TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTSFOREWORDHISTORYGILLIS/WOODRUFF BIOSEFFECTS PHILOSOPHYDESIGNSCULPTURELAB WORKANIMATRONICSPAINTING & FINISHINGON SETADI AVP CREW LIST

AVPTM & ©2004 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,including photocopying, xerography, and videography recording without written permission from the publisher,Design Studio Press.

All images in this book are copyright ©2004 Amalgamated Dynamics, Inc. and Twentieth Century Fox FilmCorporation.

Book design, captions, and digital tongue removal by Chris Ayers.

Photography by Jurgen Volmer, Tom Woodruff, Jr., Chris Ayers, and that Czech guy who wasn’t supposed to be taking pictures anyway.

Published by Design Studio Press8577 Higuera StreetCulver City, CA 90232www.designstudiopress.comE-mail: Info@designstudiopress.com

Printed in Hong KongFirst Edition, August 2004

Softcover ISBN 0-9726676-5-2Library of Congress Control Number: 2004107546

Hardcover ISBN 0-9726676-6-0

This book is dedicated to the many talented special effects artists whoinspired us when we were kids, our parents who helped us along the waywhen we were young, and our own children who stayed behind while wewent off to Prague to play with our monsters. Thank you Camille, Devon,Grace, Bella, David, Taylor, and Connor.

And to our wives, Alaine and Tami, who were with us and supported usalong the way and through all the years as we each matured from promdates to grown men who play with puppets, this book is lovingly dedicated.

DEDICATION

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Just as a motion picture cannot be made with-out the hundreds of people both onscreen andbehind the scenes, this book is the result of the tire-less and talented efforts of one of the largest crewswe’ve ever had the pleasure to work with, thenames of whom appear later in this volume. It istheir work, which is always art turned into commod-ity, as it must be for movies. It is their work, whichmust be summoned up in sixty and seventy-hourworkweeks, sometimes overnight, sometimesthrough the weekends. It is their drawings andsculptures and paintings. It is their molds andmechanisms and rubber skins and lycra-reinforcedsuit closures. It is their art, which is presented onthe pages that follow.

We also must point out that we would not besuch a big part of these films if not for our friendand mentor, Stan Winston, who showed us the wayand foolishly turned over the keys. If we didn’t sayit then, we say it now, “Thank you, Stan, with love.”

In addition, the decision of Twentieth CenturyFox to produce this film must be acknowledgedwith thanks to, among others, Tom Rothman, Jon

Davis, and Mike Hendrickson. Without the film,there would be no book and you would be lookingat your empty hands right now.

We had the support of Tom Hammel and ChrisSymes during the four-month shoot in Prague andwe will still “exchange Christmas cards” with AdamGoodman, figuratively, if not through the mail.

Thanks also to Scott Robertson of DesignStudio Press, and Debbie Olshan and TwentiethCentury Fox Publicity for making this book possible.

And finally, in the last position before the pic-ture starts, we thank Paul W. S. Anderson for hav-ing us on his picture and for his enthusiastic gaspsfrom behind the monitors as our creatures per-formed for the cameras. His love and excitementfor the Alien and Predator genres was infectiousand reminded us that, for all the long hours andhard work, we really are lucky to be a part of allthis. We were glad to deliver the “general unpleas-antness” he requested....

FOREWORD

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If you stop long enough in this life to look around, you realize weare trapped in the same generation. The people you know and havecome to respect are IT. The only it.

Like old tintypes, we all will eventually fade into oblivion, but not theworks we leave behind.

Tom, Alec, and I have spent years on smoke-filled sets, beingchased or pursuing something from one town or planet to another,wrapped in creations that would scare the life out of Satan himself.

The writer utters the mythology, the actor legitimizes it, and Tomand Alec make the director’s choices physically tangible. Capable.

They are the Masters of the Impossible.

AVP is the latest...Herculean. Stretched to the limitless.

It has been an honor to enter their domain.

– Lance Henriksen

HISTORY

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979. The original Alien. At twenty years old, wehad each already decided that we were goingto make monsters for the movies. Of course,

we hadn’t done it by then–we didn’t even know eachother. Alec was on the West Coast, and Tom was onthe East. We had each followed a similar path: lik-ing the same movies (Planet of the Apes), eachwanting to be the next Ray Harryhausen, and bothof us making our own Super-8 movies.

But we were both there at opposite ends of thecountry, sitting in theatres and watching the samemovie–the movie that would more than make itsmark as a pinnacle of science-fiction films. As itturned out, Alien also served to inspire many talent-ed, professional effects artists working today, as wellas earn a position of honor amidst a legion of fans.

Alec was already in Los Angeles with a foot inthe door. Tom was three years and three thousandmiles away (it wouldn’t be until 1982 that he wouldmake the trip across country). Alec had the goodfortune to be watching with Jim Cameron in LosAngeles, while Tom watched with his friend, Hutch,in Williamsport, Pennsylvania (Who? – Don’t tell usyou’ve never heard of Jim Cameron!).

We were both captivated by the style of RidleyScott and the suspense and tension he created inthat ominous, claustrophobic set. We were thrilledby H.R. Giger’s Alien and Ridley Scott’s making themost of what he showed of that creature and, moreimportantly, what he chose to hide. Of course

neither of us could have known that we would endup intertwined with the Alien legacy.

By 1985, when Twentieth Century Fox decidedto move forward with the next installment, Aliens,we were both working at the studio of StanWinston, where we met. We worked together on anumber of films there and found our common inter-ests and shared tastes in monsters, effects, andfilmmaking. We moved to London for eight months,along with Stan and other key members of his staff;Shane Mahan, John Rosengrant, Richard Landon,and Rick Lazzarini.

Stan Winston has always had an enormouscapacity to evaluate a person’s strengths andassemble a very strong talent pool. He was alsosecure enough to trust his instincts. Stan had builthis team over a period of two years, and by the timewe started Aliens, he was confident enough to beable to place a great deal of responsibility upon us towork on the show as his Alien effects coordinators.

It was all such an amazing time! Although thework we do today is still very “hands-on”, back thenour hands were on everything. It was not only un-usual, but in many cases expected that you wouldsculpt, make molds, run rubber, finish and paint, andperform with puppets and effects pieces on set.

One of Tom’s first jobs was to sculpt the Alienhead and egg. Fox sent a crate to Winston’s studioand inside was one of the Giger heads from Alien,beautifully airbrushed and finished, which became

And So It Begins...Again.

HISTORY

Opposite: After having battled each other on thepages of comic books, Aliens and Predators comeface-to-face for the first time on the big screen in AVP.

Above: A sarcophagus containing a Predatorarsenal is discovered in an ancient pyramid burieddeep beneath the polar ice of Antarctica.

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HISTORY

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make it possible to clone Ripley. Disastrous for thefuture, but lucky for us, that material was tainted withenough Alien DNA coding to create the bridge thatallowed us to bring back the Alien in all its many forms.

This time around, we’d stay home to both buildand shoot the extensive list of Alien elements to becreated. This afforded us the ability to rely on thetalent pool we had become familiar with here in LosAngeles, as well as the resources of suppliers andvendors who provided access to everything we usefrom skin materials to Animatronic components.The efficiency of the build was enhanced by nothaving to put together and crew a temporary shopfacility in another country nor crate and shipAnimatronic characters and effects rigs overseasfor shooting. But we were right in the middle of amove to a larger facility, having outgrown the shopspace in which we started many years earlier. Infact, the sculpture of the new Alien was started inthe old shop, then transported by truck to our newshop where it was completed.

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reference, as well as Jim Cameron’s direction thatthe translucent rounded dome be removed for hisfilm. Alec’s first job was to sculpt the facehugger,referring to photos and frame blow-ups from thefirst film along with photos from Giger’s own bookof his work on Alien.

One of the early effects upon which we collabo-rated was the body of Bishop, torn in half by the AlienQueen. While John Richardson worked out a spring-loaded detaching plate for the waist, we lifecast LanceHenriksen, playing Bishop, and created the replicathat would be split and tossed aside as the stowawayQueen exits the dropship. The same upper half wouldbe used for scenes of Bishop’s upper torso hitting andsliding across the floor of the ship, the Sulaco.

When we finished all the necessary pieces, wetook them to the stage for Cameron’s approval. Weclimbed up onto the four-foot rostrum from which hewas shooting to proudly show off our handiwork.“Throw it on the floor.” We couldn’t have heard himright, we were proud of all the detail…the glass eyes!“I’m serious, throw it on the floor. That’s the way it’sgoing to be shot.” We gingerly laid it on the floor, face-up, still looking for that gleam of approval inCameron’s eye. If there had been a soft, paddedsound blanket nearby, we probably would have usedthat to cushion it from the harsh studio floor. “Gimmeit.” We handed it back to Cameron and watched thewind-up. He executed a perfect “piledriver” and theBishop torso hit the floor face first and skidded a fewfeet away. “Yeah, that’ll work.”

Luckily it ended up face down so the initial dam-age was undetectable. Luckily Cameron had thingsto shoot and we had a Lance Henriksen face torepair. To this day it resides in the esteemed collec-tion of Bob Burns, its eyes still bugging out of its headas if it remembers the ordeal.

Despite the difficult physical working conditionsas we huddled in front of propane heaters, workingoff of shipping crates turned upside down tobecome tables, it is all remembered with greataffection–like childbirth.

In 1990, Gordon Carroll, one of the producersof the first two pictures, called to ask if we wereinterested in creating the effects for Alien3. Theplan was to return to Pinewood Studios outside ofLondon and he wanted someone who knew thedrill. By now, we had formed our own company,Amalgamated Dynamics, Inc.

Also by this time, Tom had a small list of cred-its for playing monsters we designed and we wentto the producers with the notion that it made themost sense for him to play the Alien. Tom hadexperience inside suits and we had a complete setof body molds that would allow us to start workimmediately. The producers as well as the director,David Fincher, supported our notion.

Alien3 allowed us to start from scratch on theAlien, and we turned to Giger’s original art in hisown books, wanting to stay true to his vision and towhat the audience responded in the earlier films.To that end, we created a much more detailed,form-fitting body suit finished in the warm sepiatones of some of Giger’s illustrations.

We also created eggs, facehuggers, and chest-bursters, all staples of the Alien lifecycle now firmlyentrenched in the audience’s expectations. And wehad the opportunity to create the Animatronic headof Bishop, working once again with LanceHenriksen who provided a lifecast and voiced thedialogue to which our Animatronic was pro-grammed to play back. The puppet head wasremarkable in that it featured a translucent ure-thane skin, which was very new for its time, expert-ly finished by Yuri Everson and painted by GinoAcevedo and superbly mechanized by ourmechanical designer for that effect, Dave Nelson.

Fincher and Sigourney Weaver put a definitiveending to the franchise as Ripley sacrifices herselfto the fiery furnace of the leadworks, taking theQueen Alien embryo with her.

And then, in 1996, the story was developed inwhich enough DNA source material was recovered to

HISTORY

Left: After a fourteen-year absence, a Predatorascends to the silver screen once more.

Opposite: On set in Prague, the AVP crew pre-pares to film a close encounter of the Alien kind.

We had wanted to make some revisions to theAlien for the new movie, both in appearance andapproach. As it was genetically linked to its prede-cessor, we had to remain loyal to certain features.The general overall proportions and the specificextended foot which is a carry-over from the dog-leg-like configuration of the previous incarnation.But we made it more wicked in appearance, nar-rowing the front of the domed head and face andbringing the design lines to more of a point thatlead right to the teeth and mouth. We also lifted thesternum and brought it out from the torso more toexaggerate the ribcage and comparatively de-emphasize the stomach. We made the handslonger, giving the extended palm more mass tohelp lengthen the arms. The four peg-like exten-sions were added to the back, this time articulatedfor a strange organic undulation, which ended upplaying in only one scene. Because our director,Jean-Pierre Jeunet, was having some majorsequences play underwater, a fin-like extrusion

HISTORY

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Ripley’s predecessors in the film were among themost fun from a creative design point of view, aswas the new story element of the creature born ofthe Queen Alien, simply dubbed the Newborn.

The Newborn’s entire configuration made itimpossible as a man-in-a-suit for any aspects onset. Instead, the eight-foot tall creature was builtcompletely as an Animatronic character, poweredby a combined system of electronics and hydraul-ics and making use of a custom computer-drivenmotion control system. A quarter-scale articulatedminiature was also designed and built for wideshots of the creature moving around the hold of theship, but ultimately was never shot for the film.

Was there more to be done after Alien Resurrec-tion? Absolutely. As is always the case, we have ourown ideas and plans of where we would go with thenext step of any creature or monster we create.Whether it ever gets used or not, it’s part of ourprocess to create and envision an ongoing life forthese creatures, despite how definitive an ending to

a film may be. We had a few scenarios of what wethought the audience would next want to see in theAlien lineage and projected our own ideas of whatthe next Alien feature would be.

We weren’t expecting that another elementwas already being added to the mix.

Predators.

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was added to the tail to mimic the silhouette of aswimming crocodile’s tail, also requiring us towater-proof the Animatronic Alien heads.

You can’t make an Alien movie without break-ing a few eggs, and improvements were alsodesigned into the Alien eggs. For a key scene inwhich the Alien egg is revealed, we added a wholenew organic articulation to the egg itself, making itpulsate and undulate with its entire body that wasinternally sectioned to provide multiple points ofstretch and movement. Meanwhile, the four petalsthat open at the top would curl away elegantly, alsomaking use of lips, which were articulated withbladders to close tightly. Even the interior of theegg was lined with more bladders to provide anorganic life within.

Facehuggers, chestbursters, synthetics (thenew “Call” line), and the like were similarly tuned-up in an effort to continue to hone the creatureswith every opportunity. In addition, the Queen Alienhad her second appearance in the series, madepractical by the fact that Bob Burns had the originalhead from Aliens all those years ago. Bob was acreature-builder and suit performer himself, butmuch more–he is also a fan of every slimy or hairyor tentacled thing that was ever to creep, or crawl,or stalk across a movie screen. Today he is still theworld’s biggest monster fan and legitimate sourceof knowledge and has turned most of his home intoa vast display of artifacts from over seventy yearsof monster movies, which he painstakingly main-tains with the diligence of a museum curator.

Time was not on our side to even attempt to fur-ther develop the Queen Alien, but Bob allowed us touse the original head with a newly revised paintscheme. The original ten-year-old molds fromLondon for the arms, legs, and tail were located at areplica company in Colorado, but the body and headmolds were destroyed beyond use. The body wasgoing to be huge and distended from bearing its off-spring in a twisted human variation of the Alien life-cycle, so duplication of the original was not an issue.

The failed experimental clones that were

HISTORY

Top to Bottom: The creature from the originalAlien; a rehearsal shot from Aliens, the transparenthead dome returns in Alien3; a scene from the fourthinstallment of the franchise, Alien Resurrection.

Opposite: The Aliens of AVP are similar to theirlast incarnation as seen in Alien Resurrection,however some sculptural and color modificationswere made.

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The idea behind this book was to put something intothe hands of the fan that would let him see how we creat-ed the creatures for AVP, from design throughshooting–as if we could put a camera in your hands andlet you be with us every day, shooting whatever you saw.The idea behind the “artist profiles” was to give you asmall glimpse of just some of the people who worked tomake those creatures. Space precluded us from includ-ing everyone or providing much more than just a glimpse.In many cases you’ll see the same pivotal films men-tioned that influenced us in earlier days. You’ll see RayHarryhausen mentioned more than any other as a sourceof fascination and inspiration. Whatever the peculiar mixthat got us all here, we all seem to share a passion to cre-ate characters and creatures that shock, frighten, andamaze the audience out there, that we used to be.

I grew up watching monster movies on television. Itwas long before DVD or even VHS (in fact, even the 8-track tape was still an invention of the future) and it wasusually through sheer luck or extensive preplanning witha TV Guide in hand that I was able to catch a muchsought-after showing of Frankenstein or The Wolfman.

Not being much for books, the only literary supple-ment I had was in the form of the now classic, FamousMonsters of Filmland. Although it rarely went into anydetails of how to make a monster, it was packed with stillsfrom every monster movie ever made. Through FamousMonsters, I learned the names of the monster makers ofthe movies: Lon Chaney, Jack Pierce, Dick Smith, andRick Baker. And I learned about John Chambers andRay Harryhausen, my personal heroes.

As kids, I think we’re drawn toward what inspires us,and we reach out for it in whatever way we can. I grewup in a small town. At the opposite side of the country, I

might just as well have been light years away fromHollywood. But I was lucky to have found such an objectof focus, and luckier still to have parents who supportedthat interest, even if they couldn’t fully understand it. Withno guarantees that there was ever a future to it, theyallowed me to turn my attention to my owninterests–although a failing grade in fifth grade historymeant boxing up the entire monster collection until Ibrought the grade up. They let me convert the basementof our house into a workshop and studio where I couldwork on my masks and my stop-motion animation.

My dad wasn’t a sculptor, but he had a friend that letme borrow a mannequin head on which I could build amask. My mom wasn’t a seamstress, but she helped memake a gorilla costume. My dad wasn’t a filmmaker, buthe bought me a Super-8 camera for my birthday and hada friend on the police force that would let me shoot himflying his helicopter for my movie.

