It’s already known that the Blu-Ray/DVD release of ‘Prometheus’ will contain over 30 minutes of footage that was cut from the theatrical version, but what you don’t get to see is the backup plan of one of the creatures that appeared in the movie. Now, thanks to Cinefex (via Bloody-Disgusting), new stills featuring one of the creatures from the movie shows what that creature would have looked like had director Ridley Scott decide to use CGI instead of practical make up.

For those of you who have yet to see the movie, you may want to look away now as there are spoilers that will be spilt.

Last chance….

Okay…

If you recall, one of the most intense parts of the film occurred when Fifield (played by Sean Harrisl) returned to the ship after being mutated by alien goo. Although the final product seen on screen was created using prosthetics and make up, the Fifield creature would have looked very different had Scott decided to use the digital version that was created by Weta Digital. Below is what the Fifield creature looked like in the film: (scan courtesy of Movies.com)

According to Cinefex, Scott had several CGI versions of the character as a backup had traditional make up effects not been acceptable to him. Here’s an excerpt from the magazine describing the digital Fifield creature:

“To mutate Fifield beyond what was possible using practical makeup effects, Weta Digital generated a digital character with elongated limbs and an engorged, translucent head, incorporating a semblance of Harris’ face. Scott filmed the sequence both with the actor in makeup and without, providing clean plates that would allow for the insertion of the digital character. The final cut featured mostly makeup effects, which Weta enhanced with digital wire removal, bullet hits, and one shot of the digital creature’s body blended to the actor.”

And here’s what the creature would have looked like in CGI form:

It’s been said that Scott tries to bring a sense of realism to his actors while filming and sticking with the traditional make up route instead of having the actors react to a green screen seems to give a more authentic experience. The CGI version of the creature does look more alien while the prosthetic/make creature seems more realistic. It would be interesting to speculate if the impression of what happened to Fifield would be different had Scott used the CGI form.

What do you think? Which version of the mutation do you prefer?