ALIEN Makers Documentary

[SiL]

Pandora: The Rape Planet.

[dude]

Pandora: The Beastiality Rape Planet.

Fixed.

To be fair this picture has made me contemplate suicide today:

[Jon Sorensen]

Something Aubrey Beardsley about that image and no mistake.

Of course, Beardsley died in his early 20's, right? Just to keep the death and sex motif going strong.

But don't get the blues, guys.

[Hudson]

It's good to finally see you cynical about something, Jon. You're always so damn cheerful. At least now I know you're a real person.

[Jon Sorensen]

It's good to finally see you cynical about something, Jon. You're always so damn cheerful. At least now I know you're a real person.

With the present state of things on the planet, I take the occasional days break from my optimism, Hudson, and let rip. Indeed at one time my handle amongst my friends was "Dragonslayer". These days we all have to keep our bullshit detectors on full scan I'm afraid, think outside the box and get our friends to do the same, right?

The AVATAR instance was worth pointing out. The guy is so full of his own central importance, and the fact that he is an important industry contributor as a driven technician just makes it all the worse. It must make life very difficult for him. Certainly makes life difficult for the rest of us who have to watch his movies.

Brian Smithies, with whom I had worked on DARK CRYSTAL and who then asked me to go to Mexico for a year on DUNE, (I did'nt go), did have some model work supervision on ALIENS at Pinewood and spoke very highly of Cameron's technical abilities. But I also recall him being constantly spoofed as the "Bad Tempered Director" on British TV comedy shows. More to the point I remember seeing a British behind-the-scenes doc on the making of ALIENS where he was shown onscreen repeatedly treating British SFX Assistants like 5 year olds..."How can you do this without gloves...get some gloves...I'm going to come back and shoot this when you are ready and have some gloves". This to the same family and tradition of Brit SFX people who had made the original ALIEN quite nicely. It struck me that he had read in some book somewhere that a Director had to be a dictatorial jerk. Plus he had brought some of his own cadre of SFX people with him from the States, from his TERMINATOR crew, whom he trusted, and so saw nothing wrong in giving the limeys a hard time along the way and putting them in their place. By the by, apparently Cameron initially engaged the late, brilliant Dick Bush BSC as main unit Director of Photography on ALIENS and then fired him. (Dick Bush had done many films with Ken Russell on television and his work was always stunning. Ken Russell told me that Dick had once seen the Loch Ness Monster, and, as Ken said, "Dick Bush always told the truth"). Bush was well used to television schedules and worked quickly and efficiently. It was reported that Cameron said he was too slow on ALIENS.

I picked up also that James Cameron thought very little of ALIEN 3, (my personal favourite after the original). Well, of course. That one had no guns in it. He said he liked ALIENS VS PREDATOR. That one was okay. It had all kinds of guns in it.

By the way, for what it is worth, I did'nt go on DUNE because around then I was spending 3 years of my own time and money, based in Liverpool, developing my own feature project THE VISUALIST. This dealt with sword-fencing immortals. My material went out everywhere. The people who made HIGHLANDER had direct access to my story and treatment presentation. Sword fencing immortals. My villainous immortal was called KRAIGHTEN. They called theirs KURGAN. That took me 5 years to get over and put behind me and so my interest was naturally piqued when Harlan Ellison pointed out to Mr Cameron the marked similarity between two of his OUTER LIMITS episodes, SOLDIER and DEMON WITH A GLASS HAND to his movie THE TERMINATOR. That one was settled out of court. And now someone is suggesting that AVATAR bears a striking resemblence to the novel CALL ME JOE by Poul Anderson written in 1957. Anderson's tale tells the story of a paraplegic who links telepathically with an alien so he can better travel to his planet. AVATAR tells the story of a paraplegic who links through virtual reality with an alien form so that he can better travel to his planet, but I can't see the similarity myself. These days if I write a shopping list I register it immediately with the Writers Guild Of America.  Budding writers on here do the same I beg of you. My treatment and materials were only registered in England, so I could'nt sue in the States even if I had wanted to.

But I digress.

I should draw a line under this whole AVATAR thing by putting on the record here an apology to Jim Cameron who might think I have some kind of major beef against him. The resolve here is to avoid watching any more of your interviews, Jim. You just irritate the hell out of me.

On the important film-makers front, I look forward very much to watching my DVD of Pandorum when it is released in the UK on 15 February. I have a hunch that this Director is a worthwhile emerging talent. I hope so. We can always certainly use a few.

The "Braveheart" syndrome: We can't win against them all, but where we can't win we can at least let them know we're onto them.

And on the Mel Gibson/Braveheart/Randall Wallace area, I finally caught up with WE WERE SOLDIERS, and what a movie.

