The Book of Alien

by Paul Scanlon, Michael Gross

In 1979, a movie was released that was to capture the imagination of the world, and become a science fiction classic — Alien. 25 years later, the Alien franchise is stronger than ever!

The Book of Alien is the definitive companion to the movie, which celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2004. Taking you right behind the scenes of the production, there are interviews with the key people involved, including legendary designer HR Giger and director Ridley Scott. Lavishly illustrated with scores of stunning design paintings, production art and film stills unpublished elsewhere, the book covers every creative stage, and graphically demonstrates just why the

Genres: Nonfiction, Film, Media Tie In, Art

112 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1979

About the author

This is the disambiguation profile for otherwise unseparated authors publishing as Paul Scanlon

See also:
Paul A. Scanlon
Paul D. Scanlon

Reviews

[Mel]

Alien is one of my favourite films, and Geiger one of my favourite artists so when I found this for £5 in the sale at forbidden planet I had to get it. It's worth £5 for the photo of Sigourney Weaver practicing with the flame thrower alone. It's a lovely book, full of concept art and set photos. Probably no new information to afficianados of behind-the-scenes but I found it interesting and full of things I didn't know. The only reason I'm giving it four instead of five stars was some of the black and white photos were a little hard to see. Still beautiful art and very interesting.

[Jacob Kelly]

Debated whether to still read this considering I've seen like two documentaries and the most recent one had loads of Giger and Cobb's sketches. Not all of them though! I don't know what it is about Alien designs that get me really horny. I grew up on late 70s scfi film art direction and I'm craving it again. So dreamy. Think it's something to do with CGIs use these days as purely functional making you wonder what happened to designers? What happened to visual storytellers who suggested entire worlds and cultures? Either way I'll figure out what I'm doing here eventually.

[Michael P.]

Great behind-the-scenes look at the sci-fi thriller, loaded with lots of great photographs and anecdotes.

[Number 6ix]

A great read with some interesting stories behind the development of the artwork and effects used in one of the greatest SciFi horror flicks of all time. My only gripe is that for a heavily visually lead book, much of the black and white photography is rendered very poorly making it difficult to appreciate the content of the images. But there is also some great colour photography along with a plethora of artwork to enjoy. A great companion to the film for both Alien fans and general movie enthusiasts.

[Bruce]

Library copy. Going to have to buy!

[Andy]

I love movie 'The Art Of' books, and have several on my bookshelf, as I like the behind the scenes look at some of my favourite films, much like I enjoy watching the bonus features on blu-rays and DVDs. I also love concept art from films, and the way they can set the scene and the vibe for the entire movie. So when I saw this I had to get it.

The Book of Alien by Paul Scanlon and Michael Gross was originally published in 1979 as tie in for the original film. And with Ridley Scott’s Prometheus sparking a renewed interest in the Alien saga, this reprint from Titan Books takes you behind the scenes with the key people involved, including director Ridley Scott, scriptwriter Dan O'Bannon and the creative stages featuring conceptual designs and illustrations from HR Giger, Ron Cobb, Chris Foss and Jean 'Moebius' Giraud plus models and costumes demonstrating why the movie won an Oscar for it's visual effects and would come be classed as a science-fiction classic.

The book also gives you a brief grounding of the genesis of the film, from Dan O'Bannon's collaboration with Ron Shusett on the first draft entitled 'Star Beast' and to Ridley Scott's involvement. Although running at only 112 pages, it may not be as detailed as other behind the scenes books like 'Alien Vault: The Definitive Story Behind the Film' it is a visual feast of superb illustrations by some of the best artists in science fiction.

If you're a fan of the film, looking forward to seeing Prometheus or just interested in conceptual art then I would definitely recommend this book!