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Aliens


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In Aliens v Predator 3 walls, ceilings and dark areas are the roam of the aliens, they attack from ceiling and walls using 'focus', light attack, or they can attack a weary Predator or Marine with their tail, heavy attack. Usually it takes 3 light attacks (claw) or 2 heavy attacks (tail) to dispatch a victim.
In their arsenal of weapons at their disposal, Aliens have claws, tails, focus, sense and head bites, Aliens can heal themselves during a game so stims are unnecessary. All weapons can be found in the Armoury and at Weapons, which lists weapons and their abilities.

In Aliens: Colonial Marines, Aliens have attributes unique to a certain group, some are able to jump great distances and heights and some have increased durability and strength. New capabilities for Aliens unique to the game are a smoke screen, cloak, hyper metabolism and heightened senses.

Aliens can produce a thick resin secretion from their jaws, this then goes into making hives structures and cocooning of their victims.





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Characters


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Known as character 'skins', there are different ones to choose from;

In Aliens v Predator 3 multiplayer, Warrior, Warrior Dome, Praetorian, Number 6, Warrior Ridged and Nethead. In singleplayer a player is limited to playing as Number 6.

In Aliens: Colonial Marines players can choose between the Xeno Lurker, Xeno Soldier and Xeno Spitter in multiplayer, these Aliens can evolve into either Xeno Crusher or Xeno Boiler with their unique capabilities.



Sense


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Their speed and agility, second to their ability of 'sense', meaning that the dark is no obstacle, an ability to visualise their enemy through walls, doors and in low light conditions.
Walls are no impedence for Aliens to visualize their prey, they can stay hidden as they scope their next victim. Dark areas being a favourite of Aliens as Predators and Marines have limited visibility.

In Aliens v Predator and Aliens v Predator 2 games, Aliens have an ability to detect prey by way of pheromones (Navigate/Hunt vision modes). Navigate for travelling in complete darkness, Hunt for seeing enemies, prey will be outlined red for Marines, blue for humans and green for Predators.

In Aliens: Colonial Marines an Alien has similiar capabilities with Marines being fully visualized in either a red or yellow colour through walls. This is a sound quality with marines making more noise highlighted in red, both Aliens and Marines are normally highlighted in yellow.

E-grab


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This is a capability in Aliens v Predator 3 which is similiar to the Predators, the Aliens can approach from behind using 'E-grab' for their kill, although these are like trophy kills they are discarded. An ability that the Aliens can excel at, coupled with their ability of 'Sense' and speed they can be a match for any Marine or Predator.

In Aliens: Colonial Marines a player can choose from a number of final attacks which they can preform, attacks are unlocked by using credits awarded in game play and are limited to the Alien players.


Predator/Alien hybrids


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Various Aliens appear through the Alien films, mostly referred to as drones. These are the same as in most video games, were a player would play against an Alien opponent, these would then be the typical alien foe. AvP: Extinction being an example were all Aliens are unique, with their character traits for that role. Other Aliens include Face Huggers, Chest Bursters, Warriors, Praetorians, Crushers, Queens and in some cases Empress, notably increasing in status suggesting an Empress holds a ranking above that of a Queen, this might also include life stages of Aliens and also an increase in size.

A Predalien is an alien hybrid that appears on Earth, BG386, LV1201, LV742 and LV426. Predaliens are Xenomorph/Predator alien hybrids and are produced from a Face Hugger laying an embryo inside a Predator.

In most cases an Alien is a hybrid of the host, so most Aliens statuses would be due to a human host, and so appearances would alter depending on host. In the films Alien, Aliens, Alien Resurrection, AvP and AvP Requiem all the Aliens are black in colour, were as in Alien 3 the Alien is a dark red colour due to a K9/Ox host.

These could then be referred to as hybrid Aliens, as in the case of a Predalien, a host in this case being a Predator, these all have similiar characteristic traits of a host. Also other hybrids include Arachnoids and Jockeys, Jockey hybrid Aliens, produce a xenomorph body with a Jockey's head, as in Aliens: Infestation. Notably Predator/Alien hybrids (Predalien), are considered to be Aliens as with all Aliens.
Crushers also known as Smashers in the Alien/Predator franchise and are much larger and bulkier then most Aliens, these are from a similiar host but vary in colour.


