Studio ADI

[iain]

As much as I respect ADI and they're work i think its due time for somebody new.

[echobbase79]

ADI does very good work, but their work on the Aliens and AvP films were subpar at best.

[dcsat]

The CGI looks good to me, but we also know practical aliens were used  on set as well. Even if ADI had done the work on covenant you would still be seeing CGI aliens.

Also no more suit work for woodruff, everytime I see him in a suit you can tell its just a man in suit. The worst offender being Alien3 (love the design but not the suit work) and AvP 1&2 .
[/quote]

Fully agree with this. The very last thing I'd want to see in a new Alien movie is Tom Woodruff in another suit swiveling the damn alien head side-to-side like he always does and moving his arms like a cartoon gorilla.

Their design aesthetic is outdated and even though someone will make the "it's how the director frames the shot" argument, we've had four different directors shoot their work by this point and the results are pretty much average at best. Their take on the Blomkamp concept art wasn't great in my opinion either.

Odd Studios did great work on Fury Road and the practical aliens we've seen thus far look amazing. It's an encouraging sign to me that they seem to be truly deconstructing the creature design in bold ways, rather than just tweaking elements of the alien to better match up against a Predator. I respect their contribution to the series but ultimately feel that their involvement has hampered the evolution of the alien onscreen.

It's time for something else.

[iain]

I wonder if the adult Neomorph is practical or cgi? I think all ive seen so far is cgi

[cucuchu]

I wonder if the adult Neomorph is practical or cgi? I think all ive seen so far is cgi

Practical and CGI. I will post info about the actors playing them when I get home. Very fitting once you see them. Tall, lanky, much like the original alien.

[Ragonk_Force]

Going with cg aliens is logical at this point. Ridley clearly had to out do what the Aliens have done before. The technology is to the point it looks photo real. the cg aliens in the trailer look f**king amazing, and intimidating. If cg was around when Alien or Aliens was filmed, they would have went the same route, the tech didn't exist

[Richman678]

ADI was involved with the Alien movies that Ridley Scott does not like. It would be expected he would not collaborate with anyone who wasn't involved with his original vision.

[zoidy]

Something thats been on my mind lately is the absence of ADI from Prometheus and Covenant. I just cant understand the reasoning for not having them involved.they have been involved in some level since Aliens and their work is amazing, the movies may not always have been but their effects work has always been. any problems usually arise from the directors vision of an effect rather than what Alec/Tom and team are capable of. Although i am super psyched for the new movie, the cg Xeno's in the trailer look awful. ADI wouldve done them all practically. CGI IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH TO WORK ON ITS OWN! hollywood does not understand this.

Oh, please. The footage we have seen is fine, in fact excellent, and where it makes sense to be practical is IS practical - look at the HBO trailer with the *practical* alien puppet torso for closeups, against a green screen. What exactly do you think that's there on set for? Hugs?

Man, this place kills me sometimes 

Also ... if "Alec/Tom" had been in charge of the effects, and they looked exactly like they have so far in the trailers, you - I suspect, somehow - would be *delighted* with the effects.

The movement of aliens in, for example Aliens, was dictated not by the imagination of the director, but by the restrictions of the technology. It was great, as were the even more limited movement shots in Alien. But this is 2017 and technology can allow movement and pose that practical cannot.

What people are ACTUALLY complaining about (imho) when they complain about CGI, isn't CGI at all. It's seeing something they know is CGI not due to imperfections, but due to the impracticality of the action in practical effects. So really, the complaint is that we are too good.

The only rational response to such claims is ... watch the movies you like, then. And leave the modern world to the rest of us.

(yes, beer has been imbibed this evening, but it damn well doesn't alter the veracity of my points)

[cliffhanger]

i meant the one from the covenant trailer in cliffhangar

what gave it away, the toothbrush?

That alien in your avatar is very clearly CGI and just doesnt look quite right when compared to say: http://1.cdn.eprofits.com/NPUSfvRW7GsZt8d5FgSrNytbx2bD5-BLNK4gy50Sqv2dPAXe6UlKnbfpA3oUpWYlxlxVTgklSFLrV5HdLQtC5w/1217-iconic-sci-fi-flick-celebrates-its-35th-anniversary-15-facts-about-alien-13.jpg. Tom Woodruff wouldve been in the suit doing that practically.

lol, that A:R scene looked fake af, like literally having put the head on a stick and moving it about and think it passes the critics. It's like 'jalapeño on a stick' but then with a xeno on it.

[StJimmy]

the mouth on it doesnt look quite right it looks like its got a goofy grin

[acidreign]

In order to take advantage of tax incentives, studios are usually encouraged or required to hire local crew and talent from whatever country they are shooting in.

Covenant was shot in Australia, so this probably has a lot to do with why Odd Studios was chosen. And it looks like they're doing fantastic work.

I highly doubt that it had to do with any animus toward ADI, who probably would have done a fine job if given the opportunity.

I know many of us don't like the Resurrection designs but ADI did great work in Alien 3 and were hamstrung by a lot of factors in subsequent movies. For example the only reason the warrior design was carried over from Resurrection to the AVP flicks was purely budgetary.

[426Buddy]

the mouth on it doesnt look quite right it looks like its got a goofy grin

Its called a Rictus Grin. It can be found on human skulls and the alien designs from both Alien and Aliens. Its one of the things I love most about the original design.

[Citadel]

Resurrection and AVP, eh? I can't find many redeeming qualities, especially not in the creature design. The Resurrection xenos in captivity look like shit. I suppose some of the sets in those movies looked alright.

[St_Eddie]

I like ADI, I just don't like their work on this particular franchise, hate it in fact. Although what is ironic is that they would have benefited on this particular movie considering the creature purposefully has a lack of bio mechanical elements. It's clear if you watch the making-of docs for the quadrilogy that although ADI try to treat him with respect, they have no love for HR Giger or his ideas.

I agree 100%

I have a great deal of respect for ADI on the whole (it's absolutely criminal that they're stunning work on the prequel to John Carpenter's 'The Thing' was pasted over with inferior CGI) but I do not agree at all with their stance on Giger's bio-mechanical aesthetic.  Their technical abilities and craftsmanship are often superb but when it comes to some forms of artistic understanding and knowledge, they can sometimes come across as philistines. All I have to do is look at a photo like this, to be reminded why I'm glad that ADI is no longer handling the effects for the 'Alien' series...


A complete bastardisation of Giger's magnificent starbeast if I ever did see one.

[M_Tak]

I like ADI, I just don't like their work on this particular franchise, hate it in fact. Although what is ironic is that they would have benefited on this particular movie considering the creature purposefully has a lack of bio mechanical elements. It's clear if you watch the making-of docs for the quadrilogy that although ADI try to treat him with respect, they have no love for HR Giger or his ideas.

I agree 100%

I have a great deal of respect for ADI on the whole (it's absolutely criminal that they're stunning work on the prequel to John Carpenter's 'The Thing' was pasted over with inferior CGI) but I do not agree at all with their stance on Giger's bio-mechanical aesthetic.  Their technical abilities and craftsmanship are often superb but when it comes to some forms of artistic understanding and knowledge, they can sometimes come across as philistines. All I have to do is look at a photo like this, to be reminded why I'm glad that ADI is no longer handling the effects for the 'Alien' series...


A complete bastardisation of Giger's magnificent starbeast if I ever did see one.

I feel the same way about the look of this particular Xenomorph, absolutely hate it, looks more dinosaur than anything, completely loses that Giger design (Was this AVP:R?). So I'm rather glad Ridley chose another studio to do the work.