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2001 - A Space Odyssey
A dissertation by Joram Holtz
Presented to the London International Film School
in fulfillment of requirements for the Diploma
in the faculty of
The Art and Technique of Film Making
London International Film School
course number 129
Joram Holtz, March 1998, London UK

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Contents
page
1. Introduction 3
2. Synopsis 5
3. Critics 12
4. The collaboration between Kubrik and Clarke 15
4.1 The "proverbial good science fiction movie" 15
4.2 A sensory experience 17
5. Designs and optical effects 18
5.1 Up-to-the-minute realism 18
5.2 Stunts in "zero gravity": the centrifuge set 21
6. Conclusion 24
6.1 The dawn of man 24
6.2 Emergence of artificial intelligence 26
6.3 Rebirth 27
7. Bibliography 29

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Introduction
Science fiction is more than literary fantasy. It is futurism, often inspired by the desire to break away
from the present technological and spiritual limitations. Convincing an audience of a reality that
does not yet exist, relies on a wide array of plausible fictional facts.
Curiosity is embedded in human nature. I believe that our own imagination (fiction) is at its best,
when we base it on observation and fact (science). Combining the two, the science and the fiction,
presents us with a launch pad towards discoveries that can improve the human condition.
Authors like Jules Verne and H.G. Wells have laid a foundation for the science fiction - genre. They
have revealed the endless creative freedom and challenges that a writer faces when he takes his
characters and plots to an alien environment or a distant future. At the turn of this century, the
French film pioneer Georges Méliès became one of the fathers of science fiction movies by making
an imaginative film about a man's first voyage to the moon, based on a story by Jules Verne. Since
then of course, science fiction has come a long way, moving from the fantastical into the more
scientific approach.
I have chosen '2001 - A Space Odyssey' for my thesis, since it may be the only film to date that
encompasses all aspects of existence. The film offers a unique perspective on our consciousness. In
this dissertation, I would like to explore the motivation of Stanley Kubrik to make the 'proverbial
good science fiction movie', the production of '2001', how it was received by the public back in 1968,
and how it can be looked at today.
With '2001 - A Space Odyssey', Stanley Kubrik, who received already worldwide acclaim as the
director of 'Lolita' and 'Dr. Strangelove', had the aspiration to create a film that deals with man's
hopes and fears for the faith of civilization on earth, and what lies beyond, in outher space. In 1964,
Kubrik contacted Arthur C. Clarke and asked him to collaborate on a film project.
Arthur C. Clarke is not only a towering figure in the realm of science fiction. Clarke served during
World War II as a radar specialist and has been involved in the development of early-warning-radar
systems, which contributed to the RAF's success during the Battle Of Britain. A futurist, an inventor
and credited as the father of satellite communication technology, Arthur C. Clarke was the perfect
match for Stanley Kubrik.
Kubrik conveyed to Clarke that he wanted to make the ultimate science fiction movie. According to
Arthur C. Clarke, it was time to break away from the clichés of monsters and madman in the fantasy-
and science fiction genre. 'There will be dangers in space, but there will also be wonders, adventure,
beauty, opportunity and sources of knowledge that will transform our civilization, as the voyages of
the Renaissance brought about the end of the dark age'.
When in February 1965 MGM President Robert H. O'Brien announced that Kubrik and Clarke started
to write the script for 'Journey Beyond the Stars' (the original working title), the lunar landing
seemed, mentally, a dream of the distant future. Intellectually, everyone knew that it was inevitable;
but conceptually, no-one could really believe it. Political circumstances at that time have acted as an
accelerator in the space race between The United States and the Soviet Union and resulted in the
first men walking on the lunar surface in 1969.

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In 1965, when work begun on '2001', arguments were still raging about the nature of the lunar
surface, and the Apollo lunar module still only existed on the drawing boards. NASA was spending the
entire budget of the movie (ca. 10 million US$) every day while Stanley Kubrik started to work closely
with Lane and Ordway, two men from an eminent space consultancy company, who became the
technical consultants on '2001'. They were in charge of the technical designs on the film: The
rotating space station, the lunar landing module, the long range space ship Discovery and it's nuclear
drive, and a space plane which shuttles between earth and the space station orbiting the earth.
Stanley Kubrik demanded throughout the entire production of the movie (which lasted from 1964 to
1968) up-to-the-minute realism from his technical team, which worked under the art direction of
Tony Masters. For Kubrik, hardware (and software, a term not yet used at the time) had to be
consistent with reality.
The shooting of the film started in 1965 at the studios of Borehamwood, north of London, with the
lunar excavation sequence. Many of the youthful technicians and special effects people who worked
on that production (under the tutelage of the experienced craftsman Wally Veevers and cameraman
Geoffrey Unsworth) grew up to become today's special effects elite within the film and television
industry.
On a technical level, this production has also accelerated special effects and shooting technologies.
14 years earlier, George Pal attempted in his film 'Conquest of Space' the most realistic portrayal of a
space mission so far. After Stanley Kubrik's 'Space Odyssey' (throughout the 1970s and into the
1980s) no substantial movies whatsoever were made about the specific subject of space exploration.
Stanley Kubrik as a film maker, and Arthur Clarke as an author, set for themselves the task of giving
the viewer the experience of being in outher space. They explored not only the scientific aspects, but
also the emotional and spiritual consequences of being in space, of being confronted with sensory
inputs for which humanity had yet to get an inner reference. Using both imagination and scientific
knowledge, Kubrik and Clarke were able to create this experience, using, simply put, only video,
audio and content. In later years, many astronauts have said that '2001' is a film that comes
extremely close to the way space travel feels in reality.
Another vital aspect in executing the compelling way the story of '2001' is told, were the craft and
hard physical work that made one of the most extraordinary film set and camera work possible.
The result of four years hard labour on the production of '2001' is a stunning film. A film that raises
many thoughts about mankind's place and role in the history of the cosmos. This movie is probably
unique in the way that it starts at the emergence of man and lasts far, far into the future. The
fantastic and both realistic way in which this film was shot, and the superb use of sound (or, it's
absence) turned this film into a real encounter of space and confronts the audience with the eerie
and alien vastness of the universe.