Alien: Brian Johnson comes aboard

leading from

Alien: Productions Begins
and
Brian Johnson
 

Nicky Allder and Brian Johnson preparing an Eagle transporter for Space 1999

a) Signing up for Empire Strikes Back


a.i) Phonecall about visitors
When Brian Johnson was working on Gerry Anderson's Space 1999 at Bray Studios, he got a call from Twentieth Century Fox because they wanted to show some people around the Space 1999 production, and the discussion appeared to be about a couple of people who wanted to look at what they were doing at the studio since they had seen the show and were quite interested.

The Managing Director for 20th Century Fox Productions named Peter Beale brought all these executives along with the two and Brian showed them what they were doing in and have a tour around the stages.


a.ii) Two curious visitors
Two of the men asked Brian some very intelligent questions, about the camera work, the multiple exposures.

They mentioned a movie they had made called American Graffiti, and Brian hadn't seen it.

They both asked very pertinent questions, Brian knew he was dealing with people who knew what they were talking about.

They weren't the normal producer type people, but were definitely hands on technician types

One of them asked him why he wasn't shooting with motion control

Brian replied "Because in this country, motion control has barely got underway and at one frame a second, there's no way I could use motion control"

They understood that.


a.iii) Offer of work by George Lucas and Gary Kurtz

One of them asked him of them suddenly turned around to him, interested in him doing the special effects for a film they were doing and said "Would you be interested in doing a science fiction story?"

Brian replied "Yes, I have just literally signed for a second series of Space 1999 yesterday and I can't go back on that. If I had known you were going to make a science fiction feature film, I probably wouldn't have signed that thing."

There was also the issue he had that he preferred to stay in England

If it should be known that he said "two days ago" rather than "yesterday", that's another thing to think about

These two people were George Lucas and Gary Kurtz who were about to make the Star Wars films, although at the time, it had a different title

One of the two returned to Brian's office saying "We are going to make more than one film, we're going to make probably nine, we'd like you to do the second one"

Brian replied "Okay, well you know, I will be more than pleased to do the second one because that'll be some time down the line."

Off they went and Brian thought "Well, I'll never hear from them again"


a.iii) That was Star Wars!

He didn't even really think about it until Star Wars came out.

He was talking to technicians who worked on the film and they were saying "oh it’s a pile of crap, they don’t know what they’re doing. They’re like a bunch of amateurs " saying various things about them

After these technicians has been to the crew screening, Brian talked to them again.

He asked "How'd it got?"

They replied "Fucking amazing! The best thing ever."

Brian thought in response to that "oh well that's it"


a.iv) Accepting an offer to work on Empire Strikes Back

A couple of months after Star Wars came out, which would have been around July or August of 1977, while Brian was working on The Revenge of the Pink Panther, Garry phoned him up and told him "Oh Brian, we want you to start on Empire Strikes Back " or was it just called Star Wars: Chapter II.

If he hadn't immediately mentioned the start date, then Brian asked the question "When does that start?"

Gary suggested that he come to California the following March, which would be in 1978

Brian stated "yeah, I’d love to do it" or even perhaps just "Great" and put that the information in his diary.

He proceeded to negotiate with the producers of Pink Panther calling for a stop date in March.

Although this Pink Panther film was supposed to be completed in January, it went over.

He left in March 1978 , the effects were virtually wrapped up and on the 13th he arrived at Industrial Light And Magic, Lucas' company that had been started two years earlier.

