2001: A Space Odyssey

The movie 2001: A Space Odyssey brings the audience through an awe-inspiring, ingenious journey, fabricated and conceived from the imaginative mind of Mr. Kubrick, and plot co-written by Mr Arthur C. Clarke. The film guides the audience as they follow the evolution of the human race, from the primitive dawning of mankind to the development of the sophisticated space age. However, 2001: A Space Odyssey is more than just a mere whimsical trip through space. It also explores a handful of ideas and possibilities, ranging from the evolutionary stages of mankind's intelligence, the advancements of technology, even as far as personifying a super computer as an antagonist, and also hinting at the possible existence of ancient, and highly evolved sentient beings that seemed to be omnipresent, observing events as they unfold.



There are essentially 3 parts to the the film, each part ending with human interaction with the monolith. The initial stage of the film depicting the prehistoric ape ancestors of human beings, discovering an unfamiliar alien entity known as the monolith erected overnight amidst their dwellings. Changes occurred within and without the primitive beings through their interactions with the monolith, such as expanding the mental capacity, allowing the formulation of ideas and concepts, thus bringing about the discovery of weapons and killing for food. This also suggested the initiation of mankind's evolution.

The later part of the film depicts that as mankind moves into the space age, further mysterious monoliths are being unearthed, which greatly arouses the curiosity of the already evolved human beings, who are much more competent and capable of thought processes than their ancient ape counterparts. In their expedition to discover the true nature of the monolith, the protagonists are faced with an obstacle as the story introduces a change of relationship between man and machine, the latter primarily a tool for humans. The result unwittingly pitted the human protagonists against the super computer turned deviant, and as such threatening the halt of human evolution. The change of role of the super computer, better known as HAL 9000, or HAL for short, perhaps proposes that machine may be in their own way, "evolving" as well, symbolizing that mankind, if to survive, needs to overcome the new threat in order to achieve the next level of evolution.

Characters

Although the movie spans from the primitive beginnings of mankind to the final stage of evolution a.k.a the Starchild in space age, at a staggering 148 minutes of film, The general pacing is slow, focusing on just a small handful of characters. Even so, dialogue is limited, taking up only about 47 minutes of the entire 148 minutes of the film.

Heywood Floyd is the first human character the audience was introduced to, welcoming us (the audience) to the inaugural space age experience. To Floyd, space travel is a routine business, thus he seems very at home with the procedures of space traveling, guiding the audience to some primary fundamentals in space traveling. Floyd serves to lead a group of scientists to study the second monolith on the moon. This interaction with the monolith will then bring the plot forward 18 months into the future with Dr. Dave Bowman and Dr. Frank Poole on their expedition to Jupiter to investigate the monolith in orbit around the planet.

Here we are introduced to a different but more dynamic cast, with more interesting interaction between the characters. It is here that we are graced with the presence of the character HAL. HAL is a supercomputer who runs all the functions in the space ship that the characters are on, heading for Jupiter.




Touching on the human characters first, Frank is the first character we see on the Space ship "Discovery" enroute to Jupiter. His personality is more laid back as he is constantly seen engaging in leisurely activities such as jogging, suntanning, eating and watching the television as well as playing a losing chess match with HAL. This also perhaps foreshadows his loss to HAL in which HAL killed him while he was out in space.

Compared to Frank, Dave is seen to be a more serious and diligent character, always in his working attire, and never seen engaging in recreational activities. The human characters have not been really fleshed out in the film perhaps because of the director's decision to portray a sterile, boring space traveling environment, relevant to what the characters are experiencing. The flat acting is also done deliberately to show contrast to HAL 9000's very human tendencies, blurring the line between how human-like the human characters are and HAL the supercomputer.

