2001: A Space Odyssey (Editing)

 

The film 2001: A Space Odyssey is a work of cinematic poetry and its combination of philosophical musings with its special effects, sound design, production design, cinematography and editing make it just as visually impressive and thematically fascinating now as it was when originally released in 1968. Now, editing is considered one of the extraordinary keys of the film due to its time skipping from the dawn of man to the futuristic space universe.

In the scenes of ‘The Dawn of Man’, each scene cuts explains the birth of technology where the primates will later evolve into modern humans just in time to save their species from extinction. At first, they were primitive, wild, herbivores, vulnerable to predators, and fearful. But that all changed after they encountered the alien black monolith. One of the apes simultaneously learns to use a bone to hunt with as well as use it as a weapon of mass destruction.

One of the greatest graphic edits I’ve chosen was the cuts from the bone being triumphantly thrown into the air to a satellite in orbit three million years later. This dramatic cut links the two objects as tools of humanity but also draws attention to the vast differences between them. One is a natural tool with a simple function while the other is a complex object that has left the planet to now serve humanity in space.