a.i) Call for practical Face Huggers
All of the Face Huggers were to be done as practical effects. They realised that there was no way that they were going to make them CGI because of the interaction with the water that was going to make it impossible.
Joe Dunckley and Cameron May as part of Wētā Workshop took on the challenge of creating an army of practical face huggers for the film
Joe Dunckley took in the fact that everything had to be physical. He felt it was wonderful to have a director who is a fan of physical effcts. He could see that Fede was a huge fan of the franchise and would see that it came across in the physical product. He felt that the franchise was in the best hands with him. This enabled them to get specific on their builds and he didn't often get the time to approach pactical effcts with the correct amount of rehearsal and build time. So from that perspective, this would be a really unique pleasure.
They were basically telling themselves "okay, the best facehugger puppets we've seen were in Aliens, but what's out there?" The very first thing they did was got to YouTube, and look up the Stan Winston School video on the facehugger attacks [from Aliens].
At the beginning
of their work together, Wētā got the script, they broke that down into
sequences, then they broke the sequences into actions and catagories of
puppets that they would use for those actions. That meant they ended up
with many puppets in the end, leading them to produce seventy three Face
Huggers
The Wētā Workshop team devised a vast range of Face Hugger puppets for the film. All of them had a different purpose.
a.ii) Fully animatronic hero face hugger
There was the fully animatronic hero facehugger which had individual control of evey joint.
With this they were very much looking to the precedence of the past Face Huggers for how they were built
The puppet required thirty servos and as many points of articulation. Each individual finger had three degrees of freedom, the knuckle joint and the two degrees of freedom in the finger itself. These were all cable driven and depending on the shot, the cables ran out of tthe facehugger's back or underneath the tail
Because of all the servos and articulation, the Weta Workshop mechanical team worked to reduce the number of puppeteers. They tried to get it down to two operators, one who was doing the finger controls and another who would be on the rod puppet to control the body position.
They were really focusing on how they could improve the puppeteering experience, rather than have remote control of individual legs.
Camero May and his team focused on finding a way to use software and one puppeteer on the control system to drive the thirty servos in the Face Hugger, and acheive the articulation required
They designed different Kinematic gaits (which was how the joints move) for the Face Hugger and then joysticks that could over ride those individual commands.
The focus on mechanical innovation meant that a single puppeteer, essentiall with a tablet and a couple f joysticks , could control the multiple finger movements of the Face Hugger puppet.
One thing that they noticed early on is that so much of the language
of the facehuggers was not about perfect control, but actually quite
aggressive random articulation. So, they still had to have
some of that kind of language in the way that the facehuggers operated
because that was part of their history in terms of how they look and feel
on screen.
- Wētā Workshop had already been working on facehuggers for the upcoming series Alien: Earth, so it was a no-brainer to have them do something similar on Alien: Romulus. Winston spoke with Joe Dunckley and Cameron May from Wētā Workshop about their work on Alien: Romulus and the challenge of creating an army of practical facehuggers for the film. “We're huge fans of the Alien franchise," said Dunckley. "It's probably one of the reasons why we're all sitting here today, actually. The experience of watching the first two films as a kid blew my mind, and I think it drove me to get into the industry.” (https://www.stanwinstonschool.com/blog/alien-romulus-behind-the-scenes-practical-effects-with-fx-legends-creating-xenomorphs-facehuggers-chestbursters-rook-offspring-spaceships)
- When asked about the methods of articulation for the hero facehugger
puppet, Dunckley turns it over to Cameron May, his mechanical effects
compatriot at Wētā Workshop. “With the hero, we were very much looking
to the precedence of the past facehuggers for how they were built," said
May. The Wētā hero facehugger puppet required thirty servos and as many
points of articulation. “Each individual finger had three degrees of
freedom, the knuckle joint and the two degrees of freedom in the finger
itself. They're all cable-driven.” Depending on the shot, the cables ran
out of the facehugger’s back or underneath the tail. (https://www.stanwinstonschool.com/blog/alien-romulus-behind-the-scenes-practical-effects-with-fx-legends-creating-xenomorphs-facehuggers-chestbursters-rook-offspring-spaceships)