Gary Kurtz and George Lucas in 1973

1. Brian Johnson: When I was on Space 1999, I got a call from Twentieth Century Fox to say that (erm) there are a couple of people who want to look at what we're doing, they'd seen the show and they were quite interested. So these two chaps came down and they walked around the stages and they asked me some pretty intelligent questions the camera stuff and the multiple exposure and all that sort of stuff, and er, and then as they were going out, one of them said erm,  erm, would you be interested in doing a science fiction movie, and er, and I said, i have just literally signed for the second series of Space 1999 yesterday, If I had known you were going to make a science fiction feature film I probably wouldn't have signed that thing. Anyway they went off and that was George Lucas and Gary Kurtz. And Gary Kurtz came back into my office and said we are going to make more than one film, we're going to make probably nine, we'd like you to do the second one. So I said Okay, well, you know, I will be more than pleased to do the second one because that'll be some time down the line. Anyway off they went, and then Star Wars came out, and I thought "well, I'll never hear from them again". I didn't know that, and then they contacted, Garry contacted me and said Oh Brian we want you to start on Empire Strikes Back on (whatever the date was) and so I said great and I put that in my diary.  (Alien Makers II documentary http://www.zen171398.zen.co.uk/Alien.html )
2. Brian Johnson: It was a visit from 20th Century Fox. Peter Beale brought all these executives along and I showed them what we were doing and these two guys asked me why I wasn't shooting with motion control. I said because in this country, motion control has barely got underway and at one frame a second, there's no way I could use motion control, and they understood that. (Infinity #22)
3. Brian Johnson: That turned out to be George Lucas and Gary Kurtz. So they offered me this job would I like to get involved in the effects on this thing that they were going to do, and I don't remember it being called Star Wars, it was called something else. Anyway I said, 'well, two days ago I signed on to do Gerry's second series of Space 1999 and I can't go back on that.' And George said,' well that's OK because we're going to do a load of these, you can do the next one. " So I said OK, and I didn't think any more about it really until Star Wars came out. By that time Peter Beale had been in touch with my anyway about a picture called Alien that he wanted me to do (Infinity #22)
4. Brian Johnson: Yeah. What happened was – I was working on Space 1999. And two blokes came to the studio, and said can they have a look around to see what I was doing. We had already done the first series of Space, and we were about to start the second series. We were just coming to the end of the first season, that’s right. So they came in and they had a look around, and they asked me all sorts of questions – how would I do this, how would I do that. I said I’d do this motion control, etc. And then they went away and one of them came back and said we’d like you to do this picture called Star Wars. I said I can’t, I’ve just signed literally yesterday with Gerry Andersen to do a second series of Space 1999. They said look, whatever happens, we’d like you to do the second one, we’re gonna make nine. I think it was nine at the time. That was Gary Kurtz. (http://www.originalprop.com/blog/2009/04/23/interview-with-brian-johnson-special-effects-artist-special-to-the-opb/)
5. Brian Johnson: The other guy was George Lucas. And they’d walked around my studio, I didn’t know who they were. They mentioned American Graffti, and I’d not seen that. They both asked really pertinent questions, so I wasn’t dealing with guys who didn’t know what they were talking about. They definitely weren’t normal producer type people, they were definitely hands on technician types. And I thought "oh well that’s it, lost that job". And then Star Wars came out, and I was talking to the guys on Star Wars, the technicians. They said "oh it’s a pile of crap, they don’t know what they’re doing. They’re like a bunch of amateurs", they’re this, they’re that. And the same people, after they’d been to the crew screening, I saw two of them again. I said how’d it go. “Fucking amazing! The best thing ever.” So I thought oh well that’s it. (http://www.originalprop.com/blog/2009/04/23/interview-with-brian-johnson-special-effects-artist-special-to-the-opb/) 
6. Brian Johnson:And then the phone rang, and it was Gary, and he said "we’d like you to do Empire Strikes Back." So I said when does that start, and I said, “yeah, I’d love to do it”.  (http://www.originalprop.com/blog/2009/04/23/interview-with-brian-johnson-special-effects-artist-special-to-the-opb/)  
6. Fantastic Film: How did you get your position on the film?
   Brian Johnson: A long time ago, Gary Kurtz and George Lucas turned up at Bray Studios where I was doing the Space: 1999 series. They seemed to like what I was doing with the miniatures. A few days later, they asked me if I'd be interested in a picture they were planning called Star Wars. I told Gary that I liked the idea, but it conflicted with Space: 1999, and I had preferred to stay in England. So that was that. About two months after Star Wars came out, I got a call from Gary who asked me if I'd like to work on the planned sequel, which at the time was being called Star Wars: Chapter II. The call came at the time I was working on The Revenge of the Pink Panther.
   
   Fantastic Film:  Do you recall the date?
   Brian Johnson: It was around July or August of 1977. When I asked Gary when he'd like me to start, he suggested that I come to California the following March. I proceeded to negotiate with the producers of Pink Panther, calling for a stop date in March. Incidentally, the film was to have been completed by January but it went over. So I left in March 1978. The effects for Pink Panther were virtually wrapped up. I arrived at ILM on March 13. That involved the setting up of a lot of things and gently getting the feel of how the picture was going. At the same time, Fox headquarters in England wanted me to do Alien. I could see the conflict immediately. Gary said it would be okay providing that I would be available to start production on Empire. (Fantastic Films Issue #17 July 1980, See: https://catacombs.space1999.net/press/vcsjohnson2.html)
7. Brian Johnson: I was told that a big space film (Star Wars) was going to be made at Elstree Studios and I was asked if I wanted to work on it. Having already been commissioned for the second series of Space: 1999, I was unable to accept Star Wars.  (https://britishcinematographer.co.uk/brian-johnson/)

Peter Beale during a visit to the Star Wars set in 1976
(source: http://www.peterbeale.com/bio--.html)

b) The Alien Script


b.i) Talking about Alien
Having seen Peter Beale about The Empire Strikes back, Beale got back in touch with him, it might even have been during the time Brian was working on the second series of Space 1999 and might have been that Beale was getting in touch with him about Alien because the knew each other well enough and so knew of his work in general

Beale called him up to say said "I’ve got this project here it’s called Alien. Can you come and talk to us about it?"

