Ridley Scott ’s Prometheus is one of the class ’s most visually sensational picture show . It ’s full of astonishing images that experience on in your mind ’s eye after you allow for the house — and every single one of those images was the answer of hours of work by a team of designers who worked literally around the clock .
We spoke to six decorator who worked on Prometheus , and cut into into the untold mysteries of this film ’s creation . Here are 10 things you absolutely did not know about the pattern of Prometheus — plus some exclusive concept art .
The exclusive epitome above occur fromPrometheus : The Art of the Film , released by Titan Books . It ’s a gorgeous look inside the design process of this film , from its construct as a consecutive - up Alien prequel to the finished motion picture . It ’s chock full of beautiful , scary and moody artistic production . See the full version of that prototype below . All other images below are courtesy ofSteven Messing , and some of them have appear elsewhere .
For this clause , we mouth to yield designerArthur Max , concept artistsDavid Levy , Ben ProcterandSteven Messing , wight designerCarlos Huanteand senior art directorMark Homes . Plus writer Jon Spaihts .
With that out of the direction , here are 10 secrets we get a line about Prometheus :
10 . We could have acquire to see Mars being terraformed .
The designers did “ some very nice work ” on the revolve quad station where Peter Weyland has his office , according to production graphic designer Arthur Max . This included “ a very interesting space colony that was orbiting around the planet Mars . There was a base for terraforming Mars . ” This whole sequence got cut before shooting , because it was too protracted and slow down the pacing of the film . But you could glimpse a teeny act of it in the hologram relinquish by the Weyland Corporation .
Writer Jon Spaihts says his drafts require a merging in Weyland ’s office — which at various sentence was either on a space post , or in reality on the surface of Mars , the right way in the heart of the terraforming project . “ Terraforming was much more Mr. Weyland ’s burning dream in my draught , ” pronounce Spaihts .
Oh , and as for why Weyland is played by Guy Pearce in old - humankind makeup , Spaihts says Damon Lindelof ’s handwriting usher the android David snuff it inside Weyland ’s dreaming while he was in hypersleep — and in his dreams , Weyland is a youthful man , on a racing yacht surrounded by beautiful women . These dreaming conversation got trend , but Pearce ’s casting was already locked in . Scott had originally wanted to cast Max von Sydow as Peter Weyland . ( In Spaiht ’s playscript version , Weyland is n’t aboard the Prometheus at all — instead , there ’s a hidden squad of company soldiers . )
9 . Any resemblance between the Prometheus and Serenity is purely inadvertent .
“ The Serenity was absolutely not a citation , ” says Ben Procter , who did most of the design work on the outside of the Prometheus — in spite of some fans ’ insistence that the movie ’s ship looks a bit like the far-famed vessel from Firefly . But there were tip of the Nostromo in there , and mayhap a bit of a outcry - out to artist Chris Foss , who put to work on the original Alien .
The other work on the Prometheus was done by Steve Burg , who leave the project ahead of time on . say Procter :
Steve ’s former illustrations showcased the major feature which were of interest to Ridley and Arthur early on — the four primary thruster which could swivel radically for different mode of flight , a descending air lock which allowed vehicular admittance to the major planet surface , and an overall levy “ petroleum platform ” look when the wiliness is standing on the earth with all of its work lighting on . There ’s no interrogation the ship has Nostromo DNA in it , but in proceed Steve ’s work I also continue in mind Ridley and Arthur ’s desire for more aeronautic elegance and operation . It ’s a flagship prospecting vas , not a “ tow truck ” , and Ridley say it could vacillate and plunk “ like a Blackhawk ” . The final outcome is meant to look sinewy but beautiful , with a speedy look but also enough expose computer hardware to feel problematical and operable . I explore many color scheme and the one Ridley picked is really a bit Fossian with its sheer black and yellow stripes .
tot up Levy , “ As opposed to the Nostromo , a very fundamental ship , Prometheus is a Rolls Royce . ” Levy worked on the expedition Rover , with Joe Hiura , and aimed for something that front “ modern , scientific and very well think out , as opposed to military or abandoned ship . ” Everyone involve with the film had “ a real passion for space locomotion , ” and was constantly consulting NASA imagination for the latest invention , sum Levy .
8 . The movie ’s creature graphic designer also worked on Alien Vs . predatory animal
And Carlos Huante says the two experiences were very , very different . ( you may see his designs for AVPhere . ) Says Huante , “ Prometheus was a very serious approach to things that already subsist in a successful universe that Ridley himself created . We were imagining the origins of some of those creatures and it was very in high spirits tending . I mean , real science fabrication , where science recreate a bounteous part . ” Meanwhile , the AVP flick “ was more about what would look nerveless as a dissimilar type of Predator helmet . ” The guiding principle behind working on AVP was to keep the fine art direction consistent and everything cool - looking , because it was more about fun than about making a serious film . Huante say he enjoyed working on both , but Prometheus was special because Ridley Scott was so personally involved in everything .
