User:Serendipodous/indigo/page 9
Released in Cinerama, an early predecessor to IMAX show don't tell taken to an extreme
"He [Kubrick] created created what was to become, in effect, one long film about the ways in which people attempt to impose themselves on their worlds, erecting enormous barriers, schemes, structures, and technologies to which they yield their power, lose their agency in the world, and via which are eventually destroyed." Robert Kolker
Kubrick's characters are never in control and not really characters; ideas in human form
scifi of the 50s was of two varieties: anti-communist allegories made on the cheap ("Red Planet Mars; I married a monster from outer space; invasion of the body snatchers) and explorations of the implications of the new technology (destination moon, conquest of space, forbidden planet)
Like modern scifi filmmakers, Kubrick sought the advice of NASA and AI scientists to aid realism
The most emotionally engaging scene is the death of a murderous machine
1968 "reviewers had more problems with the film's slow pace and open questions than the audience" today likely to be the other way around.
For some, seeing 2001 on home video is a better experience than seeing it in Cinerama
"the tribes tune in so fast that college students thousands of miles apart have heard of what a great trip 2001 is before has even reached their city" Pauline Kael.
Easy rider the graduate (5 easy pieces?) Oedipal transgressions of marriage, settling down
myth of the triumphant technocrat
"movies are not what we enjoy, and what we enjoy has little to do with what we think of as art"
stanley kaufmann called it a 3 hour film, which it is not. Interestingly, Interstellar is.
renata adler: Just plain boring
"I will say that the God concept is at the heart of 2001, but not any traditional, anthropomorphic image of God" Kubrick
"MGM is making the first ten million dollar religious movie, only they don't know it yet." Clarke
Kubrick was fascinated by "the scientific probability that the universe was full of intelligent civilizations and advanced entities". (Clarke had supposedly saved him from belief in flying saucers)
"the universe is crawling with life; much of it, since the numbers are so staggering, equal to us in intelligence, or superior, simply because human intelligence has existed for so short a period."
He believed that human evolution was driven by warfare, and that technology was inherently ambivalent
"If Man really sat back and thought about his impending termination, and his terrifying insignificance and aloneness in the cosmos, eh would surely go mad or succumb to a numbing sense of futility. Why, he might ask himself should he bother to write a great symphony, or strive to make a living, or even to love another, when he is no more than a momentary microbe on a dust mote swirling through the unimaginable immensity of space." Kubrick
He cited Joseph Campbell's The Hero With A Thousand Faces as an inspiration, as well as Frazier's Golden Bough.
"some pathetic papier mache monster"- monoliths represent them
Is the Moon sequence a joke?
Moon watcher- Moon
The first science fiction novel, Frankenstein, was a woman's critique of male imperial overreach of nature. Subsequent SF writers, all male, took the power of Scientific Man and ran with it. From Jules Verne to Robert E Howard, all the stories involve virile men using technology to go on adventures, often to save sexualised women from bug eyed monsters. Even HG Wells, a noted feminist, had only one significant female character in his scifi stories, Weena, a childlike elf creature on whom the Time Traveller can imprint his own values (debatable- Wells did have female protagonists in his lesser known works)
Employs scifi's standard geometric shining surfaces to critique their use in earlier films- not empowering, but dehumanising.
Vivian Sobchak: "whether named Buzz or Armstrong, Buck, Flash or Bowman [they are] they are as libidinously interesting as a Ken doll.. all jaw and no genitals."
Michael Mateas
Most AIs in scifi act like people; there is no connection between them and the discipline and goals of AI
Chess was seen as a sport for the intelligent, ergo, if computers could play chess, then they could also be intelligent. However, it is what we consider easy things, like natural language, visual processing, artistic appreciation, that turn out to be the hardest things to create
Hal's feelings speech, the Turing Test
cold, antiseptic environment
"The Religion of technology" david Nobel argues that technology embodies the Christian drive for physical transcendence
Ultimately, though HAL may lose, non-biological intelligence wins
Leonard Wheat
Concepts not characters
Odyssey: Odysseus
Clarke: The reason Bowman's crewmates must die is because Odysseus's did
Hal, the cyclops
Clarke pondered what we ow called transhumanism; the idea that man and machine could fuse and eventually become indistinguishable, as more and more human parts were replaced with more durable robotic parts, including the brain- Bowman exists "in symbiosis with the ship"
HAL is an attempt at a second evolution for humanity; a failed attempt at procreation.
