Construction: how Brooklyn Alien was built
Are you curious?
- Beth Brown
Brooklyn Alien
Construction time: 450 hours Weight: 122 lbs.
Parts acquisition: 16 months (finding shaped gloss black plastic trashcans was difficult!)
Some of his parts:
12 plungers, 10 knife sharpeners, silicone wine glass drain mats(?), lots of coat hooks,
12 pull handles, 2 Halloween decorations, Army boots, toy sword, knee guards,
10 costume ball masks (for their elongated noses), 2 pr. hockey leg guards,
hockey helmet, ski goggle lense, football shoulder pads, baseball pants,
45 velcro straps, shinguards, headband, 48 coiled sneaker laces, athletic cup,
teeth from a werewolf mask, bottlecap opener, 2 exercise weights, work gloves,
lots of ribbed plastic tubing in various diameters, lots of vitamin bottlecaps,
and...
lots and lots of plastic from trashcan bodies & lids...recurring shapes used
throughout his body for a consistent effect...all gloss black plastic...
He's biological, my first non-robot, a real challenge.
My robots are angular and mechanical, but he's all soft curves and rounded surfaces...
As the Xenomorph is grown and not built, I sought to have a consistent look
throughout his body, repeatedly using the same shapes for a natural effect.
No sharp angles!
and...
I liked the raised ribbing: the skin inside his arms and legs is from silicone
wine glass drain mats (who buys such a thing?), an aspect of the films' creatures
that I thought was important to replicate.
and...
As with all my robots, his torso's infrastructure is a football shoulder pad
which I must strengthen, secure, and build-out.
This is typically the only thing I buy online and not from local stores.
Building the torso is always exhausting. Where do you start?
so...
After 80 hours' work, I have a torso. His ribs are knife sharpeners, weirdly shaped
and very organic looking. His sternum is four layers and braced, for strength.
His shell is all gloss black plastic from trashcans, then
finished with a common hi-gloss spray paint. I used over 120' of five different diameters
of ribbed plastic tubing throughout his body.
and...
Hi-tech plungers are used throughout his body for a consistent look.
Including...
...for his breathing tubes on his torso's back.
They had to be angled downward so they wouldn't conflict with the back of his long head.
and...
This pretty much makes up his tail, just Halloween decorations and props...
His tail is easily removed for storage and transport, and is designed to pivot & flex
for when I walk into things or it gets grabbed by some obnoxious person...
and...
His head is made with a hockey helmet that has four trashcans stacked behind it.
Trashcan lids are on top, with plungers on the sides and bottom.
A black mirrored ski goggle eye lense is above his mouth,
and his teeth are from a werewolf mask turned upside-down.
That's 85 hours' work, and it weighs 24 lbs. Ouch.
As with all my other characters, I see nothing below my nose.
The head is always built last, once I know exactly how the rest of the character looks.
- Beth Brown
When encountering someone, you always look: head - chest - hands first, then the rest.
- Beth Brown
- Beth Brown
I never use stilts or lifts, feeling that it's more important to move freely and naturally.
So, I get a lot of, "I thought you were taller..."
- Beth Brown, BabsEyes.com
As so many people continue to photograph me as I walk away,
it is important to have my back look as detailed as my front.
- The Kozy Shack, on Flickr
The Xenomorph is easily recognized - people know he's always mean and hungry -
so he's a lot of fun to perform in!
- Mark Williams, MarkWilliamsTKD.com
- Beth Brown
I'm always careful about dogs, as - no matter the character I'm in - I confuse them:
I smell like a human but don't look like one. The absence of eyes or a mouth must be unsettling.
Brooklyn Alien's large, nasty teeth put them in combat-mode!
I'm not looking for trouble: I keep my distance!
- Beth Brown
Every performance is a physical challenge, so if you see me, please be kind and offer me water.
- Beth Brown
- Hurrok, DeviantArt
I love to discuss my art, so don't be shy!
- Beth Brown
Listen to music from Alien: Resurrection
There are many more characters and adventures...
Click on 'Links to the Universe' in the red band up top.
You won't believe your eyes!
