Editing Alien 3 (section)

==Production==

===Development===
With the success of ''Aliens'', [[20th Century Fox]] approached [[Brandywine Productions]] on further sequels. But Brandywine was less than enthused with an ''Alien 3'' project, with producer [[David Giler]] later explaining he and partners [[Walter Hill (director)|Walter Hill]] and [[Gordon Carroll]] wanted to take new directions as "we wouldn't do a repeat of one and two". The trio opted to explore the duplicity of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, and why they were so intent in using the [[Alien (creature in Alien franchise)|Aliens]] as [[Biological warfare|biological weapons]].<ref name="wreckage">{{cite video |title=Wreckage and Rage: The Making of Alien 3 |work=Alien Anthology |at=disk 5 |medium=Blu-ray |publisher=20th Century Fox Home Entertainment |date=2010}}</ref> Various concepts were discussed, eventually settling on a two-part story, with the [[film treatment|treatment]] for the third film featuring "the underhanded Weyland–Yutani Corporation facing off with a militarily aggressive culture of humans whose rigid socialist ideology has caused them to separate from Earth's society." [[Michael Biehn]]'s [[Dwayne Hicks|Corporal Hicks]] would be promoted to protagonist in the third film, with Sigourney Weaver's character of [[Ellen Ripley]] reduced to a cameo appearance before returning in the fourth installment, "an epic battle with alien warriors mass-produced by the expatriated Earthlings." Weaver liked the [[Cold War]] metaphor, and agreed to a smaller role,<ref name="bald">{{cite journal |url= http://www.michaelbiehn.co.uk/gallery/displayimage.php?album=593&pid=21866#top_display_media |title=Bald Ambition |journal=Cinescape |date=November 1997 |access-date=September 4, 2008}}</ref> particularly due to a dissatisfaction with Fox, which removed scenes from ''Aliens'' crucial to Ripley's backstory.<ref name="last">{{cite magazine |url= https://ew.com/article/1992/05/29/sigourney-weaver-talks-about-alien3/ |title=Last in Space |date=May 29, 1992 |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |access-date=October 12, 2008 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081013103926/https://ew.com/ew/article/0%2C%2C310615%2C00.html |archive-date=October 13, 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|2}}
{{quote box|quote="I felt that Ripley was going to become a burden to the story ... There are only so many aspects to that character you can do."|source=Sigourney Weaver, concerning the future of Ripley.<ref name="bald" />|width=35%|align=right}}

Although Fox was skeptical about the idea, they agreed to finance the development of the story, but asked that Hill and Giler attempt to get [[Ridley Scott]], director of ''[[Alien (film)|Alien]]'', to make ''Alien 3''. They also asked that the two films be shot back to back to lessen the production costs. While Scott was interested in returning to the franchise, it did not work out due to the director's busy schedule.<ref name="bald" />

===William Gibson script===
In September 1987, Giler and Hill approached [[cyberpunk]] author [[William Gibson]] to write the script for the third film. Gibson, who told the producers his writing was influenced by ''Alien'', accepted the task. Fearful of [[1988 Writers Guild of America strike|an impending strike]] by the [[Writers Guild of America, West|Writers Guild of America]], Brandywine asked Gibson to deliver a screenplay by December.<ref name="bald" /> Gibson drew heavily from Giler and Hill's treatment, having a strong interest in the "Marxist space empire" element.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.williamgibsonbooks.com/blog/2003_09_01_archive.asp#106243398206019606 |title=William Gibson talks about the script |work=WilliamGibsonBooks.com |access-date=December 18, 2006 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20061230140902/http://www.williamgibsonbooks.com/blog/2003_09_01_archive.asp#106243398206019606 |archive-date=December 30, 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The following year, Finnish director [[Renny Harlin]] was approached by Fox based on his work in ''[[A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master]]''.<ref>{{cite web |first=Luke |last=Savage |url= https://denofgeek.com/movies/alien/14416/renny-harlin-interview-12-rounds-die-hard-and-the-alien-3-that-never-was |title=Renny Harlin interview: 12 Rounds, Die Hard, and the Alien 3 that never was |date=May 27, 2009 |website=[[Den of Geek]] |access-date=November 15, 2016}}</ref> Harlin wanted to go in different directions from the first two movies, having interest in both visiting the Alien homeworld or having the Aliens invading Earth.<ref name="wreckage" />

