ID4: Which direction to follow?

leading from

earlier sketch of the Independence Day 
Alien (The Suit) by Patrick Tatopoulos (source Internet)
See also Earlier drawing of the ID4 alien suit drawing references the Henu Barque in the Bull Hall in the Temple of Ramesses II at Abydos by way of the Unicorn shipwreck from "The Adventures of Tintin and Red Rackham's Treasure" ?  

a) Which concept to follow
Roland Emmerich wanted the alien creatures to follow a mythology of what people expected aliens to look like. 

There was a certain kind of popular image that everybody constantly drew and he wanted to stick to that. 

But on the other hand, Roland thought that was terribly boring. 

When Patrick Tatopoulos presented Roland with two different versions of the same creature, Roland studied both but could not decide, he said he liked them both, but then he germinated the idea of using both in the film locating one inside the other.  

Patrick thought that this was a very interesting idea.

concept drawings for the extra-terrestrial invaders resembling stereotypical aliens
(source: SFX Octobre 1996, p30)




Quote sources
  1. Patrick Tatopoulos: It was Roland's idea to put one creature inside the other. They have a biomechanical suit. The suit comes off and they're vulnerable that adds character. Otherwise, why would they need the suit if they're still dangerous without it. The brain doesn't need to fight, it needs to be protected. (The Art of the Making of Independence Day Resurgence. p34)
  2. Patrick Tatopoulos:The alien is basically folded into the head of the suit. The arms and legs are independent. The arms don't fit into the arms and the legs don't fit into the legs like a costume. (The Art of the Making of Independence Day Resurgence. p34)
  3. Roland Emmerich: They have to be terrifying, Independence Day has really interesting aliens because of the biomechanical suits. The aliens themselves are quite small, but the suit makes them terrifying. (The Art of the Making of Independence Day Resurgence. p37)
  4. Patrick Tatopoulos: Creatures are what I'm interested in and I was really able to have fun with it, working with Roland I drew two aliens. That was it. We got it straight away just a black and white sketch pencil, marker pens, paper. Today, you would have to give a direcor 3D views and a lot more rather than just agree on a basic concept. Independence Day was exceptional. (The Art of the Making of Independence Day Resurgence. p36)
  5. Roland Emmerich: I wanted them to follow the mythology of what people expect aliens to look like. There's a certain kind of popular image that everybody constantly draws and I wanted to stick to that. But on the other hand I thought, that's terribly boring. The first image of the alien is not what you think they typically look like. You later discover, in a surprise, that they're exactly how we think they should appear. We simply disguised them first and then slowly revealed their true appearance. (The Making of Independence day. p86)
  6. S.F.X.: Comment s’est déroulée la création des extra-terrestres?
    Patrick Tatopoulos: Une fois que Roland m’a ré-orienté vers un design plus classique, j’ai
    conçu  deux versions différentes des créatures. Il les a étudiées toutes les deux, mais n’a pas pu me dire laquelle il préférait. C’est alors qu’a germé dans son esprit l’idée qu’il pourrait y avoir deux extra-terrestres dans le film, l’un se situant à l’interieur de l’autre. Il a présenté ça comme une sort de carapace organique qui donnerait une force colossale à une être au physique frêle. Mes deux concepts figurent donc dans le film. (SFX Octobre 1996, p30)

    A fusion of translations by Googletranslate and Babelfish of the above:
    SFX: How did the creation of extra-terrestrials take place?
    Patrick Tatopoulos: Once Roland got re-orientated to a more conventional design, I designed two different versions of the creatures. He studied both, but could not tell me which he preferred. It was then the idea germinated in his mind that there could be two aliens in the movie, one located inside the other. He presented it as an organic shell that would give a colossal force to a being that was physically frail. My two concepts appear in the film.
  7. Patrick Tatopoulos: The interesting thing is there were two different designs that I showed to Roland, and he said that he liked them both, so this very interesting concept came up to incorporate both ideas. One of the ideas that I loved was that the small alien inside the big one is actually the true alien - because, being a very fragile alien, it would be travelling inside a suit [which is] now an organic being. It's almost like a man covering himself in the skin of a bear. So the concept of the alien was those two designs combined. (Scifi Now 118, 2016
biomechanical suit from "Independence Day" (source Internet)


side view of suit sketch by Patrick Tatopoulos  
(source:S.F.X magazine #34 (UK Version) Jan1998, p85)

detail of Independence Day Alien 
(The Suit) sketch by Patrick Tatopoulos
(source:S.F.X magazine #34 (UK Version) Jan1998, p86) 
Independence Day Alien (The Suit) 
sketch by Patrick Tatopoulos  
(source: SFX Octobre 1996, p29)

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