Dissecting Movies: Alien
Cracker Funk Presents (not with his permission, though): Dissecting Aliens.
Okay, so I've finally read the Alien screenplays...at least the ones available at the links below.
Yeah, I'm slow, late to the party.
Screenplay by Dan O'Bannon
Screenplay by Walter Hill and David Giler based upon the screenplay by Dan O'Bannon
So, I suppose there might be multiple books written about Alien and about what makes a successful horror film tick etc. But, instead of just looking those up (what fun would that be?) and not talking about it here...well, let's talk about it here.
So, after finishing the Hill/Giler screenplay, I rewatched Alien last night. Golly, how many times must I have already watched that film? Still, everytime I watch it it seems like I notice or think about something new each time. It's especially instructive after you've read the screenplays.
One of the first things I noticed is that only Dan O'Bannon is credited for the screenplay on screen.
Huh?
Stop the press.
How's that?
God bless Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett.
But.
What about Walter Hill and David Giler?
I mean, I have to say, while O'Bannon did create the original basis, Hill's and Giler's rewrite was, well, I mean, the screenplay they came up with was far superior to the original...that is, I think so. They added a lot. Okay, so, maybe we'll never know for sure, since O'Bannon's screenplay was not filmed, not really. So, we cannot compare the end results; only the Hill/Giler screenplay was actually filmed. Largely.
Another thing. One of the reasons I tend to loathe the horror genre is that it depends upon the inexplicable stupidity of its players. Know what? Alien suffers from this, as well.
A. Just after the alien has burst out of Kane's chest, Ash exorts the rest of the crew not to touch it. Say what?! &^ck that! What the &^%$ does he mean, 'don't touch it'? That should have been a red flag about Ash right there. Couldn't be more obvious that they should try to catch it and to subdue it right then, right there, ASAP.
B. And when Ripley and Parker make Brett go off by himself to catch the cat by himself? Asinine. Or worse, if they know how much danger they're putting him, which they should, then they're something like immoral or indifferent as characters, which should in turn cause me to cease carrying about them. None of the above is satisfactory.
C. When Brett finds the skin which has been obviously shed by the xenomorph he doesn't go back to find his compadres to inform them of such a disturbing find. No, instead, he just carries on. Asinine. If human beings actually operated this way, I doubt that they would have ever have made it off of the African savannas! Hell, they wouldn't have made it on the African savannas! This is why Homo sapiens are actually a good deal more badass than the Alien movies give them credit for. In reality, the xenomorphs wouldn't really stand much of a chance against real world human cooperation. Homo sapien cooperation is what makes them a rather amazing force, and a force for which horror films can't really acknowledge and at the same time still also work. Just sayin.
D. Parker goes off by himself to refuel the flame throwers. Nah. Not I nor the real world Ripley would allow that. Baloney. Whether Parker liked it, or not, probably the commanding officer, if she was worth her salt, would pull authority and insist, order, that no one, at that point, went off by themselves.
E. Ripley splits herself off from Parker and Lambert. There is absolutely no good reason for this. They are not under any time constraints. It couldn't be more clear that they should stick together. There is every reason for them to first go off together and gather supplies together, then activate the self-destruct together, then go to the escape ship together. Duh.
Hey, I realize that these kinds of stupidities are more-or-less necessary in order to move the plot forward and to provide the audience with thrills and scares. Ja.
But why do we forgive them in a film like Alien? Maybe because we realize and appreciate just what care, otherwise, the filmmakers took in the production of this film?
My fear is that a good horror film cannot be written or made without such stupidities. I mean, NASA, or Hollywood, or somebody should offer one of those million dollar rewards to the outfit that can be the first to make an outstanding horror film which does not rely upon its players acting stupidly or irrationally. But again, my fear is that such a feat is not possible.
I mean, God, just look at this thing, this film. What artistry and craft and thought went into it? The art design? The sound design? The acting?
That's something I don't think you can praise enough, either...the cast, the acting. I know I've posted this before somewhere on another thread, but, Ridley says as much about the stellar cast and their performances...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34B9CAYONdw&feature=related
Speaking of sound design... or sound effects, if that's what I should call them. I was more aware of this with my latest screening. The heart beat effect, for example. In the chest burster scene, the scene begins accompanied by a heart beat sound effect. Then, later on, when Brett enters that huge hanger/warehouse room and is about to be chewed up by the xenomorph, that same heart beat effect kicks in...to tell the audience to expect something horrific!