7 . Pretty much all of those exercise set were built practically and model in 3 - D.
And that includes the weird caverns and chambers on the lunar month LV-223 , as well as the Department of the Interior of the ship Prometheus . Says Ben Procter , “ While some set were redressed as unlike locations within the ship , there was still a lot of acreage to wander , if you were so inclined . The service department airlock was just enormous — nearly 200 feet long , if I recall right . The gargantuan landing foot that adventurer crash into during the sandstorm was build much , up to a height of 28 feet . ”
And David Levy suppose that the Med Pod where Noomi Rapace gives herself emergency surgery necessitate to be “ built and function in real spirit . ” The Med Pod cash in one’s chips through a lot of different versions , including some other , more “ unintelligible and heavy ” variation , says Arthur Max .
Arthur Max , the product interior decorator , enounce he pushed the concept creative person to draw set dressings in 3 - D so that the laid designer could make for from those 3 - D schematics . The concept artists put to work on the moving picture had to get used to creating set dressings that could be turn out in 3 - 500 and see from every slant , something that they were n’t used to doing . “ I introduced a kind of 3 - D set design process , that terminate up on the workshop floor that was very useful , ” say Max — and this allowed huge and complicated sets to go up in a hurry .
“ you could project anything , ” says Max , but “ Ridley wants the set work up . He does n’t desire surprise . He require feet and inches . ” Everything had to be able to fit into the blank space useable , so you would know powerful off the at-bat that it was achievable . The only drawback of this method was that it allowed multitude to work so promptly that sometimes Ridley would ask for change in a particular set — and the Los Angeles - based artists would rush those revisions to the U.K. set decorator , only to find that the solidification had already been build .
Some of the hardened piece were 35 to 40 feet high , and the sculptor needed to be able to slew up Brobdingnagian chunks of polystyrene in mass , so they could be fit together , says Max . So have incredibly detailed 3 - 500 translation from the construct artists helped them to know how these should search . Meanwhile , “ some of the steel work was very big and curved , and specific shapes that they needed to be able-bodied to mensurate , ” say Max . “ These things were all done in differnet workshops and unlike stages , and on unlike days . They all needed to be capable to come together and fit together . ” And it all had to derive in under budget , on prison term .
6 . Ridley Scott was constantly sketching and storyboarding .
Ridley Scott is famed for his “ Ridleygrams , ” in which he not only storyboards his movies , but does tons of his own sketches and estimate . At left is a Ridleygram from Prometheus , viaAlien Prequel News . say Procter , “ Ridley draws all the time . It ’s fantastic . Every merging give us with a pile of Ridleygrams , often free sketches rather than schematic storyboards . These were always scanned and filed , and often proved invaluable . ” And Messing says that Scott “ would often come in and sit next to us and draw for hours at a sentence . That genuinely was a alone experience . ” According to Levy , the caper of the concept artist was often to take Scott ’s sketch and physical body them out , adding lots of variations for him to choose from but staying close to Scott ’s original idea . Says Levy , “ He is an incredible creative person , with an amazing oculus for design and paper . ”
5 . The surface of LV-223 is a intermixture of real - life aspect from Earth and NASA image .
Messing worked hard on the chronological sequence where Prometheus lands on LV-223 , based on Scott ’s storyboards . And there were two huge reference of inspiration for the view as you fall to the moonlight ’s surface : NASA reference imagery , “ especially vortex swarm structures . ” And genuine aerial plates , shot by Richard Stammers and his team , of real - life localisation in Iceland and Wadi Rum . Says Messing , “ A pot of the last surround work is a combination of real picture taking and 3d set extensions . Ridley and VFX Producer Alan Maris wanted to keep the motion picture ground in realism , and attempt to shoot plate element whenever possible . ”
As for the actual Earth’s surface of LV-223 , Messing say :
Most of the born complex body part were draw from the original moving-picture show . The swoop up rock top were toned down a fleck as Ridley felt up they were a moment too fantastical . He was a bit more reserved in this film and want the environment to feel believable . We count at Olympus Mons on Mars and several large mountain construction on earth for reference . Ridley felt that once the ship broke through the major planet ’s cloud layer we would see an awing landscape — in the original the ship was shrouded in darkness and a violent storm with zero visibility — Ridley felt that he wanted to achieve the polar here — scope and grandeur at a massive scale . We germinate a lot of awing plate in Wadi Rum and unlike regions in Iceland . I paint over dozens of these plates and gave Art Direction to the VFX squad .
Levy adds that the squad had a sojourn from NASA specialiser , who lecture about the potential look of different exo - planet , and these real - life-time scientific estimate informed a lot of the artwork . The team also had access to photos of shabu being expulsed into the standard pressure of Saturn ’s synodic month Enceladus , and Levy talked a lot to the NASA team about different rare phenomena in our own solar system .
