Inside the creation of Alien: Romulus – how the art team brought the terror up to date

Set between Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986), Alien: Romulus, the latest addition to the sci-fi horror franchise, eschews the slick look of the last two instalments and takes us back to the chunky, grimy aesthetic of the original films; it's a style that has seen the film nominated for a Best Visual Effects Academy Award at this years Oscars 2025.

With Alien: Romulus we’re back in a world where computer operating systems are text-based and DOS-like, where every grainy video feed jitters to life on an analogue screen, and every creaky, dishevelled piece of tech is ancient-looking and coated in filth, but somehow still works. Just about. (It's the same retro, nostalgic approach the artists behind Alien: Rogue Incursion took.)

For director Fede Álvarez and his production designer Naaman Marshall, evoking the look and feel of the earliest films was more than just a case of assembling a world-class art department, especially with the aim of rivalling the best CGI moments ever. It was also a matter of putting the team to work in a way that took full advantage of the synergy that arises when immensely talented creatives get in a room together – or in this case a Zoom call. With just two artists working in-house, most of the team was remote, drawing talent from the UK, Australia, the US and beyond.

Naaman asked them to combine their powers by staying in touch and sharing assets, references and ideas. And that initial instruction gave rise to a level of collaboration that went well beyond what the artists were used to, and the group evolved into a tight-knit team that stayed in continual contact via regular video chats, and shared everything they were working on in a group Dropbox.

Designing the style of Alien: Romulus

“It became like our own personal social media of Alien art,” says Nick Stath, who designed the Romulus lab, the conveyor hallway and the hive. “Each day we could see what everyone had produced, which created a healthy, competitive environment that motivated us to learn from each other and lift our game. Naaman said he had never seen an art department take it upon themselves to create such a collaborative environment.”

The chosen aesthetic was locked in from the outset, but beyond that the artists were given freedom to experiment. “It sounds contradictory,” adds Matt Savage, “but we were provided good, concise direction and a lot of free rein at the same time.”

Taking a lead from the series’ two earliest films was a vital part of the process, says Col Price. “From the start it was clear that the whole look for the film would be determined by its timeline, which is between Alien and Aliens,” he tells us.

“So it was a great chance to go back to that 70s and 80s vibe that we all loved. Naaman gave me rough sketches and we talked online, but he would just let me run wild. Everything was on the table, but we all loved the franchise so much and knew it inside out, so we knew what would and wouldn’t be a good fit in the universe.”

The starting point for Matt was to make mood boards of finishes, details, lighting, photography and the artwork of Ron Cobb, who concepted the original films. He explains: “I rely on research in everything I do design-wise. For example, in the case of the Corbelan ship, Fede had photos of real-world trucks and trains he liked the attitude of, and I combined them with my mood boards and Ron Cobb concepts to make sure I got the right level of 1979 kit-bashed look in there.

“My personal approach [to the worldbuilding] was to treat the movie like a period film and make every design fit into the 1979 Alien universe in the same way I’d hope designs would sit seamlessly in a 1940s New York period movie, or a film set in London during the Blitz. It’s the same approach and level of research.”

Nick says that he made reference boards with screen grabs from Aliens that sought to capture “the materiality and lighting that gives Aliens its particular industrial aesthetic”. He took the perspective of an architect working for Weyland-Yutani, the corporation that owns the spaceships and the colony, as a way to establish a consistent design language in his work. “‘When in doubt, think Ron Cobb’ was the key reminder to us artists,” he says.

A point of discussion that emerged early on was the question of how to design things that fit into an established universe while still bringing something new to the table. “You want to stay true to the originals, but also not be a slave to it and limit your creativity,” says Nick.

Finding the right balance between old and new was always likely to be a challenge according to Dane Hallett, who concepted the creatures for Romulus. He says: “Fede said that if we do something crazy, we’ll be crucified. If we do something tame or too similar to what has come before us, we’ll be crucified. So in the end, there were several flourishes and painstakingly considered details that we managed to implement.

“The facehuggers, for example, now have these nasty spikes in the ‘fingerprint’ section of their digits. The chestburster is a close homage to the one from Alien and Aliens, but now flashes the black pigment that will soon come to dominate the organism’s skin. The alien itself now features a rough, toothed skin, akin to that of a shark, as opposed to the smooth designs we’re used to.”

