Alien Franchise Rule Book: for Members by Members
dk
MemberTrilobiteMar-31-2017 1:36 PM“The Scified Alien Covenant Unified Rule Book for Future Movies in the Alien Franchise”
I ran this thread from 23-30 March. I may have edited to maintain flow so I hope it somewhat orderly.
I would first like to thank contributors alphabetically: Apex_Predator, BigDave,, Blackwinter-witch , chadsbrothermatt, Dk, Grinning & Dropping Linen, IRaptus, LV226, ninXeno426, and Parkerparrot
Here is the original link: http://www.alien-covenant.com/topic/43788
Rules in no particular order:
- to have characters written and developed well with no wishy washy whimsical religious zealots.
- Do not put too much emphasis on technology like holograms and such.
- No romance whatsoever in any alien movie.
- No stupid characters such as fifield and milburn (posted X 2)
- No time travel (mentioned X 4)
- Put Chris and BigDave on the pay roll as consultants/writers with possible cameos. (Dave chose a mutated Jabba)
- No more than 3 rewrites of the script. Pick an idea, flesh it out, and make the best version of that idea possible rather than trying to incorporate old versions into some new vision by some new writer. (mentioned X 2)
- there is no place for corny over the top cheesy/corny dialog and sequences in this film universe (aka anything similar to Resurrection would be banned)
- No predators in the alien film universe, they are both cool but tonally too different to share a film and it be worthy of either,,save that stuff for the comic books (mentioned X 2)
- not everything has to be explained ,keep some mystery in this universe so we have something our minds can run wild with (mentioned X 2)
- NEVER turn it into an Avengers where our protaginists are just taking our hordes after hordes, it would be silly....even though Aliens went with the action/war vibe it still kept some of the bleak tone and impending doom and terror
- Ripley is done, done done never again shoehorn her into a sequel or prequel
- Keep the main focus on morphing and mutating as the genesis of the species but still allow an occasional queen ...there is just more ghastly horror to play with when it comes to mutation, but the queen IMO is limited, she looks good our hero fights her thats it, having her on the screen dosnt really open up any storytelling doors for us other than a cool action scene
- Im fine with tech but make it look used or serviceable, if its too "bright and shiny" it takes away the tone and feel of the movie
- I do not ever want to see Weyland Yutani weaponize the xenomorph.If you want to know why,just play Colonial Marines.Enough said
- R rating only (mentioned X 2)
- No main character kids
- Defined chest-burster gestation period(s). To paraphrase, consistent time lines yet allow some wiggle room for hosts with mentioned physical conditions that may explain gestation time variations.
- Xenos not used as cannon-fodder that run around in open spaces, or broad daylight; Ambush/stalking predator only.
- No quotes from Ripley as a fanboy nod to her like 'that's not exactly out of the manual' or 'get away from her, you bitch'.
- Stay true to H.R Giger and his nightmareish world and design.
- No comedy. (Dark humor is OK here and there but not to the extent of Resurrection)
- Never, ever again a newborn or anything that resembles that abomination. (I am fine with neomorphs though..) (mentioned X 2)
- No "up in the blue, infantile dopehead" ideas in scripts or drafts like wooden planets ur sutch. Alien worlds yes, but please not stupid.
- No fan boy service other then set pieces and or details about the alien universe that serves to expand the world
- Never 100% CGI, always a mix of practical effects
- Dont rely on Ripley storyline
- Don’t have more than 2 years between movies.
- I just hope they have it all planned out A-Z even if we dont see every part of A-Z as long as they know what a A-Z would be and stick to things that wont contradict it, and so also to tidy up the mess that has been left before.
- Projectile weapons preferred, yet allow for Laser-based weapons as they are making steady progress with them in the real world
- NO stupid-looking weapons like the blue and orange (present-day Target-match pistols) weapons seen in PROMETHEUS. They looked like kid's toys.
- NO MORE FLAMETHROWERS!! At least not pre-assembled ones in the armory/ready-for-use ones like we saw in PROMETHEUS. It is the absolute height of mindless and suicidal stupidity to fire one aboard a starship, they're cliche`, have no real practical use aside from menacing an Alien, and the last thing you want is an alien running amok, on fire, acid bleeding from multiple and increasing places where it's skin has burned through/sloughed off, and setting even more of the ship on fire and burning holes in the ship all along its path.
- Do NOT even TRY to 'Star Trek It Up'...this is the ALIENverse, it has its own distinct feel, flavor and mien. There is NO Central Monolithic Unchallengeable Federation of Planets as The Prime Authority...and there NEVER will be. There are NO Government starships out 'patrolling the sector', and when you're between star systems, you're on your own.
- Characters should act and inter-relate like people do in reality, not by way of artificial/idealized 'Niceness'. Watch ALIEN for some great scenes between Ripley and Parker and their friction-points in personality
- People drink beer, some likely carry whisky/liquor flasks, they smoke, and have pin-ups all over the place. These are people, not Idealized Human Federation Citizens
You're welcome and TY for reading all the technical info. :) End of the day, weapon-grade laser wounds are quite horrific, much uglier than anything a bullet can do.
I must also say lasers firing in pulse-mode are not quiet, they make a 'Crack' with a muzzle flash every bit as loud as any firearm, and even a IR or UV (non-visible frequency laser) has a fairly visible beam path as it creates atmospheric glow along it's path. The muzzle flash is the air at the muzzle suddenly being cranked up several energy states.
IN SPACE THERE IS NO WARNING
YES!!! Thank-You for remembering that!!! Original script and such, and even a look at the Props, the weapons were laser-based.
IN SPACE THERE IS NO WARNING
I would like to Thank you for posting the Rulebook.
As I've mentioned I'm working on a piece for the ALIENverse, and while I will always defer to my own internal 'rulebook' the one you posted here has already proven useful to me and I have taken a copy of it so I have a 'guiderope' to what to avoid and what to keep. In short, it will be a further assist in helping me stay faithful and true to the genuine 'feel' of the ALIENverse.
I love this fanbase as much as I do the Firefly fanbase!!
IN SPACE THERE IS NO WARNING
dk thank you kindly for considering my late entry! ;)
Blackwinter-witch I forgot to add that very important point about a ships cat being traditional! Good luck with your writing, I hope you will share the fruits of your labour with your SCIFIED brethren.
Aww a furry wee moggie can provide much needed fun and stress relief when having to deal with (other) hostile beings. It can also serve as a mini-McGuffin plot device.
Thanks also go to the other members who supported my catty suggestion.
"Let The Cosmic Incubation Begin" ~ H.R. Giger
About the kids as main characters that was me being a grinchy bastard. To clarify (which I failed to do earlier sorry dk)
-First and foremostly: Kids in the story tend to drop the film classification to M instead of R.
- Newt is the exception to the rule for kids on the basis that the over-arching sub-theme for Ripleys character in Aliens was motherhood (or Ripleys lost motherhood in this case). Her entire character was written around that notion. So Newt was in essence a major plot device not so much a main character.
- Kids as main characters can pull on the heart-strings drawing out the protective maternal/paternal instincts of the viewer. However I usually find that kids are written really poorly and tend to come off cheesy and fake and cheapen the execution of the story.
Still not convinced about irrelevant kids in films that serve only to dumb down the story and rating?
I leave you with this picture....
