Luma Pictures completed approximately 200 shots on Sir Ridley Scott’s terrifying sci-fi horror Alien: Covenant.

The film is the sequel to Prometheus and follows the crew of a colony ship that lands in a dark and dangerous world where they encounter a threat beyond their imagination. VFX Supervisor Brendan Seals and Associate VFX Supervisor Jared Simeth led a team of over 100 artists across the Los Angeles and Melbourne facilities to deliver the stunning visual effects for the film. 

Luma worked on three key sequences on the film—the first being an extension of the colony pod. The team keyed out a green screen backdrop and added corridors to achieve depth and make the space feel boundless.

Luma also painted the transparent chamber hoods with holographic displays and styled graphics. In the sequence where the crew land near a lake and walk into the forest, a character steps on fungal growth which emits tiny airborne spores. Luma developed particle simulations to create these clusters of  spores and Concept Artist Nicolas Pierquin designed the mysterious creature-like shape it takes before it travels into the character’s ear canal. The team designed and built the human ear canal completely in CG and the process also required adding a pulsating ear drum and planting each and every hair individually by hand.

Another sequence features David’s laboratory which is lit by floating organic lamps. The set had suspended lanterns that Luma replaced with elliptical lamps. The team experimented and took inspiration from caul fat (also known as lace fat) to create a cover of veins around the lamps, while also attempting to adhere as closely to the plate photography as possible.

Luma will be holding a private screening of Alien:Covenant in Melbourne on May 21st with a special Q&A moderated by Ian Failes following the film.