Quote from: BringbackJonesy! on Jan 26, 2017, 02:31:12 AM
Thankfully, we'd all been immersed in a great movie by that point, and had been treated to many awesomely filmed angles of the 'Big Chap' by that point already. However, there's an alternative, unused shot in the extras where the 'guy in the suit' (on the rope) is seen through the window as it heads towards our viewpoint and bounces off the window leaving a slight smear with it's hand - I ALWAYS wish that Ridley had used this angle instead, as the shot looked far more effective and had far more of an impact I thought, as the 'guy in the suit' collided with a thud towards us. I seem to recall that it's missing the tail as well as Ripley (in white spacesuit) looking out of the window...so it must have been a test shot of some sort I guess. However, it could have been a terrific shot if it had been worked on a little more. Oh well.
That alternate shot might have been a lot better, but I'm sure there were reasons. The tail was a problem, too. IIRC, it did not really work.Oh well.
Quote from: BringbackJonesy! on Jan 26, 2017, 02:31:12 AM
(by the way, I laughed at your suggestion that GIGER might have thought the 'Deacon' baby looked like a 'dinosaur'! Thankyou, as I KNEW there was something that was bothering me about it's appearance that I couldn't quite put my finger on - it's not just the fact that it's kinda posed like one on it back haunches shiffing about, it's also the the fact that it kinda 'roars' like one too)
Glad you got a laugh
Quote from: Scorpio on Jan 26, 2017, 11:33:31 PM
I thought the argument was that O'Bannon wasn't influenced by Von Daniken. But in the original script for Alien they enter a pyramid, do they not? Pyramids are found on Earth, hence the ancient aliens theory popularised by Von Daniken in the late 60s/early 70s. But Lovecraft's work also carries the some of the same ideas decades earlier.
Intentionality and influence are spurious points for argument. From what we know, O'Bannon and Giger were influenced primarily by Lovecraft in their approach to the creature. It's no accident that Giger's art book was called the Necronimicon. While von Daniken influence is possible, AFAIK, no one pointed to it in the making of the original film. And the mere existence of a pyramid does not automatically say "von Daniken." In this case, I think the answer is no.
First, we're informed by the cultural and architectural heritage we've inherited. That is, we think of pyramids because we've got pyramids. It makes sense to use pyramids as the pyramids on earth are quite old and impressively large. And yet, humans made them.
Next, we can't really think like aliens because we're humans. We can try to imagine things beyond the sphere of human knowledge, but we do so from our position within that sphere. In the end, our aliens end up looking like things we've seen right here on earth, and our alien places sort of resemble places found on earth, too. At the very least, the building blocks are accessible to our human minds.
Finally, it is at this point impossible to really settle the point. O'Bannon and Giger are both gone. We could ask Scott, but he has shown a willingness in interviews to say whatever is in his mind at the moment - You couldn't really trust his answer. So there we are. Lovecraft then, von Daniken now.