2001 Space Odyssey was ranked the greatest film of all time by The Moving Arts Film journal. In 1991 it received an Academy award for it's visual effects and was quoted by the US Library of Congress as "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant". When first brainstorming ideas for Invasion, I instantly thought of the Stargate sequence and it's 'ahead of it's time' visual effects.
Stanley Kubrick
really acknowledges that for any viewer, a trip to space would be a
'trippy' one. Entering unknown territory would be an uncanny
one. Bowman takes a trip through deep space that involves the
innovative use of slit scan photography to create the visual effects and
disturbing sequences of him noticeably stunned at what he's
experiencing. Kubrick was the first director to use
front projection with retroreflective matting in a mainstream movie. Traditional techniques at the time
such as painted backgrops or rear projection wasn't good enough anymore and Kubrick demanded a more realistic look. His new found technique was taken on globally in the film industry as a pioneer but has since been replaced by chromakeying and green screen systems.
front projection with retroreflective matting in a mainstream movie. Traditional techniques at the time
such as painted backgrops or rear projection wasn't good enough anymore and Kubrick demanded a more realistic look. His new found technique was taken on globally in the film industry as a pioneer but has since been replaced by chromakeying and green screen systems.
About a month after
the film was released the movie owners were considering pulling it out of
cinemas due to it's very mixed & bad reviews, and many cinemas being left
fairly empty. A younger generation (a whole new audience) was attracted to
the psychedelic movement happening in the film. A lot
of young people would smoke weed and enjoy the trips. I once saw the stargate sequence high and completely understand why there was such a large attraction at the time and to be able to understand why the young generation of the 60s enjoyed such a psychedelic experience. With the Beatles around at the time creating a popular music period of psychedelic rock this hippy and trippy experience was cool at the time.
Other "in-camera" shots were scenes depicting spacecraft moving through space. The camera used to shoot the stationary model of the Discovery One spacecraft was driven along a track on a special mount, the motor of which was mechanically linked to the camera motor—making it possible to repeat camera moves and match speeds exactly. On the first pass, the model was unlit, masking the star-field behind it. The camera and film were returned to the start position, and on the second pass, the model was lit without the star field. For shots also showing the interior of the ship, a third pass was made with previously-filmed live-action scenes projected onto rear-projection screens in the model's windows. The result was a film negative image that was exceptionally sharper and clearer than typical visual effects of the time - This was the traditional use of layering, filming each layer manually.
The "Slitscan" technique can be compared to a camera using long exposure. It is a way of creating a similar effect from still images or transparencies. This is probably the best way i can describe it.
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