Production GuideObservations: Alpha Child
Production Guide
There's a ragged brown carpet behind Sandra in the opening Main Mission shot.
Hidden in the corner behind the Earth globe is a tall studio stand; we can just see the foot and part of the top (a "flag" for blocking light).
In the view of Jackie, Koenig's arm is across the bed. In the view towards Koenig, he sits on the side of the bed.
The commlocks in these shots are different- the view showing the screen has no picture on the side.
Note the yellow paper at the front of the desk. When Koenig enters later in the same scene, the paper is blue. Meanwhile, the shelf displaying rocks has moved across the back wall.
When the door closes behind Koenig, the original sound of the wooden door rolling on casters can be heard. The opening of the door was replaced by the normal "Alphan" sound, but because Koenig's laugh is heard, the door closing could not be replaced. Thanks to Adrian Cribb.
The position of the two monitor trolleys changes slightly between shots.
As the Eagles turn to go behind the alien spaceships, the bottom Eagle travels across two stars that show through it (double exposure).
The Eagles have moved behind the spaceships. There is a shot of the alien ships, then the Eagles following, then the alien ships fire beams back. At the start of the first shot, we briefly see a green beam firing forward. There are no sound effects, and we only see a partial beam for three frames. The editor wanted to use the shot to establish the ships, and had to use a shot with existing optical effects. The shot of the ship firing forward is possibly from the final battle with the battlecruiser at the end. Thanks to David Penn.
When Koenig tells Alan he was incompetent, carpet can be seen under his chair. This was to prevent the sound of chair legs scraping on the floor as he sat down.
The foreground ship is the 1.83m version; the other one is the 0.9m model.
The foreground ship is the large version; the other 3 are all the 0.9m model, photographed three times.
At the bottom left corner of this shot, note the mark on the floor showing where the extra has to stand.
The security guard is hit by Koenig's laser. The padding and explosives are visible under his uniform in the few frames just before he explodes.
When one spaceship explodes, strange shadows are briefly visible, possibly from the special effects studio roof.
At the end of the corridor, an open door has the label "Medical Centre" (using the British spelling). Within on a raised floor is a gurney and another door, marked "Diagnostic Unit". This is actually a travel tube, with the normal signs replaced. Jarak and Rena enter a room with the label "Medical Unit". Kano tells Koenig "According to Computer you're in the Medical Centre. And have just issued a command that the door is to remain locked." Perhaps he should have specified Medical Unit, as the doors to Medical Centre can be seen open when he says this.
Publicity shots with Julian Glover and Martin Landau holding cigarettes.
Copyright Martin Willey