its limbs in Giger's design, so that the Alien would be running its hands along the length of the head creating unearthly, horrific music which would have been a strange idea too far out anyway. If Gillis himself thought this, there might have been any number of strange ideas going through the studio's minds about Giger's idea that were not actually precise.)

He wanted to show the Alien in different ways because then you don't have to rely on shadows of the creature, but it couldn't be done.

He was also able to do away with the back pipes or tubes because he did that for the long skull that stood out horizontally if it stands.

If the alien is now like a beast, then the long head is just over the shoulders and needs nothing to as it were support it.

Alien 3 ballpoint sketch (source: gigercollector/)

Alien 3 sketch published in Aliens (comic book magazine #12, June 1993 , "The Giger Sanction"

Giger Sketch of the beast for Alien 3 (source: gigercollector/)

c) Looking for a direction to go
For Giger, the alien wasn't just a primary being that only eats people.

It is intelligent, tortures with refinement and plays with his victims.

However Giger didn't have a script and so did not know which direction the film would take.

He knew that Fincher wanted to return to the impact of the first Alien film in the alien creature could hardly be seen.

The absence of a clear view of the monster helped towards the strength of the movie.

In the first film, this was not what they had planned but despite the wonderful design of the monster, it was so poorly made that Ridley decided not to show it completely.

Alien 3 beast, 12 August 1990

d) Basic intended changes
The original creature had a short chest and so Giger decided to make it longer, giving it long legs like a spider.

His new creature was more sensuous and seductive.

It's not at all monstrous and ugly.

The skull was left approximately the same, but the lips and chin on his new creature were better proportioned.

He gave the creature a more erotic appearance with the sensuous lips of a beautiful woman, and wanted to change the tongue.

Giger didn't want the monster to resemble the monsters from the previous films, he wanted something different for each film and he proposed a different language of ideas here which David Fincher didn't accept.

Alien face , 3rd of August 1990 (source gigercollector)

e) Sword/Spear Tongue
The tongue of the original Alien creature, the mouth in the mouth, was an idea of Ridley Scott's inspired by the mouth of the creature in Giger's Necronom IV, and an idea which Giger thought was ridiculous since it was just a tube with teeth in front was not really organic enough for him.

Now in his new design, when the mouth is closed, it looks very voluptuous, beautiful.

When it opens its jaws, it seems very suggestive, he made a very elegant tongue like a sword or spear and the tongue pushes out.

f) The Kiss
He designed a kiss , there would be different kinds of kisses.

When Giger was brought on, he was still thinking on the level of the monk characters from Vincent Ward's Alien 3 script, there would be lots of monks and there would be a situation where they kissed the alien and then the lips comes close and then finally, "suck".

The monk's eyes would be seen to open a little bit followed by some blood running between the lips and then the creature pulls back the whole interior of the victim's cranium, the brains come out.

g) The Kiss 2

Another monk with a bald head has pointed his lips for a kiss and the creature instead kissed him in the eyes with its long tongue, it just penetrates the head with greater velocity, snagging bits of brain. It was a horrible death in Giger's view, turning the creature from Beauty to the Beast.

g) Finger blades
With Cornelius De Fries, Giger came up with the idea of sharp blades between between the fingers, which could shoot out, allowing the Alien to cut its victim and also be able to touch.

For Giger, this was keeping with the new doglike look of the beast which is very fast and devious.

Fans of Marvel comics X-Men might see a similarity between the blades that come from between the fingers of this creature and the blades that come out from between the fingers of the character Wolverine who with his adamantium skeleton could be described as a biomechanoid of sorts.

Alien III drawing: Alien Monster Claw(source:gigercollector/)

(source:gigercollector/)

Hands no 6 (source:gigercollector/)

Hands no 5 (source:gigercollector/)

Hands no 2 (source:gigercollector/)

h) Final
As far as Giger was concerned, they kept some of his ideas but what was shown was very different from his first design

