COMM 634.

003: Film and Video Production II

Instructor: Jonathan Adelman

MFA Film and Electronic Media

Assignment 3: Scene Deconstruction Silent Movie Scene

2001: A Space Odyssey

Presented By: Priya Krishna

March 17, 2008
 Table of Contents

1.0 INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................2
2.0 WITHOUT SOUND..............................................................................................................................2
2.1 WHAT IS THE SCENE ABOUT?..................................................................................................................2
2.2 PLACE AND CONTEXT IN FILM..................................................................................................................2
2.3 MAIN CHARACTERS................................................................................................................................2
2.4 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CHARACTERS.......................................................................................................2
2.5 TONE....................................................................................................................................................2
2.6 VISUAL ELEMENTS THAT CONVEY TONE....................................................................................................2
2.7 ACTION IN SCENE...................................................................................................................................2
2.8 VISUALS THE DESCRIBE ACTION...............................................................................................................2
2.9 WHAT IS THE SCENE ABOUT?..................................................................................................................2
3.0 WITH SOUND......................................................................................................................................3
3.1 WHAT IS THE SCENE ABOUT?..................................................................................................................3
3.2 PLACE AND CONTEXT IN FILM..................................................................................................................3
3.3 MAIN CHARACTERS................................................................................................................................4
3.4 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CHARACTERS.......................................................................................................4
3.5 TONE....................................................................................................................................................4
3.6 VISUAL ELEMENTS THAT CONVEY TONE....................................................................................................4
3.7 ACTION IN SCENE...................................................................................................................................4
3.8 VISUALS THE DESCRIBE ACTION...............................................................................................................4
VISUALS THE DESCRIBE ACTION

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10 Introduction

The purpose of this document is to assess what a scene is about in a film when the film is
set to silent. I watched a series of sequences from the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey in
the time code range of 54:61 – 1:00:35.

20 Without Sound

2.1 What is the Scene About?

A title caption reads "Jupiter Mission: Eighteen Months Later." The scene seems to be
about men in tombs and two guys not monitoring what they are supposed to be. They
seem to be watching TV instead and eating.

2.2 Place and Context in Film

This scene occurs near the end of Act II. It seems to be an informational scene to the
audience. Maybe something happened between the two characters. There might be
another reason why the two characters are not talking to each other.

2.3 Main Characters

In this scene we have three characters that we see. The two that are eating and one that is
in the tomb.

2.4 Relationship between Characters

They seem to not even know each other. What’s odd is that they don’t even acknowledge
each other. They might have had a falling out.

2.5 Tone
The visuals seem to present and bleak and surreal tone.

2.6 Visual Elements that Convey Tone

The scene is very surreal with the use of odd camera angles and how the scene cuts from
an empty screen to people eating and watching a news program.

2.7 Action in Scene

Action is in the eating and watching TV and this is intercut with electronic monitors of
the guy in the tomb and his vitals in front of empty monitoring chairs.

2.8 Visuals the Describe Action

The BBC news cast has text. The vital being monitored show text. The other guy eating
the food gave the audience a clue that the second guy was also going to get food from
that machine.

2.9 What is the Scene About?

A character in this scene comes from another area in the spaceship to a central area
wearing his uniform. We see another man in the background eating in a robe, the person
that came in is orders his lunch from a machine. The character that’s eating watches
anews broadcast from BBC. The first character gets his food and sits next to the second
character. We see the monitoring area of the main terminal without anyone watching, but
there is a feed of other places in the ship.

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Now we see a guy in an enclosed tomb type thing. It seems that the other men are busy
eating and watching television instead of monitoring what they are supposed to be
monitoring. We see scene if emergency procedures and monitors of the person’s vitals.

30 With Sound

3.1 What is the Scene About?

Frank Poole and Dave Bowman watch themselves in a television interview on "BBC 12".
Without sound it looked like the characters were just watching a TV program. With
sound the audience was able to discern that the newscast is relevent to the mission they
are on.
The newscast also explains to the audience why then men are in the” tombs”. The BBC
news broadcast informs the audience of Discovery's mission, of Dave and Frank, and of
the hibernating scientists on board. They're being kept in a state of suspended animation,
and they will not awaken until Discovery reaches the planet Jupiter.
The BBC announced also explains the computer system HAL 9000 (Hal) which has
human like intelligence. We see why the machines are unmanned with sound. Hal is
running the entire ship. He also takes care of Frank and Dave, so that they do not lose
their sanity on the long voyage. In fact, Hal has such complete control of the ship that
Dave and Frank themselves have very little to do. They're little more than caretakers for
Hal. It seems possible that if some accident were to befall the crew, Hal could conduct
the entire mission on his own. We would not have understood this without sound.

3.2 Place and Context in Film

This scene introduces the audience to Hal and we learn that Hal is supremely self-
confident, as if he has emotions. During an interview with BBC 12's The World Tonight,
Dave commented, "He acts like he has genuine emotions. Of course he's programmed
that way to make it easier for us to talk to him. Whether or not he has real feelings is
something I don't think anyone can truthfully answer."

This is followed by another broadcast of a birthday message from Frank’s parents during
the broadcast we see that Frank Poole seems indifferent. This may have to do with his
perspective from eighty million miles out in space, where events on Earth seem distant
and unimportant. It also has to do with the roles that Frank and Dave are playing. They
have nothing to occupy their minds for long, and they are lapsing into a dull routine.
They have become so passive in their life aboard the ship that they are almost machine-
like. They seem bored to death.

3.3 Main Characters

There are two mission pilots, astronauts Dr. David Bowman and Dr. Francis Poole, and
three scientists "sleeping" in cryogenic hibernation. There is also the artifically
intelligent computer, Hal.

3.4 Relationship between Characters

Even with sound we do not understand the relationship between the two characters. They
seem distant to one another and there is no explanation of why they don’t acknowledge
each other.

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3.5 Tone
The tone is the same with sound bleak and surreal.

3.6 Visual Elements that Convey Tone

The same visual elements convey tone with sound.

3.7 Action in Scene

Actions are the same with Sound.

3.8 Visuals the Describe Action

There is no new insight about the visuals that describe the scene.

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