Bowman: Odysseus was an archer; David, another giant slayer
Nietzsche: God was created by man; man must kill god to ascend
sexual symbiolism in the orion spacecraft?
baby food
the octahedrons are the aliens?
paul duncan
anti-war is a theme in Kubrick's films
Kubrick placed people in their environment, and has been called cold as a result
Kubrick leaves the morality of the starchild ambiguous [unlike the novel]
Journalists labelled Kubrick a recluse, as they do with all famous people who refuse to talk to them
After quitting look, Kubrick made 20-30 dollars a week playing chess in Washington Square (about half the median income of the day).
Peter Kramer
the novel ends with the star child detonating the bombs in orbit; either an optimistic or a pessimistic take depending on how you read it
abandoned because it was too close to the end of Doctor Strangelove.
"We have wasted and defiled a beautiful planet earth; why should be expect any mercy from a returning star child?" Clarke, reconsidering his own ending
[science fiction, like horror, or romance, suffers from the fact that it is, fundamentally, a utilitarian genre; it aims to explore ideas above character or story. The same complaints leveled at 2001 could be leveled at scifi in general].
Kubrick had already explored science fiction with Doctor Strangelove, and would return to it again in A Clockwork Orange and (posthumously) in AI.
"the only social problem where there's absolutely no chance for people to learn anything from experience"
Kubrick initially envisioned a comic scifi ending to Doctor Strangelove in which an alien supercivilization would sneer at the infantile drives of primitive Man
31 March 1964: In his letter to Clarke, Kubrick outlined three themes he wanted to explore in the film ("the proverbial really good science fiction movie")
1, The reason for believing in the existence of intelligent extra-terrestrial life
2. The impact (and perhaps even lack of impact in some quarters) such discovery would have on Earth in the near future
3. A space probe with a landing and exploration of the Moon and Mars.
Could an advanced civilization offer humanity the means to not destroy itself?
If the system was safe 99.99 percent of the time, it would fail in 30 years
Childhood's End: aliens invade, conquer Earth, and this is a good thing, because we need to be trained. Eventually a new generation of telepathic children are born, which transcend into the Overmind while the human race itself dies out.
February, 1965: "The Film Story, titled "Journey beyond the stars" was submitted to MGM in December 1964.
"Expedition to Earth": Aliens appear as Gods to a human from 100,000 years ago
The initial budget was 6 million (mega budget epics like Ben Hur and Lawrence of Arabia were usually budgeted at 15 million)
MGM's initial announcement consisted of a long statement by Kubrick, who was described as having "received world wide acclaim"
Spartacus was a massive hit, generating a 2 million profit on a 12 million budget. Lolita had made 4 million on a two million budget while Doctor strangelove had made 5 million on a similar budget
the film's cinerama release was also seen as a potential money maker; cinerama releases made money.
"The universe is not only stranger than we imagine; it is stranger than we can imagine" quote by JBS Haldane- quoted in the press release, and perhaps more prescient than they would have liked.
MGM envisioned the film as a "roadshow release"; a special cultural event, with a live orchestra and premium locations at premium prices prior to general release.
The space race was in full swing: Gagarin and Sheperd had orbited the Earth in 1961.
Journey beyond the Stars could work as a kind of virtual space race; the Soviets may be able to outspend the government, but they could never outspend hollywood.
Until very late in the film's development, it was intended to have voice over
bizony
Kubrick was emblematic of Churchill's famous assertion "My education was inturrupted only by my schooling"
A professional photographer by 17 for Look magazine, he read voraciously and attended night classes, developing a fondness for pulp science fiction
His work on Spartacus told him never to work as a hired hand, or to relinquish control of a project, a philosophy he adhered to like a barnacle.
"the director is the only one who can authentically impose his personality onto a picture, and the result is his responsibility, partly because he's always there." Kubrick
"If he falls flat on his face just once, it might teach him how to compromise."
