While researching Ralph McQuarrie and his stunning Star Wars concept art it reminded me of another Sci-Fi Blockbuster which had some amazing concept design and props. Ridley Scott directed the 1979 Sci-Fi classic; Alien. The set design and props used in the film where almost all handcrafted in a way that required the least amount of money. Scott insisted on the set being constructed from scrap electrical equipment and dismantled aircraft parts and other household objects. When filming Ridley Scott wanted the sets to look crowded with detail even in low-lit shots.
Scott was actively making the most of his financial constraints, boosting the sheer skill of practical effects. Many of the sets where built at a very large scale so that the actors had lots of room to explore, however with the wide shots and vehicles they had to think of a cheaper option. Rather than building a full scale 800-foot long spaceship, the practical effects team created scaled down models that could be used with miniature filming and forced perspective.
Ron Cobb and Chris Foss created these stunning pieces of concept art for the set and the main vehicles for the film. Their art style does provoke similar imagery to Ralph McQuarrie's concept art however Cobb and Foss use very vibrant colours to accentuate detail opposed to McQuarrie's realistic style.
While it is hard to find behind the scenes footage for Alien due to its age I found this YouTube video which goes in depth to how they created all the small details for the film.
For my work I thought it would be beneficial to research multiple science fiction designers so that I can take inspiration from them when modelling in Fusion or editing in Photoshop.
Harvard Referencing:
Audiences Everywhere. (2017). The Set Design of Ridley Scott’s Alien. Available at: http://www.audienceseverywhere.net/the-set-design-of-ridley-scotts-alien/
Anon. Alien Nostromo. Available at: https://propstore.com/the-prop-store-collection/alien/alien-nostromo/
Wikipedia Contributors (2019). Alien (film). Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_(film)
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