Another element that's interesting to me is the would-have-been sexual component of the film. You know, the whole Giger design connection etc, for one thing. The suppliments on the special edition Alien Laserdisc covers this. I suppose those same suppliments have been included in at least one of the many DVD or Blu-ray editions? Not assuming that. Is it the case? Anyway, the SP Laserdisc suppliments went into that. The SP Alien Laserdisc must have been one of the best, most gorgeous laserdisc releases back in the day. Right?
Anyway, if you've seen that aspect of the story, the making of Alien, what do you think of it being largely excised from the finished film?
For my part, I find it disappointing because it reduces the richness of what could have been. On the other hand, over all, it was probably the best decision. The attacks on Brett and Lambert have the character of sexual assaults as originally filmed, otherwise, rather than "just" nasty attacks. Yikes. Maybe too much?
But what do you think?
[Edit, Addition] **************
Oops, I also meant to talk about how things changed from the screeplay to the finished film...in Alien's case for the better.
There are other scenes for which they made even more significant changes --and for the better too, but to save me more work, let me just take one of my favorite scenes from Alien, and, for that matter, one of my favorite scenes of all time:
The one in which Ripley is pressing Dallas about his decision to allow Ash to keep the facehugger corpse etc.
The Hill/Giler screenplay goes like this:
***************************
But, here's how it was actually filmed, acted, edited, etc. Wish I could also post a clip of thise scene, but haven't found it on youtube. Bear with me; I did the transcribing myself, such as it is, from watching the DVD.
So, the point is, I think, how interesting it is how, in Alien's case, anyway, the production team took the script and made it better. Proof positive of how the collaborative nature of such filmmaking can produce something better.
I mean, if you write a screenplay, don't you wish that what you write comes out just right, you've hit the nail on the head, foreseen everything, no changes necessary, etc etc etc? But, just look at Alien, how much more the film became than the simple, word for word execution of the screenplay. Pretty cool, really.
Cracker Funk Presents (not with his permission, though): Dissecting Aliens.
Okay, so I've finally read the Alien screenplays...at least the ones available at the links below.
Yeah, I'm slow, late to the party.
Screenplay by Dan O'Bannon
Screenplay by Walter Hill and David Giler based upon the screenplay by Dan O'Bannon
So, I suppose there might be multiple books written about Alien and about what makes a successful horror film tick etc. But, instead of just looking those up (what fun would that be?) and not talking about it here...well, let's talk about it here.
So, after finishing the Hill/Giler screenplay, I rewatched Alien last night. Golly, how many times must I have already watched that film? Still, everytime I watch it it seems like I notice or think about something new each time. It's especially instructive after you've read the screenplays.
One of the first things I noticed is that only Dan O'Bannon is credited for the screenplay on screen.
Huh?
Stop the press.
How's that?
God bless Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett.
But.
What about Walter Hill and David Giler?
I mean, I have to say, while O'Bannon did create the original basis, Hill's and Giler's rewrite was, well, I mean, the screenplay they came up with was far superior to the original...that is, I think so. They added a lot. Okay, so, maybe we'll never know for sure, since O'Bannon's screenplay was not filmed, not really. So, we cannot compare the end results; only the Hill/Giler screenplay was actually filmed. Largely.
Another thing. One of the reasons I tend to loathe the horror genre is that it depends upon the inexplicable stupidity of its players. Know what? Alien suffers from this, as well.
A. Just after the alien has burst out of Kane's chest, Ash exorts the rest of the crew not to touch it. Say what?! &^ck that! What the &^%$ does he mean, 'don't touch it'? That should have been a red flag about Ash right there. Couldn't be more obvious that they should try to catch it and to subdue it right then, right there, ASAP.
B. And when Ripley and Parker make Brett go off by himself to catch the cat by himself? Asinine. Or worse, if they know how much danger they're putting him, which they should, then they're something like immoral or indifferent as characters, which should in turn cause me to cease carrying about them. None of the above is satisfactory.