This led him to shift his operations to England
appalled by the seemingly fatalistic response of the public to the Cuban missile crisis, he began work on an adaptation of "red Alert" a thriller about a rogue general who launches a first strike against the Soviet Union. To differentiate it from Fail-Safe, a similar thriller that went into production over his objections, he decided to make it a dark comedy.
"Man has always worshipped beauty, and I think there is a new king of beauty afoot in the world." Kubrick
"the coming age of spaceflight will change our view of ourselves and our world. There is a very close correlation between the ability of a civilization to make significant space voyages and its ability to live with nuclear energy" Kubrick
1957: Japanese science fiction to study special effects
fascinated by aliens and extraterrestrials, Kubrick told Roger Ceras he was "reading everything by everybody". Ceras told him to stick to Arthur C Clarke, Ironically, Kubrick asked, "Isn't he a recluse? A nut living in a tree someplace?" In fact Clarke had relocated to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) due to the country's more tolerant views on homosexuality.
"the proverbial really good science fiction movie"
22 April 1964 at trader vics: First meeting of Clarke and Kubrick
Clarke worked in the post office studying the wire and valve communicatins systems, and then during the war developed radar-guided talk-down devices for planes landing in poor visibility
he was the first to propose that geostationary satellites could be used for telecommunications
in a mis-prediction that would go on to inform all of 2001, Clarke suggested that, given the bulky, valve-driven communications of the time, each of the satellites would require a maintenance crew, thus providing a justification for getting people into space. First published in 1945.
Film scripts are "the most uncommunicative form of writing ever devised."
may 17 1964: Clarke agrees to work on the project, that night, sees a ufo with Kubrick on the penthouse's rooftop deck
The meeting of two very justified egos. Clarke's friends would later say that Kubrick was the only man Clarke ever took a back seat to
"What are you trying to do to me? I'll never see another movie you recommend" Kubrick on Things To Come
Chelsea hotel "an oasis of rest for people of temperament". advertised its soundproof rooms. Clarke would have drinks with alan ginsberg and william burroughs
The Day the Earth Stood Still, about an alien who comes to warn humanity once they discover nuclear power that they are not alone in their solar system, and forbidden planet, a story about an ancient, purely intellectual society destroyed by their own subconscious demons manifested by their technology. Huge influence on Star Trek
Clarke stories included "Breaking Strain" about a two-man crew of a trip to Venus that get incapacitated by a meteor, and must decides who gets the remaining oxygen
"The Sentinel", written by Clarke in 1948 for a BBC radio story competition, which it failed to win
Bunny Lake Is Missing: Kier Dullea had played a calm rational exterior hiding a well of deep psychosis and delusion.
the two were cast as much for their physiques as for their acting ability
William Sylvester was cast largely because he was bland and wore a suit well; an interesting contrast in 2010, where he is played by the charismatic and characterful Roy Scheider.
Harry Lange was a German expat and talented illustrator who fell into Werner von Braun's circle at the budding space agency NASA, and became its illustrator of future projects
Frederick Ordoway was q geoscientist who had collaborated with lange on a book on extraterrestrial life
"2001" would work as a title 1965- far enough to be exotic but close enough to not seem fanciful
Clarke gave Kubrick a copty of Joseph Campbell's Hero With A Thousand Faces. David Bowman's name was orignally Alex- alexander the great, bowman, soldier
"I prefer to present a non-specific result for the film. Maybe it works for the book" Kubrick
IBM: computer would be something people walked into, rather than walked around
The ibm athena drawings are useless and totally irrelevant to our needs. I am extremely bored and depressed by all this abysmal waste of time. Annoyed but lovingly, S.
Kubrick was right; Motorolay and Raytheon, spurred by NASA demands, were beginning to look at miniaturaisation. The microchip was still a decade away, but the process had already begun. The idea of computers as massive mainframes was already obsolete.
lip reading decided by telex between clarke and kubriock
Hal's legacy
silence
Discovery is fully illuminated, despite there being only one light source
birthday- frank, Hal, squirt, humanity (twice).
