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Top SFX shots No.29: 2001: A Space Odyssey

Martin Anderson


Published on Dec 29, 2008

The pioneering rotoscoping and miniature work of Douglas Trumbull, Wally Veevers and Les Bowie often overshadows one of the most effective zero-gravity shots ever filmed - and, unlike on Apollo 13, the film-makers had no need to hire NASA's 'vomit comet' to obtain it. In the movie Dave Bowman - Keir Dullea - is forced to re-enter a spaceship without a space-helmet, and does so by depressurising his lungs and blowing the explosive bolts of his EVA vehicle, which is pressed hard to the airlock. The shot was accomplished by positioning the camera directly beneath the pod and airlock set and ejecting a roped Dullea from the prop pod with a puff of propane. The angle hides the rope and the lack of any sound (until the cabin repressurises) is what sells the shot. Arguably the ejection of the oxygen in one blast might have moved the pod away, but it remains an amazing shot. There are too many other contenders from 2001 to even begin to list them here.

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Users Comments

Re: Top SFX shots No.29: 2001: A Space Odyssey
Posted By nedry 1 September 4, 2010 08:22:15 PM

There are more, serious problems with this shot. The pod should be thrown backwards by the ejection of the pod door. Where does the pod door go? It just vanishes in a puff of smoke. It should be slammed into the open hatch of the Discovery.
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