Feature Film Sequence
Alien: Romulus - Corbelan
On Alien: Romulus, our goal was to honor the original films by utilizing practical effects, ensuring computer-generated elements were firmly grounded in reality.
The fully-CG opening sequence based its Echo Probe on practical miniatures, which were enhanced for close-ups, while cameras emulated a miniature shoot. Space debris referenced the original Nostromo model, and traditional filmmaking techniques were recreated in CG, providing visual links to the early films.
The Jackson Star Mining Colony was a combination of multiple CG elements for its environment extension, plates filmed on location in Budapest at a working power plant, and a detailed backlot set.
For the Corbelan vehicle, a practical model served as the foundation for its CG counterpart, which was enhanced with high-detail adjustments to blend gracefully into the colony's set design. On-set photography of a light rig for the flying Corbelan provided crucial reference for CG light interaction.
The Atmosphere Generator was modeled to resemble a miniature with very high detail to convey massive scale. Its escape sequence combined real cloud photography and practical elements with volumetric cloud renders, CG water, and lightning for a photorealistic natural look.
A fully-CG, physically accurate planet with rings, based on NASA and Cassini photography, featured fully simulated clouds, lava, a realistic atmosphere, and rings composed of billions of individually rotating particles to accurately depict scale.
The colossal Renaissance Space Station, a 405-million-polygon model crafted to resemble a large-scale miniature, meticulously used original surface designs and extensive hand-painted textures to ensure close-ups matched the interior sets' intricacy.
Finally, the light palette from principal photography was purposefully recreated, ensuring each CG light's temperature and intensity precisely matched set lighting, maintaining seamless continuity via a scientific approach.
CREW
Nelson Sepulveda-Fauser, Ben Pickering, Fiona Chilton, Ale’ Melendez, Ilona Blyth, Chantelle Williams, Matt Middleton, Nicolas Caillier, Murat Ayasli, Waldemar Bartkowiak, Kah Jeng Cheong, Stevie Denyer, Matt Ebb, Sebastian Ravagnani, Adrian Watkins, Trevor Wide, Norberto Idiart Ritter, Jhon Alvarado