The Way I See It: Luke Scott

I was born a long time ago, in a suburb far, far way... in South West London.   

My earliest memory is of forceps clamping around my soft skull dragging me into this noisy brutal world. In truth the first memory was the pain of stubbing my big toe on the threshold of the door into the back garden. It's funny because that pain has remained with me as a tangible reminder to always pick your feet up and be wary of thresholds, real and conceptual.       

There were many moments of happiness as there were moments of sadness in my childhood. If I was 'happy' for my entire childhood I'd likely be a gurning idiot... I'd say it was emotionally balanced. 

I attended an American University for a moment and took up a neuroscience course. Absolutely fascinating, but sadly I'm thick as shit.

I recently listened to a podcast – Living Myth with Michael Meade – which related the story of Buddha and how his youth was blissful until he was accidentally exposed to the mortal reality and fragility of the human experience. In that moment he found his authentic path. The rest is history. Life is suffering. 

When I was a child, my father was not yet a household name – this took a while and at least until I was out of shorts – but when I was asked what he did for a living, the response was normally one of incredulity as in 'that's not a proper job now, is it?'. 

I also thought he was a spy because he kept saying he was off to 'Russia'. It was only until I was much older that I realised what he was in fact referring to was 'rushes', which was also the name of a post company in London.   

Original Alien costume in the German Film Museum, Frankfurt. Image courtesy of Marco Verch.

My childhood experiences of the film industry include my brother, Jake and I sometimes appearing in commercials. Sadly, we never got paid or the dough was spirited away somewhere. But it was definitely an interesting and formative experience. 

Jake and I were also both deployed as miniature characters in Alien – we were fitted out in scaled down Alien space suits and made to walk across the planet surface for two weeks. The theory was our small size would make the set and environment look much larger. Very clever. I’ve still got the suit... it no longer fits.

We did get to see some far-out shit – i.e. 7ft-tall Alien vs me at around 3ft-nothing in socks. But also we got to hang out on other-worldy sets with some pretty cool actors and technicians and observe the mischief. 

I'm genetically predisposed to be able to take a good lamping and still win.

We appeared in Ridley's first movie [1977 period drama] The Duellists – there's a pretty juicy shot of me. Angelic some would say. We also had some lines. The Duellists is probably one of my favourite movies of all time. Near perfection.    

My brother and I worked in the cutting rooms on Blade Runner. Terry Rawlings was the editor and Les Healy was the assistant. Les taught us how to roll footage and fags, and carefully catalogue each slate. It was meticulous. It was also making a lot of tea and grabbing sandwiches. Delivering film footage to get retimed (regraded) and audio tracks recorded with these old boys in brown lab coats. 

Terry Rawlings would roar at us “Lads, come in here and take a look at this. Tell us what you think.” We'd step into the Rothmans/B&H smoke-filled room and he'd advance the Steinbeck: Los Angeles 2019 [when Blade Runner was set]; the roar of flame; the whine of a spinner; the opening jangle of Vangelis notes. WTFuuuuck! “Let me tell you about my mother...” BOOM!!!! Even at that time, I knew it was extraordinary. 

There was Legend, with this young actor called Tom Cruise. My sister, Jordan got a part in that too. Tony [Ridley Scott’s brother] made a cult film called The Hunger – sexy vampires... My adolescent self was blushing. Bowie was hot. Sarandon and Deneuve getting it on... Phew!    

Directed by Luke Scott and scripted by Ridley Scott and Will Melton, the 2017 short film The Last Supper, formed part of the viral marketing campaign for Alien: Covenant.

I had thought I wanted to grow up to be a doctor. I liked playing doctors and nurses. I had a doctors set with stethoscope etc. I attended an American University for a moment and took up a neuroscience course. Absolutely fascinating but sadly I'm thick as shit and you have to be super smart in that field. 

I learnt you have to work very fucking hard. Harder than anyone else.

To riff on the words of Jack Black: If you can't do, teach. If you can't teach, teach PE. If you can't teach PE get into the film business... Apologies – that’s not what I actually think. Teachers and education are the mechanisms that drive civilisation and progress. Without teachers we'd probably be extinct by now. We need to reward them a whole lot more than we do now. 

I was probably quite a lazy student at school. Though pretty good at English. I won a bunch of creative writing awards. I loved the escapism that writing can bring. 

If I wasn’t in filmmaking, I’d be a novelist. A writer of pulp fiction. Or maybe a neurosurgeon. Or a professional boxer – I'm genetically predisposed to be able to take a good lamping and still win. Failing that – a tradesperson - plumbing or electrical. I like the idea of being the tidiest, most efficient electrician/plumber. A tidy electrical board or manifold is a work of art.  Pure logic at work. 

Cannes Lion-winning ‘TED Weyland Conference’ for Prometheus is one of the most viewed TED talks of all time.

Among my mentors when I was starting in the industry was the beloved Norris Spencer. Norris was one of the greatest Production Designers, he had a wickedly bizarre sense of humour. I followed him for several years. He taught me about seeing. He taught me about frailty. He sadly died too young.          

When I was a runner on my father’s and uncle’s productions I learnt you have to work very fucking hard. Harder than anyone else. Above all pay attention and listen very carefully. But probably the very best lesson, was to make decisions – any decision – but don't vacillate. Indecision is paralysis. Keep moving forward. Oh... and don't be late and never ever forget the coffee.           

I worked on set design and building for a while and got to work with some terrific people on some amazing things - I spent almost a year as assistant to Norris Spencer as he designed Columbus Days: 1492: Conquest of Paradise. Norris trusted me to have a go at developing concepts for a set that featured cannibals. Art Director Martin Hitchcock and I built this terrifying place in the jungle. Someone had the bright idea of hanging pig carcasses out to attract a pestilence of flies. With 100 per cent humidity and 100 degree temperatures the pork turned nasty really quickly. You could smell it before you got there. It was very retch-worthy – not sure lunch was served that day.          

