Ati
MemberPraetorianSep-22-2017 7:42 PMWho made the eggs? David or the Engineers?
Matt Hatton on Instagram:
Hatton: You didn't get to see much in the final film but the Covenant eggs were beautifully finished and layered. Felt a bit bad for the girls working on them stuck staring at giant slimy fleshy alien vajayjay for days and days though...
------: Who made it in the end? David or the Engineers?
Hatton: David built on the engineers' work. That's what the film says to me and the idea we worked under at the time...
------: Thanks, it's just that between the book and the movie there was this gap. I'm guessing that the Engineers basically made it from one of those carnivorous plants and David only tweaked it so it could 1) hold a dormant facehugger (which he also tweaked, not invented); 2) who in turn holds an alien egg which is really Shaw's ovary impregnated with the DNA of an (amplified, blackened) engineer neomorph.
Hatton: Yep great guess and I absolutely did the flora stuff intentionally making a bridge not just between the native life and Giger shape language but also as my way of explaining the discrepancy between the different aesthetics we've seen and giving an internal logic. But also wanted to honour the ambiguity inherent in Giger's work where you have an idea but it's not spelled out literally. So it's funny the face-sucker art which was pretty ambiguous (and Ridley liked for that reason) has been taken so literally as not just rebreathing prototype but insemination = eggs from Shaw. A lot of people are being reductive and very literal and yes I like the idea but I like it thematically. Like Blade Runner it's not that Deckard is or isn't, the point is he MAY be. Metaphorically much stronger. Same here! Does that make sense? I think Ari is pretty on the money!
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Visit the link, you can find the original conversations and two photos of the eggs mentioned:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BYK2HDZFQhE/?taken-by=matthatt0n
Svanya
AdminPraetorianSep-22-2017 8:16 PMMatt's been great at answering questions on his Instagram account. He is awesome. Going to feature this post awhile, thanks Ati.
Chris
AdminEngineerSep-22-2017 8:45 PMYep, another great post! Matt is a really cool guy, so glad to see him engaging with fans and answering questions.
Lawrence of Arabia
MemberChestbursterSep-23-2017 9:48 AMMatt and Dane have been really cool when it comes to interacting with the fanbase :)
"The trick, William Potter, is not minding that it hurts."
Ati
MemberPraetorianSep-23-2017 12:05 PMChris - Thanks, and you are agreed.
Lawrence of Arabia - The photos showing the egg (next to comment section) are awesome. The eggs look so different!
Lawrence of Arabia
MemberChestbursterSep-23-2017 12:29 PMThe Ovomorphs are beautiful!
"The trick, William Potter, is not minding that it hurts."
BigDave
MemberDeaconSep-24-2017 6:41 PMNice work... and who knows how much they knew or did not know about the Process... i mean are RS/FOX even sure? It appears a lot of things change time over time....
And its a Question of if they had a Actual IDEA to how all this connects and how much the Concept Artist knew... i would assume many was in the know about some elements, as surely they cant just go around making various art work and stuff without no thought of how it actually connects?
But then i did fear this could be the case with Davids workshop, where a lot of it i wondered could be various cool ideas and concepts that the Production Team/RS/FOX felt would be cool to just leave the concept work on set and pass it off as Davids works in progress... without ever thinking how it all connects because most fans may not actually try and analyze the concepts in detail and what role they play in the Xenomorph Creation.
R.I.P Sox 01/01/2006 - 11/10/2017
BigDave
MemberDeaconSep-24-2017 6:45 PMThey certainly are skipping around direct subject of it all.... i guess as it does leave it ambiguous for FOX/RS to go the route that David had simply Evolved/Advanced the Original Xenomorph.
Prometheus was the same, with the Mural and a case of how much of this literally should we had taken on-board as connecting to the Xenomorph, or how much are just Easter Eggs alone.