HAL 9000 especially stands out among the monotonous cast as a very controversial character. Although HAL is represented by an unmoving mechanical eye with a red LED light in the centre, he is always working, always thinking. This is in contrast to the human characters who are always moving, yet have nothing in particular to do. The basis of HAL is that he is supposed to be infallible, always correct and programmed to put the completion of the mission as utmost priority. However human-like and perfect HAL is, it is extremely critical to not ignore the fact that aside from all that HAL is showing, he is still a tool made by humans, and more importantly, he is a tool that can work against the humans. Still it was the lack of humanity in HAL's decision making in terminating the crew of Discovery that caused his own downfall.

Themes

There are several themes explored in this film as follows.

The most apparent theme is perhaps the evolution of the human race and their tools. In the Dawn Of Man, the apes interacted with the mysterious monolith which then implanted some ideas into their heads, thus "kick-starting" the process of evolution. The scene with the bone being thrown towards the sky, and while in mi air the scene changes into a space ship also shows the development or "evolution" of the tools from a simple bone weapon into sophisticated space traveling gadgets. Of course then the emphasis will still be on the humans, who have progressed far enough to be able to create such tools. Along with the theme of evolution, comes the need to actually adapting and learning about their new environment with each and every progressing step taken. Kubrick orientates the audience to gimmicks that are supposedly developed for usage in space such as space stations and space ships utilizing the centrifugal force to create artificial gravity so that people can stay upright, and also space food, zero-gravity toilets, space-suits, just to name a handful. The final phase of evolution witnessed by the audience is perhaps the most symbolic of this theme, showing Dave Bowman turning into a Star Child, a fetus-like cosmic being - illustrating the actual need to relearn about everything necessary (like an infant) in order to take up this new role of his existence before he is able to "grow up".

The relationship between man and his tools. even during human beings' ancestral beginnings, the apes had a close relationship with their tools, in this case the bone. They used the bone as a weapon to hunt for their food and other necessities. However, the weapon itself was shown to be working against their own kind as conflict ensues between groups of apes and the weapon is used to curb the conflict, or rather, "force" the submission of the weaker side which did not have the privileged use of the tool. In the space age, although the interaction between humans and their tools have some how moved to a different level, the fundamental has not changed as much, seeing that no matter which era, the tool is still being used by mankind for their convenience. In addition, it can be seen in mankind's complacency, in their overconfidence in the tools that they created, thus over-relying on them. This is what caused the crew on board "Discovery" distress. It was shown, perhaps the most classic example in HAL, where HAL turned against the human beings, thus pitting man against the machine.

Relative to the relationship between man and tool is how the humans made life convenient for themselves, making the computers do all the work for them. It can also be observed in the film that the human beings are very much like androids, going about their perfunctory daily routine, bored, monotonous, going through the motions of life. In stark contrast however, HAL although being a computer, has aspects that make the audience perceive him as very human-like, especially in displaying his will for self preservation. He thinks that his own existence outweighs the people around him. He sees the humans on board Discovery as both a threat to his own existence as well as a burden to the mission and thus proceeds to terminate them. It was when Dave entered HAL's memory unit to shut HAL down that we see the clearer distinction of the almost mechanical way in which Dave proceeds to dismantle HAL's memory unit while HAL starts to plead and protest, very much like a human being, saying whatever he could to try and make Dave stop. And finally, HAL's "brain" starts to shut down to it's most basic functions, he becomes almost child-like, to the point of singing the first song ever taught to him. It is also why the "death" of HAL, the the audience, is probably one of the most dramatic moments in the film, as compared to Frank's inconsequential death.

This raises another issue in relation to the evolution theme. Mankind is on a mission to Jupiter to investigate the monolith, we assume this to lead to mankind's next phase of evolution. An obstacle presents itself in the form of HAL, threatening to kill off the human beings on the space ship "Discovery", thus preventing human beings from reaching the monolith. If HAL continues with its mission to Jupiter alone, it is unknown if tools would be granted evolution by the monolith, but it can be certain that humans would not evolve as they have failed to reach the monolith, and that HAL has triumph and in a more symbolic view, moved up a step, or "evolved" in its own way.

