Hello folks,
here are a few elements I gathered regarding the Engineers' biology, from either behind-the-scenes shots, pre-production designs, film elements or screenshots and interviews of sfx artists and crew.
First of, contrarily to what I have frequently read across the board, the engineers do have nipples. They are tiny and not quite noticeable, but present nevertheless. See the (pre-)production shots below. It is particularly obvious on the cgi-match of the actor in the breakdown-shot of the 'genesis scene', and even more on the chest prosthetics in the behind-the-scene shots.
A second step is to acknowledge that they have genitals. This is reliably supported by the pre-prod design studies for the engineers, in which the engineer features noticeable nipples and male genitals ; we can reliably assume this was preserved in the final design for the film as the Sacrificial Engineer appears wearing a loincloths tied around his waist which would make no sense if not to hide his genitals. And you don't hide your genitals more than you hide your ear unless said genitals are... gendered, which brings us to the next step...
As a consequence from their having nipples and genitals, and given their DNA (see film) and physiological (see below) similarity to humans, it is relatively straightforward to assume the Engineers are gendered, and thus that female Engineers shall exist.
As aforementioned, an element we can safely deduce from Max Arthur's interview (and, in a lesser way Conor O'Sullivan's – see material below) is that their physiology and metabolism are relatively similar, or at least comparable, to those of humans. They do need being fed during artificial sleep and their organic functions seem to be monitored in ways relatively similar to ours too. This and the scene in which David8 gets close to the engineer sarcophagus to listen to what appears to be a heartbeat seem to support that their internal organs' anatomy and function are also quite similar to ours.
From there and on, we can probably assume their reproduction and life cycle to be potentially similar to ours, involving coitus, fecondation, gestation and delivery. This would mean only a couple tweaks and tricks differ, that are hinted at in the film (strength, life expectancy) but maybe also a few others we have yet not heard of (sensorial capabilities? interaction/symbiosis with biomechanoid tech? ...etc). Inferences in this paragraph are drifting one step further away from available material and shall thus be taken with a grain of salt, until additional elements infirm/confirm that.
Another reliable assumption, however, is Engineers do appear to age. This is supported by the presence of an Elder Engineer (called so by the film's crew/initial credits) in shots from the introduction “Genesis scene” that were cut from the theatrical release (and could eventually be reintegrated in a DVD/BR “Director's cut”?). This is also indirectly supported by the fact engineers use sarcophagi to slow their metabolism for long period of cryostasis, which also would make no sense for a non-aging/eternal creature (so much for ole' Weyland's hopes anyway, uh?).
These are the few reliable conclusions I have come to, from elements gathered so far. Please, do contribute in the comments and I will edit this post to append new elements (with due credits given) so we can have an extensive view of what we know about Engineer biology.
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Sources/Credits:
- quotes are from my translation of French magazine “L'Écran Fantastique” (much more inside, suggest to read it!) - **PDF can be downloaded here** [interesting **thread here** got quite off-topic with great, never published, Alien "Behind-the Scene" material, courtesy of Dennis Lowe] ********************************
Max Arthur (Production Designer):
Can you tell us how you simulate the functioning of the many technologies on the sets of the ships, with accessories featuring moving parts, lightings, screens and various artefacts?
--- There are two parts of the Prometheus in which we integrated mechanisms and sophisticated accessories. The first is the mess hall where the crew meets after they come out of hibernation. We had to think of the technologies that should be assembled to maintain an hibernating person alive, and how they could practically work. We talked about that with both NASA specialists and members of the Royal College of Medicine. They told us about how the body could be preserved and the heartbeat slowed down and placed under a reactive monitoring-system. A person placed in hibernation must also be fed during the artificial sleep, which has particular consequences you will discover in the movie, when our heroes wake up. Similar phenomena occur when the creatures nicknamed “Space Jockeys” themselves come out of their hibernation-state. Like humans, they depend on systems that ensure proper organic functions, and are adapted to their particular morphology...
Conor O'Sullivan (Prosthetics Supervisor)
Can you tell us how you have found the right aspect to represent the Space Jockeys alive, on the basis of Giger's original design of the corpse?
--- It is Neville Page who was in charge of establishing the aspect of the engineers. In fact, what we call a “Space Jockey”, it is the appearance these beings have when they wear their spacesuits, and that they get in the seat of the control unit in order to pilot their ship.. It is this suit that we could see in the original film, and not their true appearance, because the suit closes around them like some sort of cocoon.
So, what we took for a skull in the original film is in fact a helmet?
--- Yes. And the rest is a spacesuit that opens to reveal the ideal body of a giant humanoid. The engineers are supposed to be slightly over 3m tall [translator's note: 9 feet 10 inches], and look like Michelangelo sculptures.
They are therefore very similar to humans?
--- They have the exact appearance of humans, except for their size. They have no hairs on their head or body, and look like a marble statue. Ridley wanted the aspect of their skin to be close to that of alabaster, that is a skin so pale that it is almost translucent, and that you can see the veins through it. During our first meeting, I told Ridley I was not sure we would be able to produce that exact aspect he desired. Ridley had only two technical options in mind to present them: either create the characters in CGI, or use actors wearing prosthetics. I think what tipped the scales in our favour is the fact we developed this new method of laying silicon prosthetics. Even if the entire make-up process for the naked engineer lasted eight hours, the final result was absolutely perfect. Ridley was delighted of the result and told us it largely exceeded his hopes.
The translucent prosthetics of the naked engineer were therefore made in silicon, while the opaque biomechanical suit was made in latex-foam?
--- Yes. The principal engineer of the film wears a biomechanical suit that we nicknamed the 'precious suit' [based on the art book, it appears the magazine reporter got it wrong and what O'Sullivan said must have been “Pressure Suit” - Thanks to user "Engineering" for pointing that out to me- note by iapetus], that was made in latex-foam, on which we applied silicon elements. This suit was then covered in a layer of silicon, and then repainted. […]