1992 vs 1997: is hal a computer or a person?
fundamnetal principles: AI is within the currently understood laws of physics and is not predicated on some form of vitalism or mind-body dualism
Frank and Dave use tablets, but write with pens; HAL produces outputs on punchcard
1956 dartmouth conference marvin minsky
Doug Lenat; renouncing trying to make inteligence in a particular domain
case based, rules based connectionist reasoning
case based: You store all the solutions to every possible problem, and the computer looks them up
rules based: input rules for the computer to follow, comes apart if a situation arises for which no rule exists
neural networks: evolved networks for which how the solution to a problem is arrived at is unknown. good for solving problems, essentially useless for designing computers
Kubricks original plan (as in the Sentinel) was for the monolith to be a clear tetrahedron
Heuristically programmed algorithmic computer: heuristics are rules of thumb, algorithms are set rules
Emotions are required for the setting of goals
Everywhere and nowhere, ubiquitous yet hidden
Kubrick based Hal's chessgame on an obscure game played between two humans, granting Hal a human style of play. computers today seek the fastest route to checkmate, but Hal did not.
Uranus/Neptune
"make a considerable angle to teh ecliptic"
17.74 Earth masses and 4.31 Earth diameters
retrograde orbits
1833, 40+ years after their discovery, Herschel's son John noted that the only telescope that had observed the moons of Uranus had been the one that discovered them
(this was not actually true; as they had been observed in 1797 by Johann schroter of Lillenthal; though there was enough doubt to debate if the mons existed at all
"if the various satellites of a planet move in a plane greatly inclined to that of its orbit, it can be inferred that they are kept in that plane by the action of the planet's equator. It can therefore be inferred that the planet Uranus, all of whose satellites move in a single plane almost perpendicular to the ecliptic, itself turns on its axis very little inclined to the ecliptic" Laplace 1829 (He had not observed the satellites)
Despite markings having possibly been observed in 1870, in 1875 Simon Newcomb asserted that no variations in Uranus's surface had been seen, and that it always maintained a sea-foam green color.
1883: Sciaparelli, the great observer of planetary surfaces, claimed to see spots on Uranus's surface, though he felt he couldn't draw them with any confidence
angeo seccchi first observed absorbtion bands
Vestro Slipher (1934) showed that they were due to methane
Slipher simulated the shift in spectra by photographing the methane spectrum through a great depth of gas
By weight: HHe: 82/67 15/10 Ice: 5/12 60/70
Scientists did not know if Uranus possessed an intrinsic magnetic field
field was detected by voyager 2 five days before closest approach
tilted 59 degrees, more like earth's field
displaced by 1/3 the radius
the poles were not hotter than the equator (64 k)
banded zonal winds determined by rotation, not by insolation distribution
upper atmosphere 2% methane
50% water, with methane ammonia
clouds were calm, with no trace of lighting 1 thousadth the solar eergy, active atmosphere
dark spot size of earth flecked with bright wispy clouds (higher altitude)- anticyclonioc like GRS
frozen methae cirrus clouds
scooter, wizard's eye
spot: deep or shallow
eptue has more methane in its upper atmosphere than Uranus
Winds o Neptune 930 mph (great dark spot)- almost breaking the soud barrier, though not as fast as saturn
Winds travel against the planet's rotation save some which move at 45 mph with the rotation
Much like titan, haze is formed by sunlight reacting with the methane particles; these form ice crystal cirrus clouds or fall into the lower atmosphere, where the higher temperature and pressure converts them back into methane, which then rises back to the top
methane clouds lie at 1 bar, by no coincidence, also the pressure of earth at sea level. Lower down, at 3 bar, are thick clouds of frozen hydrogen sulfide
haze is optically very thin
Initially they assumed that Uranus was undergoig a magnetic pole shift; after they found Neptune, they realised this was not a coincidence
Neptune is the densest of the giant planets though uranus is less dense than Jupiter
U/N have larger cores in proportion to their diameters than J/S
Extreme temperature gradent with season, but temperature differences are small- efficient heat transfer
models by sabine stanley ad jeremy bloxham at harvard suggests that thin layers of electrically conducting, convecting fluid can produce this kid of field
Humaity has only been observing Uranus closely for one of its seasons.
