‘Alien: Romulus’ director Fede Álvarez recently told The Hollywood Reporter that he didn’t use any computer-made images or green screens while filming.
Álvarez shared some cool behind-the-scenes details about ‘Alien: Romulus’ in the THR interview. He said he got the team that created the aliens for the second movie way back in the 1980s:
“We brought them all together to work on all the creatures because we went with all animatronics and puppets at every level. I even got the chance to be under the table with them, puppeteering all these animatronics. I have this obsession with no green screens, so we built every creature and set. Everything had to be built, so we were really living and breathing in these spaces.”
So, Álvarez and his team built every creature and spaceship you’ll see on screen for real. This means actors weren’t pretending to see things that weren’t there; they were actually looking at them.
He’s Not Against CGI, Though
Álvarez likes using real models, but he’s not against all computer effects. He says they did use some computer tricks to make certain scenes look even cooler:
“I’m not an anti-CG guy. … I come from a background where I know how to build the effects myself. I still do VFX shots in my movies to this day. I’ll cut and do VFX shots on my computer sometimes. So it’s just whatever is best for the shot, and when it comes to face-to-face encounters and moments with creatures, nothing beats the real thing.”
The director claims the main goal should be to make everything feel as real as possible:
“There are some things that only CG can do for the scope and movement. So, it really has to be the right tool for the shot. Ideally, you should never feel like you’re watching CG. Ideally, there should be nothing there where the audience goes, ‘Well, that was clearly CG.’ It should always feel practical, but I prefer practical because I want to see it when I’m there [on set]. There is nothing worse than having nothing to look at when I’m shooting.”
He admitted that even Ridley Scott watched the movie without any CGI and loved it.
‘Alien: Romulus’ is set between the first and second movies. It already received the thumbs-up from Scott and James Cameron.
The movie will be released in theaters on August 16, 2024. You can watch the trailer below.