Brian responded "I’ve just signed for a thing with George Lucas and Gary Kurtz."

Beale confidently replied "Oh it’s another Fox production, I’ll sort that out " and this would mean that he would have to get permission from Lucas and Kurtz to allow Brian to do both picture since he signed up for Empire Strikes Back first.

Beale sent him a script and was being asked to turn up at Twentieth Century Fox House at Soho Square to listen to the people from Brandywine, being David Giler, Walter Hill and Gordon Carroll.

It would appear that this was at a time when Ridley Scott hadn't signed on as director yet, but at the same time they were looking at taking the production to England because the script had found its way into the hands of Sandy Lieberson who was the 20th Century Fox as Vice President in charge of production and marketing for mostly outside United States and primarily in Europe. (See Alien: Greenlighting)


b.ii) Impressed by the Alien script

Brian read the script, which he understood to be Dan O’Bannon’s script, he finished it.

At the time there were very few special effects in the script, with one or two establishing shots in space and some floor effects.


He thought “Jesus, I’ve got to work on this. This is too good to miss.”

He was supposed to discuss the special effects and do an estimate for the budget.

The sum he came up with turned out to be less that it turned out to be, but that was what would happen before there was a chance to talk to someone about what was required

1. Brian Johnson: Having seen Peter Beale about The Empire Strikes Back, he got back in touch with me. We were working on the second series of Space 1999 and he sent me a script and said would I turn up at Soho Square and listen to the Brandywine people, David Giler and Walter Hill, talk about how it should be done from a special effects point of view. (Infinity #22)
2. Brian Johnson: So I read the script, did a quick budget, which was actually less that it turned out to be, but that's what happens before you talk to anybody about what's required, and then I got into the car with Gerry who said "I haven't had time to read the script, so give me a rough breakdown of what's going on." (Infinity #22)
3. Brian Johnson: It’s a great movie, though, isn’t it? When I read Empire Strikes Back, it didn’t hit me as being a fantastic story, because it was so complicated and it had to pick up from the last one and it had to lead on to the next one. It wasn’t quite the same as this, where you start off, there’s a middle, and an end, the whole thing is there, isn’t it? When I read the script, Dan O’Bannon’s script, I finished it and thought “Jesus, I’ve got to work on this. This is too good to miss.” It was fantastic. (http://www.originalprop.com/blog/2009/04/23/interview-with-brian-johnson-special-effects-artist-special-to-the-opb/ ) 
4. Brian Johnson: And then I had a call from Peter Beale, who was head of Fox in the UK, and he said "I’ve got this project here it’s called Alien. Can you come and talk to us about it?" I said well I’ve just signed for a thing with George Lucas and Gary Kurtz. He said, “oh it’s another Fox production, I’ll sort that out”. And he came back and he said yeah you can do both, they won’t overlap, there will be a gap, just a short enough gap, and you can just about squeeze it in. “Okay, thanks.” So that’s what I did. (http://www.originalprop.com/blog/2009/04/23/interview-with-brian-johnson-special-effects-artist-special-to-the-opb/)   
5. Brian Johnson: I was presented with the script to Alien a long time ago, I was working for Gerry Anderson on Space: 1999. Walter Hill, Gordon Carroll and another Alien director called me in to discuss the script. At that time there were very few special effects in the script — one or two establishing shots in space and some floor effects. (Starlog magazine #27)
6. Starlog: Although Empire and Alien are both Fox pictures, Johnson had signed with Empire first, so Fox had to get permission from George Lucas and Gary Kurtz to allow Johnson to do both pictures.  (Starlog magazine #27)
7. Brian Johnson: Actually, George's company owns Empire, while Alien is totally financed by Fox. (Starlog magazine #27)
8. Brian Johnson: At the same time, Fox headquarters in England wanted me to do Alien. I could see the conflict immediately. (Fantastic Films Issue #17 July 1980, See: https://catacombs.space1999.net/press/vcsjohnson2.html)
9. Brian Johnson: I did the second series of Space: 1999 and then started looking around for other things to do before The Empire Strikes Back. During this period Peter Beale from 20^th Century Fox asked me if I would talk to director Walter Hill, to discuss a picture he was going to make called Alien. (https://britishcinematographer.co.uk/brian-johnson/)
    

