Alien by Ridley Scott is a science fiction horror film. The premise of the film is that the human crew is up against a superior weapon-like alien. And the use of camera, lighting, and sound turn this slow pace film into a suspenseful horror film. This is shown in the beginning of the film with the camera travels across the corridors of the ship in slow motion with eerie music. The purpose for this is to get the audience into the mentality that this is a science fiction horror, especially since no alien/extraterrestrial being is show until, the alien eggs, 35 minutes into the film. Thompson explains that “the slow, calm, controlled movements of the camera have established the basic rhythm of the direction- unhurried but supremely confident that what we will eventually be shown will be worthy of our investment of interest”. This is a refreshing contrast to horror films today that usually have a killing or scary moment from the get-go. The Camera and sound use in the film paint the idea that you are alone in space and on the ship. This plays very well with the film’s tag line, “in space no one can hear you scream”. In the end of the film I felt that the camera, lighting, sound, and the set design made the film more horrifying than the alien itself.
Picture of the alien eggs with the films tag line.
Mother and the Crew
The ship computer, which is referred to as mother in the film, is interesting given anthropomorphic role. The Mother is in control of the waking the crew from their cryogenic/deep sleep like a human mother awakens her children for school. Also mother is in control of the ship and in charge of taking the crew home. But ironically Mother and along with the science officer/doctor’s primary objective is in conflict with the safety of the crew, which is in contrast to their human counterparts. The usefulness of the crew is diminished due to the ship’s “ability to guide itself safely across interstellar distances in the complete absence of conscious human control” (Mulhall 15). The crew is seen as “useful creatures for the ships purpose” (Mulhall 15). This reinforces the idea that of the crew is dispensable and the paradox in calling the ship’s computer Mother.
This picture shows Ripley confronting Ash and Mother's prime directive.
Works Cited
Mulhall, Stephen. “Kane's Son, Cain's Daughter.” On Film. London: Routledge, 2002. 12-32.
Print.
Scott, Ridley, dir. Alien. 1979. Twentieth Century Fox, 2009.
Abdi,
ReplyDeleteGood post! You bring up a lot of good observations. In the first part of your post you bring up a quote saying that the slow controlled movements build the anticipation which is sure to bring satisfaction in the end. What a good quote! I used this one as well. Only, the quote is from Mulhall, not Thompson. Make sure you grab a citation for that same quote as well. If you are going to reference Thompson in the text be sure to add him to your works cited.
I like how you mentioned the paradox in calling the ship's computer mother. It is a very good way to end your post with something for the reader to think about. It also provides a memorable statement at the end, which is important if you want people to remember your post. The sub-header should probably be a different font or color in order to better differentiate it from the rest of your post, especially since the whole thing is double spaced.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your observations of the movie. I think the significance of mother is not appreciated as much as it should be and I like how you talk about how it reinforces the fact that the crew is really dispensable. I also agree that the set and how it was filmed was more horrifying than the alien. There was really only a limited number of times that the alien was even seen, and filming the way they did made caused so much suspense that we did not need to see the alien at all times. Maybe talk a little more about the significance of the programmers creating a mother figure for the crew who in reality was not very concerned with their safety.
ReplyDeleteI like the image you chose of Ripley and Ash and the captions you provide. The sense of organization and reference is good on your post. Also, interesting observations regarding the pace of events in the film. Nice work!
ReplyDeleteHowever, you are missing in-text citations in a couple places and the captions could provide a little more context/detail.