space oddities a space odyssey

7/27/2019 Space Oddities a Space Odyssey

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Space Oddities Film Reviews: 2001: A Space Odyssey

Stanley Kubricks 1968 film, 2001: A Space Odyssey, is a science fiction film which is claimed by

many to be the greatest science fiction film ever made and by others as the film that killed the genre

by making all other science fiction films obsolete, as director Ridley Scott is stated to have said by

reporter Casey Kazan in Ridley Scott: "After 2001 -A Space Odyssey, Science Fiction is Dead", Sir

Ridley Scott, the legendary director ofAlien (1979), announced that he believes that science-fiction

as a genre is dead, and then justified by that none can beat Stanley Kubricks haunting 1968 epic

2001: A Space Odyssey. The originality of the film cannot be beaten by todays films even with

modern technology to create effects; the styling of the environments and simplicity of the camera

use adds to the story to make it one of the best of the genre, backed up by film critic Peter

Bradshaw, If any film deserves to be called a work of authentic genius, it is this one. The story of

the film is in three parts, the past, the present and the future, showing the entire timeline of humanexistence.

Fig. 1. 2001: A Space Odyssey Poster [1968]

The film starts with the planets aligning to the sun and the dawn of a new day and the dawn of

man, and then the camera is motionless on empty landscapes to show earths the lack of populous

and intelligent life at this time. From this the film focuses on the proto-humans who are yet to

discover the use of tools, until a monolith appears as a focus slightly off centre of the shot. The use

of perfectly straight lines and shape extruding from the rocky terrain is used to suggest that this

would have been made by intelligent life. Extreme perspective is used looking up at the monolith

showing the sun rising over it and the moon to symbolise the dawning of a new day and from then a

major leap forward in evolution happens when the proto-humans begin to use tools, this can be

seen in Fig. 2. The monolith also appears at 3 other points in the film, each time marking a majorleap forward in human evolution.


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Fig. 2. 2001: A Space Odyssey [1968]

The end of the dawn of man happens with one of the newly evolved humans throwing a bone in

the air and the slow motion falling and turning of it then becomes the space craft in the next scene

of the film using the technique match-cutting in which the two scenes are parallel for a moment

showing a major leap forward in humans. The main character of this part of the film, Dr Floyd, is

then alone on the space craft, full of empty seats showing that life hasnt yet fully evolved into

space, with the use of only a floating pen to show that this scene is in space, following the slow

rotations of other objects in previous scenes.

In the space station the set is designed and furnished to fit the 60s exactly and to look like a

realistic representation of the future to the audience at the time through the use of popular 60s

furniture such as the red, 1965 Djinn chairs designed by Olivier Mourgue in a futuristic setting of

white space as well as 1956 Pedestal tables designed by Eero Saarinen, which was a popular design

at the time. The Djinn chairs were made to look futuristic at the time but were then made timeless

by being used in the film and still look futuristic now as stated by Phil Patton in the article Public Eye;

30 Years After '2001': A Furniture Odyssey, The Djinn chair ''still looks futuristic,'' said Christopher

Mount, a design curator at the Museum of Modern Art. ''If I were making a movie about the future, I

would still use it.'' this is what helped draw in audiences at the time by making the future look

believable to them, this can be seen below in Fig. 3.



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The use of perspective lines and rule of thirds is used in the film to add to the suspense of the scenes

to force the viewer to look where Kubrick wants the viewers attention. The use of one point

perspective is used in an iconic scene, seen below in Fig. 4, with perspective lines all running towards

the centre of the scene with the character about to go outside the space craft on the Jupiter mission.

The rule of thirds is also used in this part of the film, with the robot HAL in the middle and two

characters conspiring against him either side, showing this he is going to separate them. In the

scenes featuring HAL he is usually shown in the very centre of the shot with the small red dot as the

focal point of the shot and used to draw the viewers attention always onto him. Perspective lines are

also used a various points throughout the film, such as when they are on the space station to show

the curvature in the floor and ceiling going away from the scene and with lines to draw the attention

to the group of people talking. While the group are seated the scene is set up to always allow the

viewer to be able to see behind them and to the curvature of the floor.



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Bibliography

List of Illustrations

Fig. 1. McCall, R. 2001: A Space Odyssey(1968)[Poster] Available:

http://www.impawards.com/1968/two_thousand_and_one_a_space_odyssey_ver2.html [Accessed

17/10/13].

Fig. 2. 2001: A Space Odyssey(1968) From: 2001: A Space Odyssey. Directed by: Stanley Kubrick.

[Film Still] United States/United Kingdom: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Fig. 3. 2001: A Space Odyssey(1968) From: 2001: A Space Odyssey. Directed by: Stanley Kubrick.

[Film Still] United States/United Kingdom: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Fig. 4. 2001: A Space Odyssey(1968) From: 2001: A Space Odyssey. Directed by: Stanley Kubrick.[Film Still] United States/United Kingdom: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Text

Kazan, C. (2009). Ridley Scott: "After 2001 -A Space Odyssey, Science Fiction is

Dead". Available: http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2009/07/ridley-scott-science-

fiction-is-dead.html. Last accessed 17/10/13.

Patton, P. (1998). Public Eye; 30 Years After '2001': A Furniture Odyssey. Available:

http://www.nytimes.com/1998/02/19/garden/public-eye-30-years-after-2001-a-

furniture-odyssey.html. Last accessed 17/10/13.

Bradshaw, P. (2001). 2001: A Space Odyssey. Available:

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2001/mar/30/culture.peterbradshaw4. Last accessed

17/10/13.

space oddities a space odyssey

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