What do you get you mash together the brains of J.J. Abrams, Steven Spielberg and creature master Neville Page? One badass monster.

In the clip above, Abrams and Page discuss how they were able to bring their ideas together to create the alien for last summer’s sci-fi spectacular Super 8. “It took literally a year’s worth of time — of almost constant design — trying to find the right design for J.J.,” Page said.

Page applied both men’s ideas for his early sketches, creating Rorschach-like illustrations that were the precursors of the eventual monster’s form factor. Making something truly unique wasn’t easy, Abrams said. “When you look at what’s been done you realize that A) Everything’s been done, and then B) You realize that there are kind of specific paradigms you have to adhere to,” Abrams said. “What I loved about this is that it didn’t easily fall into any one category.”

Check out more of what Page and Abrams had to say about the creature creation in the above video, which is from a featurette on the upcoming Super 8 Blu-ray, which comes out Nov. 22.