Gibson mockingly summed up his script as "Space commies hijack alien eggs—big problem in Mallworld".<ref name="bald" /> The story picked up after ''Aliens'', with the ''Sulaco'' drifting into an area of space claimed by the "Union of Progressive Peoples". The ship is boarded by people from the UPP, who are attacked by a facehugger hiding in the entrails of Bishop's mangled body. The soldiers blast the facehugger into space and take Bishop with them for further study. The ''Sulaco'' then arrives at a space station–shopping mall hybrid named Anchorpoint. With Ripley put in a coma, Hicks explores the station and discovers Weyland-Yutani are developing an Alien army. In the meantime, the UPP are doing their own research, which led them to repair Bishop. Eventually Anchorpoint and the UPP stations are overrun with the Aliens, and Hicks must team up with the survivors to destroy the parasites. The film ends with a teaser for a fourth movie, where Bishop suggests to Hicks that humans are united against a common enemy, and they must track the Aliens to their source and destroy them.<ref name="bald" />

The screenplay was very action-oriented, featuring an extended cast, and is considered in some circles as superior to the final film and has a considerable following on the Internet.<ref name="about">{{cite web |url= http://horror.about.com/od/horrorthemelists/ss/Greatest-Horror-Movies-Never-Made_5.htm |title=10 of the Greatest Horror Movies Never Made |first=Mark H. |last=Harris |work=Horror.[[About.com]] |access-date=June 2, 2012 |archive-date=April 6, 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150406222322/http://horror.about.com/od/horrorthemelists/ss/Greatest-Horror-Movies-Never-Made_5.htm |url-status=dead}}</ref> The producers were on the whole unsatisfied with the screenplay, which Giler described as "a perfectly executed script that wasn't all that interesting",<ref name="wreckage" /> particularly for not taking new directions with the initial pitch. They still liked certain parts, such as the subtext making the Alien a metaphor for [[HIV]], but felt it lacking the human element present in ''Aliens'' and Gibson's trademark cyberpunk aesthetic. Following the end of the WGA strike, Gibson was asked to make rewrites with Harlin, but declined, citing various other commitments and "foot dragging on the producers' part."<ref name="bald" /> On July 12, 2018, it was announced that William Gibson's unmade screenplay of ''Alien 3'' would be adapted into a comic series.<ref name="staley">{{cite web |last1=Staley |first1=Brandon |title=William Gibson's Unproduced Alien 3 Script to be Adapted by Dark Horse |url= https://www.cbr.com/william-gibson-alien-3-comic-book-series/ |website=[[Comic Book Resources|CBR]] |access-date=September 24, 2019 |date=July 12, 2018}}</ref> As part of ''Alien''{{'}}s 40th anniversary, on May 30, 2019, a [[Alien 3 (podcast)|full-cast audio drama]] of William Gibson's unproduced screenplay of ''Alien 3'' was released and made available on [[Audible (store)|Audible]], with both Michael Biehn and Lance Henriksen reprising their film-roles.<ref name="starburst" /> Both are based on the second draft. 2021 saw another adaptation of the screenplay, this time as a novel written by [[Pat Cadigan]] from [[Titan Books]]<ref name="cadigan" /> and based instead on the first draft.

===Eric Red script===
Following Gibson's departure, Harlin suggested screenwriter [[Eric Red]], writer of the cult horror films ''[[The Hitcher (1986 film)|The Hitcher]]'' and ''[[Near Dark]]''. Red worked less than two months to deliver his draft in February 1989,<ref name="bald" /> which led him to later describe his ''Alien 3'' work as "the one script I completely disown because it was not 'my script'. It was the rushed product of too many story conferences and interference with no time to write, and turned out utter crap."<ref>{{cite web |author=Clint |url= http://moviehole.net/201024765-caffeinated-clint-back-in-the-red |title=Q&A with Eric Red |work=Movie Hole |access-date=November 15, 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160822090314/http://moviehole.net/201024765-caffeinated-clint-back-in-the-red |archive-date=August 22, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> His approach had a completely new set of characters and subplots, while also introducing new breeds of the Alien.<ref name="bald" /> The plot opened with a team of Special Forces marines boarding the ''Sulaco'' and finding that all survivors had fallen victim to the aliens. Afterwards, it moved into a small-town U.S. city in a type of bio-dome in space, culminating in an all-out battle with the townsfolk facing hordes of Alien warriors. Brandywine rejected Red's script for deviating too much from their story, and eventually gave up on developing two sequels simultaneously.<ref name="bald" />

