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that proves he is not infected. [52] [55] Carpenter said that stylistically |
this ending would have been "cheesy". [23] Editor Verna Fields was tasked with |
reworking the ending to add clarity and resolution. It was finally decided to |
create an entirely new scene, which omitted the suspicion of Childs being |
infected by removing him completely, leaving MacReady alone. [23] This new |
ending tested only slightly better with audiences than the original, and the |
production team agreed to the studio's request to use it. [56] [57] It was set |
to go to print for theaters when the producers, Carpenter, and executive |
Helena Hacker decided that the film was better left with ambiguity instead of |
nothing at all. Carpenter gave his approval to restore the ambiguous ending, |
but a scream was inserted over the outpost explosion to posit the monster's |
death. [23] [56] Universal executive Sidney Sheinberg disliked the ending's |
nihilism and, according to Carpenter, said, "Think about how the audience will |
react if we see the [Thing] die with a giant orchestra playing". [23] [57] |
Carpenter later noted that both the original ending and the ending without |
Childs tested poorly with audiences, which he interpreted as the film simply |
not being heroic enough. [23] Music [ edit ] Main theme from The Thing Ennio |
Morricone created a sound that replicated John Carpenter's own style of |
synthesized music. The piece is used throughout The Thing . Problems playing |
this file? See media help . Ennio Morricone composed the film's score, as |
Carpenter wanted The Thing to have a European musical approach. [58] [59] |
Carpenter flew to Rome to speak with Morricone to convince him to take the |
job. By the time Morricone flew to Los Angeles to record the score, he had |
already developed a tape filled with an array of synthesizer music because he |
was unsure what type of score Carpenter wanted. [60] Morricone wrote complete |
separate orchestral and synthesizer scores and a combined score, which he knew |
was Carpenter's preference. [61] Carpenter picked a piece, closely resembling |
his own scores, that became the main theme used throughout the film. [60] He |
also played the score from Escape from New York for Morricone as an example. |
Morricone made several more attempts, bringing the score closer to Carpenter's |
own style of music. [58] In total, Morricone produced a score of approximately |
one hour that remained largely unused but was later released as part of the |
film's soundtrack. [62] Carpenter and his longtime collaborator Alan Howarth |
separately developed some synth-styled pieces used in the film. [63] In 2012, |
Morricone recalled: I've asked [Carpenter], as he was preparing some |
electronic music with an assistant to edit on the film, "Why did you call me, |
if you want to do it on your own?" He surprised me, he said – "I got married |
to your music. This is why I've called you." ... Then when he showed me the |
film, later when I wrote the music, we didn't exchange ideas. He ran away, |
nearly ashamed of showing it to me. I wrote the music on my own without his |
advice. Naturally, as I had become quite clever since 1982, I've written |
several scores relating to my life. And I had written one, which was |
electronic music. And [Carpenter] took the electronic score. [58] Carpenter |
said: [Morricone] did all the orchestrations and recorded for me 20 minutes of |
music I could use wherever I wished but without seeing any footage. I cut his |
music into the film and realized that there were places, mostly scenes of |
tension, in which his music would not work ... I secretly ran off and recorded |
in a couple of days a few pieces to use. My pieces were very simple electronic |
pieces – it was almost tones. It was not really music at all but just |
background sounds, something today you might even consider as sound effects. |
[58] Design [ edit ] Creature effects [ edit ] The Thing ' s special effects |
were largely designed by Bottin, [32] who had previously worked with Carpenter |
on The Fog (1980). [64] When Bottin joined the project in mid-1981, pre- |
production was in progress, but no design had been settled on for the alien. |
[64] Artist Dale Kuipers had created some preliminary paintings of the |
creature's look, but he left the project after being hospitalized following a |
traffic accident before he could develop them further with Bottin. [12] [64] |
Carpenter conceived the Thing as a single creature, but Bottin suggested that |
it should be constantly changing and able to look like anything. [28] |
Carpenter initially considered Bottin's description of his ideas as "too |
weird", and had him work with Ploog to sketch them instead. [64] As part of |
the Thing's design, it was agreed anyone assimilated by it would be a perfect |
imitation and would not know they were the Thing. [14] The actors spent hours |
during rehearsals discussing whether they would know they were the Thing when |
taken over. Clennon said that it did not matter, because everyone acted, |
looked and smelled exactly the same before (or after) being taken over. [40] |
At its peak, Bottin had a 35-person crew of artists and technicians, and he |
found it difficult to work with so many people. To help manage the team, he |
hired Erik Jensen, a special effects line producer who he had worked with on |
The Howling (1981), to be in charge of the special make-up effects unit. [65] |
Bottin's crew also included mechanical aspect supervisor Dave Kelsey, make-up |
aspect coordinator Ken Diaz, moldmaker Gunnar Ferdinansen, and Bottin's |
longtime friend Margaret Beserra, who managed painting and hair work. [65] The |
Thing assimilating dogs. Stan Winston was brought in to help complete the |
effect. It was operated on a raised set with puppeteers working below. In |
designing the Thing's different forms, Bottin explained that the creature had |
been all over the galaxy. This allowed it to call on different attributes as |
necessary, such as stomachs that transform into giant mouths and spider legs |
sprouting from heads. [32] Bottin said the pressure he experienced caused him |
to dream about working on designs, some of which he would take note of after |
waking. [64] One abandoned idea included a series of dead baby monsters, which |
was deemed "too gross". [12] Bottin admitted he had no idea how his designs |
would be implemented practically, but Carpenter did not reject them. Carpenter |
said, "What I didn't want to end up with in this movie was a guy in a suit ... |
I grew up as a kid watching science-fiction monster movies, and it was always |
a guy in a suit." [55] According to Cundey, Bottin was very sensitive about |
his designs, and worried about the film showing too many of them. [52] At one |
point, as a preemptive move against any censorship, Bottin suggested making |
the creature's violent transformations and the appearance of the internal |
organs more fantastical using colors. The decision was made to tone down the |
color of the blood and viscera, although much of the filming had been |
completed by that point. [28] The creature effects used a variety of materials |
including mayonnaise, creamed corn, microwaved bubble gum, and K-Y Jelly. [24] |
During filming, then-21-year-old Bottin was hospitalized for exhaustion, |
double pneumonia , and a bleeding ulcer, caused by his extensive workload. |
Bottin himself explained he would "hoard the work", opting to be directly |
involved in many of the complicated tasks. [66] His dedication to the project |
saw him spend over a year living on the Universal lot. Bottin said he did not |
take a day off during that time and slept on the sets or in locker rooms. [12] |
To take some pressure off his crew, Bottin enlisted the aid of special effects |
Subsets and Splits
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