They both saw that spark of interest grow into thatshared passion that we, as monster makers, seek to ful-fill. Look, we can never be sure where we’re going to endup–how the mix of influences and support and chanceswe take in our lives are going to come out. But for thoseof us whose work is in this book, the ones that got tocome to work every day to make monsters for this movie,it is a dream come true.

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Movies are a wonderfully insidious thing. They getinto your brain and take root, affecting your thoughts andactions for years. It’s why my brother and I spent a sum-mer grabbing our throats and falling backwards into thepool, like when Heston gets shot in Planet of the Apes. It’swhy we’d re-enact the skeleton fight from Jason and theArgonauts for hours on end (the neighbors just saw thechubby Gillis boys running around the yard with sticks…).It’s why when I see the Fox logo before a movie, I still getresidual chills from 1968, the summer of the Apes.

As a society we’re all movie junkies, so what makessome of us pursue moviemaking as a career? Maybe it’sbecause someone encouraged us, or because some-one discouraged us, or simply because we didn’t reallythink it through. In my case, by age 13, I had developedsuch an obsession with special effects (specificallyHarryhausen’s), that I could think of little else. My fatherwas an insurance salesman who had tried to sell DickSmith a policy, and spoke reverently about his talents,even though he chose to remain underinsured. Dad alsoknew that King Kong was only 18 inches tall, which bog-gled my mind. (I also learned that Kong’s rampage prob-ably wouldn’t have been covered by insurance.)

These glimpses into the workings of movie magicsparked my desire to discover everything I could about theprocesses used in creating the images. That there was solittle information available only fanned the flames of mycuriosity. It was as though someone was trying to keep thisworld a secret, and that only the tenacious would eventu-ally be granted this esoteric knowledge. The door crackedopen a bit with an article in Famous Monsters of Filmlandthat mentioned a source for foam latex; then a call to DonPost Studios to ask about rubber cement paint, and so on.Cinemagic magazine was a dream come true for all

Harryhausen wannabes, but every issue was a blow to theego when you read the production reports about some kidwho was doing blue screen compositing in Super-8! (Thenthere was the guy in Pennsylvania with the “modified aer-ial brace” for supporting stop motion puppets...that turnedout to be Tom Woodruff, Jr.)

So, with a feeling that I was behind the curve, I setout to catch up. After a few years of ruining mom’s elec-tric eggbeaters and taking over her garage, I landed myfirst job on a movie. The journey began in 1980 and wentlike this: Roger Corman to UCLA film school to GregCannom to Tom Savini to Stan Winston to ADI. Thatmakes the road seem direct and unwavering, but in real-ity it was fraught with uncertainty and risk. Along the way,I had the good fortune to connect with people who invest-ed in me before there was proof that I could do what Isaid I could. Foremost among them is Stan Winston. Ihad been recommended to Stan by Jim Cameron, andbased on that, Stan welcomed me into the fold withouthesitation. With this level of trust, I felt comfortable takingchances in all areas of creature creating. His highly col-laborative crew, consisting of Tom Woodruff Jr., ShaneMahan, John Rosengrant, Richard Landon, ShannonShea and Rick Lazzarini, had a chemistry that reallyworked. Tom and I later broke off and formed ADI, butmany aspects of Stan’s studio continue to be a model forour own.

Nowadays there’s a glut of effects films competingfor audience attention, and honestly, not many of themare lucky enough to connect. Nothing would please memore than to see a couple of chubby kids playing AVP intheir yard this summer, the summer of AVP.

Alec GillisCreature Effects Co-Creator

Founder: ADI

Tom Woodruff, Jr.Creature Effects Co-Creator

Founder: ADI

EFFECTS PHILOSOPHY

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very Visual Effects-driven film has an“approach” to the design of its effects. Somepeople call it the “effects methodology” (which

sounds a bit like either a religion or a medical proce-dure), or the “bag of tricks” (which sounds like anamateur magic act). The phrase we prefer is the“effects philosophy”. This term brings to mind imagesof the great Effects Philosophers sitting around onbroken Doric columns asking “CG or not CG? That isthe question.” Okay, that’s Shakespeare, who wasnot a philosopher, but what the heck, this isHollywood where nobody is that literate anyway. Thepoint is, a decision must be made as to how a film’seffects are going to be accomplished.

Sometimes that decision is made during thecourse of the production, which leads to confusionand waste. Usually a plan, or philosophy, is arrivedat well in advance so that all departments can workaccordingly. One of the big philosophical questionsis invariably, “Which shots are Animatronic andwhich are CG?”

At this point you may be expecting that weAnimatronic Effects designers would step up on topof a bucket of latex and preach the evils of CG, atechnique that has cut into the reliance on our tra-ditional methods. The fact is, we love CG! That’sright, we love CG...when it is used properly. Digitalimagery is a fantastic tool that has revolutionizedfilmmaking. Anything from ocean storms to dino-saurs to lip-syncing dead presidents can be

accomplished with CG. Why wouldn’t you use itwhenever and wherever you can? Rather thananswer that with a diatribe about what’s wrong withCG, we instead ask the question, “Why would youuse practical, on-set effects (like Animatronics)instead of CG?” Here are a few reasons:

Animatronics have presence. They are actu-al objects that exist in the same reality as the setsand the actors and are lit by the same light as thesets and the actors. They are affected by the lawsof physics (gravity, momentum) and therefore arepossessed of an innate realism difficult to repro-duce in a graphic image. Actors respond to themmore convincingly than they do to a green tennisball on a stick. Their use in a film invariably im-proves the look of their CG counterparts, as theyprovide an exact reference for lighting and move-ment that the digital artist can match.

Animatronics are tactile. Because they areactually there, Animatronics can come in close con-tact with actors, props, and set pieces. They can droolon actors, be beaten up by actors, thrash around inwater or be set on fire. None of this is impossible witha CG image, but it is expensive and difficult.

Animatronics have an aesthetic soul. It is anart whose foundation is sculpture, and sculpturehas a powerful psychological impact on the viewer.Even though film is a 2-D medium, the fantasticallydesigned human eye (connected to the even morefantastic human brain) can tell the difference

CG or Not CG?

EFFECTS PHILOSOPHY

Opposite: Scar, the main Predator protagonist of AVP.

Above: Tom Woodruff, Jr. dons the teeth and clawsonce more for his third Alien film.

E

EFFECTS PHILOSOPHY

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gopher free for years. Both these qualificationsgreatly impressed the studio, and who can blamethem?

John’s involvement led to the decision to useeven more practical effects, with some miniatures pro-vided by Bill Pearson (Piper Maru, Weyland satellite,Piston Bullies) and other miniatures by Richard VanDen Bergh (collapsing Whaling Station, Pyramid,Queen’s Chamber). John was also a big supporter ofthe use of a miniature Alien Queen, built by the talent-ed folks at ADI.

It should be pointed out that while AVP’seffects philosophy dictated a heavy reliance onAnimatronics and miniatures, that doesn’t meanthat there is no CG in the film. To the contrary, thereare many shots of the Alien Queen relentlessly pur-suing Lex or hordes of Alien Warriors, not to men-tion multiple airborne facehuggers eager to planttheir seed in a human host. In fact, Adam Valdez,one of the best animators in the game, was incharge of bringing the digital Alien Queen to life.Adam’s work can be seen in such effects orgies asStarship Troopers and the trilogy Lord of the Rings.He, along with Ben Shepherd at The MovingPicture Company in London, is responsible for thelion’s share of the digital effects. It is through thehard work and dedication of talented artists on boththe digital and Animatronic sides of the effects fencethat allows the Aliens and Predators to live and dobattle. The synthesis of both techniques improves

and supports the other, resulting in a more seamlessand convincing experience for the viewer. Theprocess of bringing AVP’s digital effects to thescreen was a fascinating journey involving hundredsof hard-working artisans. It’s an interesting story, butyou won’t read about it here. They can write theirown damn book. This one is about the clay, the fiber-glass, the servos, the paint, the rubber and the peo-ple who turned it all into Aliens and Predators, two ofthe meanest monsters ever to tear up a multiplex!

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between an actual 3-D object and a graphic repro-duction of a 3-D object. The other aspect of this aes-thetic is one of art direction. The artists in theAnimatronics world are specialists who have, inmany cases, eaten, slept, and dreamt of creaturessince childhood. They don’t create spaceships onemonth, tidal waves the next, or exploding buildingsafter that. They make creatures. That’s all they do.They’re experts. And there aren’t that many of themeither. Visual Effects films have gotten so big (thankslargely to digital technology, which has expanded filmpossibilities), that CG companies have had to grow tosatisfy the demand. The by-product of this growth isthat a factory-approach has been adopted, some-times leading to a soulless, generic look to theeffects. This could be called the corporatization ofeffects. It could also be called McEffects, if one want-ed to risk irking the ire of the fast food industry!(Come to think of it, fast food is what both digital andAnimatronic artists have in common, given that it isour main source of sustenance during those longdeadline-driven nights...and the kid’s meals some-times include cool toys of creatures we’ve designed.)

So, now that we’ve convinced you that Anima-tronics are the preferred technique of any intelli-gent filmmaker, you may think that we are in favorof using them whenever and wherever possible.Wrong. Animatronics, like any technique, have theirlimits and those limits should be taken into accountwhen deciding where to use the technique.Generally, we wouldn’t propose using a full-bodyAnimatronic Alien to scurry along the ceiling, forinstance–it would be too cumbersome to shoot,and by the end of the day the entire crew wouldprobably hate us and we would run the risk of beingremoved from the crew jacket list. The rule ofthumb is that you stick with the practical creaturefor close-ups and medium shots, and use CG forthe wide shots. That’s only a general rule, and AVPhas plenty of wide shots of practical creatureswhere we felt we could make them work.

When we speak of using CG creatures in AVPwe are referring mainly to the Alien Warrior or theQueen Alien, which are less human in design ascompared to the Predator. This meant that thePredator was virtually always a man in a suit withan Animatronic face, unless the scene called for aparticularly dangerous stunt.

All of this philosophical blabber is fine, unlessthe director and creative team disagree with it, inwhich case we are helpless to do much of anythingabout it, except to complain to people at bus stopsand coffee shops about how “the Man is puttin’ usdown.” Fortunately for patrons of public transporta-tion and Denny’s, Paul Anderson and the execs atFox agreed with us even before we met with themon AVP. It seems that Paul is a fan of practicaleffects, particularly as they have been used in theAlien and Predator films. The folks at Fox had highconfidence in us from our work on Alien 3 and AlienResurrection, so we never had to make thespeeches exalting the virtues of Animatronics.

This philosophy of practical effects ruling theday didn’t just apply to Animatronics and perform-ers in suits, it also extended to other areas as well.Visual Effects Supervisor John Bruno was hired toensure that AVP had the level of realism thataudiences have come to expect from an Alien orPredator film. John was the perfect choice for that,having been in charge of effects for films such asTrue Lies, Cliffhanger, and The Abyss, for which hewon an Academy Award. One of the great thingsabout John is that he’s been around long enough tobe comfortable with in-camera, practical approach-es to effects. He can also nail a gopher at fiftypaces, and has kept his Pasadena neighborhood

EFFECTS PHILOSOPHY

ARTIST PROFILEYURI EVERSONShop Supervisor

The Pine Barrens of New Jersey didn’toffer little Yuri much to capture his interest.Although his father Roy was a fine artpainter, the only color young Yuri wasinterested in was red; blood red. Duringthe 1980’s horror movie boom, he wasthrilled by the work of John Carpenter andmake-up artists Rick Baker and RobBottin. Zombies and crazed killers tookover his imagination, along with Carpen-ter’s The Thing. After two years in filmschool in New York, he couldn’t stand itany longer. He packed up and went to L.A.to make his gruesome dreams come true.Greg Cannom gave him his first break,which led to a stint at Rick Baker’s onGremlins II. “Rick runs a highly profession-al shop, and that made a big impression

on me”, Yuri says with admiration. In 1990Yuri was hired at ADI as a sculptor forPoint Break, and has been here since, asADI’s longest-employed staffer. In the 40projects since he started, the companyhas grown into one of the most respectedin the field, and Yuri has gone from one ofthe crew to the head of the crew. His job ismulti-faceted. There’s scheduling, hiring,coordinating, and settling inevitable per-sonality conflicts. On set his duties extendinto puppeteering, make-up application,arranging the next day’s work, and rigginggags. If Tom and Alec are unavailable tobe on set, Yuri takes charge of the ADIcrew. For instance, he managed a goodportion of the set work for StarshipTroopers, and all of it on Bubble Boy. Hisdepth of experience gives us the freedomto focus on concept design, art direction,and performance issues. His artistic abili-ties, resourcefulness, and knowledge ofmaterials provide valuable consistency as

we seek to improve techniques with eachproject. How does he feel about his work?In his words, “Through ADI, I’ve been allover the world, met some amazing peopleand learned the art and the business, andhow to manage them both. For that I’meternally grateful.” Yuri’s dad passedaway, but not before seeing his son’ssuccess in the movies. He also cites hismother, Patricia, as a main source ofsupport, along with his wife Melissa andtheir two sons Ethan and Owen.

Above: The Predator ‘Celtic’ emerges from the shad-ows wearing one of the fourteen sets of Predator armorthat ADI made for the film.

Above: Director Paul W. S. Anderson and AlienTom Woodruff, Jr. share an interspecies discourse.

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n July 1, 2003, we officially began work onAVP. We say “officially” because that wasthe day the first payment check cleared. We

had actually begun organizing and scheduling ear-lier, but these are things we didn’t want the studioto know, or we’d appear over-anxious. We kept acool exterior and pretended to be jaded pros, butback at ADI the mood was giddy. After all, we werebuilding two of the greatest modern monster-movieicons, and the buzz on the Internet was electric,though not all positive. We felt a great responsibili-ty to the fans to do these beloved characters jus-tice. The build list was daunting. With the multiplePredator and Alien characters, there were over thir-ty full-body suits to be created, including fourteenfull sets of Predator armor, and seven servo-artic-ulated heads between them. Five hand-pup-peted facehuggers, six floppy facehug-gers, one fully articulated Anima-tronic facehugger, and severalchestbursters were to bebuilt. There was Predatorweaponry, some of itmechanical, as wellas a completely

hydraulic, computer-controlled Alien Warrior re-quired. Also needed were ten articulated eggs andanother twenty positionable ones. There were Alientails and faces that could be sliced in battle, explod-ing Aliens, stunt dummies of Predators and Aliens,several miniature queens... and of course, theMother of all Aliens, a full size hydraulic, motion-controlled Queen Alien!

When compared to the previous Alien orPredator films, AVP had more work than any ofthem combined. We estimated that we wouldneed nine months to accomplish thisenormous task.

To The Drawing Board...

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Opposite: Although some variations were made during thesculpting stage, this drawing by Farzad Varahramyan and JoePepe provided most of the information regarding the look ofthe Predator armor.

Top: Concept art for a Predator helmet by Carlos Huante.

Bottom: A design sketch by Farzad Varahramyan for an updatedPredator gauntlet housing those infamous wrist blades.

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were the key guys on that project. Beyond that, wewere merely fans of the movie, like everybody else.As with our experience on the Alien films, we felt atremendous responsibility to treat the re-creation ofthis revered character with the respect it deserved.Also, Stan Winston, who we consider to be ourmentor, wouldn’t let us live it down if we blew it!

The design challenges for the Predatorsstemmed from both function and character. In this filmthe Predators would be engaging in ritual combat notwith humans, but with Aliens. This meant that theywould need more protective armor than previouslyseen. This new armor needed to retain the aestheticof the Predator culture we’d seen before but extrapo-lated to full body coverage. Just what is the Predatoraesthetic? The first film showed us a mix of Asian andtribal influence along with a rough-hewn primitivequality to the body armor. Predator 2 introduced amore ornate, almost insect-like look. Our job was toturn these eclectic motifs into a unified aesthetic. ThePredator society builds sophisticated spaceships, yetthey should not look as sleek and hi-tech as a StarWars Stormtrooper. They are a tribal culture, yet theirlook should not be as primitive as the Orcs from Lord ofthe Rings. They are also a warrior culture, so the ornatecannot conflict with the practical. Huge samurai-styledecorative projections could be a disadvantage in afight with an Alien, for instance.

The Predator weapons were refined this time,as well. The spear became sleeker and more

elegant. The throwing disc changed into a deadlymulti-bladed, collapsible buzz saw. The good oldtwin wrist blades were given a face-lift, and madelonger. One Predator, dubbed “Chopper,” has largescimitar-like forearm blades, another a reworkednet gun. Five helmets of new design were created,although “Scar,” the main Predator, wears one sim-ilar to the original.

This film owes as much to the Dark Horse comicseries as it does its cinematic predecessors. In keep-ing with that, we decided that the Predators them-selves should reflect a comic book-style silhouette,possessing more heroic proportions: wider shoul-ders, narrower waists, smaller heads. We also

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What we didn’t stop to consider was that this wasa summer movie, which meant that in order to meetthe release date, all the work had to be completed inFIVE MONTHS! After working on three Alien movies,we just couldn’t stand the thought of someone else atthe helm, and we looked forward to creating a newPredator. This was not a project to pass up.