This is probably not a main theme, but a point to ponder:

Can HAL be held accountable for the crime of murder in human conventional definition? HAL is just a machine though, so can he be held responsible? And from this another question is raised. Dave proceeds to "kill" HAL by disconnecting his memory. Is Dave therefore also responsible for murder then since HAL is so human like. Interesting to note that in HAL's death scene, it seems like their roles reversed, with Dave being very much "machine-like" and HAL protesting and pleading like a human. In future sci-fi themed movies after 2001: A Space Odyssey, such a theme has been explored in more detail, however, the impact of this theme in the film is too powerful to go unnoticed.

Visual Effects

The visual effects of this film is mind blowing considering when it was made. In fact so much focus was on the visual effects that a lot of the "acting" can be said to be done by the effects themselves, making up for the lackluster human acting in the film.

While the first man on the moon was in 1969, 2001: A Space Odyssey was made in 1968, the era where man was still studying about travel to the moon, while learning about space. Kubrick was extremely effective in portraying the space environment with visual effects, considering that no computer effects were used at that time. Even for the Dawn of Man era with human actors wearing ape costumes and make up, a lot of research was done observing and copying movements and nuances of real live apes. A lot of consideration and research also went about creating a believable space environment for the audience. the models for the respective space ships and space stations has been thoroughly researched in conjunction with NASA to be feasible space craft designs. In other words, the technology being portrayed in the film are modifications based on real current technology and science available at that age. For example, in 2001: A Space Odyssey, artificial gravity in space is achieved not by mysterious fancy gadgets, but using centrifugal force of a constantly rotating plane.

Front Projection:
For front projection, the actors and the foreground will be in front of a reflective screen, while the camera will be filming them directly. In between the camera and the actor is a one-way mirror that is placed at a 45 degrees angle. A projector placed at the side will project an image onto the one-way mirror which then reflects the image onto the actors and the reflective screen. The image is too faint to show up on the non-reflective objects in front of the reflective screen. Through this, the objects and actors actually physically become their own mattes. The image projected can then be clearly seen on the reflective surface that the actors are standing in front of.



Slit Scan Photography:
This is a photographic and cinematographic process where a movable slide, into which a slit has been cut, is inserted between the camera and the subject to be photographed.
In '2001 Space Odyssey' two different methods of slit scan photography are used which is for the "Stargate" scene and Nebula like phenomena. For the “Stargate” Scene, Geoffrey Unsworth the director of photography used a large metal cylinder and 5 metal diamond shape tetrahedrons. The large cylinder was rotated in the dark room. While the 5 tetrahedrons was hung above it. The light was shot to one of the tetrahedron which reflects the light into the rotating cylinder creating various reflection of light both in shape and color then a photograph was taken. This process was repeated continuously while shifting the tetrahedron. And then the photographs taken was shot in the film. Creating the 'Stargate' event when played continuously in the film.
For the Nebula like phenomena itself, Unsworth used a large transparent container full of water, and a color paint was funneled to the water. This shot was taken in the dark room. The light was place from above the container while the camera placed bellow the container. As the result, nebula like phenomena was produced.

Dave's journey into the monolith is an amazing feat of special effects magic. Even today, no one knows how some of the effects were created, and the people who were involved in their creation refuse to tell anyone how they were made. They are even more impressive if you consider that computers were not used, or available for creating these effects.

Anti-gravity effects:
There are several anti-gravity effects used in the film, and there are also several methods used to achieve the effects. Once of which is the floating pen scene. To create the illusion of the pen floating around, the pen is attached to a transparent adhesive and placed on the glass, the glass is then mounted to a frame and then hung from above. The whole piece of glass is then made to spin, creating the effect that the pen is rotating on its own in mid air.

Other anti gravity effects show a space stewardess walking up the wall and Frank jogging around the circumference of the space ship. These effects are achieved using the basic idea of the hamster
wheel. Actors are placed in a rotating set specially built for the scene. As the set rotates, the actors walk in the opposite direction, very much like a hamster wheel. The camera then turns according to the rotation of the set, thus making it so that the set seem to not be moving on film. This creates the illusion of the actor actually walking around the circumference of the set instead.