C. When Brett finds the skin which has been obviously shed by the xenomorph he doesn't go back to find his compadres to inform them of such a disturbing find. No, instead, he just carries on. Asinine. If human beings actually operated this way, I doubt that they would have ever have made it off of the African savannas! Hell, they wouldn't have made it on the African savannas! This is why Homo sapiens are actually a good deal more badass than the Alien movies give them credit for. In reality, the xenomorphs wouldn't really stand much of a chance against real world human cooperation. Homo sapien cooperation is what makes them a rather amazing force, and a force for which horror films can't really acknowledge and at the same time still also work. Just sayin.
D. Parker goes off by himself to refuel the flame throwers. Nah. Not I nor the real world Ripley would allow that. Baloney. Whether Parker liked it, or not, probably the commanding officer, if she was worth her salt, would pull authority and insist, order, that no one, at that point, went off by themselves.
E. Ripley splits herself off from Parker and Lambert. There is absolutely no good reason for this. They are not under any time constraints. It couldn't be more clear that they should stick together. There is every reason for them to first go off together and gather supplies together, then activate the self-destruct together, then go to the escape ship together. Duh.
Hey, I realize that these kinds of stupidities are more-or-less necessary in order to move the plot forward and to provide the audience with thrills and scares. Ja.
But why do we forgive them in a film like Alien? Maybe because we realize and appreciate just what care, otherwise, the filmmakers took in the production of this film?
My fear is that a good horror film cannot be written or made without such stupidities. I mean, NASA, or Hollywood, or somebody should offer one of those million dollar rewards to the outfit that can be the first to make an outstanding horror film which does not rely upon its players acting stupidly or irrationally. But again, my fear is that such a feat is not possible.
I mean, God, just look at this thing, this film. What artistry and craft and thought went into it? The art design? The sound design? The acting?
That's something I don't think you can praise enough, either...the cast, the acting. I know I've posted this before somewhere on another thread, but, Ridley says as much about the stellar cast and their performances...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34B9CAYONdw&feature=related
Speaking of sound design... or sound effects, if that's what I should call them. I was more aware of this with my latest screening. The heart beat effect, for example. In the chest burster scene, the scene begins accompanied by a heart beat sound effect. Then, later on, when Brett enters that huge hanger/warehouse room and is about to be chewed up by the xenomorph, that same heart beat effect kicks in...to tell the audience to expect something horrific!
Another element that's interesting to me is the would-have-been sexual component of the film. You know, the whole Giger design connection etc, for one thing. The suppliments on the special edition Alien Laserdisc covers this. I suppose those same suppliments have been included in at least one of the many DVD or Blu-ray editions? Not assuming that. Is it the case? Anyway, the SP Laserdisc suppliments went into that. The SP Alien Laserdisc must have been one of the best, most gorgeous laserdisc releases back in the day. Right?
Anyway, if you've seen that aspect of the story, the making of Alien, what do you think of it being largely excised from the finished film?
For my part, I find it disappointing because it reduces the richness of what could have been. On the other hand, over all, it was probably the best decision. The attacks on Brett and Lambert have the character of sexual assaults as originally filmed, otherwise, rather than "just" nasty attacks. Yikes. Maybe too much?
But what do you think?
[Edit, Addition] **************
Oops, I also meant to talk about how things changed from the screeplay to the finished film...in Alien's case for the better.
There are other scenes for which they made even more significant changes --and for the better too, but to save me more work, let me just take one of my favorite scenes from Alien, and, for that matter, one of my favorite scenes of all time:
The one in which Ripley is pressing Dallas about his decision to allow Ash to keep the facehugger corpse etc.
The Hill/Giler screenplay goes like this:
***************************
But, here's how it was actually filmed, acted, edited, etc. Wish I could also post a clip of thise scene, but haven't found it on youtube. Bear with me; I did the transcribing myself, such as it is, from watching the DVD.
So, the point is, I think, how interesting it is how, in Alien's case, anyway, the production team took the script and made it better. Proof positive of how the collaborative nature of such filmmaking can produce something better.
I mean, if you write a screenplay, don't you wish that what you write comes out just right, you've hit the nail on the head, foreseen everything, no changes necessary, etc etc etc? But, just look at Alien, how much more the film became than the simple, word for word execution of the screenplay. Pretty cool, really.
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