Ridley is in search of locations for the sequel?

One of the things that struck me in the theatre was how ominous and very Alien the landscapes and textures were that adorned the opening credits. Huge, brutal and gorgeous. And real. Daylight played a huge part in the visuals, something you simply don't get in an Alien film, at least not often, and never with such depth and character. I loved the cold mistiness of it, wet and pregnant on Earth ( if that's what it was ) and dry and hugely sterile on LV223. It worked for me, having a real/ unreal landscape so artfully photographed and effected. Simple, and majestic. In at least one long shot from the Prometheus ships POV there are gigantic mountains in the distance, incredible looking CG climbing into the sky. Couldnt say about their scale versus that of Everest, but they seem to compete. The shots of the Prometheus distant, scouting the surface are breathtaking. The tone for me was perfect, reminiscent of the great SF paperback covers from the 60's, plus mass very well communicated, a huge ringed planet in the sky, the ship itself when parked was just perfect. A mecha monster, somehow combining 40, 50 years of SF aesthetics and advancing the look past now. That's not to say I wouldn't want to see something as bizarre and forbidding as LV426, elevated by these great artists. And it will probably happen. Its happened already, in the broader sense. Prometheus I thought lived very comfortably in the Alien world, the first "good" Alien film to come along in 30 years. Last thing. I think the vision was always at least two films. I think the unconventional aspects of Prometheus hobbled it commercially well before it was even released, and thus it was manipulated to stand alone. That said, I'm betting the sequel will get a bigger budget, and I don't think it's too soon to scout. The broad strokes of the story are probably already in place.

@Membrane: Glad you're as fascinated about Mt. Roraima as I am. The more you research about these incredible habitats in total isolation from life in the rainforests below, and almost from evolution itself, the weirder the rocks, plants and animals become up there. Tepuis are among the oldest known rock formations on earth, their surfaces were once part of the seafloor, now rising up to nearly 3000 metres above the Amazon rainforest. There are some amazing books and documentaries about the Tepuis out there, if anyone is interested I can dig out some links. Thanks for including some pics there. I've got tons on my PC but haven't uploaded them somewhere in a gallery easy to hyperlink to, so I thought it's best to just google it. I agree with you that they could have created a more gloomy, eery, unearthly mood by simply shooting in near darkness, but that's not necessarily what I'd like to have seen. I thought it was incredibly brave to shoot in bright daylight! But what I expected to see were things I'd struggle to imagine. Not all over the place, but here and there as a highlight, a reminder about how far away we are. Maybe some quicksilver lakes, huge gas cloud columns glowing in spectral incandescent colours , more of the beautifully shot planets in the distance, the material was there! But what I saw in the end was an 'exaggerated Earth'. Yes, it was subtle and it does fit in with the designs we've seen in the Alien universe before. Great idea to make the Tepuis part of their world. Strategically they'd make a formidable fortress, a great observation point, have a relatively flat surface ideal for atmospheric and interstellar launches. They're of soft sandstone ideal for carving out huge corridors and other internal structures. Ridley... are you reading this?? Haha! @Major Noob: I hope so too that Ridley Scott will emphasize on that much further in "Paradise"and I believe the two films will look very similar in terms of the production design, it'll be rather odd if they don't. I also agree with you on the quality of the opening sequence, it was perfect and there's nothing I'd change about it. My point was that it looked just too similar to LV-223's surface. Exactly, those beautiful colours and textures had nearly the same look and feel to them. And no doubt about the visual quality in Prometheus, that's one of the things I like most about it!

The difference for me between the opening planet and LV223 was the sense of moisture, and the sparse flora. I agree the tone was consistent between the two, but for whatever reason I just accepted it. I was so slack jawed happy I went along with pretty much the whole thing. As for locations, I'm once again being a drooling optimist. Give me Paradise! But... It's not out of the question. If I were RS I'd have some sense of urgency. I'd bet at the very least there have been some very cool conversations between him and Arthur Max. These guys are monsters. The images posted in this thread are fantastic, and have me fired up. Thank you all!

Excellent thread peeps, keep it up! I'm loving all the pics and information! I too am concerned about Ridley's recent amount of projects and how long we might have to wait for Paradise. Hopefully this isn't a big tease. @ Shambs, *fist bump*

Yeah enjoying this thread very much, too! Will get some pics of Mt. Roraima to add more fuel to your fires, Major Noob! ;-) @Freezer: *chest bump*

Ok for those interested, a few more pictures and links about the fascinating world of the South American Tepuis in Venezuela and Guyana... Get inspired, think "Paradise" and how this could be an inspiration or reference. Yes, there are ampules as well and creatures older than dinosaurs! First off, a link to [url=http://www.gryphonproductions.com/thereallostworld/flash_content/flash_content.html]"The Real Lost World"[/url], probably the best TV documentary covering this strange world. It's 2 hours long, has incredible images, in-depth information and stunning footage. I couldn't find any decent clips on YouTube but I'd say this is actually worth having in your DVD collection! Next up, another TV documentary by [url=http://youtu.be/KWkC7sXyChw]National Geographic[/url]. I found it on YouTube split into 4 clips. Sorry about the quality, it's the best I could find so quickly. Another [url=http://youtu.be/xsyFCh6dm8s]private clip[/url] I found on YouTube, not really a film but a stunning collection of photos, definitely worth watching to see the beauty and weirdness in its full glory... Now for some photos. A website called [url=http://www.wistuba.com/01b0219327002033f/506271958d0d8e301/index.html]wistuba.com[/url] is truly amazing, especially for those interested in carnivorous plants. Yes, you heard that right... an evolutionary glitch? Make sure you click all the links on that site to all the different galleries, it's well worth exploring. Here some samples: [img]http://www.wistuba.com/images/dscf4330_579.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.wistuba.com/images/dscf4424_579.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.wistuba.com/images/dscf4333_579.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.wistuba.com/images/dscf4357_579.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.wistuba.com/images/dsc1403_579.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.wistuba.com/images/dsc3158_579.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.wistuba.com/images/awi51032_579.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.wistuba.com/01b0219327002033f/506271958d0d8e301/506271958d0da3a04/506271958d0d8ee03/l001.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.wistuba.com/01b0219327002033f/506271958d0d8e301/506271958d0da3a04/506271958d0f10b55/l004.jpg[/img] Hope you enjoyed the show and spotted various references to themes in "Prometheus" and hopefully "Paradise"... HAL

