Another 3 shots from Kubrick’s Masterpiece, this time from the simply astonishing “Star Gate” sequence. These stills hardly do it justice, and neither does a youtube clip, however here’s a quick reminder http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=m6yAEvnoCPs
The special effect to create this animated sequence was of course mechanical (not digital) and is called Slit-Scan Photography, I’d never heard of it before either!
Here’s a link to a Wiki overview http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slit-scan_photography and an article on how to achieve the effect with a large format camera http://people.rit.edu/andpph/text-slit-scan.html
Amazing! It’s my favourite bit of the film. It’s so inspiring.
Comment by Andrew — December 12, 2008 @ 12:15 pm
http://videothing.blogspot.com/2005/06/slit-scan.html
Comment by me — December 12, 2008 @ 5:02 pm
I would urge anyone with an interest in the great man and his films to check out the incredible Taschen book The Stanley Kubrick Archives.The photos (from the films themselves and behind-the-scenes) are spectacular.
Also, if you can still get hold of a copy, Cinefex 85 (April 2001) is a great read on how the effects were produced, especially Doug Trumbull’s slit-scan techniques. Perhaps my favourite part of the stargate sequence ares the ‘cosmic explosions’ which were simply Kubrick dripping coloured paints into a tin of black ink and banana oil, shot overcranked and in reverse.
Comment by Dan McPharlin — December 14, 2008 @ 8:39 am
Man I love this blog & I love this film, without question the finest sci-fi movie ever made. For a slight twist on this classic try the link below:
http://www.firemusic.co.uk/quaidvskubrick.html
(Note to any Kubrick hardliners – it was done out of sheer respect for the original!)
Comment by J — December 14, 2008 @ 7:52 pm
Hey Dan,
Thanks for the tip there, for those who are intereted here’s a link to the Kubrickbook via amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Stanley-Kubrick-Archives-Alison-Castle/dp/3836508893/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229498284&sr=8-1
and cinefex 85 is here http://www.amazon.com/Cinefex-Stanley-Duncan-editor-Kubrick/dp/B000YK2TE6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229498395&sr=1-1 ) this book a little cheaper…. I was reading that an effect similar to the slit scan is doable via After Effects with a specific plug in…. I shall look into this a bit more…. cheers
Dripping coloured paints into Black ink and Banana oil! same thing as Supernovas + just a bit smaller and easier to clean up
Comment by Kie — December 17, 2008 @ 7:23 am
Thanks J – Like the re-edit, ha especially the reverse… very nicely done….
Comment by Kie — December 17, 2008 @ 7:55 am
I have this film on just about every format possible
Laserdisc(critereon), VideoDisc, several different dvds, HDDVD & Blu-ray and have been meaning to grab some images from the HD & Blue-ray discs for windows backdrops.
Thanks for reminding me.
Also that book looks ace – i have just ordered
thanks
Hal9000
Comment by hal9000 — December 29, 2008 @ 2:36 pm
oh yeah just if you are interested
http://www.human01d.com/2001-A-Space-Odyssey.jpg a comparison of the detail differences from dvd – 720p – 1080p from 2001
Comment by hal9000 — December 29, 2008 @ 2:39 pm
That’s interesting, so significantly higher Res in BluRay, you can see so much more detail…. I would love to see this in HD – When Are MacBook Pro’s going to ship with Blu Ray? My Powerbook is on it’s way out….
Comment by Kie — December 29, 2008 @ 10:01 pm
Odd observation — the landscapes in the last third of the Star Gate sequence appear to be the backgrounds for the B-52 bomber in “Dr Strangelove”! They look like they have been made other-worldly through a photographic process called posterization.
Comment by Mike B — June 1, 2009 @ 7:29 pm
Hey Mike,
Yeah I think I’d actually heard that somewhere else…. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if it was reused, I remember reading that some of the Models from Gerry Andersons “Terrahawks” were reused in Aliens as I guess made by part of the same special effects crew…. so why not with 2001?
Comment by Kie — June 2, 2009 @ 6:08 am
[...] what mine looks like – diagonal smears. They bear no relation to the varied textures visible in 2001. It isn’t just a matter of simple disturbance, described in the short documentary among the [...]
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