 The film was conceived by Feldman in 1987 , and was originally pitched as a film treatment in the style of a police procedural , entitled The Message . When The Message failed to attract the studios , Feldman re @-@ wrote it as a <unk> script , which ultimately led to the making of the film . The extraterrestrial in Species , an alien woman named Sil , was designed by H. R. Giger , also responsible for the beings from the Alien franchise . The effects combined practical models done by Giger collaborator Steve Johnson and XFX , with computer @-@ generated imagery done by Richard <unk> 's Boss Film Studios . Giger felt the film and the character were too similar to Alien , so he pushed for script changes . 
