# Another day, another Alien: Prometheus trailer....



## noiseboyuk (Dec 22, 2011)

[original post from December]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_luIM6xaIck

(not HD yet)

Nice nods to the original famous trailer.


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## midphase (Dec 22, 2011)

Cool....although I'm getting so sick and tired of those imitation Zimmer Inception blasts. Trailer music editors can be so unimaginative.


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## noiseboyuk (Dec 22, 2011)

midphase @ Thu Dec 22 said:


> Cool....although I'm getting so sick and tired of those imitation Zimmer Inception blasts. Trailer music editors can be so unimaginative.



I know what you mean - I don't think its a rip off (hey, double basses not tubas!), but it clearly is nodding in that direction, while incorporating elements of the original. Speaking of which:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf99ouvFBJw

As a bit of music / sound design, that's still amazing. Anyone know who did it?


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## midphase (Dec 22, 2011)

Sounds like bits from the Goldsmith score?


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## noiseboyuk (Dec 22, 2011)

midphase @ Thu Dec 22 said:


> Sounds like bits from the Goldsmith score?



Really?! I must be misremembering it...


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## midphase (Dec 22, 2011)

Maybe I am.


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## lux (Dec 22, 2011)

wow trailers risers already in 1979.

Is prometheus a Prequel? Sequel?Midquel?


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## noiseboyuk (Dec 23, 2011)

lux @ Fri Dec 23 said:


> wow trailers risers already in 1979.
> 
> Is prometheus a Prequel? Sequel?Midquel?



But what a rise... still creepy as hell, that synthy alarm thing.

It's a sorta prequel I think - some of the trailer stuff is what was discovered by the original Nostromo crew in the 1979 film.


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## Lex (Dec 23, 2011)

noiseboyuk @ Fri Dec 23 said:


> lux @ Fri Dec 23 said:
> 
> 
> > wow trailers risers already in 1979.
> ...



Original synthy scream/alarm is in the new trailer too...
Thanks for reminding me of the original trailer...what a great cut/edit....they don't make them like that anymore....

alex


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## noiseboyuk (Dec 23, 2011)

Lex @ Fri Dec 23 said:


> Original synthy scream/alarm is in the new trailer too...
> Thanks for reminding me of the original trailer...what a great cut/edit....they don't make them like that anymore....
> 
> alex



I know - I recognised it immediately, cool idea. Taken as a whole, the 1979 music is more original and effective though. And as you say, it is a seminal work really - people still talk about the impact of that trailer when they first saw it.

I do know a crew member who worked on Prometheus. He said the atmosphere on set was incredibly intense, really put the actors through it. Reminded me of the reports of the original, keeping the cast in the dark about a lot of it to gain real reactions. Sounds like he hasn't lost his touch....


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## Lex (Dec 23, 2011)

noiseboyuk @ Fri Dec 23 said:


> Lex @ Fri Dec 23 said:
> 
> 
> > Original synthy scream/alarm is in the new trailer too...
> ...



Yeah...really looking forward to see it.

alex


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## noiseboyuk (Dec 23, 2011)

Wow, much better in HD, heaps I missed before:

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/fox/prometheus/

I'm such a wuss about horror these days, and I know enough (that I shouldn't know) that this should be terrifying and incredibly disturbing in places. But damn it does look good... one helluva trailer. I loved the first two movies originally, this definitely feels like a partner to the first.


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## noiseboyuk (Jan 5, 2012)

noiseboyuk @ Thu Dec 22 said:


> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf99ouvFBJw
> 
> As a bit of music / sound design, that's still amazing. Anyone know who did it?



My hunt continues...

According to Wikipedia the original Alien trailer music WAS Jerry Goldsmith, but from the electronic part of his Logan's Run score. Can anyone verify this? I've spend ages on youtube listening to quite a lot of the soundtrack, and nothing sounds close. The electronic stuff sounds very crude and dated to modern ears, while that iconic Alien trailer stuff still sounds amazing.

I've got the bit between the teeth now... I'm determined to track it down!

EDIT - another internet rumour has it as Tomita (who was temped) - I don't buy that either, doesn't sound like his style.


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## snowleopard (Jan 5, 2012)

*Re: ...and the Alien: Prometheus trailer*

I have heard the Logan's Run comment as well. I have the Quadrilogy at home, as well as the Logan's Run OST, and will look into matching. Overall it does sound like Goldsmith, though not a high quality recording. 

