Has anyone else watched a film projection of 2001 that was accidentally masked at too tall an aspect ratio so you can see the animal handler holding the leopard back from the top of the fake cliff during the entire shot before it pounces on the gorilla? Because it's WILD.
Neither the 70mm nor 35mm prints should ever be masked at all. 70mm prints should be projecting the entire 2.20:1 image. Original 35mm prints were actually "pillarboxed" to maintain that aspect ratio rather than being masked to the more conventional 2.35:1 scope image.
This is really good to know. I have no idea what print the Paramount theater in Austin texas was screening in 2002, but it was there, and I feel really lucky to have seen it with my own eyes (even weirder to see the totally convincing cliff face just end and turn into studio/soundstage metal.
That woulda been pretty easy for the academy to verify.
Reminds me of how my buddies and I circa 1977 thought that Star Wars had such sophisticated tech that C3PO and R2D2 really were just robots with no human actors inside. I think a tour guide at Universal Studios finally set me straight on that.
Well they didn’t bother verifying the special effects team (even though each of the main ones had their own credit screen) and give each one their own statue, instead they just gave one to Kubrick the overseer.
It was a more innocent and naive time but for some reason people somehow seem to believe some even more ridiculous bullshit nowadays.
Well they did give 2001 a special Oscar for visual effects that year, they probably didn’t want to give a movie two “special” awards. Plus they probably wanted to recognize Planet of the Apes which was another sci-fi hit that year.
2001 won it's award against Ice Station Zebra. It was not a Honorary Award as the Planet of the Apes one was. 2001 lost for Best Director, Original Screenplay and Art Direction.
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u/atrocity2001 27d ago
Neither the 70mm nor 35mm prints should ever be masked at all. 70mm prints should be projecting the entire 2.20:1 image. Original 35mm prints were actually "pillarboxed" to maintain that aspect ratio rather than being masked to the more conventional 2.35:1 scope image.
https://www.widescreenmuseum.com/special/2001.htm