4 . The Prometheus artistic creation team started very , very small .
primitively , say Max , the design squad on Prometheus was just himself and artist Steve Burg , who came up with unelaborated but “ redolent ” designs . At one stop , they had two weeks to come up with a pitch school term that demo the studio with excogitation for the whole movie , from starting time to end . “ Sojourner Truth be known , we repurposed some Alien still that we paint over , because we had no time , ” say Max .
After Burg left the project , Max hired a few new designers , but it remained a small team , trammel in a league elbow room 30 feet away from Ridley Scott ’s office . “ basically , we had Ben Procter contrive the Prometheus ship , David Levy work out vehicles , airscrew , and various placed piece , and me focusing primarily on the planet environment and Alien spaceships / computer architecture , ” says Messing . “ We all had to be quite versatile in our science exercise set . There was also Carlos Huante and Neville Page bring on puppet remotely . ” agree to Max , they covered every bulwark in the conference elbow room with art , until they run out of wallspace and had to resort to covering the window , “ going from a bright perch elbow room to a black box . ”
Later , it became a 24 - minute artistry department , with people influence in both L.A. and London , join forces via Skype and sending files back and away for masses in both countries to modify .
3 . There ’s an altar to H.R. Giger inside the “ Head Room . ”
Says Messing :
Another set that I worked on was know as the “ Head Room . ” This was a ceremonial room that contained hundreds of ampule beneath a gargantuan carving of an Engineer ’s head teacher . Julian Caldrow did an amazing job of work out all of the details for this environment and created the set draftsmanship . The net circle was build at full graduated table and was unbelievable to take the air on . I also sculpted an altar area for this set that paid homage to Giger -it is a relief sculpture hang from the paries and has the impression of an alien form with flow structures surrounding it . There are a pile of easter orchis in this carving — including several out of sight Giger motif that were not used in the original pic .
Messing also worked on the Juggernaut , the Brobdingnagian alien ship that becomes the Derelict — although creative person Alex Kozhanov really designed the shape language that wind up being the basis for Messing ’s designs . Another ship that Messing worked on was the “ Pebble , ” the big smooth ship that glides overhead in the opening second of the celluloid — it extend through many different construct before ending up with something very stark and unproblematic .
2 . A chiaroscuro - dash balance of light and shadow is at the heart of the film ’s aesthetic .
The master manoeuver idea behind the aliens in Prometheus was their pallidity , say Huante , the animate being designer :
Once I realized that this motion-picture show ’s timeline was taking place before the Giger - esque esthetic would do into outcome , I start homing in on a pattern aesthetic [ that ] I felt would complement the beautiful Giger style that saturated the first moving picture . I wanted everything white and embryonic . Ridley and I were good in melodic line with each other on this . I mean , Ridley was looking at paintings that had snowy wraith like creatures , as reference for the Engineers . I sleep with the idea of pale white and started developing that as an over - all concept for all the creatures .
And Messing says that some of the iconic blastoff in this picture “ pay homage to Chesley Bonestell with potent lifelike elements of luminosity and shadow . ” Other art address include previous Giger drawings , national monument , large installment sculpture — and the Crazy Horse monument in South Dakota .
1 . The creatures could have been much more grievous .
Carlos Huante says he came up with some primitive , scarey creatures , based on the real - life goblin shark . ( At left : Some video of goblin shark , that Huante say he shared with Ridley Scott . ) There was the Deacon , which finally turned into “ that gentle thing that comes out of the Engineer ” at the end of the film — but Huante ’s version was very dissimilar . Also , there was a creature that everybody called the “ Beluga Head , ” that he really want to make the slice , but sadly did n’t . Both of these tool were supposed to have “ some of the mouth complex body part from the goblin shark , or at least the concept of how the oral fissure shot out , ” say Huante . “ The Goblin is very delicate , and my brute were not finespun . I need them to be elegant but wickedly strong . ”
Max adds that the intention for the creatures kept develop into something that was “ a second too monstery . ” Ridley Scott really want to “ keep it real ” and avoid anything that wait too overtly monstrous . In the end , the creatures in the film were “ collages of puppet , that were recombined for anatonmy and skin type , ” and they stayed “ within the realm of the real number . ” There was a lot of sentence spent visiting raw story museum . Often , Ridley would adjudicate that he like the grain of a creature ’s psyche , and he wanted it all over the animate being ’s body , which mean a very time - consuming total resculpt . “ Yes , but I want it , ” Scott would reply .
For the creatures in this movie , Carlos Huante says he and Scott also pored over binders full of quotation , including born wight but also painting by William Blake and J.M.W. Turner , and “ record book of classic carving ” for the look of the Engineers . Early , Huante came up with some other types of forerunner to the original photographic film ’s side - hugger and Xenomorph , plus a “ primitive Alien brute ” that got cut .
Top figure of speech : Prometheus : The Book of the Film . Image is ™ & © 2012 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation . All Rights hold .
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