Alien: Romulus

 

a) See: Fede's new take on an Alien movi

b) See: The myth of Romulus and Remus

c) See:  Returning to design roots 

d) See: They call her Rain

Archie Renaux as Tyler and Cailee Spaeny as Rain Carradine in 'Alien: Romulus.'.

 

e) See: Precurser to the pulse gun

f) See: Alien beasts

The 'Xenomorph' in 'Alien: Romulus'

 

g.i) Cailee and the alien beast

Cailee had to turn off the part of her mind that she referred to as the Nerding Out brain. 

She looked at the alien beast and her response 'Wow, it’s beautiful. Ooh, you put the Giger skull…' 

But she thought that it was scary.

She was aware of the fact that the film was set between the first and the second.

In the production they were asking 'How could this be a child of the two?' 

So there would be those heightened moments, but then proper horror.

 

g.ii) Fede keeps the camera rolling for ten minutes

There was a take of a scene where Cailee was with the alien beast, and Fede kept the camera rolling for ten minutes although it seem like half an hour.

For her it was pur terror to be with the alien beast in front of her. 

It was as if Fede was throwing in little surprises like that catcing the actors off guard. 

 

1. Cailee Spaeny: I had to turn off my 'nerding out' brain, because I was just like, 'Wow, it’s beautiful. Ooh, you put the Giger skull…' I had to turn that off. But it was properly scary. We set it between the first movie and the second. We were talking about, 'How could this be a child of the two?' So we have those heightened moments, but then proper horror. (https://www.gamesradar.com/alien-romulus-cailee-spaeny-proper-horror-sigourney-weaver-ripley/)
   
2. Cailee Spaeny: I remember we did one specific take of a scene where I'm with the Xenomorph and [director Fede Álvarez] kept it rolling for about…oh God, it felt like half an hour, but it was probably only 10 minutes It was just pure terror for 10 minutes straight, with the Xenomorph right there. Fede was great at throwing in little surprises like that and catching us actors off-guard.(https://ew.com/alien-romulus-director-fede-alvarez-star-cailee-spaeny-tease-new-xenomorph-8642159)
   

 

h) Stories in the tents

They would have tents for the actors, to get ready to go on set. The practical effects guys would come in and say something like "Do you want to hear a story from the old days? Gather ‘round, kids,’"

They would tell them about crazy on-set experiences working in this world.as if they were campfire stories for. She found that they were their favorite things to hear.”  

1. Cailee Spaeny:  We definitely had moments where all of us kids would be in the tent getting ready to go on set, and the practical effects guys would come in like, ‘Do you want to hear a story from the old days? Gather ‘round, kids,’ .They would tell us about crazy on-set experiences working in this world. They were like campfire stories for us. Those were our favorite things to hear. (https://ew.com/alien-romulus-director-fede-alvarez-star-cailee-spaeny-tease-new-xenomorph-8642159)

 

i) Film filled with references

1. Gamesradar: Ridley Scott is a producer on the film and had high praise when you screened it for him. Does Romulus pick up any plot threads from his Alien prequels?
   

   Fede Alvarez: This is the way this movie works: if you haven’t seen any Alien movie ever, you’ll have a great time. You won’t feel like you’re missing out on anything. But if you’ve seen one or more – oh, boy, you’ll have a blast. At least, I hope you will! The reality is that it is a standalone story, but it’s filled with references to every movie. It is truly a love letter to all the other movies. I have my favorites, but I love them all. Every time I went to the theatre to watch an Alien movie, I had an experience that would stay with me all my life.

   Even the ones where I’m like, "I’m not sure that’s what I wanted" – they still stayed with me. So the movie has connections with absolutely all of them, in their own way. The experts will be able to tell, "Oh, that’s from this. This is from over there." Maybe it’s a piece of gear. Maybe it’s a reference to a story that is connected. Maybe it’s a character that is actually connected to another character from those movies. It’s truly filled with it.

   I did this with Evil Dead back in the day. When we made that movie, it was really about making sure that it didn’t matter [if you’d seen previous Evil Dead movies] – but if you knew, you’d feel it was tailor-made for you. So, again, if you haven’t seen any of the Alien movies, you’ll have a great time. (https://www.gamesradar.com/alien-romulus-trailer-breakdown-fede-alvarez-interview/)

    

j) Warnings that Ridley could be tough

Everyone gave Alvarez the heads up that Ridley was really tough, particularly if i had something to do with movies. He was very tough on Blade Runner 2049 which Fede thought was a masterpiece.

Fede asked Ridley about the new Top Gun: Maverick movie, and Ridley responded near enough 'eh'

Fede would only respomd "What are you talking about?"

Ridley appeared to respond "My brother's was original, and this is like eh."

It appeared that he really respected it, but Fede could see how tough he was. 

So Fede realised "There's no way I win this one.'" 

1. Fede Alvarez: Everyone gave me the head's up that Ridley is really tough, He's really tough, particularly if it has something to do with his movies. He was really tough on Blade Runner [2049], which I thought was a masterpiece, and he had issues with it because it's really hard for him because [the original is] his work. I asked him about the new Top Gun: [Maverick] and he's like 'eh.' I'm like, 'What are you talking about?' And he was like, 'My brother's [Tony Scott's] was original, and this is like eh.' He really respected it, but you could see how tough he was. So I was like, 'There's no way I win this one.'(https://ew.com/movies/ridley-scott-thinks-new-alien-movie-great/)

 

k) See: Ridley sees an early cut of the film

 

l) See: Echoes of Thedus