Alien: Diaries

by H.R. Giger

HR Giger worked in the Shepperton Studios near London from February to November 1978, creating the figures and sets for the film Alien (1979) directed by Ridley Scott. The film became an international success, earning Giger an Oscar. In the transcribed Alien Diaries, published here for the first time as a facsimile, HR Giger describes his work in the studios. He writes, sketches, and takes photographs with his Polaroid SX70. With brutal honesty, sarcasm and occasional despair, Giger describes what it is like working for the film industry and how he struggles against all odds — be it the stinginess of producers or the sluggishness of his staff — to see his designs become reality. The Alien Diaries (in German transcription with an English translation) show a little-known personal side of the artist HR Giger and offer an unusual, detailed glimpse into the making of a movie classic through the eyes of a Swiss artist. The book contains almost completely unpublished material, including drawings, Polaroids showing the monster coming to life, and several still shots from the plentiful film material that Giger took in Shepperton.

Genres: Nonfiction, Film, Art

660 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Hans Ruedi Giger (1940 - 2014) was an Academy Award-winning Swiss painter, sculptor, and set designer best known for his design work on the film Alien.

Reviews

[Shawn Owens · Rating 5 out of 5]

At $115, this is probably the most I've ever spent on a book. Aside from the content the book itself is just wonderful to hold, beautifully designed with two ribbons for bookmarks that become necessary because you'll be going back and forth between the original diary and the translation. The content is made up of 2 diaries Giger kept while working on the original Alien. The entries range from the mundane (ie whose going to pay for those flights to Zurich??), to the insightful (at one point Giger has a dream about his fathers corpse and questions how it relates to his design). The thing I loved most about the book aside from glimpsing the inner workings of a genius, were the Polaroids. Giger took a ton of snapshots while working on the film and to my knowledge this is the first time they've been reproduced. While probably not everyone's cup of tea (especially considering the cost) if you love the film or have an appreciation for Giger's work its worth the investment.

[David Segovia · Rating 5 out of 5]

During the production of Alien. The renowned Swiss Artist H.R Giger wrote two diaries full of drafts, notes and comments. This edition includes the original one is German and a transcription in english.

The period covered in the diaries begins on February 23 to June 28 1978 (Diary 1) - August 1 to XX February 1979 (Diary 2)

According to the nature of the book, both diaries include a series of hand notes of H.R. Giger.

After a meticulous reading, I would like to share some important data related to the movie and some key events related to the artist.

- Giger had some problems finding an apartment when he traveled to England.

- The first payment of 20 Century Fox to Giger ascended to 11,800 Swiss Francs.

- Giger visited on May 19th - 1978, the grave of Li Tobler and brought 100 pale roses with him.

- Giger found a better place to stay at Hotel Warrend Lodge in Shepperton with a large balcony and all the conveniences just for 24 GBP a day.

- Most of the Alien planetoid (LV 426) and related landscapes were made from Cow bones and plasticine.

- Mia Bonzanigo helped giger in the design of the Alien I (Facehugger) - Alien II (Chestbuster) & Alien III (Final Form).

- Giger missed his cats Muggi and Nonneli a lot during the endless night of work in the studio.

- In the beginning, the opening of the alien egg had the form of a vagina but due to the troubles that the design could make in Catholic countries, Gordon Carroll decided to replace it for a vertical and horizontal crevice (like a Cross).

If you want to know more about this amazing artist and his creatures, this book is a mandatory purchase.

[Blake · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a beautiful re-creation of Giger's diaries that he kept during the production of Alien. I was kind of surprised by the smaller size of this book, despite how thick it was. However, after learning that the pages were 1:1 scans of his original diaries I was able to appreciate it much more. Being able to have such a close up view of Geiger's thought process through the included photographs and sketches was really great. It was pretty surprising to discover that there was so much tension between Giger and the art department of the film. Having watched many hours of behind the scenes footage and documentaries on the making of Alien this is one aspect that didn't seem to show through as much as it did in this book. I would really recommend this to any collector or fan of Alien or H.R. Giger.

[Warren Moeckel · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's brilliant that this was made! Artists' notebook facsimiles are a fantastic thing! Giger's notebooks 7 and 8 for Alien design reproduced in original format, with both facsimile illustration and polaroids, as well as both German and English transcriptions.

[Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alien is one of my all time favorite movies, and this has some great details for fans.