2001: CREATING KUBRICK’S SPACE ODYSSEY chronicles the creation of one of the most influential films in the history of cinema. This new documentary examines the work of legendary director Stanley Kubrick and iconic novelist Arthur C. Clarke in creating what they called “the proverbial good science fiction movie.” Filmmaker Roger Lay, Jr. tackles the enigmatic film through interviews with 2001 Keir Dullea (who played astronaut Dave Bowman) and choreographer Dan Richter (who played Moonwatcher, the proto-human ape who learned to use the first tool). Both provide personal insights into their work on the groundbreaking film.
Other interviews include 2001 visual effects technician Brian Johnson (Academy Award winner for Alien and Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back), film historian Michael Benson (author of Space Odyssey: Kubrick, Clarke, and the Making of a Masterpiece), and technologist Jules Urbach (CEO of OTOY). They discuss not only the revolutionary visual effects of the Kubrick film but also the movie’s enduring influence. Iconic sequences and sets like The Dawn of Man, monolith, the Discovery centrifuge, HAL 9000 superintelligence, stargate, and Starchild sequences are discussed by film and technology luminaries like Erin McDonald, astrophysicist; Craig Barron, Academy-award winning visual effects supervisor for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; Bill Hunt, film critic at The Digital Bits; New York Times best-selling author Garfield Reeves-Stevens and Grae Drake, film critic for CNN.
2001: CREATING KUBRICK’S SPACE ODYSSEY features museum-quality digital re-creations of the original 2001 sets including interiors of the spaceship Discovery and the mysterious alien hotel room by Daren Dochterman, Mark Spatny, Carlos Baena, and a talented team of CG artists and animators at OTOY, including James Hibbert, Geoff Holman, J.J. Palomo, Neil Smith, and Aaron Westwood.
Keir Dullea’s testimony adds vivid first-hand detail about his personal recollections performing for Kubrick on sets like The Centrifuge, which required enormous technical innovation, artistry and personal risk to create some of the most iconic sequences in cinematic history. The firsthand testimony of Keir Dullea’s performance on the Centrifuge is complemented by a discussion of production designer Tony Masters’ iconic set design techniques in the creation of the Dawn of Man sequence, which is led by Dan Richter’s firsthand recollections of his collaboration with Kubrick in developing the performance style for the proto-humans in the film’s iconic opening scene.
Synthesizing the behind-the-scenes visual effects innovations of 2001: A Space Odyssey with discussion of the defining technological transformations of the 20th and 21st centuries, 2001: Creating Kubrick’s Space Odyssey sheds light into how Kubrick and Clarke’s collaboration was shaped by NASA’s Space Age and its salience for the modern era of artificial intelligence.
2001 fans can visit www.otoy.com for more details or to view the film. 2001: CREATING KUBRICK’S ODYSSEY was produced and directed by Roger Lay, Jr. OTOY CEO Jules Urbach is the executive producer with Michael & Denise Okuda also onboard as producers.
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