3 ms·
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 sc
by 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 agoBowman 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 agoThis is also true for the large NORAD screens in WarGames (1983).
- JKCalhoun 2y agoFascinating 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 agoInterestingly 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
- JKCalhoun 2y agoGiven the film-noir vibe and recycled-future look, CRT's might have been an intentional artistic choice.
- wkat4242 2y agoYes and be didn't just predict space travel and display tech but also AI.
- WalterBright 2y agoArthur C Clarke collaborated closely with Kubrick on developing the story.
- wkat4242 2y agoOh yeah true I forgot it was just based on a book.
- WalterBright 2y agoThe book and movie were done at the same time. Clarke wrote multiple versions of it - see "The Lost Worlds of 2001". The concept is from a short story "The Sentinel" by Clarke.
- Aardwolf 2y agoI don't know what the modules Bowman is unplugging in the HAL computer represented in the film back then, but today they can easily be seen as each being a CPU board, GPU or SSD. Maybe in the 60s they represented circuits with a few transistors, magnetic cores or tapes. It's interesting that the art style was made universal enough to work for computing technology of any era