Our first meeting with Paul Anderson did muchto set our minds at ease. Having worked with himon Mortal Kombat, we already had a great relation-ship, and how could you not? Paul’s love of moviesand moviemaking was refreshing and his vision forthe film was big and bold. He also understood ourtime limits and helped shape a workload that wasvery specific to his script’s needs. There simplywasn’t time to build unnecessary pieces, and heknew exactly what he needed and what he didn’t.Fortunately, Paul loved the Alien as we had real-ized it for Alien Resurrection, but asked for a fewchanges. Per his request, we made the spindlyhands of the Alien into meatier, longer-talonedweapons that looked more formidable next to thePredator. Paul also wanted a color scheme thatskewed more to the blacks and metallics than thesepia tones of the previous films. With these modi-fications, we then were able to use existing moldsof the Alien Warrior.

The Queen, however, was completely recreatedfrom the ground up. In Aliens, she was a full-scalecharacter with partial Animatronic functions (head andface). Two stunt men lying in her torso provided herarm movement. Pretty cool for 1986, but Paul’s scriptdemanded much more specific action, and advance-ments in Animatronics demanded that we bring herinto the new millennium. This time around she neededa sleek silhouette, combined with speed and per-formability that was previously impossible.

Luckily, producers Tom Hammel and ChrisSymes planned the film so that the Queen’s firstday of shooting was a month into the schedule,which gave us a total of five months to create her,start to finish. Not much time, but at this point in ourcompany’s history, we’ve become adept at doingthe undoable.

The Predators were a different challenge, asthere were no previous molds upon which to basethe new iterations. We were working at StanWinston’s when Predator was made, but we hadvery little to do with it, as we were concentrating onanother Stan Winston project, Monster Squad. Weoccasionally looked over Stan’s shoulder as hedesigned the Predator, and lent moral support toSteve Wang, Matt Rose, and Shannon Shea, who

Above: Early Predator armor concept art by FarzadVarahramyan. Because the story is set in Antarctica and thePredators were going to be pitted against Aliens, a poten-tially fiercer foe than us humans, the design mandate calledfor heavier armor and more extensive body coverage.

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Left: The case of the Warrior Alien’shands is one example of how ADIuses the computer as a design tool.Because Director Paul W. S. Ander-son feared the existing style of handsmight appear a bit weak and flimsywhen interacting with the gargantuanPredators, he wanted the hands to be“beefed up” a little. Photos of the exist-ing hands were manipulated digitallyusing Photoshop to pre-visualize theserequests. Once the artwork had beenapproved, sculptures of the handswere altered accordingly.

Below: Alec Gillis, Tom Woodruff, Jr.,and designer Joe Pepe discuss thelatest stack of concept drawings.

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lengthened their dreadlocks to help punctuatehead movement. Other changes were script-driv-en. Because Scar teams up with the film’s heroine,Lex, we thought of him as a romantic leading man.Okay, there was really no intergalactic, inter-species romance going on here, but the subtextwas there, at least in our twisted minds. ThisPredator was not here strictly for scares as before,but as an actual character! He was to spend moretime without his armor mask, and needed to con-vey emotions such as rage, respect, pain, surprise,and even a bit of sadness. As Paul Anderson con-ceived him, this Predator wasn’t a monster, he wasan actor (nothing draws us to a project like theopportunity to create a rounded character). Withthat in mind, he became sculpturally more regal(dare we say it: handsome?) and in color scheme,we opted for less pale, clammy amphibian tonesand more human skin tones. His eyes were basedon a predatory cat’s, and imbued with warm gold-en tones and a slightly larger iris. Finally, wereduced the amount of slime coating of prior incar-nations, deeming that more of a trademark of theAlien than the Predator.

Ironically, all of this thought and effort is intend-ed to go unnoticed by the audience. The last thingwe want is for fans to think that we’ve ruined oneof their favorite monsters in an effort to improve it.What we hope for is that they feel the changes. Ifwe’ve done our job, the viewer will unconsciouslysense a greater realism and expressiveness ofperformance, and a tightening of design. StanWinston’s and H.R.Giger’s original designs weregroundbreaking, but with each new film and newdirector comes new requirements and new designmodifications. It’s a tricky path to tread; on the onehand we don’t want a rote duplication of what hasgone before, then again, change for the sake ofchange is pointless. While we may never recapturethe surprise and freshness of those moments inthe first films when the world was initially exposedto these now classic creatures, AVP provided theopportunity to subtly develop them and take themin new directions.

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Top: The extra-terrestrial trophy hunter who was intro-duced in John McTiernan’s 1987 film, Predator.

Bottom:Another Predator pays Earth a visit in 1990’s Predator 2.

Opposite: Scar, the main Predator featured in AVP (playedby Ian Whyte). Because the audience had to come torespect and empathize with him, subtle changes weremade to his facial anatomy to make him more heroic.

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05 Photoshop concept art of “Grid” byChris Ayers. The size and pattern ofthe Predator’s metallic net which cutsinto Grid’s carapace, as well as whatwould be an appropriate amount ofoozing acid blood, all had to be deter-mined in the design phase.

06 Joe Pepe had to put himself in anAlien’s head, quite literally, when he didconcept sketches of a warrior brain.

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01 This concept art of the QueenAlien with her egg sac is anotherexample of digital and traditionalmedia being combined to efficientlycommunicate an idea. Chris Ayerscut up and reassembled a photo-graph of the Queen sculpture in thecomputer to assume the appropriatepose and then added a traditionally-drawn egg sac.

02 This sketch by R.K. Post is anexample of one of the early chal-lenges tackled by the design team:imagining how Lex, the story’s hero-ine, might use pieces of an Alienexoskeleton as armor. This idea waseventually streamlined to includeonly a shield and spear made froman Alien head and tail.

03 While exploring possibilities forthe Queen Alien’s restraints, FarzadVarahramyan toyed around with theidea of a double bit, one for each ofher nasty mouths.

04 When an original prop of a calci-fied facehugger, beautifully aged byDave Selvadurai, was deemed stilltoo pristine, Chris Ayers deterioratedit further via Photoshop.

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03 Director Paul W. S. Andersonwanted the Predators of AVP toemploy slight variations of weaponrythat had already been introduced toaudiences, but also to feature somebrand new instruments of carnage.This drawing, by Farzad Varah-ramyan, depicts a blade extending lat-erally from the forearm which laterevolved into a telescoping 3-foot-longscimitar blade featured in the final film.

04-05 From pencils to pixels, themembers of ADI’s AVP design team(including Joe Pepe, left, and ChrisAyers, right) used a wide variety ofmedia to translate their ideas to avisual form.

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01 Concept art of the Alien Queen inher egg-harvesting restraints byFarzad Varahramyan. Because oftime and budgetary considerations,this would ultimately be realized asa quarter-scale miniature instead ofa full-size set.

02 Early in the design process, it wasdecided that some artistic licensecould be taken with the queen.Experimenting with loose maquettes,Akihito Ikeda added various spikesand other forms to her carapace. Thefinal design, shown at bottom, fea-tured subtle yet distinctive changesfrom the queens in previous films.

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ARTIST PROFILE

CARLOS HUANTEConcept ArtistCarlos was always an artist, drawing all

the time. High school art classes anddrawing classes at Art Center and TheCalifornia Art Institute helped shape histalents but it was the “bloodbath of learn-ing from professional criticism” that kepthim on his toes. Every Ray Harryhausenfilm, as well as King Kong, Star Wars,and Alien were all inspiring to this pluckyyoungster. It has been a treat in the pastto have him on Wolf, Jumanji, MortalKombat, and Alien Resurrection. OnAVP, Carlos enjoyed the change of paceof designing weapons and Predator hel-mets as he spends most of his timedesigning living creatures. He recentlyput out a book presenting some of hisfascinating art, Monstruo – The Art ofCarlos Huante.

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FARZAD VARAHRAMYANConcept ArtistLike many kids, Farzad’s imagination was

sparked the first time he saw Star Wars.Joe Johnston and Ralph McQuarrie’s illus-trations inspired him to attend Art CenterCollege of Design. Farzad was discoveredby ADI ( it’s easy to “discover” someone astalented as this!), and he started his firstmovie job, Jumanji. The film was directedby his idol, Joe Johnston, which explainswhy all his designs were drenched in nerv-ous sweat. Farzad says: “It was a thrill tobe associated with AVP and the two worldsit united. I had the opportunity to contributeto both the Predator design as well as oneof my all time favorites, the Queen Alien!”For Farzad, more fun than working on themovies is sharing them with his wife Vera,son Maxwell, and daughter, Isabella.30

01 Small-scale, loose sculpturalstudies called maquettes (such asthis one by Don Lanning) are a goodway to quickly explore a wide spec-trum of design possibilities. Thisparticular maquette is a good exam-ple of the somewhat exaggeratedcomic book proportions and “heroicfeel” that director Paul W. S. And-erson requested.

02 Intricate detail, as in this drawingby R.K. Post, can initiate a healthycreative dialogue between the directorand design team as they slowly con-verge on a character’s visual identity.

03 A good concept drawing conveysnot only what a character, vehicle, orenvironment looks like, but also per-sonality and emotion. The Pred-ator’s strength and no-nonsenseattitude comes across in this studyby Carlos Huante.

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01 Depending on a film’s budgetand pre-production schedule, any-where from tens to hundreds ofdesigns can be created for a singleprop or character. This final designfor Scar’s ceremonial dagger by JoePepe was arrived at only afterexploring many different directions.

02 An early ceremonial daggerdesign by R.K. Post.

03 Final artwork for the Predator’swrist blades by Joe Pepe. In thedirector’s effort to “up the ante” inAVP, the wrist blades were made toextend much further than in the pre-vious Predator films.

04 When Joe Pepe designed a multi-tude of different-sized Predator shoul-der cannons as called for in the script,he paid close attention to the previ-ously-established design aesthetic ofthe original cannon and deviated fromthis only with strategic care.

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Large “Caliber” ready to fire

Large “Caliber” in recoiled position

Medium “Caliber” Shoulder Gun

Original Predator Shoulder Gun

ARTIST PROFILE

JOSEPH PEPEConcept Artist

Joe began drawing at the age of four.Growing up in a very creative and talent-ed family, he spent much of his time inmuseums and visiting art studios. Afterseeing Star Wars and Alien, Joe’s careerobjective was set! Accepting a scholar-ship from the prestigious Pratt Institute inBrooklyn and graduating with honors,Joe also completed an internship atDisney Feature Animation in Florida. Thenext decade was spent as a VisualEffects Animation Artist/Designer withDisney. A friend introduced him to AlecGillis who granted him the opportunity towork on AVP alongside the artists he hadadmired for so many years! Joe is a free-lance artist, collaborating with his wife,Kimberly L. O’Donnell, and his brotherson film and television projects in L.A.

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CHRIS AYERSConcept ArtistAge 2: Imprinted on Star Wars.Age 4: Could tell you whether a drome-dary has one hump or two.Age 6: Exasperated his parents byrequesting Bill Peet’s Whingdingdillyevery night for the bedtime story.Age 10: Relentlessly begged his sisterto reenact the skeleton battle from Jason& the Argonauts with him.Age 16: Coaxed out of bed each day bythe promise of a new Calvin & Hobbes inthe morning paper.Age 20: Introduced to the Renaissancefirsthand while studying art in Florence.Age 24: Moved west from Minnesota todraw some monsters and “bought” hisway into the film industry by bidding on atour of ADI at a fundraising auction.34

01 Final approved artwork of thePredator net gun by Joe Pepe. TheAlien, who is snared by its projectilenetting and would come to be knownas “Grid”, would have preferred it ifthis item had stayed on the drawingboard.

02 Joe Pepe’s concept art of thePredator gauntlet showing theunderside of the wrist computer lid.

03 An early variation on a shouldercannon by Farzad Varahramyan.

04-07 In order to help the audiencedifferentiate between the multiplePredator characters featured in thescript, it was decided that eachPredator would have a distinctivehelmet. From top to bottom, helmetconcepts by Carlos Huante (toptwo), Chris Ayers, and FarzadVarahramyan.

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01 When designing the PredatorElders who appear later in the film,Photoshop was used to “finish” a par-tially-completed Elder sculpture.Facial scarring, bone-shard piercings,and larger, engraved mandible tuskswere added digitally. Because of thefilm’s extremely short build schedule,the ability to quickly show the directorseveral variations on a theme beforecommitting to clay was essential tomeeting the deadlines. Sculptural ele-ments by Andy Schoneberg andBruce Spaulding Fuller. Photoshopwork by Chris Ayers.

02 Concept art by Joe Pepe for thePredator’s shuriken, or throwingdisc. The size, shape, and numberof blades, as well as the design ofthe case, went through many varia-tions before being settled upon.

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Opposite: One mother of a migraine;Farzad Varahramyan’s lavishly-ren-dered depiction of the queen afterher carapace is severely damagedby a Predator wrist bomb.

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culpture is in many ways the foundation ofAnimatronics. It is the point where the discus-sions, the plans, and the drawings actually

become real. Two-dimensional designing is a criti-cal first step, but nothing’s really tangible untilsculpture starts. That’s when you find out if the con-cepts you’ve been pursuing on paper are going towork, or be relegated to the dung heap. There’s amisconception that sculptors are not designers,especially when a team of sketch artists have pro-duced illustrations on paper. The fact is that no 2-Dart is a complete design. The interpretation of flatart to sculpture is an artistic process that can belikened to acting: the words are written, but theylive or die by the artist who breathes life into them.The good illustrator knows how to put a workabledesign on paper and the good sculptor knows howto pull the essence of the design off that paper.When both designers are at that level, the resultscan be thrilling. On AVP we were fortunate to havenot only many of our tried and true artists, but someterrific new additions as well.

One of the challenges to an Animatronics ormake-up sculptor is working “neutral.” Artists oftenseek to heighten the impact of a piece by adding anexpressive gesture or action pose. Since our sculp-tures will ultimately be capable of real movement (assuits, Animatronics, or Make-ups) there is no need toimply movement in the clay form. The sculptor must

also take into account the next steps in theprocess; mold-making and mechanization. Co-ordination with mold-makers and mechanicaldesigners can drive a sculptor insane if he’s notused to taking input. But the greatest challenge toa sculptor is taking input from us–we can really nit-pick! It’s because we view this step with a criticaleye, and we love working with sculptors who findcollaboration rewarding. There are many talentedpeople who do brilliant work on their own, but thework done under our roof must satisfy thedemands of the art direction, the script, and theschedule, which is why we give very focused andspecific direction to all of our artists. For us there’snothing more exciting than directing a group of tal-ented people toward a common artistic goal. Weusually find that when given the proper parame-ters, artists will exceed both our expectations aswell as their own.

On a technical level, we used many differentmaterials to realize the sculptures on AVP. Larger -scale sculptures tended to be worked out in water-based clays, while many others were non-dryingoil-based clays. The first Queen sculpture complet-ed was the quarter-scale miniature, which wasscanned and output to a full-scale rigid foam copy.That form was then given a further “punching up” ofdetail. A third-scale wax version was also madefrom that scan, and was detailed similarly.

From Clay Comes Form

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Opposite: Fine sculptural details like the under-side of this quarter-scale queen carapace will oftenbe obscured on film by shadows, slime, or frenziedmotion, only to to be seen on the pages of bookslike this. It attests, however, to the discipline and

care that is taken by these artists to make their cre-ations as realistic as possible.Above: Andy Schoneberg sculpts a new set ofPredator chompers. AVP’s Predators have fouradditional upper teeth compared to the original.

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The Predator weapons were largely forms builtby hand out of plastics and then molded for dupli-cation. Sculptural details, which adorned knife orspear handles, were incorporated into the patternsto add a touch of Predator aesthetic. AVP requireda wide range of sculptural tasks, each with a spe-cific style. The organic look of the Predators, the“Giger-esque” style of the Queen, the primitive ele-gance of the Predator technology; all combinedwith a rigorous work pace that required some of thebest sculptors in the industry. Fortunately for us,most Animatronics sculptors have dreamed ofworking on AVP for as long as the fans have beenwaiting to see the film.

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Above: Though it was eventually cut, a planned minia-ture scene featuring naked Predators rising from asuspended-animation-inducing pool of goo required thecreation of an anatomically-correct third-scale Predator.

Above: Mike O’Brien details a new back appendage forthe Alien Warriors, one of the few changes made to themfor AVP.

Above: Bruce Spaulding Fuller andDon Lanning sculpt the Predatorbody. For the original Predator,much of the armor was incorpo-rated into the same sculpture asthe flesh. AVP required a differentapproach because at one pointthe script called for scenes withunarmored Predators. Also, hav-ing the armor as separate piecesprovided more wardrobe optionswhen outfitting the differentPredator characters.