The outer atmosphere of uranus is clear and warm, sice methae freezes out and falls into the lower regions without remixing
Observatios by the keck ad the hubble imaged 20 clouds o Uranus, more than the etire history of observation combined
Uranus's core is likely only a few masses or less
uranus and netune appear to have larger cores in relation to their size than Jupiter or Saturn
despite long periods of summer polar heating, temperature fluctuations are small
Uranus is slightly hotter at the equator than at the poles
Uranus is not radiating any heat
h/he does not condense into clouds
the degree of oblateness due to spinning is depenecdent on the internal structure of the planet
helum in solar abundance. higher hydrogen, breakdown of methane?
three layer rock/ice/ gas model vs 2 layer rockice/gas model
secchi had to re check his telescope to see if there was no malfunction; all the colours near yellow were missing
Moons
Herschel called his satellites I and II
"this is all that can be said about these bodies whichby their smallness and remotenness, will alwys defy more extensive research."
January 1853, Lassell to Rev Sheepshanks of the RAS: observatioons at 1018x showed no other satellites "I think it is high time that Uranus's establishment should be reduced. He has been luxuriating these many years with a with a retunue that I really believe does not belong to him, and therefore, he must be cut down to four attendants, until some astronomer arises rich enough to present him with some more."
Though Lassell was the first to name the four satellites of Uranus in a publication, it seems to have been John Herschel who suggested them to William Lassel. The idea being that tehy were chosen from the fairies, sylphs and gnomes of Shakespeare and Pope's writings. Lassell's daughter said that Herschel did definitely name Ariel and Umbriel (Ariel being invisible, and Umbriel being "a dusky sprite") because they were difficult to see. Whether Herschel also named Titania and Oberon is not known, but generally presumed.
Lassell found himself having to defend his discovery from cockier astronomers who asserted that Herschel had beat him to the punch. Lassell discovered Triton while trying to verify his observed ring. He initially claimed that, like Iapetus, it was darker on one side than the other, though this has never been verified.
Triton was exceptionally bright, which meant it was either very large, very reflective, or both. By 1988 the IAU had established a preliminary diameter for Triton of 3500 +- 500 km, making it larger than Pluto.
198: Atmosphere established. Believed to be mostly methane, with some nitrogen
ice away from the sub-solar point (equator)
Prior to Voyager, it was suspected that triton may have polar caps of condensed atmosphere
DP Cruicshank somewhat optimistically suggested that a "sea" of liquid nitrogen might cover Triton to a few tens of centimetres spotted with methane icebergs.
Nereid: found in 1949 by Gerard Kuiper oppoistion surges indicated that the surfaces of the moons were particulate, even though tehy were made of ice. voyager found this to be true- titania was riddled with impact craters
The moons of uranus were darker than the satellites of Saturn except Phoebe and the dark side of Iapetus There had been no precursor mission, Voyager 2 pressed on alone
navigate vopyager to 100 km of the target- putting a golf ball from 1500 miles
putting at Seminole, hole in one at Cantebury woods in NH ancient impact craters on umberiel and oberon
titania and ariel might be younger than oberon and umbriel- fewer craters possibly formed from impact debris from the first sratering event
pimple on oberon, possibly the peak of an impact basin
Lassel invited by Adams, sprained ankle. Not true?
61 cm reflector, lassel 1844
"with all possible expedition" John Herschel 1 october 10 october, found triton
red ring seen by herschel due to "front view" system of telescope
moved from England to Malta: "whatever may be the cause, it is more intimately connected to the telescope than the object" Lassell on his ring. "nearly at right angles to the paralel of daily motiion
triton diameter 6000 km to 2500 km dense atmosphere
1987: Delitsky and Thompson "the glint of a distant sun reflected off a calm nitrogen sea" Ariel is the brightest; mbriel the darkest (comet collisions? or just dark?)
