Annotated Bibliography

In Stanley Kubricks 2001: A Space Odyssey, how did the directors visual and auditory
manipulations engineer meaning?

Theodore Karabet
Professor Malcolm Campbell
English 1103
October 26th, 2015

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Annotated Bibliography
Ebert, Roger. 2001The Monolith and the Message. Rogerebert.com. Ebert Digital LLC, 21
Apr 1968. Web. 25 Oct 2015.
In this article from the Roger Ebert Journal, the Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic
communicates his thoughts on the intended audience of 2001: A Space Odyssey and
attempts to decipher the films meaning. Ebert, honorary life member of the Directors
Guild of America, winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Screenwriters Guild,
and receiver of two honorary degrees from both the American Film Institute and the
University of Colorado at Boulder, offers a strangely simple interpretation of a film
notable for its vagueness. Moreover, Ebert criticizes general audiences for demonstrating
a linear mindset; their expectations of a John Wayne-type movie are undermined by
2001s type of storytelling. Ebert succeeds in explaining the meaning of many
scenes/images in the movie by understanding Kubricks uses of visual elements. Alluding
to the movies hazy ending, after the astronaut David Bowman travelled through a star
gate into a bedroom, the film critic said that Kubrick understood the familiar bedroom
would be the most alien, inexplicable, disturbing scene he could possibly end the film
with. In the films beginning, the critic comments that the visuals of mans development
can substitute and overpower a textbook. Thus, Ebert highlights the visuals power to
convey effect. In fact, Ebert comments that the little dialogue present in the film is hardly
necessary to convey plot and meaning. While this article certainly covers Eberts views
on the movie, it hardly offers any meat behind the psychology of the film; the article isnt
expansive, but a good view into what made the film work. In my extended inquiry

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assignment, using this article and its author as an appeal to authority could strengthen my
analysis of the film using other, more in-depth sources.
Handy, Bruce. Weird, Unseen Images from the Making of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Vanity Fair.
Cond Nast, 9 Jul 2014. Web. 25 Oct 2015.
The core of this article is a review of The Making of Stanley Kubricks 2001: A Space
Odyssey, a 1,386-page, $1500 book about every technical detail of the movie. While
Bruce Handy, expert on popular culture, ex-writer for Saturday Night Live, and prolific
writer for many magazines, discusses the book, his interests lie in the details of the films
production. Handy treats the reader to two excerpts from the book chronicling the making
of and usage of the infamous monolith and Kubricks near-paranoid attention to detail.
Kubricks most peculiar request was that one of the man-ape suits, fashioned in the
guise of a mother-ape, should feature functioning breasts capable of exuding real milk.
He hoped that this would tempt a baby chimpanzee to suckle. The author is a selfadmitted fan of the movie and shows a reverence for the source material: The danger
with this sort of kiss-and-tell is that it can reduce a work of art to a series of rivets. Not
concerned with the movies meaning, the article explores a few obscure production
details that hone in on Kubricks creative process. If anything, Handy teases the reader
rather than provide him with particular details concerning 2001s development. As such,
the verbal content of the article is limited and will likely not be used in my extended
inquiry project. However, 14 images are part of the article that may be of value at
examining visual details of the films production, especially color illustrations of sets.
More in-depth sources should provide technical insight into the making of the movie.

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Logas, Heather and Daniel Muller. Mise-en-scne Applied to Level Design: Adapting a Holistic
Approach to Level Design. Digital Games Research Association 3.1(2005): 1-9. Web.
In film or theater productions, Mise-en-scne refers to the design of cinematography that
contributes to mood, atmosphere, and etc. that, in turn, help reinforce or construct a
narrative. In their journal article, Logas and Muller attempt to convince videogame
developers to imbue their products with mise-en-scne, thereby lending the production
more symbol and meaning. In the authors words, this method of storytelling may hint
at psychological factors within the narrative. Considering my extended inquiry project is
about just that, the psychology of film, learning about mise-en-scne is crucial to
understand 2001. Logas and Muller highlight that A holistic approach to level design
creates a greater sense of immersion in the player and can communicate to the player on
an emotional level as well as a subconscious one. To demonstrate the power of this
cinematographic technique, the article mentions three films, one of which is The Shining,
Kubricks horror film made after 2001. According to the authors, Kubricks uses of miseen-scne creates levels of meaning: the film becomes a statement about the breakdown
of Western Culture, the dissolution of the nuclear family, spousal and child abuse,
perverted patriarchal structures, and the power of women. Logas and Muller, clearly
experts in their fields, recall the juxtaposition between the brightly colored floral
wallpaper to the image of the murdered, bloody girls on the floor that contributes to a
greater sense of terror. Both authors use a scholarly tone in their work that lacks any
immediate bias. Although the article does not discuss 2001: A Space Odyssey, its
discussions of Kubricks uses of mise-en-scne are crucial to understanding how his
science fiction film achieved meaning. To define the essence of my project, i.e.

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examination of Kubricks technique, this article will serve to introduce specific details of
2001 that generate meaning.
Smith, Tim. What We Really See When We Go See a Movie. All Things Considered. Npr.org.
28 Aug 2014. Web. 25 Oct 2015.
The infamous Robert Siegel of NPR interviews Dr. Tim Smith, a vision scientist at the
University of London. Smith heavily disputes the concept of mise-en-scne discussed in
the previous source. According to his findings, Smith states that our impression of the
world is limited. By using eye-tracking technology, Smith was able to plot the
audiences focus on the screen at any moment during a scene; details and backgrounds
generated less attention than the foreground. It should be noted, however, that Smith used
Iron Man 2 in his experiment, an action movie focused on fast-paced, visual effects.
Moreover, Smith admits that with the advent of high definition screens and with repeated
viewings, the visual experience can be shifted to focus into details; Robert Siegel asks
Smith to clarify why, when he views baseball, does he seem to notice the faces of the
audience members? Thus, Smith seems to suggest that a certain type of film may generate
different audience responses. 2001, being a slow experience, may naturally attract
exploration of the entirety of the image on screen. This article could provide a bit of
conflict in the introduction to my project; it can lead into the discussion of mise-en-scne
and how the film generated meaning. By adding such conflict, the research draws the
audience further into an exploration of Kubricks Space Odyssey.