From
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| Giger's derelict painting (Work 374: Wreck) that bears qualities of an Escher drawing |
a) Transition to being a spacecraft designer
On Friday morning, 3rd March 1978, Giger had flown over from Switzerland to England. Once it was certain that Giger knew what he was supposed to be doing with the alien beast, Ridley asked Giger if he could design a space ship that was not designed by human beings. The sudden transition into being the designer of the derelict space craft was confusing for him because before hand, he had only been expected to design the title alien life form, and Dan O'Bannon had hoped to go with Chris Foss' design for the derelict (See Foss' derelict design)
He asked himself "well how do you do that?" He thought it might look organic or something that even grown like a plant, but he did not know exactly what it should look like. He would make it look biomechanical as with his well known style. The dead alien spaceship was not designed for function, and it should be different from the ones used on Earth and they did not want it to look as if it was made by human beings.
b) Having the derelict ship idea
Across March, 3rd, 4th and 5th, he worked on the drawing of the alien derelict space ship. In the early hours of a morning, while he was at the flat he was staying in Old Church Street in London, he couldn't sleep, he had an idea and so he got up to work on it. He wanted the ship to look like something planted, perhaps in the process of maturing. It was a question of getting down on paper, and so he started painting and the derelict ship was born within a few hours.
What he ended up with was an aerodynamic flying bone with a little technical stuff all over it with arms stretching out in front. actually he didn't know how it would look when flying, , but it wasn't something that he consciously planned, it just sort of ran out of his mind and through his airbrush. which was not an uncommon phenomena for Giger. He knew how the thing should appear in the movie, looking very aggressive and frightening.
Often he would try to switch off his thoughts as much as possible and let the painting flow spontaneously from his subconscious mind. He had a good feeling coming with the ease that this picture was coming out.
By the time Mia gets up, he had finished the picture.
c) Battle between O'Bannon and Scott over derelict
On Friday morning, 3rd March 1978, Giger had flown over from Switzerland to England. Once it was certain that Giger knew what he was supposed to be doing with the alien beast, Ridley asked Giger if he could design a space ship that was not designed by human beings. The sudden transition into being the designer of the derelict space craft was confusing for him because before hand, he had only been expected to design the title alien life form, and Dan O'Bannon had hoped to go with Chris Foss' design for the derelict (See Foss' derelict design)
He asked himself "well how do you do that?" He thought it might look organic or something that even grown like a plant, but he did not know exactly what it should look like. He would make it look biomechanical as with his well known style. The dead alien spaceship was not designed for function, and it should be different from the ones used on Earth and they did not want it to look as if it was made by human beings.
b) Having the derelict ship idea
Across March, 3rd, 4th and 5th, he worked on the drawing of the alien derelict space ship. In the early hours of a morning, while he was at the flat he was staying in Old Church Street in London, he couldn't sleep, he had an idea and so he got up to work on it. He wanted the ship to look like something planted, perhaps in the process of maturing. It was a question of getting down on paper, and so he started painting and the derelict ship was born within a few hours.
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| Derelict exterior sketch from below from Giger's Alien Diaries (note the additional arm extending around the other side of the vessel) |
What he ended up with was an aerodynamic flying bone with a little technical stuff all over it with arms stretching out in front. actually he didn't know how it would look when flying, , but it wasn't something that he consciously planned, it just sort of ran out of his mind and through his airbrush. which was not an uncommon phenomena for Giger. He knew how the thing should appear in the movie, looking very aggressive and frightening.
Often he would try to switch off his thoughts as much as possible and let the painting flow spontaneously from his subconscious mind. He had a good feeling coming with the ease that this picture was coming out.
By the time Mia gets up, he had finished the picture.
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| Derelict exterior sketch from below from Giger's Alien Diaries (note the additional arm extending around the other side of the vessel) |
On the 5th March, 1978 Giger had found himself in Scott's office on Lexington Street. There he was outlining his ideas for the derelict space ship built by non-humans, which the three astronauts come across on the strange planet. Ridley Scott thinks that it is absolutely great, but Dan O'Bannon who has just flow in from the USA doesn't think that it is technical enough. The war of words comes to an end and Scott then asks Giger to paint a picture of the entrance passage. The battle was won.
d) Comparison to a lobster
d) Comparison to a lobster
Another point to note, if one takes a look at Foss' derelict design that resembles a cross between a lobster and a train and compare it wth Giger's main design, work 374, it looks a lot as if the left half of Giger's ship is a biomechanised version of Foss' lobster like structure sticking out of the sand, and Giger had taken Foss' design as a starting point and had given the thing another half with a hammer shaped tip . The fin to the left side of Foss' derelict on Giger's derelict becomes a bulbous protuberance .