===David Twohy script===
Writer [[David Twohy]] was next to work on the project, being instructed to start with Gibson's script. Once the [[Revolutions of 1989|fall of Communism]] made the Cold War analogies outdated, Twohy changed his setting to a prison planet, which was being used for illegal experiments on the aliens for biological warfare.<ref name="bald" /> Harlin felt this approach was too similar to the previous movies, and, tired of the [[development hell]], walked out on the project, which led Fox to offer Harlin ''[[The Adventures of Ford Fairlane]]''.<ref>{{cite web |last=Bibbiani |first=William |date=August 17, 2011 |title=Interview: Renny Harlin on '5 Days of War' |work=[[CraveOnline|Crave]] |url= http://www.craveonline.com/film/interviews/172837-interview-renny-harlin-on-5-days-of-war |access-date=August 4, 2016}}</ref>

Twohy's script was delivered to Fox president [[Joe Roth]], who did not like the idea of Ripley being removed, declaring that "Sigourney Weaver is the centerpiece of the series" and Ripley was "really the only female warrior we have in our movie mythology."<ref name="Jolin" /> Weaver was then called, with a reported $4&nbsp;million salary, plus a share of the box office receipts.<ref name="last" />{{rp|1}} She also requested the story to be suitably impressive, original, and non-dependent on guns. Twohy duly set about writing Ripley into his screenplay.<ref name="Jolin" />

===Start-up with Vincent Ward===
Once Hill attended a screening of ''[[The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey]]'', he decided to invite its director, [[Vincent Ward (director)|Vincent Ward]]. Ward, who was in London developing ''[[Map of the Human Heart]]'',<ref name="bald" /> accepted the project only on the third call, as he at first was uninterested in doing a sequel. Ward thought little of the Twohy script, and instead worked up another idea, involving Ripley's escape pod crash landing on a monastery-like satellite. Having developed this pitch on his flight to Los Angeles, once Ward got with the studio executives he saw his idea approved by the studio. Ward was hired to direct ''Alien 3'', and writer John Fasano was hired to expand his story into a screenplay.<ref name="wreckage" /> Once Twohy discovered through a journalist friend that another script was being written concurrently with his, he went after Fox and eventually left the project.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stovall |first=Ada |date=September 24, 2013 |title=Riddick's David Twohy |url= http://creativescreenwriting.com/david-twohy-is-a-hard-working-man/ |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131002060152/http://creativescreenwriting.com/david-twohy-is-a-hard-working-man/ |archive-date=October 2, 2013 |access-date=August 4, 2016 |website=Creative Screenwriting}}</ref>

Ward envisioned a planet whose interior was both wooden and archaic in design, where [[Luddite]]-like monks would take refuge. The story begins with a monk who sees a "star in the East" (Ripley's escape pod) and at first believes this to be a good omen. Upon arrival of Ripley, and with increasing suggestions of the Alien presence, the monk inhabitants believe it to be some sort of religious trial for their misdemeanors, punishable by the creature that haunts them. By having a woman in their monastery, they wonder if their trial is partially caused by sexual temptation, as Ripley is the only woman to be amongst the all-male community in ten years. To avoid this belief and (hopefully) the much grimmer reality of what she has brought with her, the monks of the "wooden satellite" lock Ripley into a dungeon-like sewer and ignore her advice on the true nature of the beast.<ref>vincentwardfilms.com, Alien 3 Unrequited Vision, retrieved on 2009:10:30 http://vincentwardfilms.com/project/concepts/alien-3/unrequited-visio/</ref> The monks believe that the Alien is in fact the Devil. Primarily though, this story was about Ripley's own soul-searching complicated by the seeding of the Alien within her and further hampered by her largely solo attempts to defeat it. Eventually Ripley decides to sacrifice herself to kill the Alien. Fox asked for an alternative ending in which Ripley survived, but Weaver would agree to the film only if Ripley died.<ref name="wreckage" />

