Return of the Giger ALIEN?

[SM]

That's one thing that confuses me.  That some filmmakers embark on these ventures not really knowing if they could pull it off.  But then I guess they did that on LOTR with Gollum.  They thought they could do it, but never actually knew - and the early tests were decidedly dodgy.  And if they hadn't it could've sunk Two Towers and Return of the King.

[SiL]

It's the only way to expand, though.

If everyone remained fine with the technologies available, we'd never develop. It takes people like Cameron to look at what's available, and say "Okay, but now I want a 14-foot tall Alien. Gimme.", and people like Stan Winston to say "Sounds absolutely insane! When can we start?"

Sometimes it fails spectacularly, obviously. But when it works, it lets us go from a 14 foot tall two-dudes-in-a-suit held up by a crane Alien Queen to a fully functioning animatronic Tyrannosaurus Rex.

These days, though, it's just refinement on what we've got. We've pretty much stagnated when it comes to effects - The only place to go from here is more and more realistic, not necessarily developing new technologies (Screw 3D right up its ass).

This makes me a sad panda.

[SM]

's the only way to expand, though.

If everyone remained fine with the technologies available, we'd never develop. It takes people like Cameron to look at what's available, and say "Okay, but now I want a 14-foot tall Alien. Gimme.", and people like Stan Winston to say "Sounds absolutely insane! When can we start?"

Yeah but they were finding a way to make that bad boy work before they got to the sound stage.  And whatever Cambo's faults may be he knows how to make that stuff look good on film even if there's a squillion cables just out of frame.

There seems to be a thing in Hollywood now of "Just shoot it and we'll comp the CG stuff in later" without knowing that they can actually pull it off "later".  I dunno if this impression is true or not, but the often less-than-convincing stuff that pops up would seem they often bite off more than they can chew.

Some may poo-poo the Star Wars prequels, but at least Lucas didn't suddenly go "We can make the other Star Wars films now" as soon as they did Young Sherlock Holmes.  It was only when JP came out that he thought it was possible.

[Nachtfalke]

's the only way to expand, though.

If everyone remained fine with the technologies available, we'd never develop. It takes people like Cameron to look at what's available, and say "Okay, but now I want a 14-foot tall Alien. Gimme.", and people like Stan Winston to say "Sounds absolutely insane! When can we start?"

Yeah but they were finding a way to make that bad boy work before they got to the sound stage.  And whatever Cambo's faults may be he knows how to make that stuff look good on film even if there's a squillion cables just out of frame.

There seems to be a thing in Hollywood now of "Just shoot it and we'll comp the CG stuff in later" without knowing that they can actually pull it off "later".  I dunno if this impression is true or not, but the often less-than-convincing stuff that pops up would seem they often bite off more than they can chew.

Some may poo-poo the Star Wars prequels, but at least Lucas didn't suddenly go "We can make the other Star Wars films now" as soon as they did Young Sherlock Holmes.  It was only when JP came out that he thought it was possible.

The thing is, sure, fine, use the new technology, just don't go overboard - thats my opinion - the SW prequels, King Kong and Indy4 all made me cringe.

[SiL]

How else could they do Kong, though? It's like looking at the original and saying "Yeah, it was good, but it would've been nice if they didn't use so much danged model work."

[SM]

Meh, they shoulda used a guy in a suit in '33.

he thing is, sure, fine, use the new technology, just don't go overboard - thats my opinion - the SW prequels, King Kong and Indy4 all made me cringe.

Sucks to be you I guess.  I dug 'em.

[J-Syxx]

Who said the monsters in Star Trek looked "great" and real, because it looked like absolutely crap to me and completely fake.  I felt no fear at all during that scene.  Living creatures can not be portrayed well by CGI at all.

Another thing I don't understand is all this winning about "well you can't see the whole creature because of wires, etc."  Maybe you don't understand the point of the first film if you feel there's a need to show the entire monster on the screen for fifteen minutes or whatever.

[SM]

Prepare to make the jump to hyperbole on my mark... 

[xenomorph36]

Who said the monsters in Star Trek looked "great" and real, because it looked like absolutely crap to me and completely fake.  I felt no fear at all during that scene.  Living creatures can not be portrayed well by CGI at all.

Another thing I don't understand is all this winning about "well you can't see the whole creature because of wires, etc."  Maybe you don't understand the point of the first film if you feel there's a need to show the entire monster on the screen for fifteen minutes or whatever.

yeah so you want the same old garbage fashioned way of showing close up shots like avpr where you cant tell crap whats happening. good for you

(it's not just the darkness, either)

[Kyuubi no Kaiju]

Well, it depends.
If they want to do a freaky horror like the first film, stick with Giger's. It's much more like a poltergeist than a war machine.
If you want to an all-out action-war like the second, stick with James Camerons' aliens or AVP's aliens. They're faster, stronger, more built for war.

[SiL]

Yeah, cos the speed and toughness is inherent in the look of the thing.

Oh wait, no it isn't.

[Highland]

Jurassic Park for me is and probably always will be my bench mark for a movie containing both puppets and CGI. Some people may say that a Dinosaur is not the same as doing an alien but it's still a living breathing monster that does not exist in the real world.

Can you get much better than the T-rex in JP? - Probably not

IMO it cannot be topped.

[echobbase79]

If they bring back the Giger design I wonder if they'll go back to the original RP method from the first film. I hope so because that's a pretty sick idea.

[Alien³]

Jurassic Park for me is and probably always will be my bench mark for a movie containing both puppets and CGI. Some people may say that a Dinosaur is not the same as doing an alien but it's still a living breathing monster that does not exist in the real world.

Can you get much better than the T-rex in JP? - Probably not

IMO it cannot be topped.

Jurassic Park will always have the best C.G.I and animatronics ever.

[Kyuubi no Kaiju]

Very true. Jurassic Park was a benchmark in CGI.
But if they could do it in 1993, why cant they do it in 2009?
If only Fox could call in Industrial Light and Magic, maybe we could see breakthrough CGI for the Alien. Since Stan Winston is gone, I cant see a breakthrough in puppetry.
We need real people to do the special effects for the Alien. Like they did with Predator.