The Pyramid

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AVP: Borrowed from the Alien saga

a) A main plot element in the film is the discovery of an ancient pyramid that contains an

Alien birthing temple and Paul Anderson borrowed this idea as something unused from Dan O'Bannon's original Alien script.

AVP' s Hologram of the underground pyramid

The pyramid in O'Bannon's script

1. "Originally, when they were going back from the derelict ship to the Nostromo, they were going to find this pyramid and there was the suggestion of a civilisation that was somehow tied into the Alien eggs" Anderson explains." The concept was always stuck in my mind - Aliens in a pyramid." (Total Film, November 2004, p102)

AVP's The sacrifice chambers beds

b). The sacrificial chamber in the pyramid was loosely inspired by Dan O'Bannon's concept for the birthing chamber inside the pyramid in his Alien script as illustrated by Ron Cobb

  birthing chamber design by Ron Cobb

c ) It was arranged in a way vaguely reminiscent of the cryotubes of the seven 'petaled' sleep chamber aboard the Nostromo in Alien (right)

AVP's  seven 'petaled' sacrificial chamber 

Alien's seven 'petaled' cryogenic sleepers

d ). Poster art from Alien 3

Alien 3 poster

On the floor in the centre of the birthing chamber decorating a drainage hole is found an image of the spiral like alien queen embryo which is based on the emblem for poster for Alien 3 

1. Woodruff ? : Hey that's nice there, that little grating right there that they just pulled out from was the poster art from the Alien 3 poster. (DVD commentary)

AVP's spiral queen embryo design on the grating

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Von Daniken concepts in Alien vs Predator

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Erich von Daniken
and
Alien Vs Predator

 STILL COLLATING

a) Erich Von Daniken inspired Paul Anderson
 Something that inspired Paul Anderson is the work of Erich Von Daniken, who wrote Chariots of the Gods, and a number of other books, and he talked about the similarities between Egyptian pyramids, Cambodian pyramids, Aztec Pyramids , three seperate cultures that really have nothing to do with one another, that should never had seen each other, should have had no communication, but they ended up building pyramids that look surprisingly similar

b) Alien vs Predator back story
 Of course, the Von Daniken answer was that aliens built the pyramids or humans built the pyramids with alien help and the story of Alien Vs Predator agrees with him. The backbone of the story is that the movie starts five thousand years ago in Cambodia, three thousand BC and we see aliens and predators on the earth. The idea is that the predators use the earth for their manhood rituals, and, what happens is every thousand years, because predators have a very long life cycle, they drop five teenage predators at a pyramid, and they have to fight for their survival. They fight aliens. And if they survive the battle against aliens they become predator adults.

Source Quotes

1. 2004-07-14 – Kirk from New Zealand: In ascertaining the setting where all 3 races would meet, did you take into account any ancient mythology as using a pyramid for the setting may suggest?
   
   Paul WS Anderson: Well, something that’s always fascinated me is the work of Erich Von Daniken, who wrote CHARIOTS OF THE GODS and lots of other books, who talks about the similarities between Egyptian pyramids, Cambodian pyramids, Aztec pyramids, three separate cultures that really have nothing to do with one another, that should never have seen each other, should have had no communication, but they ended up building, pyramids that look surprisingly similar.
   And of course Daniken’s answer was that aliens built the pyramids, or humans built the pyramids with alien help. And, of course, we agree with him! The backbone of our story is that the movie starts five thousand years ago in Cambodia, three thousand B.C., and you see aliens and predators on the earth. And the idea is the predators use the earth for their manhood rituals, and, what happens is every thousand years, because predators have a very long life cycle, they drop, five teenage predators at a pyramid, and they have to fight for their survival. They fight aliens. And if they survive the battle against aliens they become predator adults. (AvP Xtreme Desktop website, now closed, retrieved from www.avpgalaxy.net)

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Chris Foss' derelict designs inspire Firefly?

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Alien echoes

a) On the 10th of December 2013, "Matfink" said to me on my blog "Amazing similarities between derelict 1 and the design of Serenity's Firefly..." and seeing an immediate connection I decided to take a further look


b) One of Chris Foss' initial concepts for the derelict ship showed a long bodied vehicle with a thick barrel shaped part in the middle of its body and from that part the front of the ship rose up as if it has a bird like neck sloping upwards ending in something that would be the head with an almost beak like nozzle.

concept for derelict Chris Foss

c) In 2002, a few years after Joss Whedon wrote the script for Alien Resurrection featuring a band of space pirates aboard a relatively small spacecraft called The Betty, he went off to make his TV series Firefly followed by the cinema movie Serenity. The main space craft was the Serenity that was a Firefly class ship. It looks slightly similar to the front half of the derelict concept art by Chris Foss, with the barrel part as mentioned forming the main body of the ship which also has a half raised  bird like neck ending in a beaked head.

d) First impressions about Foss's concept is that it resembled an oversized prawn and the Serenity from Firefly has the general shape of a bird with its wings replaced by engine arms and the head has evolved into something almost reptilian. Other concepts for the Serenity ship Firefly went in other directions.