Source quotes

HR Giger: Before there was a final script, I was asked to make new designs for a faster and more graceful Alien for director David Fincher. I welcomed the opportunity to make improvements on my original designs. I built my new Alien 3 full size in my basement, eliminating the useless pipes on the back, adding razor-like lion claws between his fingers and a lethal new tongue. I corrected many things. The skull I left approximately the same but I gave the new Alien beautiful sensuous lips. In addition, the creature has a collar underneath the neck that becomes as lethal as an ax. I also tried to make a second skin with holes like those in a saxophone that would give off sounds when the wind passes through and allow the Alien to communicate. I wanted to show the Alien in different ways because then you don't have to rely on shadows of the creature, but it couldn't be done. After a month of work I was quite unhappy to realize that they did not care about my designs at all. ((Aliens (comic book magazin) #12, June 1993 , "The Giger Sanction" transcribed article to be found at http://weyland-yutaniarchives.blogspot.co.uk )))
HR Giger: In his mind was a kind of puma, or a... a beast like that, that was difficult, when finally I did it, it came out like a lion something, and that was not exactly that what he wanted. He wanted to have a... an erotic alien also, so I made my... erm... lips and a chin, with this part, you can make a... an erotic lady. You don't need more than that, this part. (The Making Of Alien 3, xeno-erotic)
Sauve Qui Peut: Durant ce mois et demi de travail, étiez vous libre d'apporter ces modifications? During the month and a half of work , you were free to make these changes ?
HR Giger: Oui et non, David Fincher dèsirait qu'Alien ressemble à un jaguar, reprenant l'idée d'un clip qu'il a réalise pour Madonna. Je l'ai fait, il n'en a pas voulus. Il trouvait que ça ressemblait trop à un lion et a décidé de ne garder de la tête. Mon idée était de faire un Alien qui ne serait plus aussi repoussant et mouvais. Je le voulais trés attirant, érotique, avec les lèvres d'une belle femme. Je voulais également changer la langue, cette bouche dans la bouche, un idée de Ridley qui me paraissait ridicule, il l'avait vue sur l'un de mes dessins. Je ne voulais pas que mes monstres ressemblent aux précédents, je voulais fair des choses nouvelles pour chaque film. J'ai donc proposé une langue différente, avec des dards, mais Fincher n'a pas accepté. C'est vraiment dommage, j'y tenais beaucoup. Pour moi, l'Alien n'est pas un être primaire qui ne fait que bouffer des gens. Il est intelligent, il les torture avec raffinement, il s'amuse avec. Pendant un mois, j'ai travaillé dans cette optique, mais personne n'a attaché d'importance à ces nouveaux comportements. Il faut dire que je n'avais pas le script et ne savais pas quelle direction prenait le film. A part que Fincher voulait retrouver l'impact du premier épisode, dans lequel on ne voyait pratiquement pas le monstre. C'est d'ailleurs ce qui a fait la force de ce film. Au dèpart, ce n'était pas prévu. Le monstre était tellement mal réalisé que Ridley a décidé de ne pas le montrer. Yes and no, David Fincher wanted an Alien looks like a jaguar , taking the idea of a clip he directs Madonna . I did it , it was not necessary . He thought it looked too much like a lion and has decided to keep his head . My idea was to make an Alien that is not as repulsive and bad . I wanted very attractive , erotic, with the lips of a beautiful woman . I also wanted to change the tongue , the mouth in the mouth, a Ridley idea that seemed ridiculous, he had seen on one of my drawings. I do not want my monsters resemble previous ones, I wanted new things fair for each film , so I proposed a different language, with darts , but Fincher has not accepted . It's a shame , I really wanted. For me, the Alien is not a primary being who is only eating people. It is clever, he tortures them with refinement, he has a good time with. For one month, I worked from this perspective, but nobody tied importance to these new behaviours. It is necessary to say that I had no script and did not know which direction took the film. Apart that Fincher wanted to find the impact of the first episode, in which they did not see the monster in practice. It is besides what made the force of this film. At first, it was not envisaged. The monster was so badly realized that Ridley decided not to show it. (Sauve Qui Peut, spécial hors-série, automne 1992 ) (NB: Would need to take a look at the original French again to make sure the transcription is fine, admittedly translation doesn't make 100% sense)
Giger: My new creature is more sensuous and seductive. It's not at all monstrous or ugly. The lips and chin on my new model are better proportioned and give the creature its more erotic appearance. When the mouth is closed it looks very voluptuous, beautiful. But when it opens it's jaws the tongue inside the mouth is more like a spear...also very suggestive...which penetrates the head with greater velocity, snagging bits of brain. From Beauty to the Beast. (source unknown but transcribed article to be found at http://weyland-yutaniarchives.blogspot.co.ukl)
HR Giger: Then I have some design of the kiss, there are different kinds of kisses, one they're probably, he could... this er... alien could be very erotic and there are a lot of monks here and probably could be a situation where they kiss each other and come close with the lips and then like here and then finally, "suck" and probably you see eye open a little bit and then you see some blood running running between the lips and then he pulls out and then will be like that a little bit. I mean, this one with the kiss was still behind his head and and now he's going at everything back. Here the bald guy er...is... has pointed the lips for a kiss but he kissed him in the eye. (The Making Of Alien 3, xeno-erotic)
