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This seems to require some preexisting knowledge on forensics of scratches on film reels, or something, and I have trouble following the article. Is there a TL;

This seems to require some preexisting knowledge on forensics of scratches on film reels, or something, and I have trouble following the article. Is there a TL;DR of what exactly the main message is, is there anything special proven by these scratches or anything that's different than other films?

rnewme 2y ago
Nope, just random ramble on and on. But some interesting tidbits about the filming of the movie itself in the second part.
justin66 2y ago
The fact that the scratches always appear within the confines of one of the computer displays indicates they occurred on one of the many 16 mm loops used in rear projection to fill the screens with animated readouts. Because of the color of the scratches, it is possible to infer they occurred on the emulsion side of the 16 mm film > anything that's different than other films? It’s not like there were a ton of films simulating a sophisticated computer display by playing a separate little film inside a frame.
- detourdog 2y ago
  Douglas Trumbull was the technician behind the special effects. He had been working making films for NASA describing future space missions.
  - JKCalhoun 2y ago
    He is mentioned in the article but they left off Silent Running (1972) as one of his credits. Perhaps they think it is lesser known? Also mentioned, Brian Johnson — but they leave off that he was The Special Effects Guy behind the TV series Space 1999. Brian's comment in the article about "blimping" the projectors to cut down the noise is an interesting throw-back to when they would wrap a camera or projector in some kind of throw-together enclosure to try to block the noise it made. I believe in addition to using padding to dampen the sound, they sometimes used thin lead sheets to build the enclosure with as well. How you vent a blimped projector that is probably running a 1000 Watt bulb to keep it from overheating and melting the film is something of a wonder.
- rwmj 2y ago
  Also used many years later to spectacular effect in War Games (1984).
KineticLensman 2y ago
For me a central message that comes out really well is that Kubrick created flat screen computer graphics by back projecting manually prepared films onto the screens. In other words, although the space parts of 2001 were full of computer screens, none of these were actual computer output. Admittedly this is a bit buried in the discussion about the scratches but it was fascinating nevertheless.
- svantana 2y ago
  > none of these were actual computer output Not surprising since real-time, high-def color CGI hadn't yet been done in 1968.
  - justin66 2y ago
    Bowman and Poole are effectively using/watching tablet computers at a couple points early in the movie. It’s an eye opener comparing that to the much lower budget computer stuff in the eighties sequel, filmed by a different director. Lots of CRTs and wireframe graphics.
- qubex 2y ago
  This is also true for the large NORAD screens in WarGames (1983).
- JKCalhoun 2y ago
  Fascinating to imagine all the 16mm projectors hanging off the back of the consoles in order to simulate what would, many decades later, be a 1/8" thick OLED display. I still think that was a rather prescient glimpse of the future of technology for 1968 (or earlier when art production began). Was that "common knowledge" in the sci-fi community back then? That future displays would be flat, thin, rectangular? I am thinking that the book Fahrenheit 451 had wall-sized TV screens so perhaps that was already a popular perception of the future.
  - KineticLensman 2y ago
    Interestingly the 1982 Bladerunner used CRTs for many of its computer terminals which (to me) give it a somewhat dated look - the screens have noticeable curves

rnewme 2y ago

Nope, just random ramble on and on. But some interesting tidbits about the filming of the movie itself in the second part.

justin66 2y ago

The fact that the scratches always appear within the confines of one of the computer displays indicates they occurred on one of the many 16 mm loops used in rear projection to fill the screens with animated readouts. Because of the color of the scratches, it is possible to infer they occurred on the emulsion side of the 16 mm film > anything that's different than other films? It’s not like there were a ton of films simulating a sophisticated computer display by playing a separate little film inside a frame.

detourdog 2y ago
Douglas Trumbull was the technician behind the special effects. He had been working making films for NASA describing future space missions.
- JKCalhoun 2y ago
  He is mentioned in the article but they left off Silent Running (1972) as one of his credits. Perhaps they think it is lesser known? Also mentioned, Brian Johnson — but they leave off that he was The Special Effects Guy behind the TV series Space 1999. Brian's comment in the article about "blimping" the projectors to cut down the noise is an interesting throw-back to when they would wrap a camera or projector in some kind of throw-together enclosure to try to block the noise it made. I believe in addition to using padding to dampen the sound, they sometimes used thin lead sheets to build the enclosure with as well. How you vent a blimped projector that is probably running a 1000 Watt bulb to keep it from overheating and melting the film is something of a wonder.
rwmj 2y ago
Also used many years later to spectacular effect in War Games (1984).

KineticLensman 2y ago

For me a central message that comes out really well is that Kubrick created flat screen computer graphics by back projecting manually prepared films onto the screens. In other words, although the space parts of 2001 were full of computer screens, none of these were actual computer output. Admittedly this is a bit buried in the discussion about the scratches but it was fascinating nevertheless.

svantana 2y ago
> none of these were actual computer output Not surprising since real-time, high-def color CGI hadn't yet been done in 1968.
- justin66 2y ago
  Bowman and Poole are effectively using/watching tablet computers at a couple points early in the movie. It’s an eye opener comparing that to the much lower budget computer stuff in the eighties sequel, filmed by a different director. Lots of CRTs and wireframe graphics.
qubex 2y ago
This is also true for the large NORAD screens in WarGames (1983).
JKCalhoun 2y ago
Fascinating to imagine all the 16mm projectors hanging off the back of the consoles in order to simulate what would, many decades later, be a 1/8" thick OLED display. I still think that was a rather prescient glimpse of the future of technology for 1968 (or earlier when art production began). Was that "common knowledge" in the sci-fi community back then? That future displays would be flat, thin, rectangular? I am thinking that the book Fahrenheit 451 had wall-sized TV screens so perhaps that was already a popular perception of the future.
- KineticLensman 2y ago
  Interestingly the 1982 Bladerunner used CRTs for many of its computer terminals which (to me) give it a somewhat dated look - the screens have noticeable curves