Serenity. Early Concept Design by Carey Meyer, courtesy of Rocco Passionino.
Source: Firefly- Still Flying Titanbooks.com

The Serenity

The Serenity

remains of a large version of the Serenity spacecraft ( source io9 ) 

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Vidocq

Leading from

alien resurrection

a) Pitof's movie "Vidocq" was released in 2001. It featured the 19th Century detective Vidocq hunting down an ancient alchemist who was using magical means to kill various people. Vidocq tracked the alchemist to his layer where hung many dozens of bodies inverted from the rafters and their blood dripped down a network of pipes and ducts into an iron womb like tank below to feed this strange featureless mirror mask inside. There was an idea from a script by Joss Whedon for Alien Resurrection in which in there was in the queen alien's lair , many the victims upside down in cocoons with their blood dripping down into the pool where the Queen lay with her womb about to give birth to the Newborn and the blood was feeding the Newborn creature. 

Sylvain Despretz conceptart for the queen's layer in Alien Resurrection

b) Pitof worked in the special effects department for Alien Resurrection and was a well known collaborator of Jean-Pierre Jeunet's having worked in his previous films. In fact there were talks with Pitof with the idea that he would be directing the fifth installment for Alien, but he bowed out and made his detective action movie Vidocq. Seeing the movie, one might wonder if he actually borrowed at least one idea from the Alien Resurrection production and expanded on it.  The film enabled the director to have a brief stint with Hollywood with his ill received movie Catwoman. Vidocq over the years, despite not being a film much talked about years later did retain a cult following.

hanging dead bodies in Vidocq

inverted head of hanging dead body in Vidocq

visible arms of a hanging dead body in Vidocq

inverted hanging dead body in Vidocq

blood trickling down into bowls

bowls collect blood that enter an iron womb

the alchemists lair

c) The Alchemist mask leading to the Deacon?
And then looking at the ways ideas flowed further into the distance of time, one might look at the possibility that this film Vidocq might have been a noteworthy movie to take notice of when it came to exploring the future of Alien concepts as much as it did for me.  I personally had the idea of having an alien with this creature's featureless face because it got to the point where thinking about the face of the Alien, one had to step back and realise that there was no way to make any further impact beyond what Giger had given us with the Alien's face in cinema.   

In 2012, the images of the Proto-Alien are revealed as designed by a group of designers followed Ridley Scott's ideas and the head is seen by numerous people to resemble a cycling helmet with a smooth featureless face. This creature was nicknamed by Ridley Scott as the Deacon and he thought that the point of the head was the evil Deacon's mitre. I thought that the answer I had for designing a new face seemed to reach a similar situation. And this mask of the alchemist ended at the top in a point slightly like that of the Deacon's but not at long

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Did Pablo Gargallo's horse sculptures inspire Salvador Dali's Autumnal Cannibalism?

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Salvador Dali

Top left: Gargallo's "Urano", (1933)
bottom left: Gargallo's "Petit cheval de cirque " (1932).
Right: Salvador Dali's "Autumnal Cannibalism" (1936)

In an issue of Tate Magazine around August 2001, Jason Rosenthal revealed a previously unacknowledged source for Dali's iconic painting 'Autumnal Cannibalism' as being Pablo Gargallo's bronze sculpture "Urano", however the body itself look so directly like the form of the horse that was buried in Dali's painting.

On Jan 17th 2014 I found an image of Gargallo's "Petit cheval de cirque " which when it has parts of it mixed with parts of "Urano". The back leg and lower part of the stomach seemed to have lended themselves much more openly to Dali's needs

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Giger and the tale of the Scarecrow

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Development of Giger's art

sketch from 1961 published in the book Giger ARh+

As a child, HR Giger was told the story of a scarecrow and the impressions that it left followed him through life and he noticed that it occasionally found its way into his artwork. He thought that this stake-bound life showed him the senselessness of existence, and existence better never begun. Many of his works reflected this hopeless state of enslavement which left no room for religious beliefs  He lived much of his life with a nihilist point of view but towards the end of his life, he actually felt quite fulfilled.

Sources Quotes

1. HR Giger: The first impaled figure to fascinate me as a child was a living scarecrow in a local fairytale, which I made my mother read me again and again. I think this stake-bound life, for whom redemption meant death as soon as possible, showed me the senselessness of existence. An existence better never begun. Many of my works reflect this state of hopeless enslavement which leaves no room for religious beliefs.  (Giger ARh+ , p26, 2001)
2. Petra Wallace, via email : In HR Giger ARh+, you speak of a story your mother used to tell about a scarecrow, and how it spoke to you as a child about the "senselessness of existence". Do you still feel that existence is worthless today? Or, given the passing years, has life become more important to you? Does life make more sense the older you get?
   HR Giger:The story you are referring to is a fairy tale which impressed very much in my early youth and has followed me through life. Such dark fairy tales left quite an impression with me at the time. It has occasionally also found its way into my work. I actually do feel quite fulfilled with my life these days. (Bizarre Magazine  #195, 2012)

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The Windowlickers I, II & III

leading from

Development of Giger's art.

