Denys Aylings Nostromo Lighting Notes and Screentest

[BlackWatch]

Tim Ayling, son of Alien miniatures lighting cameraman Denys Ayling, has shared with us two of his father's Nostromo lighting notebooks, totaling 180 pages of technical information, that he used as reference during the production of the film. Admittedly most of the notes are above my head, however, it's amazing to see the detail put into each shot, and there are also several drawings of the Nostromo that are quite interesting to see. You can head to the gallery to see all 180 scans.

Tim also shares some film stock of camera lighting tests Denys had shot of the Nostromo during the production of Alien that fellow crewman Dennis Lowe has transferred to 1280x720 high definition video. The shot shows the Nostromo approaching Acheron with it's dual sons on the horizon (pictured above). The video file is only 5 megabytes in size so well worth the download.

A big thanks to Tim for sharing with the fans and for Dennis for both scanning the notebooks and transferring the video. Enjoy!

[beckmen]

Really great footage. 'Lighting test?', hell it looks better than a lot of actual shots I have seen in movies.

[Faltskogian]

Beautiful footage, blew me away when i saw it on the A L I E N Makers 2 dvd

 

[Dennis Lowe]

Looking at the two takes afterwards I did notice that the Nostromo hasn't got those 'Engine Room Pillars' an the back where the thrusters are and the main thrusters lack the detail that's in the movie.
Ridley did some alterations to the back end when he came to do the reshoots later in the production.

[Space Jockey]

Really wonderful to see and read all these notes from Denys. Thanks so much for posting. 

[Thedus]

Having the crew (and yes, I'm including Tim in the crew) here at AXP is fan's dream come true.  Thank you so much guys.  And Tim: a deep felt thank you for sharing your father's work and illuminating (for lack of a better word) his memory.

[SM]

 

[Tim Ayling]

And Tim: a deep felt thank you for sharing your father's work and illuminating (for lack of a better word) his memory.

Thank you! I'm really touched to see that there is so much interest in Dad's work on the film. It's a real pleasure to be able to share what I have. Big thanks to Dennis and Pete for making it happen!

[Dennis Lowe]

I was intrigued  when you told me that your Dad was a practical joker as well Tim. It was great to see that pic of him fooling around with a colleague when working at 'Pearl and Dean' advertising.
Also the fact that Derek Vanlint worked in the same agency and explained why their styles of lighting on Alien matched very well indeed.
I wonder if Derek has any rushes hidden away somewhere?

[xeno_alpha]

I wonder if Derek has any rushes hidden away somewhere?

I was wondering the same myself, and wondering of Terry Rawlings had any footage himself left over from when he was editing Alien.  I know when they cut the Alien Directors Cut they tried to locate a colour workprint for Alien but couldn't find it...it would be a miracle if Terry had it or knew of it's whereabouts...but that's just me dreaming 

[Dennis Lowe]

I was wondering the same myself, and wondering of Terry Rawlings had any footage himself left over from when he was editing Alien.  I know when they cut the Alien Directors Cut they tried to locate a colour workprint for Alien but couldn't find it...it would be a miracle if Terry had it or knew of it's whereabouts...but that's just me dreaming 

I think Terry would have mentioned it to me if there was a locatable print but you never know what crops up.

[xeno_alpha]

I think Terry would have mentioned it to me if there was a locatable print but you never know what crops up.

Very true indeed.  Ah well i can keep dreaming!!! 

[Tim Ayling]

I was intrigued  when you told me that your Dad was a practical joker as well Tim. It was great to see that pic of him fooling around with a colleague when working at 'Pearl and Dean' advertising.
Also the fact that Derek Vanlint worked in the same agency and explained why their styles of lighting on Alien matched very well indeed.
I wonder if Derek has any rushes hidden away somewhere?

He was and I was quite surprised when I read about all of the tricks that you all used to play on him that he didn't get you back I know he loved it all though - he used to come home and laugh his head off telling us about the latest elaborate prank. I've got a lot of pics from his time in the RAF catching the end of many his stunts. One of him flat on his back in his billet under an uprooted palm tree springs to mind I wish I knew more about the Pearl and Dean days, but I'm trying to piece it all together. I found 7 more short films in the BFI archive last week. Dad also worked with Alex Thomson at one point too.
It would be great if Derek has some rushes - I bet he has! I need to go hunting again, as I know I have one or two trims somewhere that are from further unused sequences (one with a bluish sun) and I keep finding negs misfiled amongst family photos. I also found three polaroids of the Refinery tonight from when it had a long extended section hanging underneath it, and following on from one of the other threads I have a script of Dad's too, but I suspect it's a widely circulated draft. I also have Dad's mask from the shooting of the Nostromo landing and take off. I remember him coming home from that filthy dirty
Do I remember right Dennis, that the crew used to sing, in mock-operatic fashion sometimes, to mark time when moving the miniatures and/or camera?

[Dennis Lowe]

He was and I was quite surprised when I read about all of the tricks that you all used to play on him that he didn't get you back I know he loved it all though - he used to come home and laugh his head off telling us about the latest elaborate prank. I've got a lot of pics from his time in the RAF catching the end of many his stunts. One of him flat on his back in his billet under an uprooted palm tree springs to mind I wish I knew more about the Pearl and Dean days, but I'm trying to piece it all together. I found 7 more short films in the BFI archive last week. Dad also worked with Alex Thomson at one point too.
It would be great if Derek has some rushes - I bet he has! I need to go hunting again, as I know I have one or two trims somewhere that are from further unused sequences (one with a bluish sun) and I keep finding negs misfiled amongst family photos. I also found three polaroids of the Refinery tonight from when it had a long extended section hanging underneath it, and following on from one of the other threads I have a script of Dad's too, but I suspect it's a widely circulated draft. I also have Dad's mask from the shooting of the Nostromo landing and take off. I remember him coming home from that filthy dirty
Do I remember right Dennis, that the crew used to sing, in mock-operatic fashion sometimes, to mark time when moving the miniatures and/or camera?

I bet Derek has a few of those rushes up his sleeve, who doesn't when you are lighting cameraman?
From what I can remember, there was never a moments boredom as there were so many things to try and get right (especially when doing multi pass in the camera) and even when things become repetitive we used to add value with that added energy booster.......humor.