<P> Matthijs van Heijningen, Jr. explained that he created the film not to simply be a horror film, but to also focus largely on the human drama with the interaction between characters, as the first film had . The director felt that horror films worked better when time was spent to explore the characters' emotional journeys, allowing the audience to care about them . Mary Elizabeth Winstead insisted that the film would not feature any romantic or sexual elements with her character, as it would be inappropriate considering the tone of the film . Adewale Akinnuoye - Agbaje said that the film would try to recreate the feeling of paranoia and distrust that the first film had, where the characters can't tell who has been infected by the alien . The filmmakers drew additional inspiration for the film from the original novel Who Goes There?, in making the characters in the film educated scientists as opposed to "blue collar" workers . However, the filmmakers drew no influence from the events of The Thing video game . The director also drew additional inspiration from the film Alien in creating the film, particularly in regard to casting a female lead, and in the way the alien creatures are filmed by not showing too much of them . Matthijs van Heijningen also cited the films of director Roman Polanski as influence, such as his work on Rosemary's Baby . Actual Norwegian and Danish actors were cast in the film to play the Norwegian characters, and the director allowed the actors to improvise elements different from what was scripted when they felt it was appropriate, such as a scene where the characters sing a Norwegian folk song called Sámiid Ædnan ("Lapland"). Many scenes involving characters speaking Norwegian were subtitled, and the language barrier between them and the English speaking characters is exploited to add to the film's feeling of paranoia . Director Matthijs van Heijningen said that the film would show the alien creature in its "pure form", as it was discovered in its ship by the Norwegians; however, it is not revealed whether this is the creature's original form or the form of another creature it had assimilated . Addressing rumors stating that John Carpenter wished to have a cameo appearance in the film, Carpenter himself corrected these in an interview for the fan site "Outpost 31", in August 2012 . "(Those) rumors are not true", Carpenter stated in the interview . </P> <P> The film was shot in the anamorphic format on 35 mm film, as the director dislikes the look of films shot digitally . The director chose not to fast cut the film, instead opting for a slower pace, hoping to build a sense of pending dread . The prequel was filmed in Pinewood Toronto Studios, Port Lands on March 22, 2010 and ended on June 28, 2010 . On set, the director had a laptop computer which contained "a million" screen captures of the Carpenter film, which he used as a point of reference to keep the Norwegian camp visually consistent with the first film . Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff, Jr. of Amalgamated Dynamics created the practical creature effects for the film . In addition to creating the effects for the human - Thing transformations, Gillis, Woodruff and their team had the challenge of coming up with the look of the alien in the ice block unearthed by the Norwegians . While it was initially only intended to be shown as a silhouette, the director liked their designs and encouraged them to fully create the creature, which was realised by creating a monster suit that Tom Woodruff wore . The effects team opted to use cable - operated animatronics over more complex hydraulic controls, as they felt they gave a more "organic feel". In order to emulate the creature effects of the first film, Heisserer revealed that traditional practical effects would be used on the creatures whenever possible . The film's computer - generated imagery was created by Image Engine, the effects house who worked on Neil Blomkamp's 2009 film District 9 . Computer Graphics were used to digitally create extensions on some of the practical animatronic effects, as well as for digital matte paintings and set extensions . Alec Gillis stated that the advancement of animatronic technology since 1982 combined with digital effects allowed the effects team to expand upon the possible creature conceptions . Matthijs van Heijningen preferred to use practical effects over computer imagery, as he believed actors give better performances when they have something physical to react to . However, in post-release interviews, Alec Gillis revealed that while Amalgamated Dynamics creature designs for the film remained intact, most of their practical effects ended up being digitally replaced in post-production . The creation of Gillis's all - practical - effects independent horror film Harbinger Down was partially in response to this . Stunt men covered in fire - retardant gel were used in scenes when characters are set on fire . The original Ennio Morricone score was reflected in the film's score, but it was initially reported that Morricone did not score the film, nor was his music from the 1982 version used . However, his theme "Humanity (Part II)" appears in a bonus scene during the prequel's ending credits (indicating how it leads directly into the 1982 film). </P> <P> The interior of the crashed alien spacecraft was created by production designer Sean Haworth . To design the ship, Haworth had to recreate what little was shown of the spacecraft in the Carpenter film, then "fill the gaps" for what was not originally shown . Haworth and a team of approximately twelve others then created the inside of the ship as a several story - high interior set constructed mostly out of a combination of foam, plaster, fiberglass, and plywood . The ship was designed specifically to look as if it were not made to accommodate humans, but rather alien creatures of different size and shape who could walk on any surface . A section of the craft called the "pod room" was designed to imply the alien creatures manning it had collected specimens of different alien species from around the universe for a zoological expedition . </P> <P> While the film was originally set for release in April, Universal Pictures changed the date to October 14, 2011, to allow time for reshoots . The intention of the reshoots was to "enhance existing sequences or to make crystal clear a few story beats or to add punctuation marks to the film's feeling of dread ." On his Facebook page, Matthijs van Heijningen, Jr. claimed that the reshoots of the film included making an entirely different ending, referring to the original cut as the "Pilot Version" and the new cut as the "Tetris Version". In the original ending, Kate was to discover the original pilots of the spaceship which had all been killed by The Thing, which was an escaped specimen they had collected from another planet, implying that the ship was crashed in an attempt to kill the monster . "I liked that idea because it would be the Norwegian camp in space . Kate sees the pod room and one pod being broken, giving her the clues what happened . What didn't work was that she wanted to find Sander and stop the ship from taking off and still solve the mystery in the ship . These two energies were in conflict ." </P>

What is the thing called that you walk on to board a ship