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Posted on 09/02/18 5:54:40 PM
GKB
Magical Montagist
Posts: 4019

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2001: A Space Odyssey
http://vimeo.com/255033013



One of my favourite sequences from the film world is the Orion III spaceplane in orbit and docking with the space station in Stanley Kubrick’s film ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ based on a book by Arthur C. Clarke. 2001 was filmed and edited almost entirely in England, where Kubrick lived, using the studio facilities of the MGM-British Studios and those of Shepperton Studios. It was nominated for four Academy Awards and Kubrick received one for his direction of visual effects.

The film was released in 1968 before Photoshop, After Effects and 3D modelling were ever conceived. The docking sequence was done entirely with large-scale models that were filmed in a studio. The whole aerial ballet was performed to Johann Strauss’s music, The Blue Danube and rates as one of the most aesthetically beautiful sequences ever filmed.

I wondered how Kubrick would have made the film with today’s technology so I decided to have a bash at it and produce my own eight and a half minute-long version. I hope you like the result.



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Posted on 09/02/18 6:12:18 PM
lwc
Hole in One
Posts: 3282

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2001: A Space Odyssey
GKB wrote:
http://vimeo.com/255033013

One of my favourite sequences from the film world is the Orion III spaceplane in orbit and docking with the space station in Stanley Kubrick’s film ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ based on a book by Arthur C. Clarke. 2001 was filmed and edited almost entirely in England, where Kubrick lived, using the studio facilities of the MGM-British Studios and those of Shepperton Studios. It was nominated for four Academy Awards and Kubrick received one for his direction of visual effects.

The film was released in 1968 before Photoshop, After Effects and 3D modelling were ever conceived. The docking sequence was done entirely with large-scale models that were filmed in a studio. The whole aerial ballet was performed to Johann Strauss’s music, The Blue Danube and rates as one of the most aesthetically beautiful sequences ever filmed.

I wondered how Kubrick would have made the film with today’s technology so I decided to have a bash at it and produce my own eight and a half minute-long version. I hope you like the result.



Outstanding! Very well done indeed!



Posted on 09/02/18 10:46:20 PM
GKB
Magical Montagist
Posts: 4019

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Re: 2001: A Space Odyssey
Thank you Loyd

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Posted on 14/02/18 12:29:04 PM
GKB
Magical Montagist
Posts: 4019

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Re: 2001: A Space Odyssey
Just made a small tweak.

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Posted on 14/02/18 5:26:11 PM
michael sinclair
Off-Topic Opportunist
Posts: 1868

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Re: 2001: A Space Odyssey
I echo Loyd's comments: Anna has competition!

Posted on 14/02/18 8:30:44 PM
DavidMac
Director of Photoshop
Posts: 5732

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Re: 2001: A Space Odyssey
Beautifully done Gordon!

From many stories and conversations with those who worked with him I have more than a suspicion that Kubric would have preferred, even now, to physically model than to 3D model.

I agree with you this was, and still is, one of the most memorable scenes in the annals of cinema. Preceded, incidentally, by one of the most memorable edits ever - from the slow motion rotating bone to the space station. I first saw it in 70mm and that cut was so breathtaking it made the whole cinema gasp out loud. You don't see that too often nowadays.

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Posted on 14/02/18 10:02:22 PM
tooquilos
Wizard of Oz
Posts: 2899

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Re: 2001: A Space Odyssey
Hi Gordon,
This is absolutely magnificent not to mention mesmerising. You have totally captured the sense of peace and weightlessness through the motion. I was completely glued to the screen while watching it. The floating pen is a wonderful addition. Beautifully done Gordon.

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Posted on 15/02/18 09:21:57 AM
Steve Caplin
Administrator
Posts: 7040

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Re: 2001: A Space Odyssey
Magnificent, Gordon! What a tremendous achievement. As Anna says, you've captured the sense of weightlessness perfectly. Glorious.

Posted on 15/02/18 12:15:56 PM
GKB
Magical Montagist
Posts: 4019

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Re: 2001: A Space Odyssey
Thank you Michael, David, Anna and Steve. I have to admit to having had a fun time putting this one together over a period of three weeks.

David, I didn’t know Stanley Kubrick but I think that you may well be correct when you suggest that he would prefer physical models to CGI if he were to repeat the exercise again today. I, too, liked the transition of the bone to the space craft and wanted to include this in my film but couldn’t figure out a short way of telling that particular bit of the story; modelling and animating the ape was something that I felt was just way too much for what I was trying to achieve … perhaps I could include the scene in a full-length feature? Anyone know of somebody with $20 million to spare?

I also wanted to recreate the scene inside the Orion space plane prior to docking with the space station. This was the scene from the original film with the floating pen and sleeping passenger but, again, I felt that it would have been too much for the ‘short’ and abandoned it after doing much of the prep work, including having photographed myself in a sleeping position as the passenger (yes, I know it's sad). I even managed to source a good, hi-res image of the Pan Am stewardess from the film in her Norman Hartnell-designed uniform.



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Posted on 15/02/18 5:07:55 PM
DavidMac
Director of Photoshop
Posts: 5732

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Re: 2001: A Space Odyssey
GKB wrote:
...... modelling and animating the ape was something that I felt was just way too much for what I was trying to achieve …


Maybe you should try Fuse. It does a great job of making people look like apes ........... who knows what it could achieve with the real thing .........

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The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it .......

Posted on 15/02/18 10:35:40 PM
GKB
Magical Montagist
Posts: 4019

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Re: 2001: A Space Odyssey
DavidMac wrote:
GKB wrote:
...... modelling and animating the ape was something that I felt was just way too much for what I was trying to achieve …


Maybe you should try Fuse. It does a great job of making people look like apes ........... who knows what it could achieve with the real thing .........


Actually it might not be such a silly idea- it might just do the trick. As Fuse is still in Beta I’ll give it a try.

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Posted on 16/02/18 05:23:02 AM
Mariner
Renaissance Mariner
Posts: 3108

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Re: 2001: A Space Odyssey
If you haven't watched this video then you should.

Brilliant Gordon, that's the best one I have ever seen.



Posted on 16/02/18 10:30:49 AM
GKB
Magical Montagist
Posts: 4019

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Re: 2001: A Space Odyssey
Thank you for your kind comment Michael. Praise indeed.

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