Right: Tom Woodruff, Jr., Sculpt-ing Supervisor Andy Schoneberg,Shop Supervisor Yuri Everson, andAlec Gillis discuss the progress oftwo queen head sculptures, onequarter-scale and one full-scale.

ARTIST PROFILE

ANDY SCHONEBERGSculpting Department HeadAndy’s list of credits with ADI is as long

as his hair used to be. Some of thehighlights (film, not hair) are: DemolitionMan, Wolf, The Santa Clause 1 & 2,Mortal Kombat, Jumanji, Tremors II,The X-Files Movie, Alien Resurrection,Bedazzled, and Hollow Man.

Hailing from Montana, Andy’s earlyinfluences were the works of DickSmith and John Chambers, but it was-n’t until he saw a copy of RichardCorson’s Stage Make-up book that hisbrain began to squirm and he decidedhe would expire if he didn’t get into themovie business. Andy has no formalmake-up training, but he gorged on artclasses in high school and college,excelling in drawing, painting, design,sculpture and calligraphy. He was alsoone of the original 100 students of DickSmith’s make-up course.As ADI’s key sculptor on AVP, Andy is

most proud of his work on the QueenAlien, adding a new level of grace andrefinement to the character that wehope fans will appreciate.Andy has two teenage daughters, Emily

and Elise, and is engaged to ADIProduction Coordinator, Nicole Michaud.Until reading this book, none of themrealized that Andy is a recovered mime(as if calligraphy isn’t bad enough).

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01 How many sculptors does it taketo screw in a…? Oh, wait a minute.Mike O’Brien, Andy Schoneberg,Steve Koch, and Dave Selvaduraiwork on various assignments in theADI Sculpting Department.

02 A front view of the finished quarter-scale Alien Queen torso.

03 The finished quarter-scale queensculpture. This image was submittedto the director for final approval onproportion, posture, and detailing.

04 Akihito Ikeda works on the quar-ter-scale queen torso. Althoughbased on the original queen fromAliens, she was given a thinnerwaist and changes were made tothe surface detail.

05 Finished view of the quarter-scale queen head carapace. Theadded spiny structures match herprickly personality.

06 Teeth made of Super Sculpeywere pressed into the clay head ofthe quarter-scale queen.

07 Akihito Ikeda works on the quar-ter-scale queen carapace, addinggreat levels of detail to the entiresurface, including the underside,which most likely will never be seenin the final film.

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ARTIST PROFILE

AKIHITO IKEDASculptor

Already an accomplished make-upeffects artist in his native Japan, Aki wasable to work at ADI on AVP through aspecialized internship. A fan of the earli-er Alien films, his early inspiration alsocame from artists like Jimi Onisi andPicasso. His mastery of sculpture includ-ed the ability to be both very precise andfast in turning design sketches into realforms. Through his company, Shiniseya,Aki exercises his visual sense and con-cept abilities in the make-up fashionworld as well, assisted by his beautifulwife, Atsuko.

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MIKE O’BRIENSculptor

This New Yorker couldn’t have escapedbecoming a monster maker if he’d tried. Hisfirst artistic influences were his mom’s paint-ings of Barnabas Collins and Frankenstein(Mike’s mom has got it goin’ on!), and hisdad’s custom-built choppers. He startedsculpting after becoming frustrated by thelack of quality in a store-bought FreddyKrueger mask. He was the most popular kidon the block each Halloween with his ownHaunted House, which provided greatexperience that helped land a job in themovies. AVP is Mike’s first credit as an ADIsculptor, and as an Alien and Predator fan,it was a dream come true. He’s especiallyproud of his work on the new Queen Alien,and is currently busy promoting his modelkit company, Mob Scene.44

01 The approved sculpture of thequarter-scale queen body wascyber-scanned and enlarged to arough full-scale foam sculpture by acomputerized milling machine. Usinga casting of the quarter-scale sculptas reference, Andy Schoneberg andDave Selvadurai clean up and detailthe full-size piece.

02 Andy Schoneberg details theback of the full-size queen sculpture.

03 Tim Martin finesses a clay skyscraperinto the queen’s detailed tongue.

04 Before it is turned over to themolding department Mike O’Brienmakes some last-minute refine-ments to the queen body. The foamhas been painted to seal it for themolding process.

05 Sculpture of the “battle-damaged”queen head which results after shegets a little too close for comfort to aPredator wrist bomb.

06 Another view of the fracturedqueen carapace shows the furtherextent of the damage.

07 One of the queen’s six back spines.

08 Reverse angle of the back spine.

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06 For a scene in which the Pred-ator Scar kills and then methodicallycarves up a warrior, ADI needed toproduce an Alien brain. Though thescene was brief, a great deal of timewas given to creating a hybrid oforganically and mechanically-influ-enced forms that echoed H.R.Giger’s design aesthetic of the origi-nal Alien.

07 Andy Schoneberg ensures sym-metry (and avoids loneliness) byusing a mirror as he sculpts an Alienchestburster.

08 In order to appear more menac-ing while battling the Predators,Director Paul W. S. Anderson re-quested the hands of the AlienWarriors be “beefed up.” Pete Farrell“beefs” as only Pete Farrell can.

09 Final sculpture of the warriorback appendage, a new addition forthe Aliens of AVP.

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01 To meet the short build deadline,the sculpting process was expeditedby using a casting of the queenhead from Alien Resurrection in-stead of starting completely fromscratch. Here Dave Selvadurai addsclay to the casting to incorporatemodifications that were first designedon a small-scale maquette.

02 Tom Woodruff points out thequeen’s only ticklish spot to JeffBuccacio and Alec Gillis.

03 Akihito Ikeda works on detailingthe quarter-scale queen head (fore-ground) while Dave Selvaduraiechoes his sculpting strokes, but ata much greater magnitude (mid-ground) on the full-size queen.Meanwhile, Bruce Spaulding Fuller(background) starts to rough outshapes for a Predator backpack.

04 A close-up view of the third-scalequeen’s bomb-scarred head carapace.

05 In addition to a quarter-scale anda full-scale queen, ADI also con-structed a third-scale queen puppet.Rather than starting from scratch,and since the quarter-scale sculp-ture had already been cyber-scanned to help with the full-sizequeen, a third-scale head was out-put in hard wax via a computerizedmilling machine. Although the waxcopy faithfully reproduced much ofthe original detail, a pass of hand-tooling was required to make it aperfect match. Constantly referringto the original quarter-scale claysculpture (brown) for accuracy,Steve Koch works on refining thethird-scale wax copy (gray).

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ARTIST PROFILE

NICK SELDONModel Maker

Nick has been in the effects industry forover 20 years, but this is his first experi-ence at ADI. As an accomplished minia-ture builder, he hasn’t overlapped muchinto the world of creatures. The irony is,like many of us, his first inspirations werethe films of creature maestro, RayHarryhausen. “While I was working awayon the Shuriken, I overheard one of thesculptors talking enthusiastically aboutHarryhausen! This was noteworthy,because it’s usually me who brings up hisname.” Nick enjoys chatting about hisidol, and we all listen...especially whenhe’s holding a Predator weapon!

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STEVE KOCHSculptor

At ten, Steve was making his ownmovies, following the influences of WillisO’Brien and Ray Harryhausen. After highschool in N.Y., he enrolled at USC, alsosupplying effects for other students. Bythe late 80’s, Steve was producing minia-tures and effects for clients such as TheDisney Channel, McDonalds, and Lego.As a freelance painter, he met his futurewife, Carol (an accomplished artist her-self), but wanted to work on bigger proj-ects. Luckily, we were the first big shop tosee his portfolio and hire him (it helps tobe listed alphabetically). AVP is hiseleventh film for ADI. Steve’s also servedas VFX Art Director on the Austin Powersmovies and is currently working on astop-motion film project of his own.48

01 The quarter-scale sculpture ofthe Alien Queen’s egg sac began asa small 8-inch maquette which wassliced into cross-sections. Tracedoutlines of these cross-sectionswere enlarged via the computer andacted as stencils for a plywood infra-structure. Here, Steve Koch attach-es chicken wire to the form to definea rough mass.

02 The finished quarter-scale eggsac sculpture with a similarly-scaledegg for size reference.

03 Top view of the finished egg sac.

04 Alec Gillis demonstrates to SteveKoch the correct intergalactic tech-nique for taking an Alien Queen’stemperature.

05 Model-making Supervisor NickSeldon, Alec Gillis, and MechanicalSupervisor Dave Penikas conferover the Predator’s extendable wristblades. Constant communicationbetween departments throughoutthe design and fabrication processesis essential to avoid logistical prob-lems down the road.

06 Mad mad modeler Nick Seldonbusy at work on a variety of Predatorweapons. Look carefully and youcan see unfinished parts, prototypes,and plans for the ceremonial dagger,a shuriken, the wrist computer, andthe large shoulder cannon.

07 Using full-size artwork from theADI Art Department as a guide, ErikStohl creates a Predator wrist blade.

08 David Chamberlain details aPredator scimitar blade.

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01 The finished sculpture of Scar,minus his mandibles which weresculpted as a separate piece toaccommodate the Animatronic com-ponents that would later be insertedinto them.

02 A back view of Scar’s headreveals the numerous placementholes where 66 dreadlocks would beadded later to the final skins.

03 The Predator Elders were basedon the “hero” Scar sculpture andmodified (such as a stronger andmore furrowed brow and largerteeth). The metal rings were just aquick concept idea for some inter-esting tribal markings, but were ulti-mately never used.

04 A rear view of the finely texturedfull-size Predator body.

05 Bruce Spaulding Fuller works onsculpting the new Predator head,providing further evidence that allartists subconsciously include a self-portrait in their work. The model-kittoy on his sculpting stand proved tobe useful reference on more thanone occasion when trying to identifythe “Predator design aesthetic.”

06 An entire team of talented sculptors,including Mike O’Brien, forged thePredator armor out of water-based clay.

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05 The finished sculpture of Scar’swrist blade housing.

06 and 07 Two examples of collabora-tion between the sculpting and model-making departments. The organicknife handle and spear accents weresculpted out of clay, while the blades,which needed extremely clean andsharp edges, were fashioned out ofplastic compounds.

08 Size 20? Tom Woodruff, Jr. exam-ines a sculpture of the Predator foot.

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01 ADI founders Alec Gillis and TomWoodruff, Jr. make frequent tours ofthe shop to check on progress,answer questions, and address anypotential problems or concerns. Herethey discuss a sculpture of aPredator backpack with sculptorBruce Spaulding Fuller.

02 Sculpting Supervisor AndySchoneberg listens as Alec Gillisgives his thoughts on the progressof the Predator’s body armor.

03 The completed sculpture for thePredator net gun. The woodensupports are the beginning of themolding process.

04 A close-up of some of the tribalcarvings on the mandible tusks ofthe Predator Elders.

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BRUCE SPAULDING FULLERSculptorFamous Monsters of Filmland Magazine

exposed Bruce to the creations of make-up legends like Lon Chaney and JackPierce–the same monsters he’d watch onTV. Bruce realized you didn’t need cadav-ers to make monsters, instead raiding hismom’s make-up drawer for supplies. Hispassion for monsters fueled his persist-ence to develop his talent as a sculptor,but the Art Students League of N.Y. andsubsequent careers in advertising andfreelance illustration left him restless.Instead, a chance meeting with EdFrench in N.Y. led him into the world ofprofessional make-up effects as he soonfound himself working in L.A. A fan of theoriginal Predator, Bruce was the onlyartist who worked on Predator 2 and con-tinued the legacy on AVP.

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JEFF BUCCACIOSculptorOriginally from Boston, Jeff was another

ADI “discovery.” Starting on Alien Res-urrection, he’s racked up credits likeStarship Troopers, and Santa Clause 2.Jeff is a trained sculptor and his knowl-edge of anatomy has made him a soughtafter artist. Alien, Aliens, and Predatorwere three of his favorite movies, but heconfesses that he was scared wiggly byPumpkinhead (Tom sometimes threatensto don that suit again for motivational pur-poses). Jeff enjoyed sculpting the third-scale Predator, giving him a chance toflex his sculptural muscles while sculptingthe Predator’s flexed muscles. Though hespent much of his youth singing in his par-ents’ band, these days the only serenad-ing Jeff does is to his wife, Nina Marie.54

01 The finished sculpture of a Pred-ator Elder’s helmet.

02 Multiple views of the helmet ofthe Predator that came to be knownas “Chopper” by the crew in Prague.

03 A close-up view of the Elder hel-met in photograph 01 on page 54.Some of the more intricately detailedparts came from toy model kits.

04 This Elder helmet was intention-ally designed to echo the helmet inthe original Predator.

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01 Using the few available refer-ence photos and dark, blurry,screen captures from Predator, theoriginal shoulder cannon was pain-stakingly recreated to be as authen-tic as possible.

02 The Predator’s sternum platewas sculpted on a cast of his chestto ensure a snug fit.

03 Likewise, the shin guards weresculpted on castings of the feet.These would ultimately be producedas a single piece of foam latex. ThePredator performers could slip onthese “booties” which then would beglued down to the legs of the bodysuits and covered with armor to hideany seams.

04 The finished Predator backpackunit. Like some of the helmets, inter-esting-looking bits from model kitswere used to quickly add some visu-al detail. Also, the repeating shell-likeforms on the backside were mim-icked on the net gun to help give theentire armor a cohesive aesthetic.

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Opposite: Steve Koch sculpts fromhis heart as he works on the Pred-ator’s sole.

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fter it’s completed, something happens to asculpture, which usually gets glossed over inthe “making of“ books. The sentence often

reads something like this: “Once finished, the sculp-ture is molded and skins are produced so thatgeniuses called airbrush artists can work theirmagic!” Well, the folks who make those molds andproduce those skins are pretty smart too. Mold mak-ing is a technical skill that, although it has beenaround since the Bronze Age, has reached its zenithright here and now. The wide array of materialsavailable to the mold-maker is overwhelming.Plasters, polyesters, urethanes, silicones (do youprefer tin or platinum?), epoxies, vinyls, acrylics areall choices, and each category has many types with-in it. The mold-maker must know everything aboutthese products as each one is used in a specific sit-uation. For instance, certain silicones won’t set upagainst certain clays. Imagine arriving at the studioin the morning and discovering that the sculpturethat was labored over for weeks is now submergedin a gooey, taffy-like mess, because you picked thewrong silicone. The boss is screaming and theschedule is completely blown. This is the kind ofpressure that a mold-maker lives with. But, if youknow your stuff, mold making can be a fun mentalchallenge. You see, molds are actually designed.Their construction doesn’t just happen. Somebody(or a team of somebodies) stares at a sculpture forhours and figures out where the dividing line must go

to avoid undercuts, what type of skin material will beinjected into the mold, and how it can be made asuser-friendly as possible. Skin thickness must bedecided, in tandem with the mechanical designers,and internal forms, or cores, are then produced aswell. Mold-makers are also responsible for makingthe body shells that are attached to the articulatedstructures the mechanical designers build. Theseshells are critical, as any malformation will affect theshape of the skin lying on top. A shell that is tooheavy can slow down or otherwise hinder the per-formance of the Animatronic puppet.

Mold-makers are also often responsible for thecastings that come out of the molds. The fiberglassheads of the Aliens and the armor masks of thePredators needed to be as lightweight as possible,since performers wear them. The mandate at ADIwas that everything that comes out of a mold mustbe lightweight and strong, and there’s an art to that.

ADI’s mold shop produced hundreds of moldsfor AVP from many different materials. Enormousfiberglass molds of the queen, intricate epoxy moldsof the Predator’s mandibles, and silicone molds ofPredator weapons and armor were created withgreat care and precision. But for all this effort, themold-maker’s work is not directly seen in the finalfilm. This is entirely appropriate, because molds arejust plain ugly. But when the mold-maker does thejob right, the integrity of the sculpture is kept intact,and the finished work is that much more effective.

Now We Just Have to Build It

LAB WORK

Above: Slimy yet satisfying? Neil Winn pours siliconerubber to create a mold of Predator thigh armor.

Opposite: The unfinished head of an Alien Warriorlies in wait of a skilled pair of hands to ready it forthe silver screen.

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In the case of AVP, we opted to use foam latexfor most of the skins. The script called for physicalaction beyond what had been previously attemptedin a Predator or Alien film. Durability of the suitswas a huge issue. We couldn’t afford to discard asuit after only one or two days of use. The otherissue was of performer comfort (did we say “com-fort”?). The heavier the suit, the quicker perform-ance disappears and becomes an endurance test.Because Tom plays the Alien, he is intimately famil-iar with those problems, and is personally involvedin designing solutions to them. Foam latex wasreally the best choice of material for the body suitsof both Alien and Predator.

Like the mold-makers, the work of artists whocreate, patch and seam skins is invisible in the finalfilm. After all, invisibility is what makes thePredators and Aliens so deadly, isn’t it? (Wow.What a lousy closing sentence.)

