HR Giger | Making of Species

HR Giger is best known for his alien creature which were brought to life in the Alien films franchise, though for almost 50 years Giger has been producing artwork and has established himself as one of the world’s best bio-mechanical contemporary artists.
Accompanying Oscar winner Giger for 1 year while working on " Sil " for the film " Species "
In 1994 Giger created the magnificent female creature, Sil, for this film. His design featured both erotic elegance and powerful lethality. The design was of a seminal nature, with only the Maria robot from Fritz Lang's memorable Metropolis rising to such a level of unique beauty and mystery. Unfortunately, only some of Giger's breakthrough conceptual work was realized in the film, primarily due to time and budget constraints, as well as creative differences. Giger, with the on-the-set help of James Cowan of Morpheus, did manage to have his Ghost Train included in the final cut.
Sil was designed by Swiss artist Giger, who also created the iconic star creature in Ridley Scott's ALIEN. Director Donaldson thought Giger was the best man for the film after reading his art book Necronomicon in Switzerland to take care of his dying mother instead of flying to Los Angeles to accompany production, he built some puppets in his own studio, and later faxed sketches and airbrush paintings as production went through. The practical models were made by Steve Johnson and his company XFX, which had already worked with Giger's designs in Poltergeist II. Giger envisioned more stages of Sil's transformation, with the film only employing the last, where she is "transparent outside and black inside like a glass body but with carbon inside" - with XFX doing the translucent skin based on what they had done for the aliens of The Abyss. Sil's alien form had both full-body animatronics with replaceable arms, heads and torsos, and a body suit. Richard Edlund's Boss Film Studios was hired for over 50 shots of computer-generated imagery, which included one of the earliest forms of motion capture effects. Using a two-foot high electric puppet that had sensors translating its movements to a digital Sil, Boss Films managed to achieve in one day what would have once taken as much as three weeks with practical effects.
Giger was unhappy with some elements he found excessively similar from other movies, particularly the Alien franchise. At a point, he sent a fax to Mancuso finding five similarities: a "Chestburster" (as Sil giving birth echoed the infant Alien breaking out of its host's chest), the creature having a punching tongue (which in Sil's case, Giger at first wanted a tongue composed of barbed hooks), a cocoon, the use of flame throwers, and having Giger as the creature designer. A great point of contention was the ending, which Giger considered derivative from the climaxes from both Alien 3 and Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and the designer felt that horror films frequently held some final confrontation with fire, "an old-fashioned middle-age weapon, like the way they used to burn witches.
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[@bryanmcdaniel5917]

I believe Clive Barker and H.R. Giger could of come up with some interesting projects.

[@joshsauer4725]

I want a movie where we enter the dreams of H.R. Giger....

[@reapthewhirlwind6915]

Alien 1979 pretty much

[@Devilsblood]

@@reapthewhirlwind6915 I disagree. There are so many Giger ideas that literally have not made it into the world of cinema yet. Read his Necronomican books and there's like an entire civilization created by this man. Alien is honestly a small fraction of the universe he created.

[@Sadeness99]

@@Devilsblood I have no idea why this was never thought about. Species could have been about what you mention, but it ended up just being a killfest on earth. I hate when horror movies have this unique looking villain but they look so out of place just walking around a hospital or something.

[@rancosteel]

To bad he didn't live long enough to experiment with 3D printers. It would have blown his mind.

[@TheMovieHowze]

Dude… can you imagine what he wouldve been able to make?

[@samantha5307]

I love the industrial eroticism and mechanical beauty to his advanced vision of the other planetary goddess.

[@patrickgray4905]

Very well put.

[@oleodiesel4100]

nao o erotismo, mas o moralismo.

[@mr.adventure0142]

De typ isch mega cool und e grossi inspiration für jede mensch gsi. Sehr schad lebt er nüme, aber sini erinnerige lebet wieter:) Ruhe in Friede Ruedi Giger.

[@vksasdgaming9472]

Very clunky film and sequels are even worse, but Sil is definitely unsettlingly beautiful and casting Natasha Henstridge as her was brilliant choice as she looks suitably cold and unfeeling.

[@NS-wj6kl]

He got lucky his work was put in that film. Period. Or people would never have heard about him. Being in those movies Everyone saw his ‘artwork’ come to life, even if they were never aware of his exosteance, is still quite a price large in the art world were talented artworks go by unnoticed again and again and again

[@yunkingleong5886]

​@@NS-wj6kl his work was already in Alien

[@classicartfoundation639]

That's monstrously good!

[@davidlabelle361]

This man was a fucking superhero.

[@unrealone1]

Thanks for this.

[@jasontodd8071]

Sil was the feminine version of his art! She was beautiful in her own right! If H.R. Giger and H.P. Lovecraft had a child!

[@oleodiesel4100]

0:27- a cara deste molde lembra uma nerfetiti egipcia.

[@phantomfire8228]

4:42. 9:08

[@FeisarX]

Excuse me. What was the train stuff !?

[@mostlynew]

Sil has a vision of the train for a few seconds In a dream, early in the film. One of the best cx in the film.

[@davidgiddens2793]

HA HAARRR Im not the only sick minded dude choice