Cornelius De Fries: This is also an idea of Giger and me, the kind of swords in between of the fingers so that he can touch and suddenly "schwatcht!", swords are coming out through the fingers. (The Making Of Alien 3, xeno-erotic)
HR Giger: The hands now had very Sharpe blades between the fingers, which could shoot out, allowing the Alien to cut its victim. This is in keeping with the new Doglike look of the beast, which is very fast and devious. In the end they kept some of my ideas, but what is shown in the film is very much changed from my first design."
(source unknown but transcribed article to be found at http://weyland-yutaniarchives.blogspot.co.ukl)
HR Giger: Just to show the first Alien I did was more a human being, and the third one, the third film, it's more beast, more elegant, all the mistakes or the not nice forms, I try here to make it better, to make it more elegant, more big and er, more aesthetique. There are for instance, these tubes on the back, I did that because of the long skull, if he stands, but if he's like a beast, then the long head is just over the... over the shoulder, he need.... he doesn't need any supporting. (The Making Of Alien 3, xeno-erotic)
HR Giger: There was this short chest, I make it longer and I make it longer legs like... like a spider... not.. not... and erm then the tongue... the tongue of the first alien was so like a ..... in a way not organic, it was a tube with these teeth in front and it was really not.... and so I made a very elegant tongue like a ... like a sword... they come... they brought the tongue out... push out and then it goes the victim and then goes in the... in the mouth and by pulling back the whole interior of the vic... of the victim came out... it must be horri... horrible. (The Making Of Alien 3, xeno-erotic)
HR Giger: Then I have some design of the kiss, there are different kinds of kisses, one they're probably, he could... this er... alien could be very erotic and there are a lot of monks here and probably could be a situation where they kiss each other and come close with the lips and then like here and then finally, "suck" and probably you see eye open a little bit and then you see some blood running running between the lips and then he pulls out and then will be like that a little bit. I mean, this one with the kiss was still behind his head and and now he's going at everything back. Here the bald guy er...is... has pointed the lips for a kiss but he kissed him in the eye. (The Making Of Alien 3, xeno-erotic)
HR Giger: I tried to... to make a second... a kind of second skin.... like um, yeah, that they are perhaps the, from a saxophone or from something you can... that m... work and that gives sound and how the... the big creature feel so you should hear how he feels. (The Making Of Alien 3, xeno-erotic)
HR Giger: It's a kind of finger brain who should move like when a wind is blowing over the grain, and this is the collar, the collar... coll.... it can be opened if this goes like that... that will be... that will be pointed, pointed like a saw. (The Making Of Alien 3, xeno-erotic)
Sauve Qui Peut: Quand Alien 3 êtait en plein réalisation, vous étiez très faché. Vous pensiez que l’équipe de tournage interprétait mal vos dessins, que le film allait être médiocre. Maintenant vous l'avez vu, votre jugement a-t-il change?
translation:When Alien 3 was in full production, you were very pissed off. You thought the crew misinterpreted your drawings, the film was going to be mediocre. Now you have seen, your judgment has it changed?
Giger: Oui. A présent, je trouve que c'est bien meilleur, ils se sont donnés de la peine. Quand David Fincher, le réalisateur , est venu à Zurich, je lui ai dit que je ne voulais pas, qu'on voit qu'il y un homme dans le monster, il m'a rassuré en me disant qu'il n'y aurait que des robots télécommandés. Et puis dans les premières photo de tournage, on voyait un homme dans un costume, c'etait pire que tout ce que j'avais vu. Seule la tête était tres bien faite
translation:Yes. Now I think it is much better, they are given the penalty. When David Fincher, the director, came to Zurich, I told him I did not want to, we see that there is a man in the monster, he reassured me by saying that there would that remote-controlled robots. And then in the first photo shoot, we saw a man in a suit, it was worse than anything I had seen. Only the head was very nicely done.(Sauve Qui Peut, spécial hors-série, automne 1992 )
Gillis: One of the successes of the creature design in Alien 3 is that we were working directly with David Fincher. We’d have meetings with him, and he would say things like, “I want it to be as powerful as a freight train and have Michelle Pfeiffer‘s lips.” And the female lips thing was very much existing in Giger’s world. Giger was exploring things that he felt David would be interested in. There was one head he designed that had valves like a saxophone, and he imagined the Alien running his hands along the length of the head creating unearthly, horrific music. That’s a crazy idea and an interesting idea, but for the studio it was a little too out there. So those kinds of ideas fell by the wayside. For us, we’ll go in with a blank slate and interview the director: “What are you looking for? How can we support you to tell the story?” (https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/alien-creature-design-duo-takes-us-inside-20-years-xenomorph-ing-174139859.html)

crouched alien 3, 12th August 1990 (Seconds, #25, 1994)

Giger's Alien 3 beast version 2

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