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The other half of this equation is the produc-tion of the skins and their preparation for painting.Like mold-making, there is a myriad of choices ofskin materials to be considered. Foam latex, theindustry workhorse, has beautiful compressionand stretch, but is opaque. Silicone is translucent,but is very heavy and weak. Urethanes can betranslucent, but are ultra-violet sensitive and toxic.Even the method of getting the material into themold must be examined. Will the foam latex beinjected or brushed in? Can the silicone be pouredinto the mold, or does it require a pressure potbecause the voids are too thin for gravity to ensurea proper fill? Sometimes “bleeder holes” aredrilled into the crannies of a mold to allow trappedair to escape and the rubber to fill the void. Whilethis prevents large air bubbles in the skin, it alsoleaves stems of material that must be patched.The more patching that is done, the further theskin gets from the original sculpted texture andform. Not ideal, but sometimes necessary.

LAB WORK

Above: Tony Matijevich dresses an Animatronic face-hugger puppet by sliding hollow foam latex appendagesover its mechanized skeleton.

Below: Worker bees buzz about the hive. During thecourse of AVP’s frenzied period of creation, ADI enlistedthe talents of over 100 artists and technicians.

Below, top to bottom: Dustin Van Housen thinks it’s agood thing that the Alien head he is working on is madeout of fiberglass and not Kryptonite.Seaming a palm as large as her head, Christina Prestia

literally lends a hand to the monumental effort of creat-ing the creatures of AVP.Nevada Smith drills holes into an Alien skull in prepara-

tion for attaching its plastic dome.

Above: Dwarfed by the imposing mass of a fiberglassmold of the Alien Queen head carapace, Mike Manzelgoes about his mold shop duties.

ARTIST PROFILE

GARTH WINKLESSAssistant Shop Supervisor

Garth grew up in a show business familythat included his grandfather, dad, uncles(Bingo, Drooper, and Fleegle of TheBanana Splits), and siblings working aswriters, actors, directors, costumers, orspecial effects technicians and puppeteersin film and television. A high-falutin’ B.S. inBiology encouraged Garth toward academ-ic pursuits like producing detailed, highlyaccurate models of dinosaurs before theWinkless showbiz blood kicked in and hemoved from Albuquerque to L.A. Althoughhe’s worked for several major effects hous-es, Garth has spent most of his time with uson Spider-Man 1 & 2, Starship Troopers,Alien Resurrection, and many others. Hisskills, resourcefulness, and dedicationmake him as valuable on set as in the shop.

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TIM LEACHFinishing Supervisor

A native of Long Beach, California, Timwas inspired specifically “by some moviewith cool effects.” While at Cal State LongBeach he studied make-up and laterbecame a student of Dick Smith’s make-up course. He brings 20 years of experi-ence to AVP, having spent about 10 ofthem at ADI. His credits include Jumanji,Starship Troopers, Alien Resurrection,Bubble Boy, and Spider-Man. Tim alsowas an important member of the filmingcrew in Prague, dealing with unexpectedcatastrophes like when the queen’s pis-ton-powered tongue fired prematurely,causing severe tooth damage. Tim cannow add Alien dentistry to his list of quali-fications. Long Beach is still home to Tim,Dana, and their sons, Taylor and Daryl.62

01 While most of the Predatorshuriken, or throwing discs, weremade of lightweight resin, specificscenes called for some to be of amore durable nature. For reinforce-ment, steel plates were acid-cut tothe proper shape and inserted intothe mold before the resin was cast.Mold Shop Supervisor Jim Leonardfinesses one of the steel inserts on agrinding wheel.

02 Brandon Whynaucht prepares aqueen hand to be molded. Moldsfrom previous installments of theAlien film franchise were used forthe full-size queen arms, forearms,legs, tail, and face. Her hands,torso, and head carapace were allfreshly sculpted for AVP.

03 In the ADI Mold Shop, crewmembers lay small sheets of fiber-glass saturated with a polyesterresin to create a mold of the full-sizequeen head.

04 Davis Fandiño builds a clay wall tomold one of the queen’s back spines.

05 Steve Munson assembles a ure-thane quarter-scale queen for anearly production meeting with thedirector and producers of AVP.

06 Johnnie Saiko Espiritu watchesas Bryan Blair works on a mold of anAlien Warrior hand.

07 Despite appearances, Pete Far-rell and Neil Winn are not shrink-wrapping Predator actor Ian Whytefor sale in the freezer section. Theyare making a “snap mold” of his torsoto provide an accurate template onwhich to sculpt his body armor.

08 Rob Freitas cleans a siliconecasting of a Predator head.

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JIM LEONARDMold Shop Supervisor

As a child, images of monsters on thedrive-in theater screen in Indiana weren’tenough. They became real in Jim’sdreams. An accidental meeting with DonPost, Jr. had Don telling Jim he wouldnever achieve his dream in Indiana. Jimtrekked to L.A. in 1979 where he workedfor the veteran mask-maker for awhilebefore hooking up with the master, RickBaker. Rising to become the premieremold-maker, Jim also developed his ownsculpting talents in personal projects. Itwas a rare and unexpected bonus tohave him on the AVP team. His skill andpositive attitude extend to the kids oftoday, “Stay focused and reach for thebest you have in you. Anything in life thatyou want...go for it!”

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ROLAND BLANCAFLORFoam Shop Supervisor

Although AVP was Roland’s first job atADI, he is no stranger to Make-up andAnimatronics. He’s spent 17 years in theindustry, and is renowned as a foam latexspecialist who brings innovation to everyproject. With the help of his talented foamcrew, he produced high quality foam latexsuits and Animatronic skins with a lowreject rate. Considering that AVP is, inRoland’s words, “the largest creature suitfilm of all time,” that’s no small accomplish-ment. Roland’s influences in the field wereLon Chaney, Dick Smith, Rick Baker andhis own father. Foam running is a nebulousdiscipline: part chemistry, part cooking.Roland brings a refreshingly practicalapproach to the work. You’ll see more ofRoland’s work in future ADI projects! 64

01 Chris Grossnickle, Rob Freitas,Mike Manzel, and Pete Farrell paintthe foam sculpture of the queenbody to seal it before it is molded.

02 Nevada Smith attaches a trans-parent dome to the head of a warrior.

03 Tony McCray pours urethanefoam into cylindrical molds to pro-duce lightweight Predator dread-locks of varying sizes.

04 Foam Supervisor Roland Blanc-aflor and Rob Freitas confer overthe body mold of the Alien Queen.(Contrary to popular belief, shavingyour head is not required to work inthe special effects industry.)

05 Mike Arbios inspects a resin cast-ing of a Predator shuriken fresh fromthe mold. Luckily for his co-workershe decided not to “see how she flies!”

06 ADI was enlisted to take a lifecast of actor Lance Henriksen(Weyland) which would later beturned over to Animated Extras, thecompany that handled AVP’s humanMake-up Effects, to create a replicahead. Andy Schoneberg starts theprocess by applying a bald cap.

07 After covering Henriksen inquick-curing alginate, Mold ShopSupervisor Jim Leonard, MikeManzel, and Andy Schoneberg startapplying a layer of plaster bandag-es. When done properly, the wholeprocess should take only about twohours including prep and clean-up(the subject should only be underthe alginate and plaster for abouttwenty minutes) and cause relativelylittle discomfort.

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ARTIST PROFILE

TAMARA CARLSON-WOODARDFabrication Department Head

Santa Clause 2 was TaMara’s first job atADI, but AVP was her biggest challenge.“The amount of work on AVP was incredi-ble!” she says. “Each armored Predatorhad over 40 individual parts. Making sureeach piece of every suit was interchange-able was an accomplishment the wholeFabrication Department should be proudof!” TaMara’s love of her craft began withher love of the work of Jim Henson and theMuppets, specifically Labyrinth and TheDark Crystal. After graduating from make-up school, she discovered the world ofeffects in 1994. She’s married to Scott, andthey have two cats and a dog rescued froma Romanian film set. Long hours drive herto do inexplicable things like put up back-wards clocks. She calls her multi-coloredhair “a cry for help.”

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TONY MATIJEVICHFinishing Department

There’s a dark and scary place insideTony’s head. A black landscape etched inthe grey matter through an obsessive fixa-tion with Biblical art and avant-garde pho-tography. Mix that with a love of Disneylandand Winnie the Pooh, and you’ve got theperfect ADI employee! Tony’s been with ussince ‘94 and has piled up 26 movie cred-its. He’s a well-rounded artist, but his surehand and focus on detail has planted himfirmly in the Finishing Department. He’s theguy who usually applies the skins to ourmost sophisticated Animatronics, makingsure they retain their sculptural shape, anddon’t restrict the mechanisms. Watch for hiswork in an unusual place: his company,Morevil Art, provided many of the skullsadorning the Predator’s costume! 66

01 Mike Manzel, Davis Fandiño, andSteve Munson prep a silicone bodymold of Predator actor Ian Whyte.

02 The Predator body sculpture inthe process of being molded. Thebright yellow color comes from asealing coat of shellac and the thinmetal shims mark the split line of thetwo halves of the mold.

03 Don’t they know it’s after LaborDay? ADI’s white-garbed foam crewbrushes a skin layer of foam latex intofirst one half, then the other half, of anAlien Warrior body mold. Next, the twohalves will be sealed around a span-dex bodysuit held in place by an inner“core.” After more foam has beeninjected to fill the gap between the skinlayer and the spandex, the entire moldwill be placed inside a walk-in oven forseveral hours to cure.

04 If you have an aversion tosyringes, you may want to avoid get-ting into the foam business. FoamSupervisor Roland Blancaflor usesan exceptionally large one to injectfoam into the wrist of the Predatorbody mold.

05 Bill Fesh contemplates the size ofthe omelet he could make with one ofADI’s industrial-sized foam mixers.

06 Cory Czekaj and Roland Blan-caflor brush foam rubber into a moldof an Alien tail.

07 In a flurry of activity Matt Mastrellaand John Calpin emerge from theADI foam room armed with syringesfull of foam destined to become oneof the many Alien skins created forAVP. Successful foam-running is adelicate combination of chemistry,experience, and hustle. Once a batchof foam is prepared, it is essential toget it into the mold quickly before thenatural curing process causes it to“gel” (where it is no longer fluidenough to seep into all the minutedetails of the mold).

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01 Bryan Blair reinforces a queenhead carapace with fiberglass.

02 At one point in the film, the AlienQueen is exposed to the blast froma Predator bomb, resulting in acracked and disfigured carapace.An undamaged shell of the headwas back-filled with polyfoam andthen cracks and holes were carvedthrough the fiberglass surface. Afterthis has been done, Mike Manzelsprays it with a primer coat with helpfrom Andy Schoneberg.

03 Since the damaged queen wouldbe realized at multiple scales, thelook was first designed at quarter-scale, photographed, and enlargedto full-scale on the computer. ChrisAyers tiles prints together to help thesculptors accurately transfer thecrack patterns to the larger head.

04 With the detailing stage complete,Mike Manzel wheels the damagedqueen head to the Paint Department.

05 Ginger Anglin seams a Predatorhead after the foam latex has beenbaked and removed from the mold.

06 Kathy Sully helps prepare aPredator stunt dummy which wasused for shots of dead Predators.

07 Even extra-terrestrial speciesneed dental maintenance once inawhile. Rob Freitas adjusts thedummy’s armature before themandibles are added.

08 The nearly finished dummyawaits a trip to the paint department.

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ARTIST PROFILE

KAREN KEENER-MANZELFinishing Department

What if your mom was an animator onSleeping Beauty and 101 Dalmations,and as a kid you were enthralled by AnAmerican Werewolf in London? Naturallyyou’d become…a lawyer? Karen almostdid until she put her soul on trial and theverdict came back GUILTY (of being aneffects fan). She was sentenced to life inthe business, and so far has served 15years, much of it at ADI. Some of hercredits include Mortal Kombat, Jumanji,Starship Troopers, and Alien Resurrec-tion. Karen works with rubber, fur, feath-ers and now her husband Mike, whomshe met while working on the remake ofPlanet of the Apes. They’re both in it forlife and consider themselves “soul mates”(or is it cell mates?).

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THASJA HOFFMANNPurchaser

At the Art Institute of Chicago, Thasja’sartistic inspiration by masters such asMatisse was supplemented by the cine-matic transformations of The NuttyProfessor and the love of the idea of alter-ing living forms. Arriving in Los Angeles in2000, Thasja worked hard as a make-upartist on many independent films for overa year. Through a friend she met TomWoodruff, Jr. and joined ADI’s art depart-ment on Spider-Man, Santa Clause 2,and of course, AVP. We are grateful forher flexibility to switch gears and applyher hard-working nature, professionalism,and enthusiasm to the office rather thanthe art department for a change (don’tworry, she’s already back in the artdepartment, refurbishing the Alien Queento be returned to Bob Burns)!

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01 While Mike Manzel places shimsalong the top of the queen’s eggsac, Rob Freitas nonchalantly tack-les the less-accessible regions.

02 Steve Kuzela seams the neck ofan Alien Warrior.

03 An estimated 1,000 Predatordreadlocks were made for AVP.

04 Christina Prestia is on spongeduty as she lays down small amountsof latex to patch a Predator skin whileBrian Clawson follows in her stepswith a hairdryer to cure the freshlylaid patches.

05 What might appear as an inter-stellar bear hug is actually BrianClawson patching a Predator suit.

06 Sean Kennedy tunes out any dis-tractions and focuses on tidying upan Alien foot.

07 Against the backdrop of a Pred-ator armory, Jon Fedele seams achestburster.

08 Take your pick: Patricia Uriasseams the tail of either a facehuggeror a chestburster. A single, inter-changeable sculpture was used forthe posteriors of both stages of theAlien life cycle.

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TAMMY MINGUSOffice ManagerTammy hails from the wilds of Wisconsin,

where it hails wildly. Prior to her emigrationto L.A., her job highlights included fouryears at a cheese factory, where shesupervised the processing and packagingof all types of cheeses (Fridays was “curdday”). Bolstered by her unfettered successat one cheese factory, she set her sightson another, and moved to Hollywood. Afterone week in L.A., she landed a job at ADIand has been here since. L.A.’s beautifulweather suits the athletic Tammy, who isan avid Roller Hockey player. She hasn’tadopted the local diet, however, preferringcoco powder paste, fried foods and avoid-ing fruits and vegetables. Tammy is incharge of the people behind the behind-the-scenes people who keep ADI runningsmooth as Velveeta.

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NICOLE MICHAUDProduction CoordinatorNicki has a B.A. in fine art from Hartwick

College in N.Y., and 20 years experienceas a watercolorist and architectural ren-derer. So how’d she end up with an officejob? Back on Santa Clause 2, when weneeded extra office help, her fiancé, AndySchoneberg recommended her. Sincethen she’s worked at ADI on LooneyTunes: Back in Action, Spider-Man 2,Scary Movie III, and of course, AVP.Building in L.A. and shooting in Praguepresented enormous shipping chal-lenges, which she tackled with her usualthoroughness. Nicki has also beeninspired to expand her creative skill pack-age by learning sculpture and wig mak-ing. Soon you may see her name in thecredits of a movie as one of the artists!72

01 TaMara Carlson-Woodard affixesclosures to an Alien suit while LeticiaSandoval works on a shiny Predatorbackpack that has yet to be agedand dirtied by the Paint Department.

02 John Calpin comes face-to-chinwith a foam latex skin of the queen.

03 Ivonne Escoto cleans a castingof a third-scale Predator sculpture.

04 David Brooke administers asteady hand to a warrior’s head.The vacuum-formed plastic domeand foam facial skin, including lipsand jaw tendons, will soon be added.

05 Christine Papalexis at work in theFabrication Department. On thisshow, Fabrication was responsiblefor taking all the individual Alien andPredator skin and armor pieces andfashioning them into durable andcomfortable (at least as comfortableas possible) finished suits.

06 Naomi Gathmann works on a sec-tion of Predator body netting. Thethickness, weave pattern, color, andmaterial of the netting all had to bediscussed, designed, and approved.

07 Brieana Bellis attaches foamdreadlocks to a Predator mask.

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01 With Ginger Anglin’s help, HerMajesty the Queen begins to takeshape and comes ever nearer towreaking havoc on the big screen.

02 If they were palm readers, theywould have their work cut out forthem. Dawn Dininger and TaMaraCarlson-Woodard work on a pair ofQueen hands.

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Opposite: Matt Killen installs a set ofvicious-looking clear urethane teethinto the queen’s mouth. Hopefullyshe’s not hungry.

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because much of their work couldn’t begin until sculp-tures and molds were completed. Our team consistedof twenty-five crew members responsible for every-thing ranging from direct cable-controlled puppets tocomplex servo/hydraulic Animatronics.

Cable actuated mechanisms are the “old standby”of the creature business. The technique has beenaround for a long time (Willis O’Brien built a bron-tosaurus head and neck this way in the original KingKong), but has been refined over the years. The ideais that, like a bicycle brake, you squeeze a trigger (orpull a lever, or turn a pulley), which pulls a cable, andsomething moves at the other end. It’s a good, power-ful way of articulating something, as long as you candeal with a bundle of cables exiting the puppet. TheAlien eggs were built this way, along with a four-footlength of Alien tail.

