The plot of Alien (1979) is quite simple; there are 7 crew members aboard a spaceship that are on their

way home to Earth. When they receive an unknown signal from another planet they land on the planet
and 3 of them go exploring. When one of the crew- Gilbert Kane (John Hurt) gets attacked by an unknown
being that comes from an egg found on the planet, they try to save him as the alien has attached itself to
his face. The alien proceeds to remove itself and Kane seems to be fine until he unexpectedly starts
choking and the alien emerges from his stomach. The then 6 remaining crew members lives are in danger
as they try to capture the alien that is loose within the spaceship. Over the course of the film, they
discover that the science officer- Ash (Ian Holm) is an android tasked to ensure that the mysterious signal
was investigated. One by one the crew are taken or killed by the alien as they try to find it within the
spaceship, ultimately leaving Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) alone on the ship, which she manages to
escape using the ships shuttle only to find the alien is also in the shuttle. She finally destroys the alien by
opening the doors of the shuttle, so that the alien is thrown out into space.

Figure 1: Alien Movie Poster

The film is discussed as not having a lot of plot or dialogue that explains the narrative, as Malcolm
suggests Theres not enough writing for proper characterisation, not enough plot development for the
mind as well as the senses to bite on. But for sheer theatricality Alien is difficult to beat. (Malcolm,
2009). The dialogue that the characters do have doesnt add to the narrative, but in some ways, it adds to
the film because it makes it seem very real as the characters talk about some quite mundane real-life
things. Also, the fact that it doesnt have a complicated plot, makes the audience focus more on the
actions of the characters and in some ways, builds suspense for the moments when the alien appears.
The fact that there is not enough plot development, was a conscious decision by the director Ridley Scott
so that he could focus on the films visuals as Thomas discusses Each shot of Alien would make a fine
photograph. Some of Scotts cast complained they were given too little guidance during production while
he focused on intently on the films visuals [the better the actors,] the more time he could spend
making the film look as breathtaking as it ended up (Thomas, 2017). The fact that the director was so
focused on the look of the film is obvious when watching because of the detail and design that is in every
set for the different parts of the spaceship. The spaceship is so well designed that the world seems very
realistic to the audience as the spaceship looks well lived in by the crew, from the kitchen with their
breakfast foods all over the table, to the medical room where Kane lays with the facehugger attached to
him.

Figure 2: kitchen on the spaceship

Figure 3: Medical room

As the film progresses there is a noticeable yet gradual change to the set design as the alien takes over
the spaceship because it seems to become more alien-like. This was done for two main reasons, firstly it
is symbolic of the fact that as the alien is slowly winning the battle by killing more of the crew, the ship
becomes more of the aliens ship rather than the humans, which is shown through the slight changes in
the set design to more reflect the alien than a human environment. The second reason is that things seen
in the background or corner of shots start to look like the alien because that builds a lot of suspense for
the audience as you never know when the alien is next going to appear and so the audience is left looking
out for it, so by making parts of the set slightly resemble the aliens features, the audience is left
constantly looking and debating whether the alien about to attack. Another way suspense is built is that
the look of the alien changes quite rapidly throughout the film so that the audience doesnt 100% know
what to look out for when they are waiting in suspense for the alien to appear, as mentioned by Ebert
[The alien] is unmistakably phallic in shape but later as we glimpse it during a series of attacks, it longer
assumes this shape at all, but looks octopod, reptilian or arachnoid. (Ebert, 2003).

Figure 4: Spaceship starts to look like the alien

Figure 5: When the alien attacks
Dallas (Tom Skerritt)

Illustrated List

Figure 1 Alien Movie Poster (1979) [poster] At: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/11145730/Alien-

Ridley-Scott-poster.html (Accessed 21/10/17)

Figure 2 Breakfast scene (1979) [film still] At: http://noiselesschatter.com/category/trilogy-of-terror/

(Accessed 21/10/17)

Figure 3 Alien in medical room scene (1979) [film still] At:

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/714172453380849880/ (Accessed 21/10/17)

Figure 4 notabouttheclicks (2016) [YouTube video] At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jz4kXFI_VtE

(Accessed 21/10/17)

Figure 5 Alien attacks Dallas scene (1979) [film still] At: http://screenplayhowto.com/beat-sheet/alien/
(Accessed 21/10/17)

Bibliography

Ebert, R (2003) Great Movie Alien In: Roger Ebert [online] At:
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-alien-1979 (Accessed 21/10/17)

Malcolm, D (2009) Derek Malcolms Alien Review from 1979 In: The Guardian [online] At:
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/oct/13/derek-malcolm-alien-review (Accessed 21/10/17)

Thomas, L (2017) Why I Love Alien In: BFI [online] At: http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-
bfi/features/why-i-love-alien (Accessed 21/10/17)