''[[Empire (film magazine)|Empire]]'' magazine described Ward's 'Wooden Planet' concept as 'undeniably attractive—it would have been visually arresting and at the very least, could have made for some astonishing action sequences.' In the same article, [[Norman Reynolds]]—the production designer originally hired by Ward—remembers an early design idea for "a wooden library shaft. You looked at the books on this wooden platform that went up and down". 'Imagine the kind of vertical jeopardy sequence that could have been staged here—the Alien clambering up these impossibly high bookshelves as desperate monks work the platform'.<ref name="Jolin">{{cite journal |last=Jolin |first=Dan |url= https://empireonline.com/features/alien-3-tale-of-the-wooden-planet/ |title=Backstory Alien III – Alien: Reinvented |journal=Empire |date=December 2008 |pages=150–156 |access-date=November 15, 2019 |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150924051949/http://www.empireonline.com/features/alien-3-tale-of-the-wooden-planet/ |url-status=dead}}</ref>{{rp|156}} Sigourney Weaver described Ward's overall concept as "very original and arresting."<ref name="Jolin" />{{rp|153}} Former ''[[The Times|Times]]'' journalist David Hughes included Ward's version of ''Alien 3'' amongst "The Greatest Sci-Fi Movies Never Made" in his book of this title.<ref>{{Cite book |isbn=978-1556524493 |title=The Greatest Sci-fi Movies Never Made |last1=Hughes |first1=David |date=2001 |publisher=A Cappella Books |url-access=registration |url= https://archive.org/details/greatestscifimov0000hugh}}</ref>

However, the concept was divisive among the production crew. The producers at Brandywine discussed the logical problems of creating and maintaining a wooden planet in space, while Fox executive [[Jon Landau (film producer)|Jon Landau]] considered Ward's vision to be "more on the artsy-fartsy side than on the big commercial side" that Ridley Scott and James Cameron employed. Ward managed to dissuade the producers of their idea of turning the planet into an ore refinery and the monks into prisoners, but eventually Fox asked for a meeting with the director imposing a list of changes to be made. Refusing to do so, Ward was fired. The main plot of the finished film still follows Ward's basic structure.<ref name="wreckage" />

===Walter Hill and David Giler's script===
Hill and Giler did a first draft trying to enhance the story structure on the Fasano script, and feeling creatively drained, hired [[Larry Ferguson (screenwriter)|Larry Ferguson]] as a [[script doctor]]. Ferguson's work was not well received in the production, particularly by Sigourney Weaver, who felt Ferguson made Ripley sound like "a pissed-off gym teacher". Short on time before filming was due to commence, Hill and Giler took control of the screenplay themselves, melding aspects of the Ward/Fasano script with Twohy's earlier prison planet screenplay to create the basis of the final film.<ref name="bald" /> Sigourney Weaver had also had a clause written into her contract stating the final draft should be written by Hill and Giler, believing that they were the only writers (besides James Cameron) to write the character of Ripley effectively.<ref name="wreckage" /> Fox approached music video director [[David Fincher]] to replace Ward.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Pearce |first=Garth |date=1991 |title=Alien3: Set Visit To A Troubled Sequel |magazine=[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]] |url= https://empireonline.com/interviews/interview.asp?IID=1102 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150703222946/https://empireonline.com/interviews/interview.asp?IID=1102 |archive-date=July 3, 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Fincher did further work on the screenplay with author [[Rex Pickett]], and despite Pickett being fired and Hill and Giler writing the final draft of the screenplay, he revised most of the work done by the previous authors.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Knapp |editor1-first=Laurence F. |last=Richardson |first=John H. |date=2014 |title=David Fincher: Interviews |series=Conversations with Filmmakers Series |chapter=Mother from Another Planet |page=23 |location=Jackson |publisher=[[University Press of Mississippi]] |isbn=978-1-628460-36-0}}</ref> Fincher wanted [[Gary Oldman]] to star in the film, but the pair "couldn't work it out".<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.playboy.com/articles/playboy-interview-david-fincher |title=Interview: David Fincher |last=Rebello |first=Stephen |author-link=Stephen Rebello |date=September 16, 2014 |website=[[Playboy]] |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140917030311/http://www.playboy.com/articles/playboy-interview-david-fincher |access-date=December 16, 2019 |archive-date=September 17, 2014}}</ref>