The most sophisticated cable puppet built for theproject was the third-scale Queen Alien puppet. Thispuppet was used mostly in shots of the captiveQueen in her chamber, rising out of the deep-freeze,and later being forced to lay eggs, subsequentlygoing berserk and breaking free of her restraints.

Radio controlled (R.C.) electric servo motors areanother way to articulate puppets. This is where theterm “Animatronics” comes from. Disney’s Imagineer-ing coined the phrase back when they were develop-ing technology for the theme parks. It refers to anima-tion through electronics, and has since become acatchall phrase for any sophisticated film puppet work.

ANIMATRONICS

art of the goal of this book is to sing the praisesof the unsung heroes of visual effects. Much ismade of the efforts of those involved in creating

what you see on screen, but what about what’s insidewhat you see? That is the work of the many mechani-cal designers, machinists, computer experts, and elec-trical designers that create the brains, the heart, andthe muscle of an Animatronic creature.

For AVP, ADI’s workspace was split down themiddle, with about half the space going to art andhalf to mechanical (the “split” is imaginary, sincethe studio space is actually one large openroom–we prefer it that way because it encouragescommunication between departments, and thecrew is free to circulate and look at the inspiringwork of others). There are no closed doors to cre-ate divisions, except bathroom doors–that’s whereyou want divisions (and air fresheners).

As with other departments, we were fortunate tohave key people we’d worked with previously, so thatsped up communication. In addition, since we’ve builtcharacters with each other before, there’s a history todraw upon. We can say, “Remember that gimble jointon Starship with the external thingy, let’s do that but putthe thingy inside this time”, and they’ll know what wemean. Shorthand communication was importantbecause we had to hit the ground running if we weregoing to meet our aggressive deadlines. We had ahuge amount of work to do in four and a half months,and the mechanical department got even less time

ANIMATRONICS

Nuts,Bolts,&Thermal Evaculometers

metal abstraction. To an ADI mechanic, however,how could it be anything other than the torso of ahydraulic Alien Queen?

Above: One of the hero Animatronic Predatorheads before its foam latex skin has been applied.Opposite: To the untrained eye, this may appearto be an unruly mass of wires, cables and bits of

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ARTIST PROFILE

DAVE PENIKASMechanical SupervisorWith an interest so diverse as to include

R.C. model flying, electronics, and 8mmfilmmaking, a youthful Dave Penikasspent many of his early, formative yearsblowing things up* for home movies.Maybe this accounts for his fascinationwith what the insides of things look like.Although certainly finding inspiration inthe work of Ray Harryhausen, Dave wasmuch more interested in building a stop-motion armature than trying to sculpt afinished creature. Star Wars and the workof John Dykstra were also heavily influen-tial as the world of model-making andminiatures caught his attention.Throughout high school, Dave would find

odd jobs at effects houses in the L.A. area.He found a job to do some wiring on a talk-ing Teddy Bear character for a TV show,but his familiarity with servo motors fromyears of flying model planes had him work-ing on full Animatronic character headsalmost immediately. From there Davemoved onward and upward, becomingeven more fascinated with Animatronicsand mechanical design, as he first set footin the Hell-spawned halls of ADI.

Modest to a fault, Dave will not tell youthat he has become a staple for the lastten years here (in fact, Dave’s resumereads almost the same as ADI’s). AsMechanical Supervisor, he has becomethe best Animatronic guy around and isresponsible for bringing to life some of ourmost notable creatures over the years.

The same hands that can tear out anOleander tree at home on the weekendcan create the most subtle and success-ful Animatronic heads in the industry on aMonday. When he’s not achieving someincredible deadline at work, flying modelhelicopters, renovating his home, learningthe world of computer animation, buildinga tree fort for his kids, or camping, Daveenjoys spending time with his wifeTheresa and his kids, Andrew and Alexis.

*Disclaimer: ADI does not advocate theleisurely use of explosive devices–Detonate Responsibly.

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To our knowledge, the phrase has not been copyright-ed, but if there are any Disney lawyers reading thisnow, please serve all papers directly to Stan Winston.

Anyway, R.C. is great for self-contained mecha-nisms, and lends itself to wonderfully subtle facial artic-ulation. The motors themselves are very responsive,and the puppeteering process is more ergonomic thanwith cable mechanisms. Since the motors do thework, the puppeteer uses fingertip control joysticks (orother input devices) that prioritize performance overbrute strength. Also, certain functions can be “mixed”electronically so that multiple servos move togetherautomatically, giving a more synchronized perform-ance. The hero Alien heads and Predator heads werearticulated this way. Subtlety of facial expression wasespecially critical to the Predator, as he was to be amore sympathetic character this time around. Recentadvances in smaller, more powerful motors helped usgive him a greater range of movement than was pre-viously possible.

Another project that benefited by the use of R.C.was the hero facehugger. We knew that the facehug-ger action as described in Paul’s script would requirelots of floppy stunt facehuggers and hand puppetedfacehuggers. We also knew that we wanted toimprove on the style of mechanical puppet seen thusfar. For our hero facehugger, we built a combinationcable and R.C. mechanism. The body of the facehug-ger was too small to effectively fit motors in, so we builtan external “motor pack” that actuated the cables run-ning to the mechanism inside the puppet’s body. This

gave the puppeteers the delicate, fluid control that ele-vated AVP’s facehugger to a new level of creepiness.

A long-term dream of ours has been to create anAlien Warrior that was completely mechanical. OnAVP, we finally had that opportunity. The goal for thisparticular character was to build in movements impos-sible to achieve with a performer in a suit. The torsohad increased ranges of movement, as did the neck,which was capable of turning the head 180 degreesaround to look directly behind it. The neck also had acobra-like striking ability, and the head carried a pneu-matic tongue. This sophisticated puppet was performedwith the help of a computer motion control system,which not only aided in performance, but was a safetymust for operating in close quarter combat with a per-former in a Predator suit.

The most formidable creature in the film was alsothe most formidable one to design and build. AVP’supdated Alien Queen had to be faster, leaner andmeaner than her predecessor, and she had to be builtquickly and reliably. In our business everything we cre-ate is essentially a prototype, without benefit of exten-sive testing followed by rebuilding. It is ADI’s history ofsuccessful Animatronic characters that we draw fromwhen creating the next one. The queen is a directdescendent of Comet the reindeer from Santa Clause2, which was preceded by Alien Resurrection’sNewborn, which followed characters from StarshipTroopers, My Favorite Martian, Jumanji, etc. Every-thing we’ve learned goes into the next one, and we arealways seeking improvement in all areas. The trickypart is balancing the desire to innovate with the inher-ent risks of experimentation.

At the end of the day, something dynamic yet reli-able had better show up on set, and AVP’s Queenwas both. With forty-seven points of hydraulic move-ment, she may well have more movement than anyother Animatronic in history (don’t you get sick ofclaims like that?). Hydraulics was the only way to getthe kind of power and speed needed for a fifteen-foottall rampaging Alien.

Hydraulics work like this: A huge pump movesoil through a hose and into a cylinder. As the cylin-der fills with oil it pushes out a rod. That powerfulpiston action is transferred into any kind of motiondesired. It’s as simple as that (OK, it’s much moretechnical, but that’s the basic idea). It really getscomplicated when you calculate mass and inertiaand the creature’s own body weight and how manypounds per square inch of oil are needed to move itat what speed, and on and on. All that gets boringreal quick, which is why we hire smart people whoactually enjoy that kind of brain work.

ANIMATRONICS

We approach mechanical design from the outside in. Our emphasis isalways on the performance and practicality of a given character. We enjoy work-ing with mechanical designers who don’t look at their creations as robots, but ascharacters. On AVP, we were fortunate to have exactly that.

Earlier we said that the mechanical department creates the brains, heartand muscle of an Animatronic character. If the hydraulics is the “muscle,” andthe pump is the “heart,” what then, is the “brain?” The brain is the motion controlcomputer. In the case of the queen, there are actually two brains. One comput-er is external to the puppet, and it interfaces the signals sent from the puppeteer-ing controls to the other onboard computer. The onboard computer interprets thedata sent from the puppeteering controls and relays that info to the servo valves,which regulate the flow of oil to the cylinders.

The motion control system we used on AVP is the latest in an evolution thatgoes back to 1995’s Starship Troopers. At that time we were developing a pro-prietary motion control system that put an emphasis on performance and edit-ing, but included features like collision avoidance, and movement smoothingcompliance. Fast forward to 2004, and our former motion control expert hasformed his own company, Concept Overdrive, and has created the OverdriveControl System. This is the most puppeteer-friendly system we’ve worked with,and it allows a great deal of flexibility in pre-recording and playback of perform-ances. It also has redundant failsafe systems that give the puppeteers confi-dence in operating this powerful creature in close proximity to actors.

For all the technical complexities presented by AVP, there were no signifi-cant mechanical failures while filming on set. More importantly, the creatures

performed convincinglyand organically. One wayto measure the effective-ness of the creatures in afilm is by looking in theeyes of the actors whoshare the scene withthem. Even though it is acreation of steel and rub-ber, when an actor staresinto the wet maw of theQueen Alien, it doesn’ttake much technique ormethod to pull up anemotion. It’s alreadythere…because it’s real.

Above: The ADI mechanical staff gathers to test themotion capabilities of the queen one last time before sheis crated up and shipped to Prague.

Opposite: Seth Hays takes our pet facehugger for awalk in the ADI display room to test its mechanics.

ARTIST PROFILE

STEVE ROSENBLUTHMechanical Designer

Steve got into special effects, notbecause of science fiction, but because heloved inventing and building things. Atfourteen, he was building props for hisfriends’ Super-8 films. Having studiedPsychology, Literature, and Sculpture inschool, he credits that broad Liberal Artsbackground for giving him the ability to becreative in a high-tech realm. Starting as amodel-maker and painter, Steve taughthimself the technology and is now thecontrol systems expert to turn to forAnimatronic characters. He designed theOverdrive control system which actuatedthe hydraulic warrior and Alien Queen,“The most complex hydraulic we’ve evercontrolled.” Steve lives in Burbank with hiswife, Helene and their low-tech cat, Mao.

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JEFF EDWARDSMechanical Designer

In 1988, shortly after attending the ArtInstitute of Seattle, Jeff found himselfworking at a fledgling effects companycalled ADI. The film was Tremors, andJeff helped mechanize the giant wormsand their tentacle tongues. A couple ofyears later he was back at ADI working onsophisticated Animatronics for the movieWolf. Having gained extensive experi-ence in hydraulic characters at other stu-dios, Jeff returned to ADI for AVP, wherehe built the mechanism for the hydraulicAlien Warrior. As a kid, Jeff was inspiredby the film Planet of the Apes, and nowhas his own kids, Jessica and Jason,who, along with his wife Betsy, are his“biggest fans and harshest critics.”

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01 Nevada Smith mixes up a smallbatch of epoxy while working on oneof several “Grid” effects heads. Theseheads, rigged with extra “plumbing”for blood and smoke, would be usedfor close-up insert shots of “Grid”caught in a Predator’s net.

02 Seth Hays rigs a wire-work har-ness for Tom Woodruff’s Alien suit.

03 An Alien egg prior to beingsheathed in a silicone skin (and lotsof slime.) ADI was able to refurbishthe inner mechanics of the eggsfrom previous Alien films for AVP.

04 A warrior head in the process ofbeing fabricated. A foam skin will beglued to the metal cables runningacross the lip area. These cablescan be radio-controlled to retractand lift, creating the Alien’s signa-ture snarl.

05 As part of its R&D phase, TomWoodruff, Jr. designed a bungeeharness that would allow increasedopportunities for creating Alien-likemovements practically instead ofdigitally. The body harness sawextensive action because it was lessbulky than traditional harnesses.Here, Woodruff test-crawls the har-ness for the first time.

06 Seth Hays fastens an unfinishedAlien headpiece to Tom Woodruff.

07 Steve Koch shoots test footage ofa mocked-up set where the shopfloor represents a wall (note theclock) and the black plastic sheetingrepresents the ceiling. The down-angle on Seth Hays (lying prone on abench) creates the illusion of a victimleaning against the “wall.” TomWoodruff, Jr. assumes his role as anAlien stalking its prey from above.

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ARTIST PROFILE

BRIAN JAECKER-JONESMechanical DesignerIn his last year of high school, Brian final-

ly began to think about life after school.Jurassic Park caught his attention withthe sheer scale and weight of theAnimatronic dinosaurs. “They were justso present and real.” In college, he stud-ied mechanical design and worked back-stage on theater productions, ultimatelybuilding his own Animatronic squirrelcharacter as his senior project (now that’sscary). With a love of combining the illu-sions of theater with mechanical engi-neering, Brian landed his first job within ayear of graduating college. His key workon the hero Animatronic facehuggerearns the utmost of respect at work, but itis his new son, Charlie, with his wife, Amy,that is his greatest work to date.

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JOHNNIE SPENCEMechanical Designer

Johnnie was born in England and foundearly inspiration in Rick Baker’s AmericanWerewolf in London and Thriller. Exper-imenting with make-up on his mom and hissister (and anyone he could get his handson), he didn’t find school to compare as asource of interest. At fifteen he landed hisfirst job as a sculptor and painter but soongravitated toward mechanical design andfabrication. Fifteen years later, Johnnie isstill excited by the challenges of each newproject. His first experiences with us onBedazzled and Scary Movie 3 ended upbeing cut from the films. But on AVP, hearticulated the hero Predator Animatronicheads, giving them a range of movementand expression beyond what has beenseen previously. Try cutting those out!82

01 Even without its gruesome exte-rior, an Alien facehugger is a ratherunnerving sight.

02 Like a modern-day Dr. Frank-enstein, Brian Jaecker-Jones is hardat work to bring horror and mayhemto life via an Animatronic facehugger.

03 To rehearse a scene from thescript involving an Animatronic face-hugger puppet, Joe Pepe (lying onthe floor) bravely risks his future abil-ity to have children. Dave Penikas,Seth Hays, Rick Lazzarini, EnriqueBilsland, Lon Muckey, and JohnnieSpence puppeteer the facehuggeras Alec Gillis shoots test footage.

04 Spencer Whynaucht creates hisown Fourth of July display on a grindingwheel. Kids, note the safety glasses!

05 The removal of an access panelreveals a glimpse into the inner-workings of Predator weaponry.

06 Lon Muckey and Johnnie Spenceperform a motion test on a radio-controlled Predator mask to see if itis functioning properly.

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ARTIST PROFILE

MARC IRVINLead Hydraulics Designer

After attending Cal Poly Pomona, Markstarted a car restoration company andthings were fine. Then, he took a tour of anAnimatronics studio. He was a kid in acandy store; only this candy was steel andstuffed into the skin of some nightmarishcreature, like a high voltage piñata. Markhad a newfound need to build creatures ofmass destruction. He has also worked atADI on Evolution and Santa Clause 2.He’s proud of the Queen Alien that per-formed for two months without any struc-tural failure. Mark’s biggest pride: his wifeKaren and daughters Kendall and Jenna.His secret desire is to build robots thatdon’t get covered up with a skin, so youcan see his mechanisms. Sweet SteelCandy (coincidentally, that was the nameof his rock band in junior high).5

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GEORGE BERNOTAMechanical Designer

With a degree in mechanical engineer-ing from Worcester Polytechnic Institute,George had built a varied resume of pro-fessional experiences. The list of filmsthat wowed George and inspired him towork in films is no less varied: 2001: ASpace Odyssey, Brazil, Dr. Zhivago, andNorth by Northwest. Eventually Georgemade his way into the Animatronic fieldand has worked on such films at ADI asMortal Kombat, Jumanji, Alien Resurrec-tion, Starship Troopers, My FavoriteMartian, and Castaway. AVP was a realtest to be able to create the complex AlienQueen in such a short period of time withsuch resounding success. He lives in LosAngeles with his wife, Rachel Kelley, andtheir son, Gus. 84

01 Initially, a crude Alien Queen wasmocked up out of unfinished piecesto get a rough approximation of hersize. Andy Schoneberg and TomWoodruff, Jr. provide arm supportand scale reference.

02 Seen from the rear, a row of heavy-duty counterweights extend from thehydraulic queen’s wheeled base toprovide her with stability and balance.

03 The Starship Troopers Brain Bugand Brian Namanny observe asSteve Rosenbluth gives the queen’sAnimatronics an early test run.

04 Her sheer size provides ampleroom and opportunities for Mark Irvin,Rob Derry, and George Bernota toget involved.

05 Lead Hydraulics Designer MarcIrvin works on the beast’s inner neckmechanisms.

06 NHL goalie or Pittsburgh steel-worker? How about monster-makerextraordinaire? Marc Irvin takes hiswelding torch to the queen.

07 George Bernota works on thequeen. The light-colored fiberglassshell will provide support for thefoam latex skin that will eventuallybe added.