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Notable Predator/Alien or hybrids


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Big Chap is the name of the Alien appearing in Alien (film).
Grid is the name of the Alien appearing in Alien v Predator (film).
Queen is the name of the Alien appearing in Alien v Predator (film) and Aliens (film).
Raven is a mutated Alien in the game Aliens: Colonial Marines.


The alien's acidic blood is capable of melting almost anything, and capable of melting through multiple levels but oxides fairly rapidly, becoming inert. The ability of spitting acid is trait of both face huggers and Aliens.




Aliens: Colonial Marines


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In Aliens: Colonial Marines aliens have a choice of movements select, trait, head and skin upgrades gained by unlocking the achievement in game play and selecting one of each quality, these are also available by default from the DLCs.


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Available adjustments;
Primary:

Secondary:

Special:

Tactical:

Armour:

Trait:

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Aliens head and skin upgrades for multiplayer:


Skin
Soldier
Cyaneus
Fluvens
Flavovirens
Atropurus
Virens
Canarius

Head
Ceratos
Soldier
Stegos
Diabolus
Trilos
Spiked Collar


Skin
Lurker
Aureus
Inquinans
Caeruleus
Aeruginosus
Porhyreus
Flavescens

Head
Cristatus
Lurker
Cornigus
Cataphractus
Tiaramus
Spiked Collar


Skin
Spitter
Hibernus
Lateritus
Azureus
Prasinus
Rutilans
Aeneus

Head
Spitter
Bulbosus
Spicalus
Nexilis
Augosus
Disbolus
Spiked Collar
Rugosus

ACM 163

Films


Alien

Concept

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Giger made several conceptual paintings of the adult Alien before crafting the final version. He sculpted the creature's body using plasticine, incorporating pieces such as vertebrae from snakes and cooling tubes from a Rolls-Royce. The creature's head was manufactured separately by Carlo Rambaldi who had worked on the aliens in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Rambaldi followed Giger's designs closely making some modifications in order to incorporate the moving parts which would animate the jaw and inner mouth. A system of hinges and cables was used to operate the creature's rigid tongue, which protruded from the main mouth and had a second mouth at the tip of it with its own set of movable teeth. The final head had about nine hundred moving parts and points of articulation. Part of a human skull was used as the face and was hidden under the smooth translucent cover of the alien's head. Carlo Rambaldi also worked on the alien eggs and the facehuggers for the film.

Rambaldi's original Alien jaw is now on display in the Smithsonian Institution, while in April 2007 the original Alien suit was sold at auction.

Copious amounts of K-Y Jelly were used to simulate saliva and to give the Alien an overall slimy appearance a technique used in future Alien, Predator and Alien v Predator films. The creature's vocalizations were provided by Percy Edwards, a voice artist famous for providing bird sounds for British television throughout the 1960s and 1970s as well as the whale sounds for Orca: Killer Whale (1977).

Production

Bolaji Badejo played as the Alien in the film, a Nigerian design student, Badejo was discovered in a bar by a member of the casting team, who put him in touch with Ridley Scott. Scott believed that Badejo with a slender frame could portray the Alien and look as if his arms and legs were too long to be real, creating the illusion that there could not possibly be a human being inside the costume.

Stuntmen Eddie Powell and Roy Scammell also portrayed the Alien in some scenes. For some scenes such as when the Alien lowers itself from the ceiling to kill Brett in the cargo rooms, the creature was portrayed by stuntmen Eddie Powell and Roy Scammell, in that scene a costumed Powell was suspended on wires and then lowered in an unfurling motion.

Aliens

On-set

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From alien to aliens the suits were simplified and redesigned giving them more character. Dancers, gymnasts and stunt men were hired to portray the Aliens in the film. Only six alien suits were used mostly just a handful of latex appliances on black leotards. Aliens were mostly filmed as warriors with painted on dark areas and added paint depicting light shadows. The appearance of hundreds of aliens was simply clever editing and planning, lighting plus slime helped make the suits more solid, produced by Stan Winston aliens effect supervisor with Tom Woodruff Jr., John Rosengrant, Richard Landon and Shane Mahan creature effects coordinators.

Production

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Suits could be posed in ways that allowed them to stand by themselves like on the APC in the Atmosphere Processor as Aliens get run down. These were also hung up and blown up as shots required. Yellow dye was used with two chemicals for the acid blood and as they were mixed it created smoke. The Alien in the APC was filmed in reverse with a puppeteer controlling the creature and a number of takes for Hicks using a shotgun which were filmed separately.

