ALIEN: EARTH POST
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS Apart from the xenomorph, the creatures in Alien: Earth were new, but the team largely followed the design characteristics of the original film
“When the ticks feed on people, they engorge to the size of a basketball,” Debert adds. “We had to develop four different creatures, [each] with their own modelling, texturing, rigging and animation behaviour, because they all move in a different way. When they are full-sized is when we really get to see them, and they are very creepy. When they were fully engorged, we wanted to maintain the physicality. For example, when they are full of blood, they slosh around and can’t really move in the same way that they would normally, so that presented lots of challenges.” Debert acknowledges that Zoic had lots of creative freedom and input when it came to creating the ticks, as well as having sufficient time for exploration of the creature’s design. He worked closely alongside a designer and went through quite a lengthy concept-design process. “We worked on it for around three months,” he says. “It was a great way to get introduced to the show.” Director Dana Gonzales, who also served as DOP on the first episode, worked on some concept designs for the orchids along with Hawley. The orchids presented a different challenge for Zoic. The process involved taking concept frames and making an animatable creature, which meant coming up with how it behaves, moves and the muscle system, so it didn’t feel one-dimensional. Found aboard the Weyland-Yutani spaceship USCSS Maginot, the orchids are a deadly, bulbous, plant-like alien form, with a tentacle arm and feelers, that hang from ceilings. Zoic was tasked with developing their movements and predatory instincts.
(officially known as Species 19) and the orchids (aka D. Plumbicare). Debert admits that the ticks in particular were challenging to create. For the show, Zoic developed four distinct stages of the creature’s life cycle, from tiny, tadpole-like larvae and burrowing juveniles to full-grown adults and engorged forms swollen with their victims’ fluids. The team drew inspiration from various sources, including real-world blood-feeding organisms.
WE HAD TO DEVELOP acid-melting-metal EFFECTS”
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DEFINITIONMAGS
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