08 George Bernota somehowmakes sense out of a plethora ofwires and servo valves near thebase of the queen.

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ARTIST PROFILE

SETH HAYSMechanical Designer

Seth was born in Albuquerque, as thesecond of five children to parents whowere very supportive of his interests inspecial effects. While attending art schoolin Colorado, Seth was fascinated by spe-cial effects behind-the-scenes stories. Heknew that L.A. was the place to be andmoved to continue his art education there.The opportunity to intern under DavePenikas in our mechanical departmentwas a proving ground for his mechanicalskills and his abilities to think quickly andefficiently, and he soon amassed a size-able resume. With the ability to fluctuatebetween both the mechanical and artdepartments with success, Seth hasproven himself to be a very talented, well-rounded artist and technician, who stillmanages time for his sculptural art as well.

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ROB DERRYMechanical DesignerThey start ‘em young in the Derry family.

Rob’s dad, Kim, is an effects technicianwho taught his son to weld at age 10.After a tour of duty in the Air Force, Robjoined his brother, Glenn, and uncle, Jim,in the movie business, after beinginspired by Stan Winston’s work inJurassic Park. Before AVP, Rob workedat ADI on The Santa Clause 2, taking thefirst manned flight of Comet the flyingreindeer, which he helped build. Rob callsthe Queen Alien “the most complex andpowerful machine I have ever had thepleasure of being involved with.” DuringAVP, Rob celebrated his first anniversarywith his wife, Michelle. We don’t know ifthey are planning children, but Rob oftenthinks about getting a little Derry heir.86

01 “That’ll teach you!” GeorgeBernota wrenches the hydraulicqueen into submission.

02 Probably one of the most fearedtongues in all of science fiction, theAlien Queen’s oral appendage is notone to be messed with.

03 Even without her skin, her “Alien”qualities are beginning to show.

04 Two of the many denizens of theADI machine shop, Alex Richardsonand Enrique Bilsland. Most of thepieces that make up ADI’s elaborateAnimatronics are custom-made on site.

05 Brian Namanny and a camera-shy Marc Irvin fasten a carapace tothe queen for an early test fitting.

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01 A team of seven puppeteerspower up the queen in order to shoota test footage “status report” forDirector Paul W. S. Anderson.

The hydraulic Alien Queen’s move-ment controls were divided as follows:

• One puppeteer handled the move-ments of the face and jaw (and strik-ing tongue if necessary).• Another worked the gross move-ments of the neck and head.• One controlled the torso.• The lips were radio-controlled byanother puppeteer.• Each of her large arms required aseparate operator.• One person controlled the broadmovements of her pair of smallerarms while others controlled the fin-gers on those arms.• The back spines were operated byyet another puppeteer.• Finally, one person manned thecontrol computer monitoring theelectrical and hydraulic systems,activating any pre-recorded move-ments, and was in charge of the fail-safe safety system. • If required by the scene, additionalcrew members handled drool, blood,and steam functions as well as mov-ing her along on a dolly track.

02 With mechanic telepathy (and alittle practice) Rob Derry, SteveRosenbluth, Brian Jaecker-Jones,George Bernota, Bob Mano, MarcIrvin, and Lon Muckey work in uni-son to bring the Alien Queen to life.

03 A frightening scene even in awell-lit shop and without the scream.Note that the condoms used for jawtendons have only been attached onone side so far.

Opposite: Engrossed in his work,Don Krause tests some wiring thatwill ultimately help bring ADI’s mon-strosities to life.

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he paint schemes for all the creatures hadbeen well established with audiencesalready. For the most part, Alien eggs, face-

huggers, chestbursters, and even the queen herselfwould remain true to what had already been seen inearlier films. For the warriors and the lead Predator,Scar, there would be some subtle variations toaccomplish the design goals chosen at the begin-ning of the process.

The queen was first introduced in Aliens with analmost iridescent blue highlight scheme. This designworked well, especially under Cameron’s bluish-castlighting scheme. When she appeared again in AlienResurrection, a blend of pearlescent paints wereused, incorporating brown and green tones into heroverall appearance. This gave a shimmery bug-likequality to her surface. This time around, we chose togo back toward her original color and once againcreated a color scheme of rich blacks in the deepsand blues and silvers for highlights.

The Alien Warrior, in the last two films stayedin a palette of warm siennas and brown tones,emulating the feeling of Giger’s original artworkas it was published in his book, Necronomicon.For AVP, Paul Anderson wanted to return to thedeeper blacks of the original film. ProductionDesigner Richard Bridgland’s pyramid interiorswere black, obsidian-like blocks, and the Aliensneeded matching tones in order to integrate intotheir surroundings.

A simple black finish wouldn’t pick up the lightproperly and the Alien would lack any characteris-tic definition, so a reflective silver highlight schemewas devised to help define the shapes of the Alien.Some gold and subtle blue tones were also intro-duced to avoid a totally monochromatic look. Bythe time slime was applied to the suit on set, thedistinctive Alien imagery was complete.

The color scheme of the Predators became sub-tly warmer and less amphibian in the flesh tones, inkeeping with our efforts to make Scar less of a mon-ster, and more of a character. All sixteen Predatorbody suits were painted identically, so that any ofthem could be used as a replacement or double atany time. We just didn’t know how much abuse thesuits would take, so individualizing of characterscame via the differences in armor mask design,weaponry, and body armor. At the time we wrestledwith the decision of body uniformity, wondering if wewere cutting too many corners, but as we beganshooting it was clear we’d made the right decision.The physical demands on these suits were intense.

As rough as the fight scenes were on the foamlatex Predator bodies, the body armor took most ofthe abuse. Some armor pieces were fiberglass, butmost were semi-flexible urethane parts paintedwith a special plasticized paint system that com-bined a convincing metallic luster with a tenaciousdurability. There were over five hundred individualarmor pieces created for AVP.

We’re Going to Need A Bigger Brush

PAINTING & FINISHING

Above: A Predator shuriken, lethal and beautiful.Opposite: An extreme close-up of an Alien thighshows some of the intricate textures and painteddetails that adorn one of sci-fi’s baddest baddies.

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of a rubber suit may sound obvious, but we hadalways resisted that because of the concern overzipper bumps and unsightly seams. To solve thiswe created low relief sculptural details that effec-tively hid the closures. Tom was thrilled at thedevelopment, because it meant he could actuallyeat at lunch, and go to the restroom whenever hepleased. Ah, the simple joys of life.

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The high number of Predator pieces presentedan enormous challenge to the fabrication depart-ment. They were in charge of taking the foam suitsand making them wearable. Nipping, tucking,adding zippers, and reinforcing was work as usual,but the interchangeability factor added greatly tothe process. That went for the Alien suits as well.Any given pair of hands, heads, feet, tails, etc., hadto match any given Alien body suit. And any givenPredator armor piece had to match its correspon-ding mates as well. Keeping track of all these sep-arate parts was no small challenge.

Because of the demands of the shootingschedule and the high degree of physicalityrequired of the Alien Warrior in AVP, we opted tostreamline the suiting and unsuiting process.Previously we had actually glued Tom into the suits,which helped maintain a sleek look to the Alien.This time we devised closures that allowed Tom tosuit and unsuit quickly, so that he could rest moreeasily in downtime. Adding zippers to get in and out

PAINTING & FINISHING

Above: You’re not likely to see this at your dry cleaner.

Below: Ginger Anglin and Mike Larrabee at work paint-ing the queen. Because its presence would soon berequested in Prague, the final painting, detailing, andmechanical adjustments all happened simultaneously.

Top Left: ADI constructed Predator spears both withextended and retracted shafts. Transitions between the twowould be handled as a digital effect in post production.

Top Right: Feet. Lots and lots of feet.

Above: Some of the Predator weapons, such as this cere-monial dagger, were chrome-plated for an authentic sheen.

Right: Dawn Dininger applies facial spines to a Predatorstunt dummy.

ARTIST PROFILE

MIKE LARRABEEPaint Supervisor

If it weren’t for Mike’s bad driving, hemight not be in this book. At age 20 hewas hired at ADI as a P.A. (ProductionAssistant, not Piss Ant...), and promptlycrashed his car while on a run. As wewere short-handed in the Paint Depart-ment, Mike landed a job there mixingpaint for “real” painters on StarshipTroopers. He was a fast learner andsoaked up as much info as he could, andlo these nine years later, he’s worked onADI films such as Alien Resurrection,The X-Files Movie, and Evolution. Mike’searliest inspirations came from the pagesof Fangoria magazine, imitating many ofthe blood and guts effects he saw depict-ed there. Now that he’s the lead painter,he does the airbrushing...and someoneelse does the driving.

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DAVE SELVADURAIPainterDave is a gifted, self-taught artist. Luckily

for us, beyond honing his talents, he alsotaught himself to be flexible, efficient, anda pleasure to work with. A veteran of tenyears in the make-up effects industry, hehas spent some of that time at ADI on TheX-Files Movie, Spider-Man 2, and ofcourse AVP (Ten years and only threemovies with us?! Who has he beenspending the rest of his time with?). Daveis pursuing his desires to create acomic/children’s book ministry, thankingthe Lord Jesus Christ for blessing himwith talent and inspiration, and his wife,Nichole, for her love and support.

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01 Justin Raleigh (in background)and Dave Selvadurai at two differentstages in laying down the Alien eggcolor scheme.

02 A finished Alien egg. Severalcable-operated hero eggs, capableof opening and closing their four “lipflaps,” were used for AVP as well asmany non-articulated ones.

03 An Alien facehugger.

04 Dave Selvadurai takes proper safe-ty precautions by wearing a respiratormask and painting in a spray booth.

05 A pair of freshly minted facehug-gers wait for an unsuspecting lifeformto come just a little closer.

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04 The finished Alien Warrior brainprop, fashioned in silicone. Portionsof the paint job were done intrinsical-ly, with thin layers of tinted siliconegradually applied to mimic the translu-cent qualities of natural skin tissue.

05 A close-up view of the brain’sposterior lobe.

06 Dave Selvadurai paints a queentorso using a palette of blues,blacks, and silvers.

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01 In this photo of a painted Alienhead, one can see how the heads ofthe Alien performers actually sit insidethe creature’s neck. The Alien head,attached securely to the actor’s headby a fiberglass skull cap, becomesalmost an odd-looking hat.

02 Like a pair of creepy spectators,inanimate Alien stunt dummies sitamidst the commotion of the shop.

03 An Alien chestburster made outof silicone rubber.

PAINTING & FINISHING

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ARTIST PROFILE

JUSTIN RALEIGHPainter

As a child, Justin was inspired by themake-up of The Exorcist, The Thing, andAmerican Werewolf in London. He taughthimself the craft and at sixteen was a pro-fessional make-up artist for print and fash-ion. By nineteen he was teaching othersat the Joe Blasco Make-Up Center,Hollywood, where he earned an honorarydiploma. Justin has been a big part of ADIon Hollow Man, The Sixth Day,Bedazzled, and Spider-Man. On AVP, heworked as a sculptor, painter, andresearched and developed a new paintsystem to give plastic and urethanepieces the look of real, aged metal. Hewas then rewarded by having to use thatsystem and oversee the painting of overfive hundred pieces of Predator armor inless than a month!

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MIKE MANZELPainter/Sculptor

With his diverse background it isn’t sur-prising that Mike worked in many differentdepartments at ADI. He’s got a degree inadvertising, worked in animation, madecommercials – and all in Florida. Even-tually movies beckoned and he movedto…Georgia, where he worked on Daw-son’s Creek. Then movies beckoned loud-er and he moved all the way to L.A.Spider-Man and Scary Movie III are a fewof Mike’s ADI movies. On AVP Mike was amold-maker, a sculptor, and a painter,contributing to the miniature Queen Aliensin all those areas. Mike is married toKaren, from the Finishing Department,where he never works. That’s so thatwhen they get home they can still askeach other, “How was your day?”98

01 Multiple versions of the queen’shead had to be made to accommo-date her transition from a pristinecondition to a heavily scarred andbattle-damaged look. This imageshows the underside of a pair ofthird-scale heads.

02 ADI created Alien Queens inthree different sizes for AVP. Thesmallest head is at quarter-scalewhile the two slightly larger headsare for the third-scale rod puppet.The two largest heads belong to thefull-scale hydraulic queen.

03 Ginger Anglin provides a goodsense of scale to the queen’s siz-able armspan.

04 A close-up of the quarter-scalequeen rod puppet.

05 The quarter-scale Alien Queenrod puppet.

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01 While many Americans travelleddown under to work in New Zealandon The Lord of the Rings, BrieanaBellis, a native Kiwi herself, returnsthe favor by lending a helping handin the ADI Paint Department.

02 Ian Whyte models a pair of scle-ral contact lenses (which cover theentire eye) based on the coloringseen in the original Predator.Before filming began, however,these yellows and purples werereplaced by browns and goldenochres to elicit more of a noble andheroic feeling.

03 While the glue dries on the facialspines of one Predator head, morespines are ready for the next.

04 When it comes to casting aPredator, size does matter. LeticiaSandoval and TaMara Carlson-Woodard help 7’1” Ian Whyte intothe suit for the first time. For this ini-tial costume fitting extensive noteswere taken as to what worked, andmore importantly, what didn’t work,so alterations could be made beforethe cameras rolled.

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04 To endure the rigors of shootingan action film, as well as the factthat AVP featured several Pred-ators, it was necessary to producemultiple copies of all the weaponsand armor. Great care was taken tomatch the level of aging and detailon the duplicates of each prop suchas this shoulder cannon.

05 Several Predator wrist bladegauntlets wait patiently for some bigscaly hands to give them meaning.

06 Amidst a sea of foam and fiber-glass, painted to look like grungymetal, Justin Raleigh inspects piecesof armor before they are shipped tothe location shoot in Prague.

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01 Mike Larrabee paints a Predatorbody skin. Slight changes were madeto the color scheme compared to thePredators of previous films.

02 A finished view of one of thePredator Elder’s helmets. Effort wasmade to make the fiberglass hel-mets appear battle-worn and madefrom hammered metal.

03 For AVP the Predator’s throwingdisc was replaced by a shuriken withcollapsible blades. As with thePredator spear, versions were madeboth with the blades extended andcollapsed, and the transformationwas handled digitally.

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START TO FINISH

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After a sculpture has been approvedby the director, it is photographed forfuture reference (04) and sent to theMold Shop to be molded (05).

Once a casting has been made fromthe mold it requires some form ofclean-up (trimming seam lines,patching any small air bubbles in thesurface, etc.) Steve Munson doesthis as well as inserting severalmagnets inside the helmet which willattach it to the foam latex Predatorhead cowl (06).

(If this were an Animatronic creatureinstead of an inanimate prop, theMechanical Department would beconcurrently designing, building,and testing any Animatronic compo-nents needed.)

The next step is a trip to the PaintDepartment (07) before it is finishedoff with any final fabrication details(such as installing a laser sight andeye lenses).

If all goes properly, the finished propor character arrives on set, performswell and has a chance to leave anindelible impression on audiencesaround the world (08).

While it is possible for an individualto execute all of the steps alone,feature films with tight deadlinesand huge build lists require the col-laboration of many talented artistsand technicians.

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To recap, the process of bringing afilm character to life is a complexone that involves many steps.Usually a character will be born on apiece of paper on the drawing table(or more and more frequently, itsdigital counterpart). In this case,concept artist Carlos Huante did adesign sketch for a possible newPredator helmet (01).

The design process can be lengthyin and of itself, producing numeroussketches that are ferried back andforth between the designers anddirector (and producers, studio exec-utives, production designer, visualeffects supervisor, etc. depending onthe particular situation).

Once approved, it goes to a sculp-tor who develops the design in athree-dimensional form. BruceSpaulding Fuller first roughs out(02) and then gradually adds detail(03) to a clay sculpture.

As new design issues arise that werenot apparent in a two-dimensionaldrawing, it is not uncommon for a sculp-ture to go through many alterations.

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01 Mike Manzel details a Predatorshuriken prop to make it look weath-ered and aged.

02 In a room-sized spray booth,Brieana Bellis paints a Predator’schest armor and backpack unit.

03 Justin Raleigh works on one ofmany Predator helmets producedfor the film.

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Opposite: Paint Department Sup-ervisor Mike Larrabee adds the finish-ing touches to a full-size queen tail.

ON SET

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y the end of October, it was time to leave thefrantic pace of our studio and join the produc-tion beginning in Prague. Work was still going

full steam on the Queen but the shooting schedulecalled for the Predator and Alien right up front. Twoof our eight allotted puppeteers were necessary tothe completion of the Queen, so the remaining sixof us headed off to the airport late in October.

Weeks of preparation had been put into motionat ADI and a small crew mobilized to get everythingwe would need for the next four months into cratesto be shipped to the Czech Republic. Alien andPredator body suits had to be wrestled from thehands of the painting department to be dressedonto body forms for shipping–we could expect tobe greeted by the aroma of paint when we openedthe crates at the other end as they were beingpacked almost as the paint was drying.

A stockpile of materials had been gathered,then picked up, at the studio to be crated andshipped. We had to ship everything we needed,from paints and glues to urethanes, to Alien slime –all to make the journey to the distant location.Shop tools and personal tools also had to beincluded in shipping records and turned over forproper packaging and shipping as well.