Gerry Anderson during the time of Space 1999

c) Talking to Gerry Anderson


c.i) Phonecall from Gerry

Because Gerry Anderson has Century 21 Merchandising, he was asked to the same meeting as well because they wanted to talk to him about the merchandising in light of the success of the merchandising of toys and so on for Star Wars.

Since they knew each other because Brian had been working for his productions over the years, he got a phonecall from Gerry the evening saying "I'm on this Alien thing, they want me to get involved in the merchandising. It was because of what had happened on Star Wars and all the merchandising things with that. He said I've laid on a car, we'll pick you up in the morning and we'll go up together and have the meeting and we can talk about the show"


c.ii) Conversations in the car

The following morning, Brian got into the car with Gerry.

Although they sent him a script, Gerry told him, "I haven't had a chance to read the script so so just give me a rough precis of what it's all about."
 
Brian told him the story, and how he thought it was one of the best scripts he'd read in terms of suspense and so on.

Gerry then asked "How much do you think the effects are going to be?"

Not realising that Gerry's brain was scheming away, Brian gave him a figure that he had in mind without having talked to anybody about it, telling him "I thought it would cost two million dollars to do the effects.."

1. Brian Johnson: And then just a few days later I had this meeting with a, the Fox people about Alien, they sent me a script, I did a break down and because Gerry had Century 21 Merchandising, they asked him to the same meeting, sent him a script and erm, because they wanted to talk to him about the merchandising of toys and things because of what had happened on Star Wars with the merchandising of Star Wars, and er, so, the night before we were due to go up for the meeting, I got a phonecall from Gerry saying we can, we can both go up, I've organised a car, we can both go up together and we can talk about the show, so there we are both driving up in the car and Gerry says I haven't had a chance to read the script so just give me a rough precis of what it's all about, so I did, and then said, "how much to do you think the effects are going to be", so I told him the figure I had in mind without having talked to anybody it, so I knew it was going to go up from there, (Alien Makers II documentary http://www.zen171398.zen.co.uk/Alien.html )
2. Brian Johnson: I then got a call from Gerry saying, "I'm on this Alien thing, they want me to get involved in the merchandising'. It was because of what had happened on Star Wars and all the merchandising things with that. He said I've laid on a car, we'll pick you up in the morning and we'll go up and have the meeting. (Infinity #22)
3.  Brian Johnson: So I read the script, did a quick budget, which was actually less that it turned out to be, but that's what happens before you talk to anybody about what's required, and then I got into the car with Gerry who said "I haven't had time to read the script, so give me a rough breakdown of what's going on." (Infinity #22)
4. Brian Johnson: So I told him the story and said I thought it was one of the best scripts I'd read in terms of suspense and everything else. He said 'How much is it going to cost?' and I said "I thought it would cost two million dollars to do the effects." (Infinity #22)
    

Soho Square in the 1970s

d) The Fox meeting


d.i) Arriving as Fox in Soho Square

They arrived at Fox House in Soho Square for the meeting.

Walter Hill, David Giler, Gordon Carroll and perhaps Ron Shusett, were there.

Walter Hill asked Brian about various things such as how he would do the chest burster sequence. 

Brian's response was that they'd need a life casting and they would bring the Chestburster out through the dummy chest with the man laying down diagonally so that they wouldn't see his real body other than his head and shoulders.

As he explained all of this, they seemed quite happy.

Jon Finch at the time was going to be the man.


d.ii) Gerry takes a turn

It got around to the point of how much it would cost, when suddenly Gerry stood up and said "I'd like to propose that I am the special effects producer of this movie and I will do it for a fixed cost of five million pounds."

The response was "Well that's interesting Gerry, we'll talk about that later."

