a) Going back to design roots
a,i) Era of the first film
Fede wanted to go back to the roots, to the era of the first film, and so that would indicate much of the design right away.
He knew it needed to look like the original films. He was interested in retro-futurism and didn't want to go for holographic images floating around or anything like that.
a.ii) His comfort zone
He wanted chunky square monitors, clicky keyboards and this form of technology that would not only warm the hearts of the generation who grew up with movies containing these things, but also he would be giving it to a new audience that would discover those things that they don't see all the time and will love it.
He decided that the company made a certain type of hallway, a certain type of monitor, and a certain type of engine. So, if you lived in this universe, you would re-encounter a lof ot these design.
a.iii) Comparison to watching Tarantino movies
He compares it to watching Quentin Tarantino movies in the 1990s.
His father would say “What’s new with this?”
His father knew all of the exploitation movies from the 1970s that Tarantino was riffing on, but for Álvarez, as he said, “It’s all new to me.”
He had no knowledge of those earlier movies,
but Tarantino sparked an interest.
b) Faithful to the style of the first film
Production designer Naaman Marshall and Fede took a lot of care to make sure that they were very faithful to the style of the first film. It might have taken place a few years later, but in the world of Alien, that would not have been too much later really.
c) Technology
Technology in the world of Alien could change vastly. It was not dependant on time, it was dependant on the place where you were.
Here the technology was still very low tech and analog.
As a child of the 80s, any monitor with some VHS tracking issues put a lot of joy in Fede's heart
- Fede Alvarez: I knew that I wanted to go back to the roots, to the era of the first film, and so that indicates much of the design right away. This company makes a certain type of hallway, a certain type of monitor, a certain type of engine, and if you live in this universe, you'll re-encounter a lot of these designs. So production designer Naaman Marshall and I took a lot of care to make sure we were super faithful to the style of the first film. This takes place a few years later, but in the world of Alien, that's not too much later, really. (https://ew.com/alien-romulus-director-fede-alvarez-breaks-down-new-trailer-8611454)
- “I did know that it needed to look like the original films. That
retro-futurism was something that I was interested in, that I didn’t
want holographic s–t floating around or anything like that,” Álvarez
added. He wanted chunky square monitors, clicky keyboards and “all this
stuff that warms our hearts.” But he stressed that “it’s not just for us
who are of that generation that grew up with those movies.” “It’s also
to give it to the new audience that will discover those things that they
don’t see all time and they will love it,” he said. He compares it to
watching Quentin Tarantino movies in the 1990s with his father saying,
“What’s new with this?” His father knew all of the exploitation movies
from the 1970s that Tarantino was riffing on, but for Álvarez, as he
said, “It’s all new to me.” He had no knowledge of those earlier movies,
but Tarantino sparked an interest. (https://www.thewrap.com/alien-romulus-director-fede-alvarez-interview/ August 19th 2024)
- Gamesradar: The first thing anyone watching the new trailer will be
struck by is how your film’s retro-futuristic production design recalls
the Nostromo. Is it your hope that Romulus will feel of a piece with
Ridley Scott’s Alien?
Fede Alvarez: It was the era I was most interested in when we were thinking about making this movie and were suddenly faced with so many choices. Where do you start? That’s what I wanted it to be – that era of science-fiction – and particularly that physical space of the first movie. So it starts there, honestly.
And there were narrative reasons why. It takes place 20 years after the first film. Technology in the world of Alien can change vastly, but I think it’s not dependent on time. It’s dependent on place. Where you are.
So the characters of this movie and the world are very blue-collar. The technology is still very low-tech and analog. And, look, I’m a kid from the ‘80s. Any monitor with some VHS tracking issues puts a lot of joy in my heart. (https://www.gamesradar.com/alien-romulus-trailer-breakdown-fede-alvarez-interview/)
Did that commitment extend to the sets as well?
Fede Alvarez: We went out of our way to build our sets. There are no set extensions. Today, usually, you build the minimum amount, and you extend in CG. For me, it’s really about me traveling there physically, and being there. I was in that station which you saw in the trailer. I spent the best part of last year in that place.
You want to show up in the morning, and go, "Wow," and look down the hallways, and it goes as far as you can see in both directions. You can get lost walking inside those sets, which is the way Ridley described the set of the Nostromo. You can walk around the whole thing, and get lost in there, trying to find your way out.
That definitely happened here. We built everything until the last corner. In that respect, it was all old techniques. A lot of the approaches to effects, they were all based on way more old-school approaches to moviemaking.(https://www.gamesradar.com/alien-romulus-trailer-breakdown-fede-alvarez-interview/
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