Realism in Ridley Scott's Alien

The film Alien works on dual levels. There are elements of the horror genre and there are elements from the science fiction genre. The mixture of these genres can first be pointed towards some of the commonly known historical evidence of the time period around the theatrical release of the film in 1979. Horror films were part of the main stream popularity unlike its independent nature before the decade of the 1970s. Science fiction as a genre was also very popular because of the many films in recent years that succeeded with that same theme such as Star Wars in 1977 and Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979 (imdb.com). Alien could be called the claim to fame for director Ridley Scott, as well as its star Sigourney Weaver.

However, it is the film's preparation and execution that propel it into greatness that cannot be explained by using genre conventions or popularity. It is a champion of the realist nature of our sensibilities in the way that it takes everything we know to be present in our current lives, and transports them to a completely different era, in a completely different situation. The mis-en-scene, editing and handheld camera techniques, and Andre Bazin's theory of realism, all contribute to the realist structure of Alien.

Andre Bazin was a film scholar and critic who was a major force during the post World War 2 era. He was the spiritual founder of the French new wave film movement and even had François Truffaut dedicate his film The 400 Blows to him just after his death. "Bazin craved a cinema of truth, one whose success depended on a director's finely tuned, disinterested observation" (artandculture.com). This quote is basically the essence of his theory on realism. He believed that a director had a responsibility to be stylistically forward about their intentions for the film as to not endorse or produce material that is manipulative. According to Bazin, filmmakers had a social responsibility to have truthfulness seep into every part of their work in order to facilitate some type of social awareness or even social change.

The filmmaking techniques that were held closest to this realist theory were the deep focus shot, which created the ability of the audience to see through to the back of the frame, and little editing which results in longer takes and more camera movement. Bazin saw documentaries and scientific treatments as the purest form of the cinema because it was the most effective way to organize truth. Filmmakers like Jean-Luc Godard, Roberto Rossellini, and Truffaut employed his tactics successfully while he resented montage filmmakers like Sergei Eisenstein.

"People say I pay too much attention to the look of a movie but for God's sake, I'm not producing a Radio 4 Play for Today, I'm making a movie that people are going to look at" (brainyquote.com). This quote from Ridley Scott stresses the importance that he places on mis-en-scene because it is the key for the audience believing in the world that the film is set in, be it realistic or formalistic. What seems to be the credo for many of the objects and surfaces on the set is that the future is not perfect. Time has not solved the problems that we deal with everyday unlike many other science fiction pieces where substantial portions of our current society have been completely vanquished. The ship has obviously been used many times before because it is rusted and dirty on its inside and outside. On the inside where the crew lives and works there are objects that we might encounter on an everyday basis.

There's food left on the table, papers on the benches, and half-finished drinks on the seats. The clothes of the crew are badly worn because the ship is returning home and they have been in those same conditions for months. The lighting style of the film puts the significance on backlighting at all times. In almost every scene, including many close ups, the lighting in the shot comes from the rear of the frame. This does create a mood and tone as it is used for most, but in addition to this purpose it adds to the realistic nature of the film because it is coming from the light that is already established on the ship. Also, some of the lights do not work and when turned on they flicker constantly. Ridley Scott has consistently used this type of lighting throughout his career, most noticeably in Blade Runner. All of these facts contribute to the audiences' feeling that this future may actually be the future that stems from our current present.

During the title sequence, we are shown the far reaches of space with the purpose of making it seem more familiar. Space must feel like a normal road or highway because it is what the cargo ship, which is like a truck, must use to get home. In this future era, space travel is commonplace. The information about the ship written on the screen has almost the same function. The ship has a name, a cargo, and a destination. People and vehicles do not just roam around randomly; there is regulation in the future. Another factor in determining the realism in a film is the situation that the characters are put in. The first shots inside the ship show many of the rooms and corridors that will be the setting until the end of the film. These hallways also become more familiar to the viewer and are more effective because there are no people in these shots so that the viewer can adjust to the setting without interruption. This sequence is very similar to the opening titles in the realist film Germany Year Zero, directed by Roberto Rossellini, which can be called an extension of Andre Bazin's cinematic values. These opening shots show the ruins and rubble of post-war Berlin, and they show these ruins because the setting also feels like the viewer is transported into another world.

