With Alien Romulus having been so well received and effectively relaunching the franchise we take a look at how they made those xenomorphs, facehuggers & chestbursters.
The Xenomorph is the most perfect specimen in the universe, as well as the ultimate weapon. It has concentrated acid for blood, does not require food, and can survive in any atmosphere. It has a skeletal humanoid shape with an elongated, cylindrical head and a bony tail. The Xenomorph (or Xeno) is the Endo parasitoid extraterrestrial species that serves as the title antagonist of the “Alien” franchise. Alvarez’s concept in “Alien: Romulus” was to use old-school effects when creating it. According to the Legacy team, four full Xenos were created, requiring the work of 80 artists, including digital artists, concept artists, mold makers, sculptors, painters, and robotics experts. All worked from general design concepts that make all of them functional.
It was especially important to Alvarez that the actors have the opportunity to interact with a fully-functional animatronics Xenomorph. “Fede wanted the surfaces very rough and sharp. He wanted it to feel as though a shark’s skin; if you touched it, you would be cut,” explains Shane Mahan.
Everyone at Legacy Effects was very keen on making the Xeno feel like the original “Alien” movie. Each of the four Xenomorphs had different purposes. The ‘hero’ Xenomorph character is a full-sized, fully robotic animatronic creature about eight feet tall and very thin. There is also a lighter-weight animatronic rod puppet of the same size that is moved around by a single performer to make more rapid and dynamic movements.
The other two Xenos are animatronic heads attached to a stunt performer’s suit. The vertebrate understructure encompasses a translucent dome with translucent panels in its arms and legs. The Legacy team explains that emanating light can be seen through the legs and arms in certain situations, lending it a latticework feel: slender waist, long limbs, very much insect-like.
Most sequences with the Xenomorph are hybrid and consist of four components: animatronics, suit, bunraku (Japanese-style puppetry), and CGI. Having the mobility of bunraku, the agility of a man in a suit, and the grand beauty of full animatronics working together give this Xenomorph the advantage of being old school and brand new at the same time. “Within the first minute, the audience should just sit back and believe what they’re seeing and not worry about the technique but get caught in the story,” says Mahan. “If this happens, then we’ve done our job.”
The cocoon, where the Xenos mature and later emerge, has translucent skin. “There is a story point that electricity is illuminating it, and you can see it inside,” says Mahan. “So, we remade it, using some of the props cables that run through the corridor, and built a device that illuminates it from the inside while it’s all gooey and gross.”
THE FACEHUGGERS (WĒTĀ WORKSHOP):
The iconic facehuggers return courtesy of Wētā Workshop’s creative lead Richard Taylor, with some changes and in more numbers than ever before. There are 12 different iterations of facehuggers, all representing the same creature. There are fully animatronic facehuggers that can pry open doors and can be programmed. Some just move a little, some are rigged onto moving vehicles, and some are remote-controlled and run along the ground with legs.
The facehugger is a parasitoid, a spider-like alien creature with bony fingers and human-looking flesh with a tubular tongue that enters its human host via its mouth and implants a seed that will amalgam with the victim’s DNA and rapidly grow. It has no eyes but tracks humans by their heat signature (body temperature).
During a scene where Tyler and Bjorn run from dozens of facehuggers in the cryo-lab, Archie Renaux (Tyler) comes face to face with one. “I had a very close encounter with a facehugger where the proboscis managed to get a little bit into my mouth,” Renaux says. “They are very disgusting, truly.”
The facehuggers have a silicon skin, either aluminum armature inside or 3D printed nylon joints. Actor Aileen Wu, who plays Navarro, spent several days filming with the creature. “At first, I thought they were cute,” she says. “After having one attached to my face for six hours straight, I decided that they are in no way cute.”
A joystick controlled the eight arms, beak, and joints of the fully-animatronic versions, and Wētā created over 70 facehuggers in total. At one point in the story, the room thaws, and many of them fall into the water, swim around, and start attacking, for which there were seven puppeteers controlling over 20 facehuggers simultaneously.
Wētā’s project supervisor Ben Fairless was responsible for creating the F44AA pulse rifle, an advanced animatronic weapon. It consists of an internal recoil system and a sliding rail connected to bellows that draw from a vaporizer inside. Capable of producing a muzzle flash, it has an interactive light and an ammo countdown for each round fired. The characters in the story depend on this powerful weapon to defend themselves against the Xeno and the facehuggers.
THE CHESTBURSTER (STUDIO GILLIS):
One of the most iconic scenes in Ridley Scott’s “Alien” is the chestburster scene, for which the creature was originally designed by the great Swiss surrealist artist H.R. Geiger. Alvarez specifically reached out to Alec Gillis, owner of Studio Gillis, who worked on “Aliens,” “Alien 3,” and “Alien vs. Predator,” to create the chestburster and egg effects in “Alien: Romulus.”
“I watched the first ‘Alien’ just like everybody else. In fact, I was sitting next to James Cameron, and this was before either of us was even working in the movie business,” says Gillis. “Then five years later, I was on set with Jim on ‘Aliens,’ working for Stan Winston.”
The chestburster is a large, larva-like alien creature implanted into its host’s chest cavity by a facehugger. Upon maturation, it exists via the host’s chest.
The chestburster in “Alien: Romulus” is very similar to the original creature, with some modifications. It now has little arms that move, and it was given more articulation. “I feel like the creature effects in ‘Alien’ were so revolutionary and groundbreaking that there was not a lot of place for improvement,” says Gillis. “We did some updating of techniques, however, giving it a color-changing aspect, and making it smaller.”
And the chestburster is always glistening in slime and goo. Gillis, who was covered in blood and slime most of the time while on set, used methylcellulose, a starch product, mixed with water to create clear slime. This became the base for everything designers put on the creatures to make them look shiny and wet with the desired viscosity. Then, Gillis used this base to create blood of various colors and textures.
The Legacy crew and Gillis both agree that the secret ingredient for every creature is ultraslime. It has a clear, super stringy consistency that simulates saliva, mucus, and other body secretions to make creatures look real. “It has an additive that is very stringy and wet,” says Gillis. “It goes back to ‘Aliens.’ It has become a part of the signature creature look: drippy, stringy slime.”
….and that’s How they made those xenomorphs, facehuggers & chestbursters in Alien Romulus
related feature : Alien Romulus director Fede Alvarez talks about making the film, practical effects and Ridley Scott
related feature : ‘Alien Romulus’ – when facehuggers attack at the London premiere ….Fede Alvarez & cast save the day!
