Explore how two film form elements have been used in this sequence to provoke response and make meaning

The Mise en Scene of Hal, the AI, is part of the theme technology vs humans which is binary opposition. It is also part of the explored idea that technology advancement is dangerous. The space pod that Frank comes out of was designed to look like it had arms, the camera that “he” looks out from is also like an eye. This makes the space pod look similar to a human suggesting and meaning that technology has gone too far. The technology is also dangerous, the mise en scene also shows this because the space pods are white, and the connotation of white makes it appear de-humanised and impersonal, also suggesting that something so similar to humans and so intelligent can be dangerous especially if it has no moral compass and is just a machine. The cinematography, or more specifically the camera angles also support this idea. The wide angle lens that makes the shot look distorted and curved like a fish eye lens suggests that Hal, the AI, is always watching, it also gives an eerie effect. This gives Hal the sense of being omnipotent and omniscient, and something with such power and intelligence is a threat to humans, or more specifically Frank. The audience’s response to knowing this about Hal would be to expect Hal to act negatively towards the other characters.

Before Frank is killed, the camera shot shows us Hal turning around behind Franks back, if Hal were a human it would be an over the shoulder shot. This is dramatic irony as we know something that a character doesn’t, as a response, we feel concerned for Frank. In this moment the spectatorship is that we may be positioned with Hal due to the camera, but we are aligned with Frank because we know that he will be unable to stand up to the technology that is Hal. As well as this, we are passive viewers during this moment because all though we do not have any music to guide us we know something bad will happen because we can see Hal turning. The meaning behind this could be to show that humans have invented their own downfall and that we will lose control. We may have created technology to help us, but it will ‘turn’ on us.

When Frank, a male like all of the cast in this scene due to lack of representation, is in space after leaving the space pod, the editing cuts so the viewers do not see what happens, this forces the viewers to be active viewers as we have to use our own imagination to piece together what happens. After Frank has had his wire cut by Hal, he is struggling through space. We see this through long shots (which is part of cinematography), which emphasises his vulnerability. Through smurfette syndrome, Frank becomes the representative for all of humanity, that we are vulnerable in the face of space and the powers of future technology. Because of the long shots and the extra-long shot showing him disappear, my response to what was happening on screen was not only to feel sympathetic towards Frank, but to feel small myself in the face of how big space is and knowing the danger of technology progression.

The technology is colourful which contrasts to the monochrome space craft, this is part of mise en scene. This highlights that the technology is futuristic which would make sense as the film is from 1968 but set in 2001. Although the technology can be dangerous, it can also be a safe haven. The light vs dark being the lightness of the space craft against the darkness and emptiness of space, shows to the audience that the spacecraft the Borman is on as a safe haven. It puts meaning to the light vs dark as safe vs danger. Speaking of how danger is presented, the camera (cinematography) and set design (mise en scene) is also used to foreshadow danger. The close up of the writing on the pod door foreshadows danger, this is because caution is written in big red letters, and red has connotations of danger and the close up emphasises the connotations that the audience has thought of. This will provoke the response to expect something bad to happen to one of or all of the protagonists.

What might this film from 1968 be trying to say about the future?

One of the things that this science fiction film might be trying to say about the future is that humans will eventually be powerless compared to technology if it keeps developing to dangerous levels. The technology is something that makes the film a science fiction along with the space crafts and space. Technology vs humans is a theme of the film and are binary oppositions. One of the ways that the film presents this is with the sound and editing. The film edits out Hal cutting Frank’s wire, leaving the audience to be active viewers and piece together what happened. However, the sound does cut and go to silence. All of the diegetic sounds such as heavy breathing and machinery sounds stop. This could make us active viewers as well instead of passive as we have no music to guide us. This silence suggests something happens and the meaning behind it could be to show how quickly human life can come to end, and how easily an intelligent piece of technology such as Hal can end it. Therefore, suggesting that technology advancement can be/will be dangerous. It also in this moment that the camera positions us with Hal, but we are aligned with Frank as we feel sympathy for him but the camera has placed us with Hal. The red eye that Hal has (which is part of mise en scene) also suggests the danger of technology as red has connotations of danger, therefore making Frank evil. Altogether, this suggests that the film was predicting a future where humans are vulnerable against technology.