In the environment work, the artists explored the use of striking silhouettes as a means to innovate. “I found the best way to break ground and design something new, yet have it fit in the universe, was to start with a really strong new shape or silhouette,” explains Matt. “I’d then fill that shape with Nostromo [the ship from Alien] dressing language to tie it to the universe. For example, at one point the Corbelan was looking good but I hadn’t fully stuck the landing yet, design-wise. Fede suggested adding engines like the ones the Nostromo has on its sides. We did that and suddenly the whole thing clicked and felt at home in the universe.”

Nick used a similar approach for the conveyor hall setting. “I wanted to try an original shape for the silhouette,” he says. Nick took cues from the story, using architectural gestures to amplify the feeling of what was going to take place in the space he was designing.

He explains: “The fear, uncertainty and pressure is mounting on the protagonists as they exit the Romulus lab and enter the hallway. In response, I proposed a dramatic angle that would lean over the characters. The intent of this awkward geometry was to create a feeling of weight and discomfort, making it unique and specific to the story being told.” Like Matt, he would finish his design by dressing it with the Aliens aesthetic to maintain consistency.

Things were a little different for Col when he was designing the street areas and trailer park for the Jackson’s Star colony. There’s no similar environment in the original films, so doing something new was built into the job. “It was a huge task to get everything to fit in one aesthetic,” he says. “My main idea was that this place had to be the back-end of space. It had to be so dystopian that it would give these kids a reason for leaving and risking everything.

“I had to extrapolate the design work from the two movies and build a world around it. One of the biggest points of reference was the original Blade Runner movie. I’ve always felt that the two belonged in the same universe, and using that really helped to build up the dystopia.”

An aspect that sets this film apart from other projects is how closely the set designers and VFX team stuck to the output from the art department. “I don’t think I’ve worked on a film before that was built almost 1:1 from the concept art,” says Col. “Standing in the Jackson’s Star location sets in Budapest was just mind-blowing. I was so proud of how much everything looked like our work.”

The filmmakers were eager to build as much as possible practically. “I used many practical elements directly in the designs,” says Gus Mendonca, who worked on a number of the space station interiors. “For instance, I put significant thought into how to light these sets, striving to include practical lights in the designs themselves. This allowed us to have believable, motivated lighting at our disposal as part of the architecture.”

Not only do the sets need to be buildable and suitable for what takes place within them in the film, they also need to accommodate the shooting equipment. Gus says: “In the case of the freight elevator, it was important to facilitate easy set extension in post-production, while also designing the set so that what is a vertical space in the movie can be filmed horizontally. This design consideration enabled the camera crane and wire rigs to fit comfortably, allowing for the camera movement we wanted to explore.”

All of the artists worked the best 3D modelling software to some extent as a way to communicate their ideas efficiently to the other departments. “Another reason 3D was used heavily was because many of us also animated our designs to show how they worked mechanically,” says Alex Nice. “For instance, I animated the locking mechanism for the spaceship-to-spacestation docking process for Airlock 5B. Solving those problems early streamlined the creative process, and it ended up being 1:1 in the film.”

The end result is a movie with the worn down, dystopian atmosphere of the original films that takes us back to the glory days of the franchise. And for the artists, working with such beloved material was an experience they will never forget. “I’m most proud of my work on the collision of the space station into the planetary ring for the third act,” says Alex. “That was amazing to watch on the big screen, it gave me goosebumps. To see something that started as some loose pencil sketches evolve into that epic ending was a true career highlight.”

For Dane, it was the human factor that stood out. “Collaborating with such a ferocious team of artists under the leadership of Fede and Naaman was so rewarding. What started out as a daunting, intimidating group of some of the most formidable artists in their respective fields of expertise became a gang of tight-knit friends with this incredible bonding experience between us that may never be topped.”

If you're inspired by the work of the Alien Romulus art team then try out the best digital art software and start sketching your own xenomporphs. Want to upgrade your kit? Try the best laptops for 3D modelling.

This content originally appeared in ImagineFX magazine. Subscribe to ImagineFX to never miss an issue.