- “We had such a vast range of them, and it was really Fede's insistence that he wanted to approach this in a practical manner that enabled us to get that specific on our builds," said Dunckley. "You don't often get the time to approach practical effects with the correct amount of rehearsal time and build time. So, from that perspective, it was a real pleasure, really unique.” (https://www.stanwinstonschool.com/blog/alien-romulus-behind-the-scenes-practical-effects-with-fx-legends-creating-xenomorphs-facehuggers-chestbursters-rook-offspring-spaceships)
- Because of all of the servos and articulation, the Wētā Workshop mechanical team worked to reduce the number of puppeteers, “We were just trying to get to two [operators], one that was doing the [finger] controls and then one that would be on the rod puppet to control the body position," said May. "We were really focused on how we could improve the puppeteering experience." Rather than having RC control of individual legs, May and his mechanical cohorts focused on finding a way to use software and one puppeteer on the control system to drive the thirty servos in the facehugger and achieve the articulation required. “We designed different kinematic gaits [how the joints move] for the facehugger and then had joysticks that could override those individual commands.” This focus on mechanical innovation meant that a single puppeteer, essentially with a tablet and a couple of joysticks, could control the multiple finger movements of the facehugger puppet.(https://www.stanwinstonschool.com/blog/alien-romulus-behind-the-scenes-practical-effects-with-fx-legends-creating-xenomorphs-facehuggers-chestbursters-rook-offspring-spaceships)
- Cameron May: One thing that we noticed early on is that so much of the language
of the facehuggers was not about perfect control, but actually quite
aggressive random articulation. So, we still had to have
some of that kind of language in the way that the facehuggers operated
because that's part of their history in terms of how they look and feel
on screen. https://www.stanwinstonschool.com/blog/alien-romulus-behind-the-scenes-practical-effects-with-fx-legends-creating-xenomorphs-facehuggers-chestbursters-rook-offspring-spaceships)
- Dunckley talked about working with director Fede Álvarez,
“He wanted everything to be physical. It's wonderful when you have a
director who is a fan of physical effects.” Fede was a diehard Alien
fan, to boot. "He's a huge fan of the franchise. And that comes across
in the finished product. The franchise was in the best hands with him.”
Dunckley continued, "We got the script, broke that down into sequences.
Then we broke [the sequences] into actions and categories of puppets we
would use for those actions. That meant that we ended up with many, many
puppets. In the end, we produced seventy-three facehuggers.”
The Wētā Workshop team devised various types of facehugger puppets for the film. “All of them had a different purpose. The fully animatronic [hero] facehugger, which had individual control of every joint," said Dunckley. "We had remote control running ones for scuttling about on the set floor. We had one that was specifically for swimming underwater. And then we had various attack huggers that would carry out different types of attacks.”
And there were even more facehuggers. “Then we got into stunt-safe ones. We knew they’d be flying around everywhere, so we had ones that would be safe to throw at an actor. We had ones that were robust enough to fly across the set and slam into the set and not get broken.” And the hugger list keeps going. “Inside the cryo chambers, we had a different type, and silicone ones that could escape from those chambers. And then dead rotten huggers and just prop huggers as well.” https://www.stanwinstonschool.com/blog/alien-romulus-behind-the-scenes-practical-effects-with-fx-legends-creating-xenomorphs-facehuggers-chestbursters-rook-offspring-spaceships)
a.iii) Remote control face hugges scuttling on the floor
They had remote control running ones for scuttling about on the set floor.
Thy started lookng at the running Face Huggers engineered for Aliens by Stan Winston Studios mechanic Rick Lazarrini.
This designed was based on a pull toy type mechanism that moved the face hugger's legs in an organic way but was somewhat restricted in its movements due to the fact that it had to follow a thin monofilament line.
For Alien Romulus, the running Face Huggers would have more rance of movement and use a diffeent toy as their inspiration, remote control cars.
- In Alien: Romulus, some scenes called for facehuggers similar to the famous running ones built by Stan Winston Studio for Aliens. The Wētā Workshop team started by looking back at the running facehuggers engineered for Aliens by SWS mechanic Rick Lazarrini. It was a "massive influence. Full credit to them for having such a massive influence on where we are now," said Cameron May. This SWS design was based on a pull toy-type mechanism that moved the facehugger's legs in an organic way but was somewhat restricted in its movements due to the fact that it had to follow a thin monofilament line. For Alien: Romulus, the running facehuggers would have more range of movement and use a different toy as their inspiration: RC cars. (https://www.stanwinstonschool.com/blog/alien-romulus-behind-the-scenes-practical-effects-with-fx-legends-creating-xenomorphs-facehuggers-chestbursters-rook-offspring-spaceships)
a.iv) They had one that was specifically for swimming under water.
