ALIEN SPACE CRAFT IN MICHIGAN
( model by Ted Rae)
In Rochester Michigan I am setting up a forced perspective (photo below) for the scene when the Alien first lands on the planet to retrieve the zoo specimens from the big mother ship seen later in the film “The Alien Factor”. Directly below this top photo is the actual result of this set up.
(Please excuse the images the scanner isn’t working properly)
The vertical stick is holding the white space ship up.
Forced Perspective result above off view screen
NEXT ARE SOME ACTUAL FILM CLIPS FROM FOOTAGE OF THE ORIGINAL ” LEMOID CREATURE “THAT WAS NOT USED IN THE MOVIE
The creature was supposed to be a ” “ghost like”energy thing that goes from invisible to visible at the end of the movie. The reason for the “ghost” idea was so that it could be a double exposure which would keep the special effects simpler and less expensive to do. Britt McDonough did the armature, creature and the original special effect battle. I ran his version (which was on on a short version of the movie) for friends and relatives in order to raise extra money necessary for our 35mm print.
Don somehow got Ernie Farino to do another version of the Lemoid battle. Ernie had already done the title credit sequence.
(Ernie Farino’s Lemoid )
Britts Lemoid was replaced. I do not think that was very fair to Britt and I am embarrassed that I did not fight to keep his version. Sometimes “right” is more important than “might” , or in this case a product made by a more experienced person. Yes, Ernie’s is pretty cool. However, I never asked Britt how he felt about what happened. Maybe he was totally in favor of doing the switch and it never bothered him? I know it would of bothered me!
I might have some footage of Britts original version , but like all this material in my blog it is someplace in storage. I’ll keep my eyes open for it in my good ole pile of goodies. It is only available on certain Alien Factor DVD’s as part of an “extras” package.
HERE ARE SOME MORE FILM CLIPS OF BRITTS LEMOID IN ACTION
ERECTOR SET ARMATURE
OK, I am just tossing this armature photo in . I think the armature is one of Britts and it might even be for the Lemoid. I honestly can not remember.
Here is Britt with some of his other creatures. He was a great guy to do movie projects with. We worked well together. As noted in previous articles; together we built the mother ship model, did lobby cards in his darkroom, and he was our cameraman. He used his Bolex Rex 16mm to shot the movie.
KEEPING WARM
Since I am on the topic of Britt here is a neat photo of how he had to keep the camera warm by wrapping it in a blanket. Baltimore had one of their coldest winters that year. He is shooting a scene that takes place just before the mayor(Dick Dyszel) gets killed.
Speaking of COLD here is HOW MONSTERS STAY WARM in the woods before they attack. That is Larry Schlechter in his Infrabrice suit. It was kind of a hard shell paper mache type suit.
KEEPING RESTED
Our ladder that we used for high camera shots came in handy as a leaning post for a tired Zagatile.. The creature suit kept me warm, but my fingers got pretty cold. Monsters were not allowed in houses so they toughed out the cold. Just kiddin. The truth is it simply was too much trouble to walk on the stilts back to the house, or get out of the suit, so I just waited for the next camera set up most of the time all by my lonesome.
HOW A ZAGATILE LEARNS A NEW WALKING PATH
Don is about to take my hand and WALK me out of one area and over to another. The stilts, besides being tough to walk on, had feet that weighed about ten pounds each.(the feet were constructed over ski boots) When I walked I could only see out of slits in under the Zagatiles eyes (half moon slits) which limited my vision to right in front of my toes at best. It was almost like being blind. The eyes of the Zagatile were marbles that blocked most of my vision.
John,
Thanks for coming to my blog and if you want to learn more about me you are welcome to visit my carpet repair web page cosentinocarpet.com
John,
August 27, 2012 at 12:17 am
Another fascinating entry JC, even if You’re having problems with scans these photos are still fascinating 🙂
August 27, 2012 at 1:32 am
Great stuff! I have seen the DVD with the original Lemoid footage. I actually liked it better – It was more “alien” looking I guess, and less “Sleestacky” (forgive my “Land of the Lost” reference). Really enjoying these pictures and behind the scenes stories – Thanks John!
October 31, 2012 at 10:36 pm
John, I love this ENTIRE blog of your work. Just fantastic – I have been a fan of your work for YEARS.
March 9, 2016 at 3:24 am
John I’m a huge fan of your work and The Alien Factor!! Any chance the molds for the Zagatile still exist?? The head or torso or arms?? Oh man to have a copy!!!