e) Comparison to a spiral and a French curve
But Giger's original concept for the Derelict ship is roughly shares features with shapes from a French curve set perhaps with the out outer spine broken leaving the semi stump like parts. The thing is also a sort of a clockwise spiral with the engine like protruberence on the right being the center of the spiral while in the view of the derelict ship above it's a sort of an anti-clockwise spiral
f) Comparison to a Record Insert Adapter
I asked myself if the strange form of the derelict with its two main limbs and extraneous parts had somehow been inspired by the triskelion symbol which is the symbol with three interlocking legs associated with places such as the Isle of Mann, or even something such as the Swaztika commonly associated with the Nazis of World War 2, however on the 16th of January, 2014 I found out about the Record Insert Adapters for old vinyl records. And noticing the arms sticking out with extraneous stumps etcetera , I had found my derelict ship as it would be seen from an aerial perspective
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| One side of Giger's derelict in comparison to Chris Foss' derelict ship |
e) Comparison to a spiral and a French curve
But Giger's original concept for the Derelict ship is roughly shares features with shapes from a French curve set perhaps with the out outer spine broken leaving the semi stump like parts. The thing is also a sort of a clockwise spiral with the engine like protruberence on the right being the center of the spiral while in the view of the derelict ship above it's a sort of an anti-clockwise spiral
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| typical French curve set |
f) Comparison to a Record Insert Adapter
I asked myself if the strange form of the derelict with its two main limbs and extraneous parts had somehow been inspired by the triskelion symbol which is the symbol with three interlocking legs associated with places such as the Isle of Mann, or even something such as the Swaztika commonly associated with the Nazis of World War 2, however on the 16th of January, 2014 I found out about the Record Insert Adapters for old vinyl records. And noticing the arms sticking out with extraneous stumps etcetera , I had found my derelict ship as it would be seen from an aerial perspective
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| 45rpm vinyl record insert adapters |
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| A view of the derelict showing the glass dome about the cockpit. (work 382:Wreck Inspection) Like both a wishing bone and a boomerang |
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| Small silver coin (drachma) from Syracuse, c. 317-310 BC. (source: www.cabinetmagazine.org, issues 13) |
.jpg) |
| The Triskelion of the Isle of Mann flag |
- H. R. Giger: 5 March 1978, London.: In Scott's office on Lexington Street, I outline my ideas for the derelict (plate 374) The derelict is a space-ship built by non-humans which the three astronauts come across on the strange planet. Scott thinks its absolutely great. O'Bannon who has just flown over from the USA, doesn't think it's technical enough. A battle of pros and cons begin. I keep quiet; I know that Scott will win the argument. I did the picture one morning when I couldn't get back to sleep. I was staying in a flat in Old Church Street in London at the time. The derelict is not strictly in my field of work. But I had this idea and simply had to get it down. By the time Mia gets up I have finished the picture. I also get a good feeling when pictures go so easily, and looking back, I'm often not disappointed with my work. The certainty that my ideas will be adopted and that Scott can interpret them allows me to keep quiet. The war of words comes to an end and Scott asks me to paint a picture of the entrance passage. The battle is won. (Giger's Alien, p22, )
- H R Giger: I wanted it to look like something planted - perhaps in the process of maturing. (Warren's Alien Collector's edition , p32)
derelict sketch 374a - H. R. Giger: Well, it was decided that I would do the alien and only the alien. That's because Ron Cobb was working on the project in the early, early days. I don't remember whether they asked me or not, but I painted my version of the derelict in the morning and showed it to Ridley in the afternoon. He said, "That's it. We'll use it. Please do the entrance and the interior now." So I wound up doing more than we expected. (Warren's Alien Collector's edition, p33)
- H. R. Giger (16 March, Zurich) I've had a longish talk with my lawyer about my contract, and an hour and a half's telephone conversation with Beale, a production executive of Twentieth Century Fox. It all seems clear for the time being. I've made my concession and done two extra pictures for my Alien designs. I've finished the entrance passage (plate 375) as well as a view of the derelict showing the glass dome about the cockpit (plate 382). (Giger's Alien, p22, )
H. R. Giger: Once the alien was under control, Ridley asked me if I could design a spaceship not made by human beings. Well how do you do that? I thought maybe it might look organic - something that could grow even, like a plant *- but I didn't know exactly what it should look like. Then early one morning I couldn't sleep, I got up and started painting and the derelict ship was born in a few hours. It ended up like an aerodynamic bone with little technical stuff all over it, but it wasn't anything I had planned - it just sort of ran out of my mind and my airbrush, which is not uncommon for me. Often I try to switch off my thoughts as much as possible and let the painting flow spontaneously from my subconscious mind. (Cinefex 1)
derelict sketch 374c (resembling a lobster)
(* Giger often talks about creating the final image that looked as if it were something planted that was on the verge or maturing. In Warren's Alien Collector's edition (p32) he mentions" I wanted it to look like something planted - perhaps in the process of maturing.)- HR Giger: The dead, alien space ship was not designed for function. I knew the spacecraft should be different from the ones used on Earth. They did not want it to look as though it had been made by human beings. I decided it should look biomechanical - half mechanics, half biology. It's like a flying bone with arms stretching out in front. I don't know how it would look when flying. I just know how it should appear. It looks very aggressive, frightening. (Star Wars vs Alien, fall 1979, article: The Nightmare Maker)
- Ron Shusett: He did the entire ship organically. We wanted it to look like it was built by something other than human, built by totally alien intelligence. (Future Life #11, July 1979, p32)
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| derelict sketch 374b |
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| possibly a derelict sketch from Giger's Alien Diaries |
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