 

a) Windowlickers I, II & III (lithographs 1999)
Giger created the Windowlickers series of drawings in 1999 according to the Giger 2001 diary by Taschen. Drawings from this year have 999 merged with 666 as if they are loops with two hooks. The first one shows the terrible mask with penises coming down the side and flowers around the upper part of the head. The second shows heads with the same face hanging in the air with beards of long whispy hairs. One platted the other sticking out in the form of spikes.  As if they were shrunken heads. The third in a series is a toilet bowl with perhaps flowers around the seat

When I first picked up the HR Giger diary by Taschen in 2001, and noticed the Windowlickers drawings by Giger, I assumed it was a homage since he might have been so inspired by what he saw in a photo or the video and still do today, whatever the truth might be.

The Windowlickers I (1999) (source https://plus.google.com)

The Windowlickers II (1999) (source https://plus.google.com/)

The Windowlickers III (1999) (source https://plus.google.com)

b) Windowlickers video for Aphex Twin with special thanks to Tom Woodruff and Alec Gillis
The video for Aphex Twin's Windowlickers is often said to have been made in 1998 but it's definitely known to have been released in March 1999. There is one character who is the most ugliest of the women who are all ugly with caricature masks of Richard D James. This one has flowers in her hair and side plats suspended in the air. The masks were sculpted and designed by Paul Catling and Jordu Schell worked on masks and hair as well. Tom Woodruff and Alec Gillis are thanked in the final credits.

c) Giger involved in Windowlickers rumour hits the media
Since then it has come into people's beliefs that H R Giger created the concept the design of this one mask which I might assume was based a concept by Chris Cunningham's. It has got to the point where the Guardian newspaper believes this and even Creativereview.co.uk have jumped onto the idea of Giger's involvement as well. However Giger has not talked about any involvement in Chris Cunningham's videos and the nearest thing he had said of any acknowledgement Cunningham's work was when he admitted in 2000 in an interview for Esoterra magazine #9 to being a fan of the "Come To Daddy" video by Chris Cunningham for Aphex Twin and we have the Windowlickers drawing too. Chris Cunningham who has been a sculptor for the Alien costume for ADI in the Alien 3 production and concept designer for Alien Resurrection has not talked in interviews about working with HR Giger at all let alone asking him for a concept drawing. Perhaps Giger , if he were involved, would have taken the project a little bit more seriously than just the evidence that we've seen, and would have offered side views etc and have some concern about what was to be made of his design considering that what amounted to generally being the ADI team were involved. It might be a issue over a single mask briefly used in a single pop video but as a fan of Chris Cunningham's music videos and a fan of the work of HR Giger this matter is of importance to me. Before I believe that Giger was involved in the actual video's concept design rather than an appreciator of the imagery afterwards, I want some hard information, none reveals itself

Source Quote

1. R.F. Paul:  What about electronic music?
   
   Giger: No, not too much. I like Aphex Twin though. Come to daddy is very good. Very amusing. (Esoterra #9)
2. A still from the video for the 2005 song Windowlicker by Aphex Twin. Original conceptual art by HR Giger. (http://www.theguardian.com)
3. The two women, among others, accompany James in his limousine while their faces morph into James' own likeness, and are later joined by a woman with a horrifically ugly, buck-toothed, deformed face, which is a likeness of a sketch by Swiss artist H. R. Giger titled "The Windowlickers". (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windowlicker)
4. He would work on other projects ("Poltergeist II: The Other Side," "Species," as well as uncredited stint on the video for Aphex Twin's "Windowlicker") but it's "Alien" (and the franchise) that he'll be remembered by film fans for. (http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/rip-h-r-giger-1940-2014-watch-2-hour-20-minute-documentary-on-the-making-of-alien-20140513)
5. Until towards the end of the song when the booming bass part comes in and there is a heavily deformed, buck toothed Richard James’ face based on HR Giger’s sketch “The Windowlickers” (http://www.director-file.com/cunningham/aphex-twin/)
6. In 1999 a sketch by Giger also made its way into one of the most infamous music videos of all time – Chris Cunningham's unsettling ten-minute epic for Aphex Twin track, Windowlicker. Called The Windowlickers, Giger's original grinning face became one of the Aphex Twin 'masks' adopted towards the end of Cunningham's film; the most bizarre of them (if that's possible) and the only one that differs from the legion of Richard James faces. (The masks in the film were designed and sculpted by Paul Catling.) (http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2014/may/hr-giger)
   

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