ALIEN ANTICIPATION

Happy Friday, gang. And hello to our new Patrons! We've had quite a few new sign-ups this week, so we must be doing something right.

You should be getting a mini Corner Shop Corner soon. A Patreon exclusive! It’s not going to be quite like the others – we can’t film in front of the blue wall due to ceiling leak reasons – and it’ll be a bit more lo-fi than they used to be, but it’ll serve as a thank you for those with a nostalgia for the old Digi Minis. We’ll do more along these lines just for on here, for anyone who signed up to us purely for escapism.

Talking of nostalgia, I’m taking myself off to see the new Alien movie later today. Sanja saw the trailer and decided it wasn’t for her…! We have a screensaver on our TV which cycles through different video footage, and one of the clips is of a load of jellyfish, and whenever it comes on she shrieks at me to turn it off, so you can see why she might not be able to handle it.   

I love those first two movies in the Alien series like I can’t tell you. I remember watching the first one at a mate's house, after it was shown late at night on ITV... and then the sequel I rented a pirate video of from the man who came to our road in his little van once a week. Genuinely changed my brain, probably as much as Star Wars. Don't worry: I've paid money for both since.

If you’ve watched the Found Footage finale, Trojan Arse Protocol, you’ll know how much I love them. Alien 3… was okay, but so bleak and depressing that I’ve only watched it once since (and I’ve never gotten past the unused Alien 3 script I bought from a comic con around the time the film came out, which would’ve been brilliant).

Resurrection was just so weird it felt like a different franchise altogether, the less said about Alien Vs Predator 1 and 2 the better, and Prometheus and Covenant are better than most people give them credit for. 

ANALOGUE TECH

But… that sort of heavy, analogue, tech from those first two was a huge influence on the Xenoxxxverse (along with Terminator, Escape From New York et al) – you’ll see a bit more of it in the Digi Level 2 finale, which is pretty much going to be a new episode of Found Footage (even the next ep is heavily FF). Those FF glitches are completely lifted from the computer screens in Alien and Aliens, the chains in the Digi Level 2 set are an Alien reference, and the yellow-and-black hazard tape is influenced by Aliens.

It’s probably my age, but it always feels more futuristic to me than glowing hologram screens. It makes space travel feel tough and difficult, like everything has to be reinforced and shielded. 

While I’ve enjoyed a lot of Star Trek, the production design always felt fake to me, like they were on a set. Especially the Next Generation era. Everything too clean, too carpeted; like they’re going into space in a conference room (though my favourite bit in all of Star Trek is the moment in Wrath of Khan where you can see a bloke cleaning the floor at Starfleet HQ... because it felt real).

Give me big chunky buttons that make a CLUNK. I like my sci-fi brutalist and George Lucas lived-in. It should be wet and grimy, full of steam and pipes. I like my aliens to make some sort of sense biologically, to feel real. That facehugger dissection scene in the first Alien – which used real offal apparently – is still more real and disgusting than anything since, because it felt so tangibly, unpleasantly, biological.

That said, I’m possibly in a minority in that I prefer Aliens to Alien, mainly because I’m less of a fan of horror and jump-scares. The world building and production design in Aliens was for me the main appeal. That’s my reason for being so excited about Alien: Romulus; just to study it and revel in that old-school production design.

At some point I’d still like to make another short film, and I’d still like to do more Found Footage. Once we finally finish Digi Level 2 – Sanja’s still compiling the outtakes and finishing the assembly cut of the last two – and Drong’s Challenge, we’ll see where we're at.

Apropos all that, I’ve started scripting the next main Digi video. By design, it’ll be lighter than my recent ranty monologue, and hopefully funnier. It took us a while to hit upon a topic that would serve as an antidote, because I stumbled across a couple of ideas that are a bit ‘bigger’ and potentially heavier, but they don’t feel right for the time being.

If all goes to plan we should be filming next week. Either in Dorset or Yorkshire. Watch this space. So to speak.

BORING HOUSE BIT

Changing the subject completely, but this is on my mind... we're close to selling my mum's house. Not sure how I feel about it right now. It's the house I grew up in, and has always been the sort of 'hub' of our family. I even filmed bits of Biffovision and Mr Biffo's Found Footage there. I'm obviously going to miss it, but mostly I think I'm just eager to start closing down the chapter of these past couple of years and finding ways to start moving forwards. I've felt stuck, weighed down.

Most of the sale is going to cover her care costs, but we'll get a bit each - enough to potentially fix the ceiling, and the rest going to cover at least some of the debt hole the last couple of years have left us in. Which will be a relief, obviously, and take a chunk of pressure off us.

I mean, I think we'd all rather so much of it wasn't going to cover the costs of keeping her going, when she is in such a state of permanent distress, and doesn't want to be here, but it is what it is. Why neither of my parents have left this world 'easily' is beyond me. It's not exactly making me look forward to getting old.

Anyway. Point is... the first estate agent wanted to put the house on for £50k less than we felt it was worth. We ended up going with another estate agent - the online-only Purple Bricks (no fees!) - who put it on at a figure closer to what we thought was right, and we've already had half a dozen offers within a week.

So... we're guessing that first estate agent wanted a quick and easy sale. This is just to say, if you're ever selling somewhere, get a second opinion before you say yes.

Paul