For interior shots inside the spacecraft, which was shown to contain a giant centrifuge whose rotation was intended to produce artificial gravitation, Kubrick had a 30-ton rotating "ferris wheel" built by Vickers-Armstrong Engineering Group at a cost of $750,000. The set was 38 feet in diameter and 10 feet wide.



Floating in space:
There are points in the movie that the characters are seen outside of their space ships, floating in space. This effect is achieved by simply hanging the actors in space suits from cables, while the camera shoots from various angles ( top, bottom, dolly etc) to show the effect of floating in space. For the scene where Dave ejects himself from the EVA pod into Discovery via the emergency airlock, to create the scene were he hits the wall of Discovery and rebounds towards the hatch door, the actor stands at a platform above, while a counterweight on the ground below is linked to him through a cable. The actor then proceeds to jump down the platform (this is the scene where he ejects himself from the pod into discovery) At the point he hits the cushion on the ground, the counterweight reaches the height of the platform. The counter weight then immediately jumps down again, pulling the actor back up, thus creating the "rebound" effect.

Cinematography

Dawn of man shows a lot of shots that are framed with the horizon, and some of the sky, shows the apes reside in exposed or shelter less places. In this part of the film, the camera is very still, most of the time no in camera effects are used, indicating the primitive era that the apes are living in pre monolith. It also serves to put the audience into the point of views of the primates, as if looking through their eyes, only seeing straight and not knowing how to look around or from dynamic angles. As the film moves on to the space age, the camera evidently starts to move around, shooting at more abstract angles, and showing more in camera effects, also indicating the advancement in the age of man.

The choices Kubrick used for the settings and lightings in 2001: A Space Odyssey are quite apparent. For example, Kubrick wants to express the role of the monolith in this film, therefore, the entire time monoliths are shown in their entirety, they are almost always at the center of the screen, representing its central role in this film.

Each scene is deliberately done so it goes by rather slowly and at times in silence, giving the audience time to scrutinize and contemplate each scene. Incidentally it also creates the feeling that immeasurable amount of time has passed, especially when traveling from one place to another, creating the impression of a very vast space where time is not measured by conventional methods. However, although each scene passes by slowly and shows so little, it is really fascinating how much meaning some scenes can express.

The sets are also kept extremely neat and tidy, with no signs of dirt or wear and tear. Also, white seems to be the color theme in the space stations and space ships, projecting a very pure, untouched, sterile environment, in contrast to the pitch black in the void of space.

Dialogues are kept to minimum, and even so, most dialogs do not serve to progress the plot, with the exception of those involving HAL. There seem to also be an short intervals in between the limited dialogged, which seems to portray the isolated feeling in space as well. Most importantly, Kubrick makes it a point to show us that the characters in the film are so used to space travel, so much that they are feeling a certain degree of boredom. What is so fascinating is that the feeling of mundane and disinterest is so well expressed to the audience. The unchanging lighting also shows the stillness in the environment. The lights are white yet dim to a point that it is not glaring to the eyes, instead it somehow soothes, adding to the dull, uninteresting mood.

Kubrick wants to express the fluidity and calmness in space, and as such he employs various classical music pieces such as "The Blue Danube" by Johann Strauss to illustrate the peaceful weightless transition of the space shuttle through space, while using the grand majestic sounding "Also Sprach Zarathustra" for the opening and ending credits, and also to highlight the first evolutionary phase of mankind and their discovery of tools.

Ending statements

Even after watching this film several times, HAL still remains somewhat of an enigma to us as we still have no idea as to whether he truly is capable of human emotions.

In the end, it can be interpreted that the evolution in A Space Odyssey is seemingly pointless, since it was because of such evolution that mankind created tools for their own convenience and as such, resulted in their tools turning against them and then ending up having to destroy their own tools. It is also cool to remind ourselves again that we do not only live in a planet, but also on a "star" that is among possibly many many many others that we have yet discovered.