===Filming===
[[File:Blast Beach (37391466).jpeg|thumb|Blast Beach near [[Dawdon]] in England was used for exterior shots of the planet ''Fiorina "Fury" 161''.]]
Filming began on January 14, 1991, at [[Pinewood Studios]] without a finished script and with $7&nbsp;million already having been spent.<ref name="last" />{{rp|3}} While a majority of the film was shot at Pinewood, some scenes were shot at [[Blyth Power Station]] and the beach near [[Dawdon]] (known locally as "the Blast" or "Blast Beach") in the UK.<ref name="sine_project">{{cite web |title=Structure details |work=SINE Project (Structural Images of the North East) |publisher=[[Newcastle University]] |url= http://www.sine.ncl.ac.uk/view_structure_information.asp?struct_id=301 |access-date=June 9, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080312201030/http://sine.ncl.ac.uk/view_structure_information.asp?struct_id=301 |archive-date=March 12, 2008}}</ref> The purpose of these shots was to show the exterior of the planet.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://wtfdvds.com/all-dvds-1/alien-3-workprint-1992-dvd-43.html |title=Alien 3 Workprint (1992) DVD |access-date=January 20, 2009 |work=WTFDVDs |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090123184215/http://wtfdvds.com/all-dvds-1/alien-3-workprint-1992-dvd-43.html <!--Added by H3llBot--> |archive-date=January 23, 2009}}</ref> [[Cinematographer]] [[Jordan Cronenweth]], in deteriorating health following a diagnosis of [[Parkinsons Disease]] a decade earlier<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Dmc1EAAAQBAJ&dq=jordan+cronenweth+parkinson%27s+blade+runner&pg=PT37 |title=Ridley Scott: A Biography |isbn=978-0-8131-7711-3 |last1=Lobrutto |first1=Vincent |date=May 17, 2019 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky}}</ref> worked only for two weeks before becoming too ill to continue. He was replaced by [[Alex Thomson (cinematographer)|Alex Thomson]].<ref>''Wreckage and Rage: The Making of Alien 3 – Stasis Interrupted: David Fincher's Vision'' and ''The Downward Spiral: Fincher vs. Fox'' (''Alien 3 Collector's Edition'' DVD)</ref> Actor [[Charles Dance]] said that an alternative ending had been filmed due to fears that the original ending was too similar to the ending of ''[[Terminator 2: Judgment Day]]'', released the previous year, but was not used.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kermode |first=Mark |date=June 1992 |title=Dances with Aliens |url= https://archive.org/details/Fangoria_113/page/n37?q=Alien+3 |journal=[[Fangoria]] |issue=113 |pages=36–39 |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref>

===Visual effects===
[[Stan Winston]], responsible for creature effects in ''Aliens'', was approached but was not available. Winston instead recommended Tom Woodruff Jr. and Alec Gillis, two former workers of his studio who had just started their own company, [[Amalgamated Dynamics]].<ref name="fright" /> Even before principal photography had begun, the practical effects crew was developing models of the Alien and the corpses of the ''Sulaco'' victims. [[Richard Edlund]]'s [[Boss Film Studios]] was hired for [[compositing]] and other post-production effects.<ref name="wreckage" /> A small number of shots contain [[computer-generated imagery]], most notably the cracking alien head once the sprinklers cause thermal shock. Other CGI elements include shadows cast by the rod puppet alien, and airborne debris in outdoor scenes.<ref name="Visual Effects" />

David Fincher wanted the alien to be, "more of a puma, or a beast" as opposed to the upright, humanoid posture of the previous films, so the designer of the original alien, [[H. R. Giger]], was contacted to generate new sketch ideas. His revisions included longer, thinner legs, the removal of "pipes" around the spine, and an idea for a sharp alien "tongue" in place of the secondary jaws. Working from his studio in Zurich, Giger produced these new sketches which he faxed to Cornelius de Fries who then created their model counterparts out of [[plasticine]].<ref name="xeno">{{cite video |title=Xeno-Erotic: The H.R. Giger Redesign" |medium=DVD |work=Alien Quadrilogy |volume=''Alien 3'' bonus disc |publisher=20th Century Fox Home Entertainment |date=2003}}</ref> The only one of Giger's designs that wound up in the final project was a "Bambi Burster" Alien that had long legs and walked on all fours. ADI also built a full-scale [[Bunraku]]-style puppet of this design which was operated on-set as an in-camera effect. Scenes using this approach were cut from the final release due to the limitations of chemical compositing techniques, making it exceedingly difficult to remove the puppeteers from the background plate, but can be seen in the "Assembly Cut" of the film.<ref name="optical" />