The Aliens crawling along the ceiling in Operations was filming with the camera inverted as actors crawled along the floor.

Alien 3

On-set

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Stan Winston, responsible for creature effects in Aliens, was approached but was not available. Winston instead recommended Tom Woodruff, Jr. and Alec Gills, two former workers of his studio who had just started their own company, Amalgamated Dynamics. Adding their expertise, Tom Woodruff, Jr. also played as the Alien in the film but was uncredited.

Production

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The Alien is portrayed by both Woodruff, Jr. in a suit and a rod puppet filmed against bluescreen and optically composited into the live-action footage. A mechanical alien head was also used for close-ups. The suit adapted the design used in Aliens so Woodruff could walk on all fours. Woodruff's head was contained in the neck of the suit because the head was filled with animatronics to move the mouth pieces of the Alien.

David Jones model shop supervisor, Laine Liska lead puppeteer and Richard Edlund visual effect supervisor all worked on controlling and filming the Alien. Filming for the miniature Alien was on a rail which was pulled by production staff and the Alien filmed against a matte background, a 1' Alien model and a 3' Alien model including tail was used in this way.

A small number of shots contain CGI elements were used, most notably the cracking alien head. Other CGI elements include shadows cast by the rod puppet alien, and airborne debris in outdoor scenes.

Alien Resurrection

On-set

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Tom Woodruff, Jr. played as the lead Alien, ADI based their designs and modifications of the Alien creatures on the film's script, which included the creatures having pointed tails for swimming, making their head and chins more pointed, and establishing them to appear more vicious using techniques of camera angles and shot duration. After receiving the director's approval, ADI began to create small sculptures, sketches, paintings, and life-size models.

Production

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Blue Sky Studios was hired to create the first CGI Aliens to appear on film. Impressed with the company's work on Joe's Apartment creating CGI cockroaches, Jeunet and Pitof opted to hire the company to create 30 to 40 shots of CGI Aliens. The decision was made to use CGI Aliens rather than puppets or suited actors whenever the creatures' legs were in frame, as Jeunet felt that a man in a suit is easy to distinguish when the full body is seen.

Alien v Predator

On-set

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Tom Woodruff, Jr. again played as the lead Alien listed in the film's credits as Grid, after a grid-like wound received during the film.

Special effects company Amalgamated Dynamics Incorporated (ADI) were hired for the movie, having previously worked on Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection. Visual special effects producers Arthur Windus and John Bruno were in charge of the project, which contained 400 effects shots. ADI founders Alec Gillis, Tom Woodruff Jr., and members of their company began designing costumes, miniatures and effects in June 2003.

In MPC's soho, London studio, accurate computer models and matching textures were painstakingly built for both the Aliens and Predators in order to exactly match those of their live-action counterparts.

Production

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A hydraulic Alien puppet was created so ADI would be able to make movements faster and give the Alien a slimline and skeletal appearance, rather than using an actor in a suit. The puppet required six people to run it, three for the head and body, two for the arms, and a sixth to make sure the signals were reaching the computer. Movements were recorded in the computer so that puppeteers would be able to repeat moves that Anderson liked. The puppet was used in six shots, including the first fight scene with a Predator which took one month to film, this was filmed using both hydraulically and animatronic Alien and an actor in a suit.

MPC effects animators provided the final ingredients in the film including steaming blood, alien saliva, explosive debris and swirling snow storms. For these scenes, MPC's artists created entire environments, and utilized an extended version of MPC's proprietary crowd software "ALICE" (created for the studio's work on Warner Brothers 'Troy') to create a swarm of over 16,000 squirming alien warriors

Aliens v Predator: Requiem

On-set

Tom Woodruff, Jr. again played as the Aliens and the other titular species of the film. Having previously portrayed the Aliens in Alien 3, Alien Resurrection and Alien vs. Predator, Woodruff reprised the role for Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, also portrayed the Alien/Predator hybrid creature, dubbed the Predalien by the production team.

Production

Cryo-stasis tubes

CGI was used in the film for the Alien's tails and inner jaws, whereas they required puppeteers and wire removal on previous films. CGI was also used for the Face Huggers and Aliens in the initial sequences as the Aliens escape and cause the spacecraft to land near Gunnison.



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