I have also heard that about Tomita. He was asked about this, and Apocalypse now. Most of his music is too "light" I would think. Though I do think he was brilliant and had a dynamic to his sound that was amazing. 

The below TV trailer for Alien you can hear the synth/wail sound better. Quite impressive, if dated. Is it just me, or doesn't anyone else get the chills watching these trailers for the original Alien?


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## snowleopard (Jan 5, 2012)

*Re: ...and the Alien: Prometheus trailer*

I have found the answer. The "music" for the original spot for Alien, as shown in the links above, was created by Jonathan Elias. From an interview: 

*Q.*Your career has been quite varied. Am I right in saying that you began in film scores with the music for a promo trailer for "Alien" in 1979?

*JE:* Yes. I did start like that and for the first few years I did a lot of movie trailers, including "Blade Runner", "An American Werewolf in London", a "Back to the Future", "The Thing"... so a lot of different movie trailers. That's really where I started cutting my teeth. 

Noted in the Wiki on him as well: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Elias

A more complete bio on him: 

http://www.artistdirect.com/artist/bio/jonathan-elias/427196 (http://www.artistdirect.com/artist/bio/ ... ias/427196)


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## noiseboyuk (Jan 6, 2012)

*Re: ...and the Alien: Prometheus trailer*



snowleopard @ Fri Jan 06 said:


> I have found the answer. The "music" for the original spot for Alien, as shown in the links above, was created by Jonathan Elias. From an interview:
> 
> *Q.*Your career has been quite varied. Am I right in saying that you began in film scores with the music for a promo trailer for "Alien" in 1979?
> 
> ...



Snowleapard - you hero! I was going to page 20 on my Google searches and finding nothing, but you did it. I can finally sleep!

It would be really interesting to hear how Elias came up with the sounds. It is absolutely brilliant - the wail of course, but the drone behind it and especially that pulse is also incredibly effective... it almost sounds like tapping on the strings of a bass guitar or something. I know I'm over-thinking it now, but perhaps one of the reasons its so effective is that although its electronic, it's also very organic sounding... and the bio-tech hybrid fits perfectly with Giger's design. This kind of approach I guess is commonplace today, but it was revolutionary stuff then.

Trailers in the 1970s and earlier usually seem laughable now - terribly literal and slow-paced, usually with voiceover spelling out the plot details. As you say, the Alien trailer (I prefer the full one) is arresting and disturbing now... it must really have looked and sounded like it came from another planet back then.

I did find this quote by Elias:



> when I was 21 and a senior in college, someone who knew someone who knew someone who needed some electronic music for a trailer for the original Alien asked me to put together a piece. I sent the piece in, and they loved it. In fact, they put it in the opening titles and it started my career.


 
Thanks again, Snow!


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## Ed (Jan 6, 2012)

midphase @ Thu Dec 22 said:


> Cool....although I'm getting so sick and tired of those imitation Zimmer Inception blasts. Trailer music editors can be so unimaginative.



I love how any bass note like this you get people saying its "inception blasts" and any repeated string phrase is "dark knight spiccs" or "tron spiccs".


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## snowleopard (Jan 6, 2012)

*Re: ...and the Alien: Prometheus trailer*



noiseboyuk @ Fri Jan 06 said:


> Snowleapard - you hero! I was going to page 20 on my Google searches and finding nothing, but you did it. I can finally sleep!


Glad I could help!  



> Trailers in the 1970s and earlier usually seem laughable now - terribly literal and slow-paced, usually with voiceover spelling out the plot details. As you say, the Alien trailer (I prefer the full one) is arresting and disturbing now... it must really have looked and sounded like it came from another planet back then.



There were a couple of more teaser trailers during that time that dead breakaway from the "plot recant VO" style. Mostly in suspense/horror. Remember these? Very deftly done if you ask me:


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## noiseboyuk (Jan 6, 2012)

Darn, the Shining trailer says I can't view it in my country. Meanwhile this example of how you can turn anything into anything by the power of editing for The Shining is definitive - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfout_rgPSA

Funnily enough I found the Magic trailer myself only a couple of days ago. Creepy, but not as full on unsettling as Alien I think.