(to come)
a.v) And then they had various attack huggers that would carry out different types of attack
(to come)
b) The chaos begins
Around midway in the second act of the movie, the explorers reach the cryochamber which is found to be full of frozen facehuggers.
Most of the group are locked in the room while the others are outside, and they're trying to help them get out of there before the situations becomes worse.
Andy the android who is trapped in the room needs an upgrade to be able to open the security lock for the door.
It was one of the scenes written in the script where they always wanted the idea of a bunch of friends who are like children trapped in a room with a lot of facehuggers.
With that there was the simple concept of adding one foot of water so that on doesn't see them coming, and so they could jump out from any possible corner.
- Fede Alvarez: This is a cryochamber scene close to the beginning, I would say midway through second act of the film. Most of the group had got locked in this room and half the group is outside, and they're trying to help them to get out of there before things get really bad, the way they're about to get. Andy needs an upgrade to be able to get out of that door and open the door for them. That's what's happening right there. One of the first scenes written on the script, I would say, where we always wanted, the idea of a group of friends, a bunch of kids trapped in a room with a lot of facehuggers. And the simple concept of just adding one foot of water so you don't see them coming and they could jump at you from any possible corner. (Alien: Romulus | Scene Breakdown With Fede Álvarez Part 1 video on the official Alien Romulus Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/alienanthology/videos/518812343944560)
c) Face Huggers in the water
Every one of those shots was just Fede Alvarez holding the camera and moviing the face hugger along the water.
He was fascinated by how effective such a simple trick was.
He felt that the audience could really feel as if they can see these creatures swimming on the water.
This was where the chaos starts to happen.
The first face hugging that they shot in the movie lasted perhaps six days which required them spending each day inside the room.
It was one of Fede's favourite shots in the movie.
He felt that it was important to show a new generation of people wha this creature was trying to do which was why they are jumping on people's faces.
They needed to show the proboscis, as it were the tongue that the Facehugger had, which was like a spike that's trying to get into the host's mouth, to lay an egg, which Fede thought was one of the best ideas in science fiction horror.
- Fede Alvarez: All those are practical Facehuggers as well, there no way we were going to make them CGI because the interaction with the water was going to make it impossible. Every shot of those is just me holding the camera and move the facehugger on the water. I was fascinated how effective that simple the trick was. You really feel like you see them swimming on the water. This is where chaos starts to happen. First face hug we shot on the movie. This was probably shot almost like six days we spent inside that room. That was very important, though. It's one of my favourite shots in the movie. It was very important to show a new generation what this thing is trying to do, why are they jumping on people's faces, and so, we needed to show the proboscis; the tongue that the Facehugger had, that is the spike that it's trying to get inside your mouth. Because it's trying to lay its eggs inside you, which is of the best ideas in science fiction horror. (Alien: Romulus | Scene Breakdown With Fede Álvarez Part 2 video on the official Alien Romulus Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1349757326002226)
d) The Face Huggers' final attack
So they were just throwing the Face Huggers at the actor Spike, from the left and right so he could bat them all the time. Fede found that it was fun.
There was a shot that was a homage to David Fincher's Alien 2 which has a shot of the alien beasts's point of view, and here the camera is closely following the facehuggers until we get to see the point of view while the viewer might ask the question about who was going to be face hugged first.
All the characters are trapped in there and for many moments there's a close encounter and one of them can almost get it, but the viewer wouldn't know who was going to get it.
They had to film the shot of the face hugger jumping through the door 24 times
The mass of face huggers are coming out though the gap in the nearly shut door, one sneaks through, boom and it's Aileen Wu playing Navarro who gets face hugged.
- Fede Alvarez: That was us just throwing facehuggers at Spike, just left and right so he could bat them all the time. That was a very fun thing to do. That was an homage to David Fincher. Alien 3 has that shot of the xenomorph POV running around on a red room as well. A part of the whole plan of the scene was to ... to bet who's gonna get face hugged first. You have all these characters trapped there and for many moments there's a close encounter and one of them can get it. You don't know, really, who's gonna get it and that's the tension building of the scene that anybody can get it at any moment. That's actually practical. We had to do that 24 times to get that thing to jump through a door. Those are practical as well by the door. This is a mix of techniques but wow that's my favourite shot in the movie right there. They're coming out, one sneaks through. Boom. Face-hug. I love it. (Alien: Romulus | Scene Breakdown With Fede Álvarez Part 3 video on the official Alien Romulus Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/alienanthology/videos/1018022123109005)
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