Cinematography technique · used in 3 films

H.R. Giger Biomechanical Design

Designing sets and creatures that fuse living forms with machinery, like bone with metal. They disturb you because you can't tell if they are natural or built.

Examples

3 films that use it

  1. Alien (1979) poster

    Alien

    Ridley Scott · 1979

    Swiss artist H.R. Giger designed the alien, its egg and the derelict spacecraft. His style is called biomechanical, which means it mixes living bodies with machinery. It is phallic and skeletal at the same time. Nobody had seen a creature like it before. The design has a sexual, gut-level quality that disturbed audiences in ways they couldn't put into words right away.

    Where to see it: The derelict spacecraft interior and the first egg chamber. This is where you see Giger's world for the first time.

  2. Alien³ (1992) poster

    Alien³

    David Fincher · 1992

    Fincher wanted a more beast-like, puma-like creature than the upright Alien of the earlier films. H. R. Giger drew new sketches, and the quadruped 'Bambi Burster' was the 1 that made it in. The creature runs on all fours like an animal, and it keeps the strange half-machine feel of the series.

    Where to see it: The dog birth. An alien bursts out of inmate Murphy's dog, and the creature begins hunting the prisoners.

  3. Prometheus (2012) poster

    Prometheus

    Ridley Scott · 2012

    The Engineers' chamber is built like a cathedral, with a giant head statue. The art team deconstructed the look of Alien and worked backward from it, drawing on H.R. Giger's designs. The shapes join bone and machine, so you cannot tell what grew and what was built.

    Where to see it: The Engineer chamber: the crew finds stone cylinders, a statue of a giant humanoid head and the decapitated body of a large alien.

Questions

Quick answers

What is h.r. giger biomechanical design in film?
Designing sets and creatures that fuse living forms with machinery, like bone with metal. They disturb you because you can't tell if they are natural or built.
Which films use h.r. giger biomechanical design?
Alien (1979), Alien³ (1992), Prometheus (2012).
What kind of technique is h.r. giger biomechanical design?
It is a cinematography technique. Related cinematography techniques include Industrial Space Design, Practical In-Camera Effects.

Keep exploring

Related techniques