Fede Álvarez on VFX in 'Alien: Romulus': “We built each creature and setting”

In addition to revealing that Alien: Romulus It has a connection with the rest of the saga Alienthe director and co-writer Fede Alvarez (Don’t Breathe, Evil Dead), advances that the next installment of the 20th Century Studios franchise has practical special effects, due to its aberration of filming with a big screen.

Here's what he told THR about how he managed to balance practical effects and special effects (VFX):

“For the creatures, we brought all the boys [que trabajaron] of Aliens. They were in their early twenties when they made Aliens and they were part of the team [de efectos especiales] by Stan Winston. And now we had them at the top of their game. They have their own shops, so we brought them all together to work on all the creatures, because we chose all the animatronics and puppets in all the levels. I even had the opportunity to be under the table with them, manipulating all these animatronics..”

“I have this obsession with not having green screens, so we built every creature and set. Everything had to be built so that we could truly live and breathe in these spaces. But I'm not an anti-CG guy. I had the opportunity to do Evil Dead because I had made this short film called Panic Attack with a couple of friends and we did all the CG. So I come from a background where I know how to create the effects myself. I still do VFX shots on my films to this day. Sometimes I cut and do VFX shots on my computer. So it's the best for the shot, and when it comes to face-to-face encounters and creature moments, nothing beats the real thing..”

Alvarez continues:

“For the sets we build spaceships and miniatures. We went back to all that. And then we figured out ways to tie it into the CG world. There are some things that only CG can do because of range and movement. So it really has to be the right tool for the shot..”

“Ideally, you should never feel like you're watching computer-generated images. Ideally, there shouldn't be anything there where the audience goes, “Well, that was clearly CG.” It should always look practical, but I prefer it because I want to see it when I'm there [en el set]. There's nothing worse than having nothing to look at when I'm filming. But some things that are CG can really blow your mind when done right..”

Alien: Romulus It is the seventh installment of the franchise Alienand the ninth if we take into account the Aliens vs Predator crossovers.

The project is described as“an original independent feature film”. The film will be a reboot of the science fiction and horror franchise, whose plot located between the timeline of Alien (1979) the Ridley Scott, and the sequel Aliens (1986) by James Cameron.

The original classic Alien by Ridley Scott from 1979, ended with a shot in which the protagonist, Sigourney Weaver, expelled a Xenomorph from her escape capsule, before falling into cryogenic sleep that would take her back to human civilization. The sequel, Aliens by Cameron, released in 1986, picked up the plot years later, while Ripley accompanied a military mission investigating a possible Xenomorph attack on a remote space colony.

SYNOPSIS:

“In this ninth entry in the immensely popular and enduring film series, a group of young people on a distant world find themselves in a confrontation with the most terrifying life form in the universe..”

The cast is headed by Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla, The Craft: Legacy, Mare of Easttown, Devs), Isabela Merced (Instant Family, Dora and the Lost City of Gold), David Johnson (Industry), Archie Renaux (Upgraded, The Other Zoey), Spike Fearn (After sun), y Aileen Wu.

Álvarez co-wrote the script with his frequent collaborator Rodo Sayagues (remake Evil Dead, Don’t Breathe, Don’t Breathe 2remake Texas Chainsaw Massacre), and produced the feature film in the company of Ridley Scottdirector of the original classic and the prequels Prometheus y Alien: Covenant.

Alien: Romulus will be released in theaters on August 16, 2024 via 20th Century Studios. It will be the first installment of the saga Alien to be distributed by Disney.

Teaser trailer: