USCSS Nostromo - Discussion Thread

[joberg]

"Spread too thin?" Start buying crackers mate! Great work, as always, and take it easy in the future: we would like to keep you around for a long time to come:wink:

[SKIN JOB 66]

Aaaah, I'll never be tired to look at this ship...

Great work once again Steve, can't wait to see your next update !



Fred
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THE FUTURE IS A THING OF THE PAST

[Starrigger]

Hi All, just posting to let you all know I didn't die or anything, here a few new renders of the Nostromo.






Steve

[Vader]

That's a big "Wow!", right there...
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[joberg]

Yep, good stuff as always

[SKIN JOB 66]

Thanks a lot for the update, Steve !
(LOVE the light effect in the second one !!!)

Fred
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THE FUTURE IS A THING OF THE PAST

[rikarus]

Hi All!

Was jsut bouncing around looking for what the Nostromo's layout might have been on the internet and didn't even know this thread was in here!

Amazing, fanatastic work all of you, it was a total pleasure to look at all the parts come together as you work on this!


bravo!

[Colin Droidmilk]

Hello everyone. This is my first post here, and I make it after being requested by a member to repost a piece I posted on the RPF about the design genesis of the Nostromo.

Every article I read on the net about this subject gives credit solely to Cobb for the final design, while Foss is sidelined. Below I set out the case for saying that Foss is in fact the true seminal force behind the design.

There is compelling visual evidence that Cobb and Scott 'cobb'led the Nostromo together from very early Foss concepts. The final design derives MASSIVELY from two very early sketches by Foss, one of which already features the ENTIRE DORSAL MODULE with its 2 giant intakes that sits on the top of the ship. The final design lifts this module - about 25 % of the ship - practically VERBATIM. The second drawing features a ship from which the final design has clearly derived the WHOLE CENTRAL HULL CORE, and general CONFIGURATION. Both sketches are described in 'The Book of Alien' as being among Foss's 'first designs' for the film. The first shows a space train with the final design dorsal module mounted on its top; the second shows a craft with 'Fountain Line' marked on its flank.

To counter the widespread notion that Foss produced only outlandish 'giger-esque' 'alien' Nostromos for the film, I'd also point out that he produced a great many very functional, boxy, workaday designs based on marine cargo vessels etc. I'd add that giant rectangular box-like intakes and engines had been present in Foss's work for years, while they're not much in evidence in Cobb's work. The giant boxes with the rounded edges that flank the Nostromo appear to be derived anyway from one of Foss's designs for the alien temple, which features very similar giant boxes with a very similar rounded edging. If you take the 'fountain line' ship, replace its flanking forms with the alien temple boxes, then stick the 'space train' module on the top, you've pretty much got 75% of the final design right there. This seems to me to be what Cobb and Scott did, whether consciously or unconsciously. Plus, every early Cobb design I've seen features streamlined, flattened, rounded, slab forms - the 'Snark' etc. But the final Nostromo is all lumpen boxes of the type Foss was drawing from the beginning - hell, since from before the film was even conceived.

I don't know how to include pics here, but you can find the Foss images I'm talking about here in my original post on the RPF : http://www.therpf.com/f45/prop-store-first-look-nostromo-legend-born-born-again-part-3-a-112532/ Go to 'Screen Used Props', Nostromo Part 3 and scroll down through the replies.

[joberg]

Welcome aboard Colin Droidmilk...read with much pleasure your series of articles on the Nostromo on the RPF board. Very interesting for sure.
Eager to read more about it or other articles/projects you have in the pipe

[Colin Droidmilk]

Thanks for the welcome! I have to clarify I didn't write the Nostromo articles on the RPF, though; I only posted the Foss stuff above in the comments after the article...

[SKIN JOB 66]

Really happy to have you on board Colin... and YES, I totaly agree with you regarding Chris Foss' underestimated contribution to the Nostromo design !

I should add that Ron cobb and H.R. Giger were very lucky to have Sir Rid on their back on A L I E N because that wasn't always the case on some of the other movies they've worked on after...

Just compare Cobb's design work on The 3rd Day or Total recall and Giger's Sil in Species to what they have previously done on A L I E N and you'll understand they had a chance to give the best of themselves Foss never had because he was left aside at a certain moment during the creative process.

Fred
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THE FUTURE IS A THING OF THE PAST

[FenGiddel]

[SKIN JOB 66]

[Colin Droidmilk]

[Space Jockey]

Agree with all points, totally true....

It seems as though the art department got to a certain stage then had to halt for some reason or another, most likely budget, and then the modelshop had to make the Nostromo from the images they had, which at that point were not a final set of blueprints that they could build the Nostromo from.

So at the point, we had not only the art departments input but the model makers input too with their design ideas as they were building the thing, and so with all this input from at least two concept artists as well as the modelshop, and Ridley at that point all thrown into the mix and out of it all came the ship we see on the film today.

[FenGiddel]

Right!

And as to there being no drawings/plans for the model, wouldn't there have to have been at least some plans for the structural framework to support the massive thing? (Especially since it has lasted all these years.) Seems like there would be some sketches...but maybe it's just all down to modeling magic by pros who love their work and are under deadline pressure...

[Colin Droidmilk]

[Space Jockey]

I don't know if the maquette was based on Cobb's last drawing, not sure on the order; but below are two of the sketches plus two of the maquette. These lo-res pics are from Bill Pearson's collection of photos.
The maquette seems to take elements from both sketches.
I know there were no blueprints made of Nostromo before building as I was told this by Martin when I was working on the blueprints (earlier in the thread).
There was a front and side elevation sketch done of the bridge, but I do not have the image to hand and do not know who drew it (Fred, is this in the Colorvision book? Cannot remember.)
Agreed, more than likely prints and sketches were made by Martin, Brian Johnson and Nick Alderr and others when designing the rig / framework that would support the models, especially needed for the connection to the forklift truck during the landing sequence filming.

[SKIN JOB 66]

[SKIN JOB 66]