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## Ed (Jan 7, 2012)

"Its Alive... Dont see it alone... Rated PG"


HAHAHA PG??? WTF!?


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## dedersen (Jan 7, 2012)

noiseboyuk @ Sat Jan 07 said:


> Darn, the Shining trailer says I can't view it in my country. Meanwhile this example of how you can turn anything into anything by the power of editing for The Shining is definitive - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfout_rgPSA



Haha, that's awesome.


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## midphase (Jan 7, 2012)

Ed @ Fri Jan 06 said:


> midphase @ Thu Dec 22 said:
> 
> 
> > Cool....although I'm getting so sick and tired of those imitation Zimmer Inception blasts. Trailer music editors can be so unimaginative.
> ...




Dude...it's a fucking ripoff and the intention is quite clear regardless of what instrument is actually playing it. 

If you've every actually worked for a trailer-focused library music company (I have), then you know what they've been asking for since Inception came out (some still continue to ask for it).


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## snowleopard (Jan 7, 2012)

Ed @ Sat Jan 07 said:


> "Its Alive... Dont see it alone... Rated PG"
> HAHAHA PG??? WTF!?


Well, there was no PG-13 then, and there's no boobs, bush or real swearing in it, so PG it was. 

Ever see the film? It's cheezy, but a few parts of it are pretty scary actually. A few scenes are well shot, and superb music throughout by non-other than Bernard Herrmann.


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## noiseboyuk (Jan 8, 2012)

snowleopard @ Sun Jan 08 said:


> Well, there was no PG-13 then, and there's no boobs, bush or real swearing in it, so PG it was.



It's amazing to me that Jaws was a PG (or an "A", the UK equivalent). As Mark Kermode said of his reaction as a kid at the time - "BLIMEY! If that's an A, what on earth is an X like?!!!!"


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## MichaelJM (Jan 8, 2012)

midphase @ Sat Jan 07 said:


> Ed @ Fri Jan 06 said:
> 
> 
> > I love how any bass note like this you get people saying its "inception blasts" and any repeated string phrase is "dark knight spiccs" or "tron spiccs".
> ...


'Ripoff' is a tad harsh, no? 'Inspired by' perhaps? And what's wrong with that? It's smart business, it's done well, and it paid off.

I think the teaser is quite good. Nice choice of music, and nice use of sound design to compliment the track. I'd never seen the original Alien trailer; thanks for posting it Guy. Blew me away. Neat how the Prometheus teaser nods to it.


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## midphase (Jan 8, 2012)

I agree, I didn't mean ripoff in a bad way actually...just as a shorthand to say that it was very obviously derived from that now infamous fog horn-like blast used in Inception.

Just last week I had a meeting with a director who asked me to do the same thing in the score for his film...grrrr...drives me nuts!

PS.
Funny thing is, as recognizable as that damn Inception blast is, I don't think it's copyrightable since it's only one note. Obviously the sound recording is copyrightable, but I'm pretty sure anyone who "reverse engineers" it is on pretty safe legal ground.


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## Ed (Jan 8, 2012)

midphase @ Sat Jan 07 said:


> Ed @ Fri Jan 06 said:
> 
> 
> > midphase @ Thu Dec 22 said:
> ...



Dude... yes I have, and this doesnt sound much like Inception. It has some low repeated bass note, so what? I can find lots of music that are now rip offs by only focusing on a single element and finding it in other music. Obviously I get it, but I get tired of people immediately saying something sucks simply because it has some repeated spicc figures or low bone notes.


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## Ed (Jan 8, 2012)

midphase @ Sun Jan 08 said:


> I agree, I didn't mean ripoff in a bad way actually...just as a shorthand to say that it was very obviously derived from that now infamous fog horn-like blast used in Inception.



I didnt mean rip off as in rip off in a bad way, its just lazy, but lazy doesnt mean bad, even though Im sick and tired of it, but its not bad..... UUUUHHHHHHHHHHH &*^(&(^&^(* 

*explode*


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## midphase (Jan 8, 2012)

Ed...sometimes you can be a true ass...and I don't mean that in the good way!


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## snowleopard (Jan 11, 2012)

My, my! 



midphase @ Sun Jan 08 said:


> Just last week I had a meeting with a director who asked me to do the same thing in the score for his film...grrrr...drives me nuts!


