In 1979, Ridley Scott directed a movie that would forever change the visuals effects of movies from that point on. The film Aliens, incorporate musical effects, camera angles and props and make-up that caused a realistic and horrifying plot-line to its audience. This horror film did not use the typical vampire or zombie to terrorize its victim but an unknown, out of this world, being that may possibly exist. “Beyond the threat of violence that this dragon, as big as a man, represents (and to which terror rather than horror is the primary response), there stands first the alien’s motive for inflicting that violence upon the human being that encounter it” (Mullhal 18). Having a villain that was unlike any human life seemed much scarier than the Dracula and Frankenstein that were once human. “What, then, of Ridley Scott’s alien; what precisely is it about the precariousness of our own human identity that we see in the monstrosity of this monster?” (Mullhal 18).The music to this film caused a chilling and suspenseful anticipation for the next scene to occur. Throughout the movie, a terrifying scene was always introduced by a slow steady beat and dramatically increase to a loud crashing noise as the alien eliminated its victim. This abrupt noise caused its audience to fear this movie even more.
The first scene of the movie was the camera circling around the halls of the small empty space craft. This illustrated the trapped feelings for the victims of the movie. There is nowhere for these people to go which was shown by the camera angles. “Beyond this, the camera’s unhurried scrinity if the Nostromos’s empty spaces points up the imperturbable self-sufficiency of the ship, its ability to guide itself safely across interstellar distances in the complete absence of conscious human control” (Mullhal 15). Also, the camera angles were used to dramatize a scene. For instances, when Parker and Ripley open the locker to trap the escaped alien, the camera slowly zooms into the locker frame by frame. “The slow, calm, controlled movements of the camera have established the basic rhythm of the direction – unhurried but supremely confident that what we eventually be shown will be worthy of our investment of interest” (Mullhall 15). Along with the music, this makes the anticipation very high and very frightening.
With movies such as graphically inclined Avatar gracing our movie theaters in 2010; the alien out of the chest scene is way over looked. But in 1979, Alien won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects. While the effects may seem humorous today, during the time, it was mouth-gasping terrifying. The use of futuristic beds, robots losing heads, and a 6 foot alien slaughtering up victims was a very impressive act to pull off and Ridley Scott succeeded easily.
Overall, I was extremely entertained by this 30 years plus film. The music and camera angles still caused me to be scared which I am embarrassed to admit. While some scenes seemed a little ridiculous, the overall genius-ness of the graphics cannot be ignored. This movie is the foundations of films such as Alien vs Predator and Species and many more as the years still progress and aliens still terrifies its audience.
Work Cited
Mulhall, Stephen. "Kane's Son, Cain's Daughter." On Film. London: Routledge, 2002. 12-32. Print
Work Cited
Mulhall, Stephen. "Kane's Son, Cain's Daughter." On Film. London: Routledge, 2002. 12-32. Print
Scott, Ridley, dir. Alien. 1979. Twentieth Century Fox, 2009.
I agree with the use of the camera angles to show they were stuck in the ship with nowhere to go. I did not realize until reading your post just how groundbreaking the graphics were. We are spoiled with really graphic horror movies but this really led the way. I would have liked to hear you talk more about the ridiculous scenes as well but overall good job.
ReplyDeleteYour blog was very easy to read and flowed nicely. I really like the point you made that throughout the movie, a terrifying scene was always introduced by a slow steady beat and dramatically increased. This was very true and was something that is not normally picked up the first time you view the film. I really like your pictures, they gave me a eerie feeling and I thought this matched the film very well. I liked how you added yourself to the blog and talked about how it made you scared. I would of liked to known what parts made you particularly scared though. I think you could have connected with your reader more if you would have gotten a little more personal.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post and the detail you put into it. Things such as “Alien won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects,” as well as including the dates of the film in comparison to our time really made a big impact in my opinion. I think by your focus on how the times have changed, you effectively showed how this was a genius piece in its time. Not to say that it still is not a genius piece, however it’s much easier to overlook now because of things like Avatar. I think the pictures you decided to include would have given a really good picture of the movie to someone reading who has not seen it. The close up of the Alien is a great example of the visual effects you were talking about, and prove that the movie was indeed ahead of its time. I would have liked to see a picture of the ship near your discussion of the Nostromo to further your point. Overall, I think you made a really strong argument for the importance and innovation of the film. You also really made me think about just how things have changed and advanced over the time, but that Alien is a foundation for a lot of the change that has occurred.
ReplyDeleteLike Brian says, your take on the camera work establishing a feeling of claustrophobia and suffocation. The sensation of horror in a movie hinges not on an audience member's fear for the safety of the characters, but fear for their own safety. A viewer needs to feel that they themselves are vulnerable to whatever threat the onscreen characters are facing, and Scott establishes that fear brilliantly with the plodding pace of his camera. Secondly, your insight on the impressive nature of the effects was quite interesting. I did not think to check into the Oscar win for the movie, a great stat to include, and was consequently corrected when reading this post. Knowing that the movie was over 30 years old, I did not expect too much from the special effects department, but in doing so, I failed to look at it from a forward thinking perspective as opposed to the retrospective view we most immediately have.
ReplyDeleteOn the other side, you make a small error in the opening paragraph when you falsely refer to the movie "Alien" as "Aliens" though it sounds like nitpicking, these are two well known films so it is necessary to make the distinction between them, especially so early in the post. Also, I have a small stylistic problem with your post. Throughout you use terms such as "mouth-gasping" "genius-ness"and other words and terms that carry a connotation of the extreme. I personally feel you do a little bit too much of this and it ultimately sounds too impassioned to be completely serious. Otherwise, I thought it was very good.
I like how you made the connections between the musical effects, props, and camera angles and how they all attributed to the overall theme of the movie. I also liked how you incorporated your first and third picture into your blog. Both go along with what you are saying but the second picture seems to me to be a little out of place. I think you could have used an image that went along with the first seen of the movie since you are talking about that in that portion of your post. I agree with what Kevin said about how the movie won an Oscar for visual effects. I never would have thought to look into that and I am glad you did because it added credibility to your post.
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