Okay HAL 9000, now I won't be able to get any work done. :-) I agree that after looking through the links and the images of landscapes, this would be a good place for 'Paradise', although I don't know what Scott's vision is exactly. I go back to my earlier comments that it would be cool to have "paradise" look like what we typically imagine it to be, but underneath be pure hell. Some of the ones that stand out to me after a short browse: Looks like a combination of the opening landscapes in 'Prometheus' and LV-223 (not sure of the scale, but I imagine this being grand, like 500-600 meters from one side of this picture to the other so people would be very small in this shot) [img]http://www.wistuba.com/images/dscf4192_579.jpg[/img] Awesome plants, especially when there is a giant contrast in colors [img]http://www.wistuba.com/images/dscf4255_579.jpg[/img] Really neat rock formations [img]http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TTohz4Gfb94/THAm-koUjhI/AAAAAAAAABw/NvxLZJM_izA/s1600/Lost+World+%252813%2529.jpg[/img] [img]http://igosouth.com/SVsitefiles/insights/contenido/orig/lostWorld.jpg[/img] And an artists rendering on DeviantArt, which reminds me a little of the Prometheus landing in the valley on LV-223 with the ringed planet in the background [img]http://th02.deviantart.net/fs20/PRE/f/2007/243/0/7/Tepui_by_hoevelkamp.jpg[/img] Okay, back to work I guess...

The MT. Roraima is an excellent landscape for a sequel...a plateau in paradise, rises above the clouds with life forms that evolved differently from other life forms from the rest of the planet. The plants and rock formations are impressive indeed.

i don t think they look by filming paradise because ridley want s to make another project i think is paradise it s last on his program

@claudius, Yeah, I believe Ridley Scott was in the Canary Islands scouting locations for his upcoming Moses film called 'Exodus'. We've been just having fun speculating if he was there for 'Paradise' as well which led to other places that could be possible locations for filming. Of all the rumblings I've heard/read concerning the films that Scott is linked to (outside of all the TV stuff), here's what I've compiled (and a guess at the order in which he'll tackle them) - 'Exodus', 'Paradise', 'Blade Runner 2' then 'Forever War'. We'll see... time will tell.

@Shambhala: I'm glad you liked the inspiration and spotted the references to certain features or strands in the ALIEN/Prometheus universe. The Tepuis have inspired and fascinated me since many years now and I've just been waiting for the right moment to finally mention 'bring them' to this community. [EDIT]: At first I was a bit worried to 'hijack' your thread. I suppose I could have started a seperate one about this topic, but then figured yours is the better platform for it. So, thanks again for starting it! =) But like I said before, even if Ridley Scott and Arthur Max would share the fascination and see the potential for a filming location, no matter what money they'd throw at the Venezuelan authorities, obtaining a permission for shooting up there is very unlikely to happen. These outstanding habitats are extremely fragile and need all the protection they can possibly get, especially since adventure tourism is rapidly growing in that region. Well then, there's always the possibility of advanced CGI, which we all know Mr. Scott and Mr. Max are very capable of using efficiently.

@HAL 9000, I agree. I'm thinking lots of aerial and wide angle shots to get the feel (it simply cannot be recreated artificially... not yet anyway) and building on them with CGI if necessary.

@Membrane: Absolutely! And as far as I remember, the shooting on location in [b]Wadi Rum[/b] was not very extensive or intrusive to the environment. Later on, they also recreated most of it from spatial data (USGS) and aerial/satellite photography from GoogleEarth to generate the 3D structures and textures for the CGI. And I think we can all agree that the result is stunning (although not as alien-like as I'd liked it). Nudge, nudge... Another good example is how Peter Jackson's team have done Edoras (Rohan) in LOTR, using this isolated rock situated in that vast valley, adding most of the buildings later on in CGI and that, I have to say, merges pretty much seamlessly! The only problem is that there are only very few helicopter pilots out there who can negotiate those sheer cliffs of [b]Mt. Roraima[/b] and [b]Mt. Kukenam[/b] and even moreso, the incredibly dangerous turbulences caused by strong upwinds and [i]immense[/i] changes in temperatures. Many before have lost their lifes during filming there, but one camera man managed to tape some really stunning HD footage for a BBC nature documentary. So, maybe there is a realistic chance after all. Oh, I wish our voices would be heard... fingers crossed!

Oh, and I just remembered that the [url=http://james-camerons-avatar.wikia.com/wiki/Hallelujah_Mountains]Hallelujah Mountains[/url] (floating mountains of Pandora) in [b]"Avatar"[/b] were also largely inspired by the [b]Tepuis[/b] and created entirely in CGI. I think they got the original look and feel of the cliffs pretty spot on. ([b]not[/b] giving an opinion about the movie itself here) [img]http://images.wikia.com/jamescameronsavatar/images/archive/8/8f/20100409063107!Hallelujah_Mountains.jpg[/img]

@HAL 9000, it would be....... interesting, to see how 'Avatar' would stand up to discussions held on this forum. :-)