Alien: Earth

SFX & VFX

The astonishing, horrifying and mind-blowing visuals of Alien: Earth were maximized with the work of SFX and VFX, allowing audiences to feel what they felt when first watching the Alien films.“When discussing the overall look of Alien: Earth with Noah Hawley [Creator, Executive Producer, Writer, Director], he wanted to capture the essence of Ridley Scott’s original Alien film from 1979,” VFX Supervisor Jonathan Rothbart recalls. “That film had such a distinct, grounded feel, and he knew we wanted to evoke that same atmosphere. Our goal was to create a future that felt rugged and tangible, rather than pristine or overly polished, which is more common in today's sci-fi films.”Hawley’s approach to filming the series was to shoot practically as much as possible then enhance with VFX. “The great thing I love about Noah: he likes practical,” International SFX Supervisor David Fletcher says. “If he can put it on camera practically, he’d like to do it, and I think that’s a great thing for us. I enjoyed working with our visual effects team – they’re great, but if I can make it mechanical and bring it to the forefront, I will. We’ll push the envelope as far as we can – whether it’s massive sparks or a large explosion – we’ll go as far as we can go. Then visual effects will take over and enhance it – make it even cooler. Stunts, visual effects and mechanical effects are a team. We’re all a tight knit group because we work so well together, and we have to work together to make it come out the way we need it to.”

One of the most challenging sequences for the SFX and VFX teams to bring about was the Maginot crash. The sheer scale of the crash was colossal. “The original crash site we did, we had a huge atmosphere because it’s crashed into a building – we had explosions going off in the background, mass chaos, people being injured, smoke, residual fires – it was a big day,” Fletcher shares. “We’ve got the whole crash sequence that we’re doing with sparks and burst pipes and just bringing every bit of physical elements that we can bring into it, and then obviously visual effects takes it and enhances it even more.”Rothbart adds from the VFX perspective, “It’s an enormous moment – a massive ship crashing into a city on Earth – so every detail had to feel both epic in scale and emotionally grounded. We had to balance realism with cinematic intensity, making sure the audience feels the emotional weight of the moment while also feeling like a huge cinematic event.” Rothbart expands, “The sequence was a big technical challenge: designing the ship, mapping out its crash trajectory, integrating realistic city environments, populating the area with people and crafting the dynamic effects of the destruction. Every step in the process had to be meticulously planned as each decision impacted everything that followed. It was a complex puzzle but bringing it all together was incredibly rewarding.”

Hawley’s practical approach to filming carried through to the aliens. As many practical elements as possible were used for the creatures with the work of the SFX team before the sequences were enhanced by the VFX team. Creature Suit Performer Cameron Rodger Brown played the Xenomorph in a suit, which was instrumental in creating an authentic environment on set with the Xenomorph. “From there, we meticulously went through each scene and decided to either use the practical as filmed, enhance the suit or replace the performance when necessary, always striving to strike the right balance – keeping the creature grounded in reality while making it as dynamic and terrifying as possible,” Rothbart remarks.“The look of the creatures was influenced by their environment, making them appear more raw and organic, rather than sterile or overly designed. We wanted them to feel real, gritty and dangerous,” Rothbart adds. “What’s been so exciting about working on Alien: Earth is how we’ve managed to create creatures that feel completely unique to our show while still fitting seamlessly into the Alien universe.”

Reflecting on his work on Alien: Earth, Fletcher shares, “This one just seems special to us – we all grew up watching Alien and having the honor to be able to work on it is fun for us.”Rothbart adds, “I’ve always been a huge Alien fan. Seeing Ridley Scott’s original film in theaters was terrifying, but it also redefined how I saw space travel and the future. The ships weren’t sleek or glamorous – they felt real, lived-in and completely believable. That vision stuck with me and shaped my love for sci-fi. Now, all these years later, getting to help expand that universe is an incredible full-circle moment.”

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The astonishing, horrifying and mind-blowing visuals of Alien: Earth were maximized with the work of SFX and VFX.

SFX & VFX | FX's Alien: Earth