And people bitch because James Horner repeats himself. 

:?


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## noiseboyuk (Mar 18, 2012)

And here's the new trailer. Be warned though, it does give an awful lot of plot...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHcHYisZFLU

Now, back to that fog horn blast from Inception. In this trailer, we get it twice, used in both core pieces of music. Was Mind Heist really the first trailer to use the duuuuuuummmmmm device, or was it the first to make it so memorable?

EDIT - just for clarity, Inception, as we all know, went Brrrrrrrrr and most of these nods are going Duuuuummmmm. So are they nods? You can see why editors love 'em, anyway.


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## NYC Composer (Mar 18, 2012)

midphase @ Sun Jan 08 said:


> Just last week I had a meeting with a director who asked me to do the same thing in the score for his film...grrrr...drives me nuts!



I certainly hope you gave that director a piece of your mind and categorically REFUSED to score the film. I mean, the nerve!


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## choc0thrax (Mar 18, 2012)

*Re: The new Alien: Prometheus trailer, and more Mind Heist stuff....*

Verrry warrryy about this film. Cautiously optimistic. Seems more action focused than anything, whereas the original was wonderful nihilistic horror about rape. Hmmm. 

One thing it definitely has going for it: Jon Spaihts is a genius writer.

Spoiler alert:
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Voldemort at 0:17.


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## noiseboyuk (Mar 18, 2012)

...Lindelof ain't too shabby either. Some very cool ideas in the film, clearly... and ideas are always welcome. It's obviously not going to be a retread of Alien, although in the same universe... good way to go I think, otherwise it would just be too similar to a 30 year old classic. Actually that approach worked well for Aliens (don't mean that they are both action driven, but they didn't seek to redo the same tricks). I'm kinda hoping for thoughtful, slow build, moments of high action and sheer bloody terror. Quite nervous about the latter actually, I know enough to know that it absolutely will be pretty horrific in places and I'm a total wuss these days.


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## MacQ (Mar 18, 2012)

As a film watcher, I hate horror films. But this is terror, which can be so awesome. Plus it's Ridley Scott, so I've got high hopes.

Scare me at a gut level (rather than just slasher stuff), and that's a film that resonates. "Dark Knight" would actually somewhat qualify in the "terror" category. That one was exhausting.

I think Prometheus is looking amazing, and I can't wait to see it with a theatre full of people. That's how you really enjoy a film like this ... with a crowd reaction. 

(My wife yelps at a simple cut-away to the bad guy, so she'll be staying at HOME for this one. Haha.)

~Stu


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## choc0thrax (Mar 18, 2012)

noiseboyuk @ Sun Mar 18 said:


> ...Lindelof ain't too shabby either.



No... but I have a man crush on Spaihts.


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## Ed (Mar 18, 2012)

noiseboyuk @ Sun Mar 18 said:


> You can see why editors love 'em, anyway.



I think its the same reason they like really accented beats, its great to cut stuff too.


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## noiseboyuk (Mar 18, 2012)

Gee, these trailers are like busses... a third version now, a UK one, similar but different to the last. Actually really like this... think you might prefer too, Choc0.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9jRaa4Wkbk&feature=youtu.be (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9jRaa4W ... e=youtu.be)

Damn, gotta stop watching 'em though, there'll be nothing left to see....


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## snowleopard (Mar 18, 2012)

Anyone notice Jonathan Elias "alarm/wail" sound in the first one of these? 

Maybe it's me, but this just looks too slick, too polished. The Alien universe I remember was just hopeless, desolate, gritty, nasty. It was a horrific horror film. This looks more like an action movie with a lot of green screen and CGI. It looks more like Avatar, than Alien. 

Oh, and I agree they may give too much of the plot away, so if you don't want to know anything, don't watch. But here are the US and UK trailers:


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## choc0thrax (Mar 19, 2012)

snowleopard @ Mon Mar 19 said:


> Anyone notice Jonathan Elias "alarm/wail" sound in the first one of these?
> 
> Maybe it's me, but this just looks too slick, too polished. The Alien universe I remember was just hopeless, desolate, gritty, nasty. It was a horrific horror film. This looks more like an action movie with a lot of green screen and CGI. It looks more like Avatar, than Alien.
> 
> Oh, and I agree they may give too much of the plot away, so if you don't want to know anything, don't watch. But here are the US and UK trailers:




That's one of the things that annoyed me-- the look. It's too pretty. The part of the trailer that I always perk up at is short snippet of David's shaky HUD as people run by. Gimme a whole Alien movie that looks like that. Like in Aliens, I'd like to see a version of that film where it's like Rec 2 where you switch between each person's camera.

