# Special Effects in 2001:A Space Odyssey **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 2, 2003, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-effects-in-2001-a-space-odyssey/179167 "2003-06-02T17:54:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WonTon\_Sean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/54ee81/32.png) [@WonTon\_Sean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WonTon_Sean)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-effects-in-2001-a-space-odyssey/179167/1 "2003-06-02T17:54:46Z")
In the “Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite” section, what technique was used when Dave travels through the weird colored “hyperspace?” The kinda two-dimensional video game looking stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-effects-in-2001-a-space-odyssey/179167/2 "2003-06-02T18:04:14Z")
I’m told that a lot of it involved using magnets to alter the colors of the film. I’d love to know more about it myself. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-effects-in-2001-a-space-odyssey/179167/3 "2003-06-02T18:05:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by WonTon Sean \* > \*\*In the “Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite” section, what technique was used when Dave travels through the weird colored “hyperspace?” The kinda two-dimensional video game looking stuff. \*\* According to the TCM website: “To create the spectacular space ride at the film’s climax, Trumbull combined aerial footage of Monument Valley, Utah (a favorite location for John Ford’s westerns), shot through colored filters, with other aerial shots originally made for Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove. He also invented a split-scan effect by keeping the camera’s shutter open to expose a single frame of film while he moved the light source toward the camera to create fantastic light patterns.” For more, behind-the-scenes info on the special effects in this film, see [URL=http://www.turnerclassicmovies.com/ThisMonth/Article/0,26706|26708|26711,00.html] ---
**Author:** ![troub](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troub/32/14802_2.png) [@troub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troub)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-effects-in-2001-a-space-odyssey/179167/4 "2003-06-02T18:22:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Miss Mapp \* > \*\*He also invented a split-scan effect by keeping the camera’s shutter open to expose a single frame of film while he moved the light source toward the camera to create fantastic light patterns." > \*\* I also read this somewhere else. I haven’t been able to find the cite for where I saw it though. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-effects-in-2001-a-space-odyssey/179167/5 "2003-06-02T18:33:55Z")
[An illustrated explanation of the slitscan process.](http://www.underview.com/2001/how/slitscan.html) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-effects-in-2001-a-space-odyssey/179167/6 "2003-06-02T19:20:21Z")
You can also read about the 2001 effects in **The Making of Kubrick’s 2001** by Jerome Agel. Assuming you can find a copy these days. ---
**Author:** ![WonTon\_Sean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/54ee81/32.png) [@WonTon\_Sean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WonTon_Sean)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-effects-in-2001-a-space-odyssey/179167/7 "2003-06-02T20:19:53Z")
Thanks a lot, guys. I caught the movie on television last night (thank God for TCM!) and I was curious. Thanks again. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-effects-in-2001-a-space-odyssey/179167/8 "2003-06-02T22:45:36Z")
I caught some of it as well… [hijack] I was noticing when the ape men are touching the monolith, you can see both a cresent moon and the sun, both very close to each other. Is this possible? I thought the cresent moon was caused by the Earth’s shadow on the moon. I can’t see how both moon and sun could be visible at the same time in such a small field of view. [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Dragonblink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Dragonblink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragonblink)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-effects-in-2001-a-space-odyssey/179167/9 "2003-06-03T00:11:02Z")
The Earth’s shadow on the moon causes a lunar eclipse. The monthly moon phases are caused by the fact that the dark bit is facing away from the sun, and is therefore in shadow. A moon anywhere near the sun from a viewer’s perspective would be a crescent (or new). ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-effects-in-2001-a-space-odyssey/179167/10 "2003-06-03T00:27:33Z")
The dark area of the crescent moon is just like the night side of earth - nothing external is blocking the sun’s light. You’re right about the problem of seeing the crescent moon like that. That size of a crescent would be much farther away from the sun. I’ve seen a crescent moon that was just 24 hours away from new, and it was smaller than that, not really a crescent. I think the closest-to-new moon that’s ever been observed is 18 hours. Moons less than 20 hours away from new are very hard to see. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-effects-in-2001-a-space-odyssey/179167/11 "2003-06-03T04:18:19Z")
The alignment of celestial bodies is a theme in **2001: A Space Odyssey**. It happens again when Bowman is hovering over Jupiter; in both cases, it signals an epochal event. ---
**Author:** ![G.Cornelius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@G.Cornelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G.Cornelius)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-effects-in-2001-a-space-odyssey/179167/12 "2003-06-03T12:02:19Z")
It is a long time since I last saw the movie, but I am sure I remember thinking that some of the special effects shots looked like the flow country in the North of Scotland - a large area of pools and tiny islands. Can anyone shed any further light on that? ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/special-effects-in-2001-a-space-odyssey/179167/13 "2003-06-03T14:46:21Z")
It was actually footage of northern Canada, shot for **Dr. Strangelove**.