I used to think the dolly-in was supposed to lull us into a false sense of security (because we're shown that there's no source of danger in the room) so that the jump-scare would be more effective. But Scott could have done that with a static wide shot of the infirmary, Kane and facehugger in the FG, Ash in the BG, and the floor area in-between completely clear of anyone sneaking up on him. No weird dolly shot of the wall necessary.
Quote from: caffeine4671 on Jun 10, 2023, 08:46:17 PMI've always read it as a way to add mystery around Ash's character and the organism and to build up to Ripley and Ash's inevitable confrontation (set up by the close ups of their faces
In this scene Ripley and Ash have their next confrontation, and this time Scott blocks the scene without the two even being face to face. (See the end of the clip)
It works for Ash's character because with his back to Ripley he looks all the more deceitful, but it gives Sigourney the tough job confronting Ash while being unable to look him in the eye.
Actually, this scene is a clusterf**k of problems. The clues are here that Scott wanted to post-dub a change of dialogue from what was shot, so to avoid lip-sync problems they had to choose a shot they could dub over that wouldn't show Sigourney's mouth, which means she delivers an intense confrontational moment and we, the audience, don't get to see her acting while she does it (just a little tuft of her hair in the corner of frame). This is not the way to earn your leading actress a Best Acting Oscar nomination.
But Sigourney is a trooper and plays most of the scene while facing the camera, not Kotto and Holm who are behind her. The scene is about her confronting them and wresting control of the situation, but she can't face both them and the camera at the same time, not with the blocking Scott gave her. It makes for an interesting scene, but I wonder if the real reason is that Scott didn't want to take the time to shoot a reverse angle on Sigourney so decided to cover the entire scene from one side. If they were running short on schedule that would also explain why the sync audio is so poor: people are talking off-mike all over the place.
TC