The Alien is portrayed by both Woodruff Jr. in a suit and a [[Rod puppets|rod puppet]] filmed against [[Chroma key|bluescreen]] and optically [[Compositing|composited]] into the live-action footage, with the rods removed by [[rotoscoping]]. A mechanical alien head was also used for [[close-up]]s.<ref name="Visual Effects">{{cite video |people=Fredrick Garvin (Director) |title=The Making of Alien 3 |medium=DVD |publisher=20th Century Fox Home Entertainment |date=2003}}</ref> The suit adapted the design used in ''Aliens'' so Woodruff could walk on all fours.<ref name="fright" /> Woodruff's head was contained in the neck of the suit, because the head was filled with [[animatronics]] to move the mouth of the Alien.<ref name="shock" /> Fincher suggested that a [[Whippet]] be dressed in an alien costume for on-set [[Camera coverage|coverage]] of the [[Quadrupedalism|quadrupedal]] alien, but the visual effects team was dissatisfied with the comical result and the idea was dropped in favor of the puppet.<ref name="Visual Effects" />

The rod-puppet approach was chosen for the production rather than [[stop motion|stop-motion animation]], which did not provide the required smoothness to appear realistic. As a result, the rod-puppet allowed for a fast alien that could move across surfaces of any orientation and be shot from any angle.<ref name="optical">{{cite video |people=David Fincher (Director) |work=Alien Quadrilogy |volume=''Alien 3'' bonus disc |title=Optical Fury |medium=DVD |publisher=20th Century Fox Home Entertainment |date=2003}}</ref> This was particularly effective as it was able to accomplish movements not feasible by an actor in a suit. The {{frac|1|3}}-scale puppet was 40 inches long and cast in foam rubber over a bicycle chain armature for flexibility.<ref name="imagi">{{cite journal |date=1994 |title=H.R. Giger |journal=Imagi-Movies Magazine |volume=1 |issue=3}}</ref> For moving camera shots, the on-set cameras were equipped with digital recorders to track, pan, tilt, and dolly values. The data output was then taken back to the studio and fed into the motion control cameras with the linear dimensions scaled down to match the puppet.<ref name="optical" />

To make syncing the puppet's actions with the live-action shots easier, the effects team developed an instant compositing system using [[LaserDisc]]. This allowed takes to be quickly overlaid on the background plate so the crew could observe whether any spatial adjustments were required.<ref name="optical" />

Laine Liska was hired to lead a team of puppeteers in a new process dubbed "Mo-Motion" where the rod puppet would be simultaneously manipulated and filmed with a moving [[motion control photography|motion control camera]].<ref name="optical" /> Depending on the complexity of the shot, the puppet was operated by 4–6 people.<ref name="imagi" /> Sparse sets were created to provide freedom of motion for the puppeteers as well as large, solid surfaces for the puppet to act within a three dimensional space.<ref name="optical" />

The crew was pushed to make the movements of the Alien as quick as possible to the point where they were barely in control, and this led to, according to Edlund, "the occasional serendipitous action that made the alien have a character." The ease of this setup allowed the crew to film 60–70 takes of a single scene.<ref name="optical" />

Hoping to give the destroyed Bishop a more complex look that could not be accomplished by simple make-up, the final product was done entirely through animatronics, while a playback of Lance Henriksen's voice played to guide Sigourney Weaver.<ref name="wreckage" />

Scenes of the Emergency Escape Vehicle were shot with a 3.5-foot [[scale model|miniature]] against a blue-screen and composited onto large scale traditional [[matte painting]]s of the planet's surface. To make the clouds glow from within as the EEV entered the atmosphere, the painting's values were digitally reversed and animated frame by frame. The scene in which the EEV is moved by a crane-arm (also a miniature) was created by projecting a video of actors onto pieces of cardboard and then compositing them into the scene as silhouettes against the matte-painted background.<ref name="optical" />