I just re-read the length of this f****** "Post". What a drone in. I've got the bloody James Cameron virus.

I'm down the saltmines this week finishing off my RAFT OF THE MEDUSA album, which will be my Birthday present to myself Thursday, so for now:



Stay sunny, Hudson, my friend...and the rest of you do the same. It's good to know there are bright people like you lot around.

[Simon Deering]

Well .. there we go . thought there musta been something bubbling under there Jon

I must say I enjoyed that blue film myself .. I took one look at a download and trashed it , went t the cinema and tried on the glasses .. I do the cinema maximum once a year. The 3D wasnt as 'in your face' as I was afraid it might be.. twas pretty well integrated I thought. Of course the story gonna be corny after it took soo long to make the film   .. and .. If someone said to you Jon, here, let me pay you for two years to make a piece of music, would you say " nah its ok I'll do it in a weekend for a grand " ?

Thanks fer the USB compliments
 

[SiL]

By the by, apparently Cameron initially engaged the late, brilliant Dick Bush BSC as main unit Director of Photography on ALIENS and then fired him. (Dick Bush had done many films with Ken Russell on television and his work was always stunning. Ken Russell told me that Dick had once seen the Loch Ness Monster, and, as Ken said, "Dick Bush always told the truth"). Bush was well used to television schedules and worked quickly and efficiently. It was reported that Cameron said he was too slow on ALIENS.

From what they say in the Quadrilogy, one of the issues was Cameron wanted certain scenes lit with just torches (like in the hive), and Bush said no, and started getting in lights.

[Jon Sorensen]

Well .. there we go . thought there musta been something bubbling under there Jon

.. If someone said to you Jon, here, let me pay you for two years to make a piece of music, would you say " nah its ok I'll do it in a weekend for a grand " ?

Fair point, Simon. No...I'd say pay me for 6 months and then I'm off and you can do what you like. If I spent any longer than that on it, the result would be worthless and I would'nt be the same person afterwards. Brian Eno now just sells his music off the shelf for movies, like the "Prophecy" theme on DUNE.

Your're welcome for the USB comment, Simon. Good to see you shine.
 

From what they say in the Quadrilogy, one of the issues was Cameron wanted certain scenes lit with just torches (like in the hive), and Bush said no, and started getting in lights.

Fair enough point, Sil. But it is perfectly possible to simulate torches with lights. Even with Vision 800 stock you may still want to paint the palette a little. I prefer the available light approach myself, like Peter Hyam's work. But that does'nt sound right with Jim Cameron. If anything his films are over-lit. And Dick Bush was a television cameraman well used to working with minimal lighting. Witness his work on Ken Russell's feature SAVAGE MESSIAH where he lit some scenes with just a couple of inkys. Sounds like it was the other way around. Dick Bush wanted minimal lighting on ALIENS and Cameron wanted more. His bottle went and he blamed Bush. That often happens with bullies.

And that's an old political trick often used to get rid of a cameraman whose face does'nt fit.

It was done to Derek Vanlint, (who photographed ALIEN), on DRAGONSLAYER, the old torchlit trick. They did'nt fire him but they treated him like shit for the rest of the shoot.

And also done to Frank Tidy BSC, (who photographed THE DUELLISTS), on John Badhams's DRACULA. The excuse was they could'nt see the rain in Frank's photography. If Frank Tidy did'nt know how to backlight rain as he does with smoke then I'll eat my own lightmeter. Tidy later photographed a stunning looking film in Canada, THE GREY FOX, which was full of rain and smoke.

If they want to get rid of someone they set an impossible task like say, the old chestnut of following a tractor with a hand-held camera on foot across a ploughed field and then firing him because the shot is'nt steady. I actually witnessed that one happen.

[Simon Deering]

What happened to Mia chaps ?

[Jon Sorensen]

What happened to Mia chaps ?

Mia Farrow? She's living happily in New York on Central Park.

[Simon Deering]

Mia Farrow? She's living happily in New York on Central Park.

No No, Mia,  Michelle.. Giger friend..

[Jon Sorensen]

No No, Mia,  Michelle.. Giger friend..

New one on me, Simon. Bring me up to speed.

[Simon Deering]

New one on me, Simon. Bring me up to speed.

The lady in black .. you remember.. shiny skintight leather.. the famous silver naughty belt buckle..

[Simon Deering]

I just found this pendant based on that design:

This Mia

[Jon Sorensen]

The lady in black .. you remember.. shiny skintight leather.. the famous silver naughty belt buckle..

Oh, that Mia...yes of course I remember her. Trust nothing horrible has happened to her, Simon.