The TED Talk for Prometheus was a defining moment that informed how I view the audience/content dynamic. The fans are the life blood of any enterprise. Ignore them at your peril.

Among the work I’ve most enjoyed is getting involved in making and directing ancillary content for a number of movies – kind of supporting short films in lieu of trailers. I made a few of these – for The Counsellor, Prometheus, The Martian, Blade Runner 2049, and Alien: Covenant. It was an incredible opportunity to play in a creative sand box with some of the greatest talent. Working alongside some incredible minds from 3AM – Chris Eyerman and Will Melton – we developed some extraordinary narratives. 

What was interesting was the intangible dynamic between the audience and the creators – we observed social channels so we could deliver something specifically for the fans. It was a kind of feedback loop. The TED Talk for Prometheus [Guy Pearce delivers futuristic keynote speech for Ridley Scott's 2012 film Prometheus] was a defining moment that informed how I view the audience/content dynamic. The fans are the life blood of any enterprise. Ignore them at your peril.

2036: Nexus Dawn, released in 2017, was one of three prequels to Blade Runner 2049. The other two were Blade Runner Black Out 2022 and 2048: Nowhere to Run.

We also made these very cool shorts for Blade Runner 2049 – [director] Denis Villeneuve was very generous to allow us access to his resources – I particularly enjoyed working with Dave Bautista [who played Sapper Morton], he was such an elegant and gentle human and so gracious. 

We did another good one with Jared Leto and Benny Wong [2036: Nexus Dawn], which was an interesting philosophical discussion about artificial humans. It culminates in shocking brutality. I really loved those films. 2049 was pretty good too. Ha! Denis V is fantastic.     

Space travel drives a narrative that I find alarming – we're going to screw this planet up but it's all going to be fine because we can play hopscotch across the universe. Simple! Think again.

I am interested in fine details. There's a saying about that: ‘God is in the detail’. I guess I kind of believe in God. The detail, the minutiae transforms the make-believe into realism. With detail you can tell a finer grain story. You can unearth the idiosyncrasies that complete a character, lending depth and breadth and texture. It is also true that detail is expensive. 

Luke Scott (right) on the set of Alien: Covenant.

When comparing making features to commercials, one is harder than the other in many opposing ways. Telling a coherent story in 30 seconds is the art of creative economics. Telling a coherent story in 120 minutes the art of creativity and economics.      

In terms of the sci-fi film genre, I'm not a massive sci-fi geek. I love speculative fiction but I’m a wee bit cool on space operas. I have a principal problem with how the concept of space is represented - an infinite sea that can be navigated with ease - this really is fiction. 

Mark Patten has a keen sense of humour – and, surprisingly, an intimate knowledge of mandrills and baboons.

I'm sure technology will arrive at solutions for interstellar travel but there is a practical shortcoming that is never considered – by the time you reach your destination all who you know and love, all that you care about will be gone and forgotten. Perhaps the idea of space travel is a way to give us a hope that everything will be somewhat OK if anything happens to this perfectly good planet – but it drives a narrative that I find alarming – we're going to screw this planet up but it's all going to be fine because we can play hopscotch across the universe. Simple! Think again. 

It's time to really pay attention to climate change and devote energy and resource to developing genuine renewable energy and sustainable food security and a compassionate space we can all call home. 

That's a kind of you to compliment the cinematography in Morgan. Mark Patten lit it. We have been working together for a few years. Mark is a truly one of a kind – he has spent time in the trenches so to speak and understands the challenges of physical production and is enormous fun to work with – which is vitally important. He has a keen sense of humour – and, surprisingly, an intimate knowledge of mandrills and baboons. 

As regards interesting choices for camera work in Morgan - the plan was simple - we shot half the film almost static, with minimal camera moves, then when the action picked up, we tossed the dolly and did everything handheld. Mark did a good job making it look great.   

The visual element of filmmaking is a key element for me, but always in support of the story. Decisions about how things look ought to be driven by the narrative and the point of view. There is always a danger of leaning too heavy on visual look at the expense of the story. It happens quite a bit. The real challenge is story.  

Imagine the day when the individual is considered a danger because they have no digital footprint, no social presence, a shadow, untraceable. We are here already. 

I was not aware that Morgan was praised for featuring strong female leads – it’s good to hear that this was picked up. It was a consideration at the time. I take the general view that about 50 per cent of the world population is born female. Therefore at least 50 per cent of stories ought to be, must be female driven. And therefore again, 50 per cent of creators ought to be, should be, females making strong female stories. Stands to reason you'd hope. Are we there yet? Quite possibly not...              

Considering the rise of AI and what it means for us – I'm a humanist. Pro-human all the way. We are told technology will solve all our problems. I don't think so. At all. Human compassion will solve our problems. Education will solve our problems. 

The 1984 spot for Apple Computers (1984), was directed by Ridley Scott and only screened twice on TV.

Technology in the hands of a dogmatic ideologue leads to pogroms and ultra-violence. There was a commercial for Apple - Why 1984 won't be like '1984'. Too fucking right dude. Totalitarianism by stealth. George Orwell will be kicking himself – talk about missing a key narrative driver. We have built our own panopticon. 

Imagine the day when the individual is considered a danger because they have no digital footprint, no social presence, a shadow, untraceable. We are here already. 

AI will however have a role in the human landscape - it will bring efficiencies. Do things faster at volume for less. But will it fulfil? Will it deliver soul? Will it comprehend the unutterable dimension of spiritual awakening? The big question remains - with all this efficiency: low cost, volume at pace - and the claim we won't have to work so hard - but what do you do with all the people? How do they live? Ummmm...