MUMBAI: Cinematographer of Ridley Scott‘s sci-fi film Alien, Derek VanLint expired in Toronto on Tuesday after a short illness at the age of 78.

VanLint‘s brooding photography in "Alien," where his camera in the movie‘s opening sequence slowly pans the corridors of a silent Nostromo vessel with its crew in stasis, was also on show in the 1981 fantasy adventure pic "Dragonslayer," directed by Matthew Robbins for Paramount Pictures.

"Derek was truly an icon -- his talent and passion for the craft of cinematography knew no boundaries," VanLint‘s longtime agent Sesler & Co. said.

Besides his film and TV work, British-born VanLint was a veteran commercial director, completing TV spots for international clients that includes Guinness, Pepsi, British Airways and Levis.