Scene Analysis in Movie Alien 1979

Alien Chestburster Scene Analysis

Analysis of the Chestburster Sequence in Alien

Ridley Scott's Alien (1979) is one of the most riveting and horrifying sci-fi film of the 20th century. While the film's title points to an unknown alien creature, the audience is not introduced to this threat until approximately 52-minutes into the narrative during the infamous, and one of the most recognizable sci-fi scenes of the film -- the chestburster scene. Despite lasting less than two-minutes, this scene is one of the most terrifyingly recognizable scenes in Alien (1979) due to its mise-en-scene, composition, editing, sound, and action.

The chestburster scene takes place in the Nostromo's canteen -- the spaceship's dining hall -- where the crew, is enjoying one last meal together before being put into hypersleep in order to return to Earth. The ship's crew is limited in size and is made up of Lambert, the Nostromo's navigator; Ash, the ship's science officer who is later revealed to be an android; Kane, the ship's executive officer; Parker, the chief engineer; Dallas, ship's captain; Brett, the ship's engineering technician; and Ripley, the warrant officer. The entire crew is present during this final meal before they are scheduled to go into hypersleep and go back to Earth. In the events leading up to this dinner scene, Kane had been attacked by an unidentified alien creature that attached itself to his face during the excavation of a seemingly abandoned alien spacecraft. It is only when the face hugging creature voluntarily detaches itself from Kane's face -- and he seemingly returns to his former self -- that the crew decide to continue with their Earth-bound preparations and, in the process, grant's Kane's request for a final meal.

The mise-en-scene of the chestburster scene is minimally stylized, which allows the viewer to focus on Kane and the alien attempting to make its way through his chest. The dining hall is mostly white, which gives the scene an almost sterile look and feel. Likewise, the crewmembers are wearing predominantly white clothes with hints of neutral colors such as blue and a washed-out green. Kane's white clothing thus provides the perfect canvas for the violent and bloody action of the scene. In a way, the color of these costumes is symbolic of purity and innocence. Up until the point where Kane's chest is torn apart by the alien, the crew was oblivious to the danger they had put themselves into after letting Kane return to the Nostromo with the alien attached to his face, a clear violation of their quarantine regulations. These costumes are not futuristic, but rather are simple and timeless. At the center of the room, and of the action, is an apparently round table. Even though the table is round, the different characters are not evenly space around it; sitting on the right are Ash, Brett, and Ripley, and on the other side are Parker, Kane, Dallas, and Lambert. On the table are various food items in tall receptacles that, unfortunately, obstruct some of the view. Hanging above the dining table is a round, bulbous light -- brighter than the fluorescent lighting around the room. This overhanging light draws the viewers' attention to the center of the screen and will also help to illuminate the ensuing action. The majority of the lighting in this scene is low key and clearly artificial, which further emphasizes the confined ambiance of the space ship. Artificial lighting allows the viewer to understand that there is a lack of natural light because the Nostromo is navigating unknown recesses of space.

The most effective prop used in these sequence is the chestburster alien itself. The alien itself is menacing in its own right. While it may, in any other context, appear to be less harmful due to its size, which is probably no more than six to eight inches tall -- excluding its tail which possibly adds another two feet, it is evident that it is a powerful creature because of its violent introduction into the world. The chestburster is looks realistic -- as far as aliens go -- and its movements and puppetry further force the audience to a suspension of disbelief.

The chestburster scene's effectiveness is further emphasized through composition, which includes shot types, camera angles, movement, editing, and sound. One of the most interesting things about this sequence is that the camera is never at eye level; the camera is, for the most part, slightly below eye level or looking down at Kane on the table. Not only does the lack of eye level shots create a feeling of unease, much like a Dutch shot would, but it also appears as though the director wants the audience to anticipate the action that is going to occur. This anticipation is also created with a slight zoom on Kane as he is serving himself food and before he goes into his initial seizure. This is the only zoom used in the sequence and helps to guide the viewers' attention to Kane. One of the most visually distracting things about Kane's initial seizure is the fact that he is out of the frame, and given that the scene is about him, causes the audience to strain to try and understand and see what is happening.

By using medium and medium close up shots throughout the sequence, Scott focuses the audiences' attention on the characters and effectively blocks out the dining hall, which is inconsequential to the action of the scene. The only time an extreme close up shot is used is when the alien has finally penetrated Kane's chest and the crew is looking down at it. The use of an extreme close up shot allows the viewer to finally get a good look at the alien because throughout the ordeal they did not know what was happening and the chestburst was too quick and violent, and the crew was in a state of horrified confusion. The camera cuts to a medium to wide shot as the alien scampers off and escapes into the ship. Additionally, Scott makes great use of high angled shots to simulate the other crewmembers' perspective as they look down at Kane; Scott also uses low angled shots, however, they are not from Kane's perspective but allows for the simulation of looking up at the horrified faces of the crewmembers who are helpless to do anything about what is happening to Kane. The high angled shots provide two converging points-of-view, one of which is subjective and the other is objective. A subjective point-of-view is created when Scott uses high angles to simulate the other crewmembers' perspective. At the same time, because of the large number of subjective points-of-view, this subjectivity is transformed into an objective point-of-view because what the crewmembers see is also what the audience sees. This creates reactionary parallels as the crew and audience are on equal terms and neither knows what to expect next.