The Frescos likewise.. as one shows us a Alien Egg but it was never 100% shown in the movie and what % of it was, as for a split second. and so maybe a lot of debates trying to connect this literally to the Origins of the Xenomorph is something we are not supposed to had done, because maybe those Frescos had no real purpose but to look Cool!
For weeks i had been telling myself.. when i am better i will make a Topic about what Questions to Ask Concept Artist about some of their works..
And i think this is one i would like to ask Wayne Haagg
He was not the only person to do concept on the Dome. and the other Concept Artist, also had a similar very Human looking beings on the insides and indeed Females on the Doors.
The other concept the beings looked like from the Sumarian Gods depictions... but Wayne Haaggs shows very much Biblical imaginary as for as the Humans.
So i would have loved to have asked this...
"Regarding the Concept work you had done for the Temple Dome, Entrance for Alien Covenant, i noticed the Doors have Females, and not Engineer looking ones and the entrance also has Humanoids and again with Hair and Beards... was this just your idea, or did this kind of Humanoid Aesthetic have something or was supposed to have something to do with the Engineers History or Mankinds?"
Because i do feel if there was a Purpose for this at some point, rather than the NO beings we get in the movie on the Entrance, or even Bald Engineer types..
Then if prior their was a reason behind those paintings on the Dome Doorway etc.... if this was to do with the Back Story.. then Wayne answering the Question above could have given a massive insight into where they was going with this.
Unless... it just looked Cool at the time ;)
R.I.P Sox 01/01/2006 - 11/10/2017
Ingeniero
MemberPraetorianSep-24-2017 8:31 PM"i wondered could be various cool ideas and concepts that the Production Team/RS/FOX felt would be cool to just leave the concept work on set and pass it off as Davids works in progress... without ever thinking how it all connects because most fans may not actually try and analyze the concepts in detail and what role they play in the Xenomorph Creation."
That may be most fans but not some on this topic. Great point BigDave.
This is another golden discussion Ati, thank you.
Ati
MemberPraetorianSep-25-2017 3:29 PM"Regarding the Concept work you had done for the Temple Dome, Entrance for Alien Covenant, i noticed the Doors have Females, and not Engineer looking ones and the entrance also has Humanoids and again with Hair and Beards... was this just your idea, or did this kind of Humanoid Aesthetic have something or was supposed to have something to do with the Engineers History or Mankinds?"
That is an existing painting copied on the wall. If I remember well it conveys a kind of religious message (the scene shown by the painting) but it is not about the Engineers' history.
Thoughts_Dreams
MemberNeomorphSep-27-2017 7:55 AMHopefully this means that David just did a type of monster built on Engineer tech but that he wasn't involved in doing the original or the one that we see in Alien (1979).
BigDave
MemberDeaconOct-04-2017 2:35 PMIndeed ATI..
I dont recall this being on the Doors in the Movie..
I forget the other concept artist who did the same Dome but their Humans had more a Sumerian kind of look to them, i wonder if at any stage these designs meant something?
Its a interesting set of Concept Works, because it does not fit with the Engineers at all, these beings are not Bald Humanoids... Makes me wonder about the SOURCE comments.. they appeared to put a lot of Emphasis on the Engineers actually being like David 8 and that we are the 4th/5th Generation of Mankind and all Biblical Stories and Events happened in a way... but not to Modern Mankind on Earth.
Then the Big One about how they claimed Mankind played the Big Role in the Xenomorph and not the Engineers. I found it puzzling... but since i saw these concepts by Wayne Haag and the other guy, it had got me thinking... did a Previous version of Man actually have a important role in the Engineers Society, and at which Run on the Ladder of Hierarchy did a Ancient Human Species stand compared to the Engineers?
R.I.P Sox 01/01/2006 - 11/10/2017
BigDave
MemberDeaconOct-04-2017 2:39 PMFound the other Piece... its by Steve Messing
Again this implies beings more closer to Humans played a key role in this Temple, with Females maybe being of great importance.
R.I.P Sox 01/01/2006 - 11/10/2017