When we got to Prague, earliest indications didnot paint a pretty picture. Through a series ofmishaps by the shipping company, beautifully fin-ished animatronic Aliens, including our sophisticated

Hero Hydraulic Warrior, sat in crates in Los Angelesunder the hot sun of record high temperatures,never making the next step of actually getting on aplane. Other crates slowly made their way as far asFrankfurt where half our crew had to journey by carto help figure out what was missing. Promises ofhaving our things to us in three days were unfulfilledand despite daily updates that things would get there“tomorrow,” it took weeks!

We were now down to the day before thePredator was to make his screen debut and wewere still waiting for all of his weapons and parts ofhis costume, which was supposed to be there, youguessed it, “tomorrow.” So far, all we had receivedwere some crates of molds and some of our anima-tronic Alien heads, all transported loosely in a bigcrate, as well as the Hero Hydraulic Warrior with itstranslucent dome blistered and bubbled from theL.A. heat. We also had a few of our materials anda bellyful of enthusiasm (or was it the other wayaround?) so we began to manufacture replace-ments for the missing Predator pieces. We have areputation for doing anything – and that’s exactlywhat we did, all through the night.

After a few hours of sleep, we began to dressIan Whyte as the Predator late the next morning. AsPaul Anderson previewed the completed mainPredator character, Scar, he was very enthusiasticwhich was a welcome affirmation of our work and awonderful pay-off for the long hours the night before.

Hooray For...Where?

ON SET

Above: Director Paul W. S. Anderson explains ascene to Ian Whyte, playing a Predator Elder, onlocation in Prague.

Opposite: Surrounded by the tools of the filmmak-ing trade, ADI crew member Tim Leach moistensthe queen’s slime coating.

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on both the conscious and subconscious level, tak-ing advantage of the audience’s dislike for thingsthat are slimy and generally disgusting.

Being on the set of an Alien picture once againfelt like home to us. Whether in London, Prague, or(no place like home) Los Angeles, these movieshave been among the defining projects of ourcareer; a career that has spanned twenty yearsand four Alien features. As long as you, the audi-ence, continue to be thrilled or scared or just findan interest in seeing what happens next, there willbe more. And although hard to imagine, it isinevitable that there will come a time when we’renot on the set anymore. Many years from now,maybe we’ll be sitting in the audience watchingsomeone else’s work on an Alien or Predatormovie, complaining about how hard it was to find aparking place for the hovercraft. Tom in Pennsyl-vania. And Alec in Los Angeles.

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After a few scenes of Scar stalking Lex andWeyland up the steps of the temple, it was time forWeyland to unleash his burning oxygen bottle todistract the Predator. We protected the Predatorwith a coating of slime and fireproof gel then stoodback as his shoulders were set on fire in the after-math. Take after take, the Predator’s dreadlocksbecame increasingly scorched and melted but theovernight work survived.

The frenzied build schedule was now replacedwith an equally demanding shooting schedule.Before long, our minimal crew was being splitbetween a main shooting unit and a second unit,shooting concurrently on different sets. BharatNalluri directed this second unit, which concentrat-ed on much of our creature work. While Paul wasbusy concentrating on the main actors and theirinteraction with Scar and Aliens, Bharat was simul-taneously capturing the details of that action,including the key fight sequence between Pred-ators and Aliens in the chambers.

Both units had ambitious needs of Aliens andPredators. Various sets were spread out aroundtown in empty factory spaces which meant fullscale

moves of all Alien and Predator pieces as well astools and supplies on an almost daily basis.

We were fortunate to have a local crew withsome experience to help us throughout the produc-tion. In addition, we had been allocated more pup-peteers/artists from the U.K. to support us on setand when the production realized the magnitude ofits needs, it was responsive to adding to the num-bers of people, drawing off additional U.K. talent,most of whom were poised to begin Harry Potter 3at any time.

Despite the beauty of the city of Prague, onlyone set was built outside–the exterior of the whal-ing town, and even that was because of the scopeof the set, not to make use of the beautiful location.Everything else was built and shot indoors. Wewere on the other side of the world not for its pic-turesque locale, but because the massive under-taking of the film could be done for a budget.

Throughout the entire schedule there wasbarely a single day in which an Alien, a Predator, orany one of a huge assortment of creature effectswas not shooting on set. To say the least, it kept usbusy as we stayed one step ahead of schedulechanges and juggled shooting with maintenanceand repairs. By the time we got to the majorsequences like the first fight between Alien andPredator and the climactic scenes with the QueenAlien, each day had to be approached with preci-sion and the flexibility of knowing things werealways changing.

Of course an Alien movie doesn’t get madewithout barrels of Alien slime, and to all those crewpeople on set complaining about the unexpectedslime on the floor, on their clothes, and in their hairwe can only say one thing, “Did you even look at thetitle on the script before you signed on?” Slime isthe final dressing and it was everywhere: eggs andfacehuggers, chestbursters, Aliens, and of coursethe queen! Once coated, the monsters are continu-ally freshened up with water, liberally applied fromspritz bottles and Hudson sprayers. They may lookwet, but they dry out very quickly. This final slimecoating serves two purposes. First, it helps highlightthe creatures so they can be seen in the dark Alienenvironment. Second, it also introduces a very tac-tile quality to the Aliens that is repulsive and works

ON SETON SET

Left: Sebastian’s (Raoul Bova) day just got worse.

Above: One badass Alien-killer and one Predator.

Below: Drs. Cheeseman and O’Neil (ADI founders AlecGillis and Tom Woodruff, Jr. in a cameo appearance)have all the answers. Now if only they could get some-one to listen....

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04 “You mean that is going on myface?!” Actor Agathe De La Boulaye(Rousseau) warily eyes a facehuggerheld by Director Paul W. S. Anderson.

05 ADI set up a miniature version oftheir Chatsworth, California, effectsshop on location in Prague.

06 They’re not so bad once you getused to them...except for that long,slimy proboscis reaching down theback of your throat....

07 Under the set Seth Hays inspectstubing that will soon release ampleamounts of the Predator’s signatureluminescent green blood. The goowas supplied by the Special EffectsDepartment and is essentially thesame stuff that is in glo-sticks.

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01 A once-sacred chamber in thesubterranean pyramid has beentransformed into a nursery from hell.

02 Something wicked this waycomes....Facehuggers emerging fromeggs were hand puppets operated bypuppeteers reaching through holloweggs with no bottoms.

03 Paul Spateri and Tom Woodruff, Jr.make sure the Alien eggs are well-slimed.

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As a kid, I couldn’t tell you the name of a singlepro ball player, but I could tell you who was inside themonster suits. I knew which gorillas were JanosProhaska and which were George Barrows or CharlieGemora. I knew when the Creature from the BlackLagoon was Ricou Browning or Ben Chapman. Iknew which Frankenstein films featured Karloff andwhich ones used Chaney, Lugosi, or Glenn Strange.

My dad taught me how to throw a football. Mymom showed me how to sew fake fur together tomake a gorilla costume. I guess that means I waswell-rounded. And if any kid ever logged enoughhours in front of the TV, studying the monster moviesand watching how they moved, it was me. I just neverknew it was all going to end up being useful.

When I went from monster fan to monster-maker,I still had the ambition tucked inside to be the monsteras well. Despite a few short gigs as radio station mas-cots and a rental gorilla for publicity functions, I wasvery shy and a real introvert. It wasn’t until I was work-ing for Stan Winston on Aliens that the notion of play-ing a monster in a movie would even strike me.

One night after working late, Richard helped mesuit up in one of the Alien suits we built for the film.They were very simple, streamlined builds with raisedforms to show bone structures and exoskeleton jointsattached to lycra body suits–designed to be seen inthe stark lighting in fleeting glimpses. I wanted to getimages of a pristine suit before it ended up being wornand ultimately worn-out for the film.

It felt great to be in that suit. I was suddenly awareof the long tail and how much balance it required inorder just to be able to hold an appropriate stance.But it worked to my advantage, letting me pitch myweight out in front of my feet and take on a more hor-izontal form instead of a completely upright man-in-a-suit position. I never did ask to wear the suit in the film,instead thinking it was out of reach and belongedmore in the domain of the stuntmen hired for the film.I also didn’t think that would all change and I wouldend up playing the Alien in the subsequent features.

Over the years, I began to add more monstercredits to my resume, both in films we did for StanWinston and later when we formed ADI. With a full setof body molds of myself in storage, it was very practi-cal for an immediate start-up in building a monster suitif I was going to be the one inside.

But beyond the practicality, Alec and I both feltthat it would benefit the role. There were often timeswhen Alec and I would work so carefully over the

design and building of a creature in our early careers,only to see the final step of a stuntman inside with noreal understanding or appreciation of the specifics ofthe suit, compromise the look onscreen. After all,when we design a creature, we include everythingabout the character including the way it will move.Having an even higher stake in how successful it alllooks on film, I’m also more willing to overlook person-al comfort and often used harnesses with no paddingfor wire work and would spend entire days glued intosuits to help preserve the look.

Inside the suit, I can become the monster. It’sconfining and restricting and many times very frustrat-ing. My attention is always split between what seemsnatural for the role, and the specifics of what I have todo in a shot, encumbered by a heavy Animatronichead and body suit. Often I see the performance froma perspective outside my mind, watching the creatureinteract as I try not to look like a man in a rubber suit.I see myself move with the dynamics of a RayHarryhausen animated creature, both natural and sur-real at the same time. And there have been timeswhen the director has said, “A little more Harryhausenin the next take.”

It’s physically punishing and mentally demand-ing. There are mornings when I climb into a colddamp suit at six o’clock in the morning. There are thedays when I skip lunch breaks because it’s less wear-and-tear on me and the suit to get out and back in, inan hour. There are nights when the lights are beingshut off and almost everyone has left the stagebefore I’m out of the suit. Like anything worthwhile,it’s hard work, but they say I’m very good at what I do.I hope so, because it’s too late to go back to learningthat football thing.

–Tom Woodruff, Jr.

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01 Which is the better-looking one?Alec Gillis gives his partner in crime,Tom Woodruff, Jr., a spritz to keephis slimy coating moist.

02 The familiar forms of an AlienWarrior are silhouetted by a bank oflights on one of the pyramid sets. Inaddition to an entourage of men-in-Alien-suits, ADI’s Alien contingentalso included this hydraulic version.

03 ADI’s on set crew prepares for ashot featuring the hydraulic AlienWarrior and a Predator.

04 For a scene where Lex (SanaaLathan) fires a piton gun at Scar’sassailant, Alien performer TomWoodruff, Jr. entrusted AVP’s SpecialEffects Department to place direc-tional squib explosives behind hishead which were rigged to blow apartthe back half of a specially-construct-ed rigid foam Alien head dome.

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Inside The Alien

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04 Tim Leach threads a strawthrough a gauntlet of teeth and tusksto give a much-needed drink to aPredator Elder.

05 Doing his best impersonation of asweaty raccoon, Predator Ian Whytesays, “That’s a wrap!” after a longday of shooting.

06 Garth Winkless applies gener-ous amounts of glowing greenblood to Scar.

07 United by a common threat, Lexand Scar team up to increase theirchances of survival.

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01 When Weyland (Lance Henrik-sen) encounters the Predator Scaron the steps of the ancient pyramid,things go sour very quickly.

02 Weary from their battles downbelow, Lex and Scar emerge to theicy surface, unaware that their trou-bles are about to get much worse....

03 Director Paul W. S. Andersondemonstrates to co-Creature EffectsSupervisor Alec Gillis his thoughtson how one should wield a Pred-ator’s ceremonial dagger.

ON SET

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04 A Deadly Duo. Predators arriveto stalk Aliens on Earth, but exactlywho will be hunting whom remainsto be seen....

05 A Predator quartet (played byslightly smaller-statured actors thanmain Predator performer Ian Whyte,hence their somewhat squatappearance) works on a green-screen stage. In post productiontheir numbers will be multiplied andthey will be composited into aPredator ship.

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01 A face only a mother (and hun-dreds of thousands of fans world-wide) could love.

02 If that’s a leash, it must be onepretty big pet. And it is. Scar plays alife-or-death match of tug-of-warwith the Alien Queen.

03 Inside the pyramid tomb, Scar iswell-attended to by the ADI crew(from left to right: Tom Woodruff, Jr.,Garth Winkless, Mark Coulier, PaulSpateri, and Yuri Everson). Althoughmost of the ADI crew was from theUnited States, a small crew joinedthem from the United Kingdom, aswell as a local Czech crew.

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05 This diva is ready for her close-up.

06 The Creature Effects crew dressesthe queen in her damaged state.

07 Remember the mass of wiresand fiberglass shells? You’ve comea long way, baby!

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01 The Alien Queen returns to thesilver screen in AVP, this time heldcaptive by a yolk and restraints con-structed by the Predators (and theProduction Art Department).

02 Garth Winkless adds more slimeand “yellow matter” to the back ofthe damaged queen carapace.

03 Tim Leach uses a headlamp tocut through the atmosphere of aheavily fogged set as he adjusts thequeen’s neck skin.

04 ADI Mechanical Supervisor DavePenikas makes sure all is well withhis “baby.”

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01 The Alien Queen makes herpoint to a Predator.

02 ADI’s Animatronic Predatorheads provided a wide range ofexpression and movement.

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Opposite: A noble Predator Elder.

ADI AVP CREW LIST

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ADI AVP CREW LIST

Shop SupervisorYuri Everson

Assistant Shop SupervisorGarth Winkless

Mechanical SupervisorDavid Penikas

Sculpting Department SupervisorAndy Schoneberg

Hydraulics SupervisorMarc Irvin

Paint SupervisorMike Larrabee

Finishing SupervisorTim Leach

Fabrication SupervisorTaMara Carlson-Woodard

Foam SupervisorRoland Blancaflor

Mold Shop SupervisorJim Leonard

Foam SupervisorRoland Blancaflor

Fabrication SupervisorTaMara Carlson-Woodard

Concept ArtistsChris AyersRhaban CanasKevin ChenAnthony FranciscoCarlos HuanteJoseph C. PepeR. K. PostFarzad Varahramyan

SculptorsJeff BuccacioAkihito IkedaSteve KochDon LanningMichael ManzelTimothy MartinDavid MengMichael O’BrienBruce Spaulding Fuller

PaintersBrieana BellisJustin RaleighDavid D. Selvadurai

Model MakersTim ArpDavid ChamberlainNick SeldonErik Stohl

FabricatorsDawn DiningerDeborah GalvezNaomi GathmannChristine PapalexisLeticia SandovalAlex Santos

Mold MakersMike ArbiosBryan BlairDavid A. BrookeToni BuffaBarry CraneGeorge DodgeJohnnie Saiko EspirituDavis FandiñoPeter FarrellRobert FreitasBrian GoehringChristopher GrossnickleJohn Halfmann IITony McCray

Steven MunsonGary PawlowskiDavid PerteetMichael A. RothhaarFrank RydbergBrit SchotteliusA.J. VenutoBrandon WhynauchtNeil Winn

Foam RunnersJohn CalpinCory CzekajBill FeshBree KiddMatt MastrellaBrandon Messersmith

FinishingGinger AnglinBrian ClawsonIvonne EscotoJonathan FedeleRachael FiondaKaren Keener-ManzelSean KennedyMatthew KillenJunko KomoriSteven KuzelaTony MatijevichKevin McTurkChristina PrestiaNevada SmithKathy SullyPatricia Urias

Mechanical DesignersGeorge BernotaEnrique BilslandRichard DelgadoRob DerryJeff EdwardsSamara HagopianRichard HaugenSeth Hays

Ryan Paul HurstBrian Jaecker-JonesDon KrauseRick LazzariniPatrick MageeBob ManoLon MuckeyBrian NamannyTim NordellaMark PenikasAlex RichardsonJohnnie SpenceSpencer WhynauchtChris WoltersDustin Van Housen

Office ManagerTammy Mingus

Production CoordinatorNicole Michaud

PurchaserThasja Hoffmann

RunnersBlake BolgerZachery CaligColin GillisKristopher Valentine

Special Effects Contact Lenses Provided ByProfessional VisionCareDr. Richard SilverDr. Stacey SumnerCristina Patterson – lens artist/coordinator

Predator Helmet Eyeshields Provided ByOakleyTim Cadiente – Entertainment DirectorJason Spencer – Special Projects

Key ProductionCoordinatorEliska Maliková

Creature TechsMark CoulierPaul SpateriStephen MurphyDuncan JarmenEsteban MendozaIvan PoharnokRichard St. ClairSimon Webber

Production AssistantEliska Petrskovská

CostumersVlastamil PrádaMiloslav CísarMilos SvobodaLudek MalíJirka KaderábekMartin Vitoul

DriversPetr HajekPetr HavelecHonza JaryMilos KalinaFranta Rousek

Contact Lens TechsOlina NorkováStepanká Klimková

Additional AliensRene Halek (stunt)Radim VavreckaPetr LitvikMartin StoklasaStepán BencaTomás Stoklasa

Additional PredatorsHeiko Keisow (stunt)Miroslav KludskyLibor SkopekDavid FolprechtArnost HolovskyPetr Vorlicek

Alien and Predator Character EffectsAmalgamated Dynamics, Inc.

Czechs Mix(The Foreign Nationals Crew)

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