In the background Peter Beale was shaking his head looking at Brian out of Gerry's eyeline, saying "That's not going to happen"

1. Brian Johnson: So we went to the meeting, Walter Hill was there and he asked me about this and that, such as how would I do the Chestburster sequence?  (Infinity #22)
2. Brian Johnson: I said we'd need a life-casting and would bring the Chestburster out through the dummy chest with the guy laying dow diagonally so you wouldn't see his real body other than his head and shoulders. I explained all that and they seemed quite happen. Jon Finch was going to be the guy. (Infinity #22)
3. Brian Johnson:We got nearly to the end of the meeting and started to talk about other things and then suddenly Gerry stood up and said I'l like to make a suggestion. I'd like to offer my services as the special effects producer and I will guarantee that you get all the affects you want for five million pounds. (Infinity #22)
4. Brian Johnson: and erm, we got up to the meeting and when I was in the meeting, I met the director, which was Walter Hill. It wasn't Ridley Scott at that stage, it was before that., and David Giler was there, Gordon Carroll and I think Ron Shusett was there as well, who was Dan O'Bannon's partner. And it got around to the point of how much it would cost, which point Gerry suddenly stood up, I'd like to propose that I am the visual effects special effects producer of this movie and I will do it for a fixed price cost and he basically doubled the money that I said, and he stood there looking at everybody, and there was a lot of shuffling and nobody said very much, "Well that's interesting Gerry, we'll talk about that later" and then in the background Peter Beale was shaking his head saying, looking at me out of Gerry's eyeline, saying "That's not going to happen" (Alien Makers II documentary http://www.zen171398.zen.co.uk/Alien.html) 
5. Brian Johnson: I went to see Walter and we discussed how we would do the sequence where the Alien comes out of John Hurt’s body. When I came to do the film we made a false chest rig and pumped pints of what looked like blood through the ripped T-shirt.(https://britishcinematographer.co.uk/brian-johnson/)
    

c) After the meeting


c.i) Letter number 1 through the post

Two days later, Brian had a letter through the post saying from the Fox Office, telling him that they'd like him to start on Alien on such and such a date, and that by the way, Gerry Anderson would not be involved

Beale got back to Brian sorting out the issue about doing both films, he said "yeah you can do both, they won’t overlap, there will be a gap, just a short enough gap, and you can just about squeeze it in."

Gary Kurtz had said said it would be okay providing that he would be available to start production on Empire.

Brian's response was "Okay, thanks "


c.ii) Letter number 2 through the post

Days later Brian got a letter from Fox saying in writing that they'd like him to do both productions and that was fine enough

Meanwhile, Brian went off to work on Revenge of the Pink Panther and Medusa Touch


Soon her had a meeting with Ridley Scott, who he found to be a wonderful storyboard artist. They looked over  Ridley's drawings and set a tentative date.

The understanding at the time was that there weren't going to be so many effects that Brian couldn't still go ahead and join The Empire Strikes Back production.

1. Brian Johnson: and two days later I had a letter through the post saying from from the Fox office, saying we'd like you to start on Alien on such and such a date, by the way Gerry Anderson will not be involved, and I mentioned to Peter Beale that I'd already agreed to do Empire Strikes Back and Peter said Oh, it's a Fox production, it's not a problem, I'll sort, don't worry about that I'll sort it all out, and I got a letter from them saying we'd like you to do both productions.(Alien Makers II documentary http://www.zen171398.zen.co.uk/Alien.html) 
2. Brian Johnson: And then I had a call from Peter Beasl, who was head of Fox in the UK, and he said "I’ve got this project here it’s called Alien. Can you come and talk to us about it?" I said well I’ve just signed for a thing with George Lucas and Gary Kurtz. He said, “oh it’s another Fox production, I’ll sort that out”. And he came back and he said yeah you can do both, they won’t overlap, there will be a gap, just a short enough gap, and you can just about squeeze it in. “Okay, thanks.” So that’s what I did. (http://www.originalprop.com/blog/2009/04/23/interview-with-brian-johnson-special-effects-artist-special-to-the-opb/)  
3. Brian Johnson: After some discussion, they asked me to do the movie, but the film was going to be in preparation for some time and lots of things  were going to be changed, so I went to work  on Revenge of the Pink Panther, Medusa Touch and one or two other things.   (Starlog magazine #27) 
4. Brian Johnson: Then one day I got a call from 20th Century-Fox asking me to do the effects on Alien. At that time I was just about to start the Star Wars sequel, but I said, 'Great! I'd love to do it.' I had a meeting with Ridley Scott, who is a wonderful storyboard artist. We looked over his drawings and set a tentative date. The understanding was that there weren't going to be so many effects that I couldn't still carry on with The Empire Strikes Back. (Starlog magazine #27)  
5.  Brian Johnson: Gary said it would be okay providing that I would be available to start production on Empire.
   (Fantastic Films Issue #17 July 1980, See: https://catacombs.space1999.net/press/vcsjohnson2.html)