BLOG POST 4: ALIEN

 ALIEN (1979) Dir. Ridley Scott

To this day, ALIEN still strikes fear in me like no other film. It is a film that re-defined the horror genre (sci-fi horror). The combination of H.R. Giger’s masterful yet sinister designs with Ridley Scott’s creativity and direction lead to the creation of a film that is so special and intrinsically rooted in my upbringing as a young man watching films with his father. I knew that it was a film that had a myriad of rich visual information to draw from and produce prints from.

(Below) A selection of the best moments that capture the emotions of fear and angst from the film. This film has such a rich collection of stunning close up portraiture shots.

ROUGH PLANS

-  planned compositions for my first film: ALIEN. I am heavily focusing on shadows and highlights for these plans which will help capture the overall dark, unsettling, ambiguous feel of the film, nemesis and landscape/setting. These plans certainly capture the chaotic, horrendous nature of the film and emulates the horrifying feel generated from the original release trailer (link below).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjLamj-b0I8 

LITHOGRAPHY INDUCTION- WHY? THOUGHTS? NOSFERATU POSTER WAS SUGGESTED BY WILL AS A GREAT INSPO FOR LITHOGRAPH FILM POSTER

I chose to be inducted into the process of lithography as it would mean that my work would be in line with traditional methods of poster-making - such as offset lithograph posters of Lautrec and this impressive offset lithograph film poster for Nosferatu which the print technician showed me(pictured below) 

I relished every moment of this induction and it is a massive shame that Uni shut before I got a chance to make more prints and experiment with tusche washes. 

It was also a great chance to further connect with Howard and Will (the print technicians) who showed a great appreciation and passion for the process.

MONOPRINT WORK

WIPE AWAY, COTTON BUDS, TURPS, MAKESHIFT PRINT ROOM, SCREEN GRABS

(Below) Images of the print room I set up at home, I was very fortunate that my girlfriend's mum had an A4 printing press that she kindly let us borrow for this project. It was an indispensable piece of equipment that meant I could still produce prints despite the lockdown situation. 

HANDMADE QUALITIES, BRUSHY AND GRITTY ATTAVISTIC QUALITIES

FOCUS ON THE HEAD 

RAW EMOTION, SHOW FEAR, PRIMAL SCENE, 

INSPIRED BY CZECH POSTER ARTIST ZDENEK ZIEGLER'S ALIEN POSTER (Below)

ACCENTUATE SHADOWS, WHEN LIGHT HITS A SHINY SURFACE

Using the close-up character shots as reference images pushed me to explore portraiture seriously, as this has always been a weakness in my practice. I am very pleased with how much I have progressed and improved in this area - capturing emotions and a likeness.

The cotton buds and corners of a rag proved very effective in capturing textural detail for the portraiture prints

These wipe away monoprints I produced were greatly inspired by the copper plate wipe-away mono-prints of Degas, as they are brooding with ambience and cinematic emotion; something which I felt was integral to my own project. I substituted copper plates with easy-etch acrylic etching plates, adapting to the circumstances of the pandemic.

OWN WIPE AWAY MONOPRINTS                                                                    EDGAR DEGAS PRINTS