The use of sound in alien played a huge role in portraying the situation of the explorers throughout the movie. The choice of loudness and note in the instrumental music, the lack of sound contrasting with sound in certain scenes, and the sound of technology served as a motif and foreshadow to to the the struggle of the explorers against the alien, nature, and innovation in technology.
       

The rapid music in this movie acted as a foreshadow because of its sudden drops and bangs. The introduction music started out with a slow beat with no lyrics reflecting the ominous situation on board. For a couple of minutes, the camera pans around the whole ship only to reveal no human in sight; there is only technology. The music serves to foreshadow something will happen when the music gets louder and more rapid. The use of loudness and notes creates a feeling of suddenness and danger, which the movie uses quite well later on in the film when the characters run into the alien. The use of this style was original back then and today, many of the horror movies replicate this as it makes the viewers anticipate and leaning on the edge of their seats. This use has defined Alien as a horror movie.
       

Adding on the the use of instrumental music, I would also like to note the contrast in loudness and the lack of sound. For instance, when the ship lands on the planet, there are several scene shifts that are very noticeable with the difference in sounds. When the camera is inside the ship, there are no sounds and then when it shifts to the situation outside, the roaring sound from the planet’s atmosphere creates a dangerous situation and the unnatural situation of the humans. It really highlights the danger of going out to explore the intercepted message. This same style is used when the explorers are in the cave wearing their suits.  When there is a lack of the roaring wind, the viewer can hear the silence because all they can hear are the breathing sounds. This adds anticipation and in a way, foreshadowing as the viewers expect something to happen soon.
       

While there were scenes where the sound was lacking, there were also sounds that were unnatural such as the ones produced by the technology and spacecraft itself. When the clicking and the whirring sounds became the dominant sound of some particular scenes, the effect was stripping away of all humanity and morality.  For example, at the beginning of the film, the camera pans around the space craft and the sounds made by the machines on board reflected the lack of humans in the shot. It creates the illusion of autonomy and abandonment of the space ship. It hints to the deep message that innovation in technology strips away morality and the compassion in humanity. Rather, the survival, as stated by Ash, who is later revealed to be a robot, is most important. The discovery outweighs the safety or morality of everyone on board. This horrifying underlining message is what is left on the viewer’s mind when the movie ends.