In Alien, before the crew comes to the realization that this alien life form is capable of killing humans, each of them does not exactly have much to look forward to. Much of this has to do with the overall theme of the future; it is imperfect. There is constant discussion of "the company", who is basically their boss and the owner of their materials. The company's role becomes clearer when the crew accuses them of setting the alien situation up and assigning Ash, the robotic science officer, to protect it. Conspiracy is a part of our world that has been known to seep into many aspects of our lives. In the future there is a working class that includes Brett and Parker while the upper class includes captain Dallas and Ripley. Brett and Parker express their wishes to get bonuses because their pay is about half as much as the rest of the crew, and they have no choice but to go to the rescue mission on the alien planet because they will have all money taken away if they decide against it.

The gender issues also tell the audience of this future society because it still affects some of the decisions that are made. Ripley has a disagreement with Ash early in the film when he opens the doors to let the alien and Kane in the ship after Ripley clearly instructed not to. Although later this scene is shown to have the company's motivations, it is thought of in sexist terms at that particular point. Dallas also seems to have something against Ripley being able to lead a crew effectively. When the crew finds out that Ash is not human, it solidifies a quest by the remaining members to discover once and for all what is still left in this world that is "real" and natural. They want to identify the last outpost of truth, but it seems that Ash understands that this outpost might actually contain the alien since he calls it a "prefect organism". This organism is able to conquer all of the technology that exists in their world to suit its hostile needs. The alien is even aided by the computer, "mother", which can be seen as a mother nature type being.

I believe that one of the most telling sequences for the editing style of the film occurs at what can be called the beginning of the plot. This is after the crew understands that they must go to the alien planet for a rescue mission and the ship begins to lift off. There is little camera movement at this point but the length of the takes do not suffer. The takes are long as there are cuts from one crew member to another and then the camera just lingers there as they go through the motions for transporting and docking the vehicle like they have done many times before. The lingering intensifies the thought that there are serious consequences to the crews' actions if there were mistakes. Another result is that the camera is almost invisible with this type of editing. The film's pace can be declared as a rather slow pace with much camera movement for its majority. There is little editing as the audience receives a voyeuristic feeling while looking into the actions of the crew. There are scenes that contain an increased editing pace, which are mostly used for action and thrills. An example of this increased pace is when the alien first comes out of Kane's stomach during dinner. This mimics what our actual experience might have been in this situation as our sight might be visually fractured just as a film can be edited.

The camera techniques in the film involve many handheld movements that can develop a voyeuristic feeling for the audience. This technique creates increased realism because the actors are able to turn around and move throughout the set towards another person or object and the continuity of the film is enhanced. Another result is the viewer's perception that they are actually sitting next to the crew during a given sequence. Most of the time the actors are filmed at eye level, which is a common effect of the handheld camera. This conceives a variety of additional close ups, and at the climax and conclusion extreme close ups, that are able to portray sweat and intense emotion more clearly in addition to developing a feeling of claustrophobia. The alien is also framed at a larger scale compared to humans near it by using a low camera angle. The actors are then looking up at the alien in a way that enhances its strength and power in the scene. Near the climax when Ripley is running through the corridors trying to get into the escape shuttle, there is a very effective camera usage. It is a point-of-view shots that rushes at an increased speed down the hallway with terrifying screams and panting heard on the soundtrack. This technique is completely emphatic on the current atmosphere in that particular sequence.

At the film's conclusion, the motives and explanations of why the alien acted so hostile, why it was put on the ship, and why the company was involved, are all relatively unknown. There are many theories but none of them are near to being confirmed. This is because Alien is a situational film that is wrapped in a mixed genre film of science fiction and suspenseful horror. This unclear outcome can be seen to mirror present and past situations that involve many conspiracy theories such as assassinations and terrorist attacks. But the main source for terror in the film is that the audience does not completely see the entire alien with all of its extremities until the very end at the time of its death. This method keeps the viewer's imagination running wild and forces it to do all of the work. However, it is the realistic structure of the film that allows the audience to believe the film's setup and existence in order for them to trigger their imagination.

Works Cited

"Alien (1979)". Internet Movie Database. 1990-2007. Internet Movie Database Inc. May 5th, 2007. (imdb.com)

Alien. Dir. Ridley Scott. Perf. Sigourney Weaver. 20^th Century Fox, 1979.

"Andre Bazin". Art and Culture. 1996. Art and Culture. May 5^th, 2007 http://www.artandculture.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/ACLive.woa/wa/artist?id=1291 (artandculture.com)

"BrainyQuote". BrainyQuote. 2007. BrainyMedia.com. May 5^th, 2007 http://www.brainyquote.com (brainyquote.com)