Ariel has few large craters, suggested it has been cryovolcanically resurfaced.
larger valleys filled with smooth deposits
bright impact features
23,836 miles above Neptune's surface
41-year log summer red material evaporating from the southern to the northern hemispheres- check axial tilt
Triton was becoming less red in the decade preceding the Voyager mission
Very few impact craters to the size resolution of voyagers camera
straight lines, strike/slip faults?
young surface; 10^7 - 8 rather than 10^9
topographic features as high as 1 km made of water ice
impact basins filld by flooding and cryotectonics
calderas
polar cap covers almost all the southern hemisphere
little relief at the edges suggests the vaneer is thin
wind streaks of dark material some 100 km long, with patches at the end, suggesting eruptive vents
active 90 mile high pluiems were observed
nitrogen trapped under ice heated by greehouse, geysers not volcanoes
the guy deosn't seem to imagine that Triton could be it
pluto is armer tha triton, lower albedo and closer to the sun (in 1989)
Triton has an extreme axial tilt relative to the Sun, meaning extreme seasonal variation during 82-year seasons
gases condense at the poles and form a cap, meaning atmospheric density varies widely with season
Some terrains had been observed on other moons, but some were unique (Triton)
Triton had been becoming less red Pole is pink, likely due to modification by sunlight, neutral collar fresh ice
South pole is in 41-year summer
Ices are sublimating from the south polar region and travelling to the northern region, which was unobservable
There are no large impact craters and very few at all down to the limits of resolution, so it must have been resurfaced at least since the Late Heavy Bombardment
albedo difference appears to be due to ice veneer of methane or nitrogen, rather than topographic features
tidal heating and extensive resurfacing
local melting and collapse of the icy surface creates roughly circular depressions
some regions of Triton indicate softer terrain,
dark regions with bright halos (frozen lakes-like) perhaps made by Iapetusization
aeolean streaks 100 miles long, vents miles in diameter
they must be ejected into the upper atmospehre to be carried on the wind, not enough atmosphere to raise winds at the surface
material wells up from the canteloupe terrain and forms higher rigdges
area with more craters on the leading edge, where you would expect it to see more space debris. May also be older
5 mile plume and 90 mile long cloud observed
resembles a smokestack until it reaches 5 miles
artesean plume
atmosphere may have an inversion layer at that altitude
all plumes observed so far are confined to the regions receiving the most solar energy; thus it may be solar in origin
nitrogen ice ascts like greenhouse glass, trapping solar energy beneath and melting subsurface material until it erupts
crater densities are comparable to those on lunar maria
atmospehre, thin (1/1000 Mars), mostly nitrogen, some methane
hazes, clouds, photochemical smog
"frozen lakes" were revealed to be basins filled with material with the consistency of lava (icy lava)
why nitrogen and not carbon monoxide, why no methane on charon
mountains and other surface relief suggest water is present, even though it was not detected, because only water retains its shape over long periods at that temperature
zin and akapura guittae Unique features
frozen lakes likely of water, which would not flow at this temperature
Summer midsummer 2006 the canyons of Ariel appear to have been smoothed by flowing liquid, possibly methane or ammonia
Behaves like a lava tube- tectonic, cryolava, graben
smaller channels (fluid flow? tectonic?) filled with smooth deposits
the faults crossing the graben disappear as they intersect, suggesting that they have been filled in with lava flow
umbriels surface is old, pockmarked, and uniformly dark- darker than all other satellites of uranus
a volcanic eruption, possibly from umriel or another moon, may have obliterated any evidence of recent cratering
possibly an impact rather than a volcano
titania has few large craters and a near total covering of smaller craters, which might have overridden the craters already there
expanding interior water may have been the cause of the down-dropped blocks on the surface
the depths of Oberon's craters are filled with icy volcanism dark water- lo-rez
we only got the portion facing us, and in light
umbriel vaguely resembles a cherry bomb
"the most bizarre world in the entire Solar System"
William Lassell owned teh largest telescope in Britain
Triton is bright, so bright that it was originally thought to be the largest moon in the Solar System
Lassell first observed his satellites in 1847 but failed to confirm them until 1851.
oberon, mostly ancient, cratered terrain
brightest regions are ejecta from craters
titania, largest uran satellite
Umbriel, darkest undifferentiated? Then Why? disrupted moon? Then from where? why no craters large enough?
ring or cloud, uniform darkness
dark ejecta from a massive unseen crater
Umbriel has no atmosphere to spread the dust
favoured hypothesis: extensive cryovolcanism
vertical thrust fractures
Ariel, few large craters indicates resurfacing post LHB