Another way that the film presents the danger of technology in the future by showing how helpless humans can be in relation to technology such as Hal is through the cinematography or more specifically the camera. It makes Frank look small and helpless in space after technology had doomed him. After Hal had cut his wires, we get long shots of Frank struggling in silence in the vastness of space. The comparison of him to his surroundings shows how much he doesn’t fit in, this is also shown by mise en scene, Frank wears a yellow space suit which contrasts him to space and the space crafts that are white. All of this shows how not adapt he is to survive, the technology had made him vulnerable. Frank also stands in for all of humanity through Smurfette Syndrome so the film is saying that the human race will be no competition to technology in the future if it keeps developing, and that humans we will be vulnerable.

The theme of technology and the future is explored to show how technology will be futuristic in the future. The film is from 1968 but set in 2001, so although what viewers see today may not be very futuristic (apart from Hal) back then it would have been. Kubrick presented the idea that technology will be futuristic in the future by using mis en scene. The buttons and other technology was brightly coloured and lit up, this contrasted to the monochrome aesthetic to the space craft making it stand out and look more interesting and futuristic, presenting technology in the future in a good light. However, the cinematography or more specifically the camera makes Hal, an AI and therefore technology, seem very futuristic by making him appear omniscient and omnipotent and therefore godlike by using a wide angle lens providing the idea to the viewers that Hal is always watching and knows everything that happens. We know that he is powerful because of what he did to Frank, the what would have been over the shoulder shot of Hal physically turning behind Frank’s back shows that technology has the power to destroy human life, the dramatic irony of the viewers knowing something that a character (Frank) didn’t, emphasises the danger that Frank, and therefore humanity (Smurfette syndrome), is/could be in. The idea of technology being godlike in the future is a scary prospect but also possibly a prediction that the film was trying to make about the future, that technology would advance in not just nice ways (the colourful and bright buttons) but also in dangerous and negative ways.

It’s possible that the film was also trying to present the idea that in the future humans will rely and trust on technology even to weird extents. We know this because of the performance. Borman. Frank’s companion notices that Frank is in a life threating scenario. The performance is very unusual as instead of panicking Borman is very calm and good under pressure. This would confuse viewers as if they were in a similar situation, they would not act this way. This performance shows how much humans would rely and trust on technology in the future because instead of Borman panicking he stays calm and uses technology (space crafts) to help Frank. Because he immediately takes to technology, the film shows that he is relying on it, and the fact that his performance is so calm suggests that he trusts it, which the viewers know he shouldn’t after seeing what Hal did to Frank. The film is suggesting that in the future humans will rely without question on technology even when human life risks are involved, and how this can be dangerous. A viewers response in 1968 might have been shock at the idea of technology having such key role in something so important, but viewers now may take time to reflect on how it is already happening, for example the machines that help during surgery. The film was predicting a future were technology is involved in serious situations and trusted.

The film has a lack of representation. The only characters other than Hal are all white, male and adult. This could be representing Stanley Kubrick’s idea of what the future will be like due to what his present was like in the 1960’s. Although improvements were being made around sexism and racism, equality was still far out of site. Things like the equal pay act was established before the film came out in 1963, but women still had discrimination including surrounding housing. This could be why the director had no women astronauts, maybe to him the idea of women being in space was unlikely or impossible. Martin Luther King was part of the civil rights movement in the 50’s and 60’s and actually died the year the film came out, along with this one of the civil rights act’s was established in the 60’s. So although there was progression, equality was still far away which could be why the director cast with such a lack of diversity and representation. If the film was made today, I’d hope for and think there would be more representation, but I think Kubrick was trying to say that to him the future looked similar equality wise in 2001 as it did in 1968, and so he showed that through the film.