I think I recall hearing Ridley commentary for the original Alien and he was blathering about how much better things would've been if they had more money... bullshit! All this expensive CG still doesn't beat out really good models. He sounds like he's falling into that Lucas and Cameron group where you care more about the technology behind filmmaking than the actual story.

Anyways, movie still looks like it could be quite good. Certainly not the same type of film as the original but Ridley was heavily inspired by Texas Chainsaw Massacre back then. And why bother going the same route when you can't beat this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=431nGWVxXf4

Giger gets all the attention but the guys that designed the Nostromo interiors are badass.


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## noiseboyuk (Mar 19, 2012)

I know what you mean about the grainy look, but there's a lot of problems with giving (some of) the public what they want in this case.

First as Ridley says himself in the recent Q&A ( http://www.livestream.com/prometheus - amiable fun, well worth a look), as the man who damn near invented it, it since quickly become cliche. Where is the originality is repeating something you yourself made famous 30 years ago? Clearly the motivation for making this movie is that it is something quite different from any previous movie in the Alien series, and thank gawd for that.

Second, Alien wasn't always so grungy anyway. Think of the perfect clean lines of much of the Nostromo interior. Even the inside of the Derelict was relatively clean. The grunge was the underbelly of the mining ship, and the storm on the planet, which leads too:

There may well be no story reason to continue that look. This is a science expedition. The first movie was a mining ship, the second a military operation, both of which require a certain story-driven aesthetic.

And 4) since you mentioned rec2 in Aliens Choco, actually it's one of the only things that really dates Aliens imho (and more so than the original). The use of plumbicon tube video cameras and CRT displays looked super-real at the time, but now of course looks horribly anachronistic. A small "takes me out of the movie" moment.

So I'm with Ridley. Let story dictate form, the reverse is always a disaster. Clean needn't mean saccharine, Lucas has done the public consciousness no favours there.


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## noiseboyuk (Mar 19, 2012)

snowleopard @ Mon Mar 19 said:


> Anyone notice Jonathan Elias "alarm/wail" sound in the first one of these?



Forgot to say - yes, and it's quite subtly woven in the UK one as well.

Endlessly fascinating, that original cue. It's totally associated with Alien now, it's almost the sound of Alien, but it's never once appeared in one of the movies.


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## choc0thrax (Mar 19, 2012)

noiseboyuk @ Mon Mar 19 said:


> I know what you mean about the grainy look, but there's a lot of problems with giving (some of) the public what they want in this case.
> 
> First as Ridley says himself in the recent Q&A ( http://www.livestream.com/prometheus - amiable fun, well worth a look), as the man who damn near invented it, it since quickly become cliche. Where is the originality is repeating something you yourself made famous 30 years ago? Clearly the motivation for making this movie is that it is something quite different from any previous movie in the Alien series, and thank gawd for that.
> 
> ...



Ugh, it's like almost 9:00am I should go to bed... It looks like you went out of your way to argue with me here... 

1. I believe we agree? 

2. A lot of the grit of Alien comes from not having scene after scene of glossy CG. Any grit to be found in this Prometheus trailer comes from real physical things in the environment/real set pieces. 

3. But yeah, different type of movie so appropriately I believe they went with the RED Epic Science Expedition lens. Get those star maps to really pop.

4. Yes, yes, I know, the one thing I mention about Aliens happens to be the worst thing about it or something. If anyone ever makes my Rec2 mixed with Aliens idea I will let them know to make the film appropriate to futuristic technology and not use old CRT monitors for some reason. They will inevitably ask why I'd even think they'd use CRT monitors and I'd say I don't but some guy implied I think that and then they'd probably ask how I got in the building.

I didn't know I had a side but if you ever feel tempted, we have cookies and back rubs over here.


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## noiseboyuk (Mar 19, 2012)

Ha!

Well I do know he's done stacks in-camera on Prometheus, and yeah some CG too. Here's hoping...


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