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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

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