Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever*

We have reached over halfway through the 2001: A Space Odyssey mini-series! Today's episode (which is episode 3) I will be speaking to an amazing sound designer and a musicologist (yes that's a real job) to delve into the delights of the very spectacular sound design involved in the greatest sci-fi film of all time*. As always, there are spoilers ahead! In addition to ones about 2001: A Space Odyssey there are light to medium spoilers for Odyssey (2026) and Paths of Glory (1957) You can follow the podcast on social media on Threads, Instagram and Bluesky. If you are feeling rich and generous and would like to be a patron of the podcast, you can join Patreon and for £3 or $3 a month you can get ad free version of the show. https://www.patreon.com/everyscififilm A few notes from the conversation: • Foley Sound Effects were named after Jack Foley who pioneered recording everyday sounds for the use in films in post-production all the way back in the late 1920s when sound was all brand new and shiny. (In film of course, although there is no evidence to suggest the whole world was absolutely silent before he came along. How could we ever know?) • Midge mentions the Moog synthesiser which had actually been invented in 1964 but had not proliferated until Wendy Carlos released Switched on Bach in October 1968. • I seem to have failed to mention the Stargate sequence when talking about dissonance and micropolyphony but the effects are in the background and if you watch the video you'll see it. Apologies. I am so lucky to have two amazing guests to break down the sound of the film. Midge Costin is Professor Emeritus of Cinematic Arts at USC and a retired Hollywood sound designer of multiple Blockbuster films. She is also produced & directed the award winning, and very fantastic, feature documentary, Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound. (Honestly this is a very inspirational and engaging documentary and I would highly recommend it!) Christine Gengaro is a professor of music at Los Angeles City College, she has a PhD in Musicology and is author of the book Listening to Stanley Kubrick: The Music in His Films. Chapters 00:00 Introduction 01:58 Sound in Cinema 07:59 2001: Before the Dawn of Man 12:21 Also Sprach Zarathustra 18:11 Micropolyphony and what it does 22:18 Silence in Spaaaaace! 26:08 Breathing (in Spaaaaace!) 27:58 POV sound 29:54 HAL 31:42 Cultural context of the cold cosmonaut 34:25 The choice of old-fashioned music 41:55 The twee nature of Waltzes 44:51 Ligeti's lawsuit 48:33 Bookends 53:09 Legacy 56:49 Recommendations Recommendations Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound (2019) Gravity (2013) Interstellar (2014) Kubrick: An Odyssey by Robert P Kolker and Nathan Abrams THE NEXT EPISODE! The next episode we will be discussing the man behind the movie! Kubrick experts Nathan Abrams and Rodney F Hill will grace us with their wonderful brains! IN the meantime you can watch Night of the Living Dead (1968) as we will be heading for a zombie flavoured detour after the mini-series is over. *Almost

As always there are spoilers ahead! This is episode one of a four-episode mini-series. To make things even more confusing Episode 1 has two parts. This is part 2. If you have arrived here before treading the ground of part 1 turn back now! The idea is to most definitely watch the film before listening to the episode. If you don't want to do that and still want an overview of the film and the plot you can check out the Wikipedia entry here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001:_A_Space_Odyssey Please refer to these very show notes for some extra information or clarification. (Yes I'm repeating the same text from part 1. Do you even know how busy I've been and now I must copy and paste to get this out on time!) You can follow the podcast on social media on Threads, Instagram and Bluesky. If you have money to invest in further space or other scientifically romantic adventures and would like to be a patron of the podcast, pay heed! You can join Patreon and for £3 or $3 a month you can get ad free version of the show. https://www.patreon.com/everyscififilm Thankfully my two guests are heavy weight bearing beams (of light?). I am indeed getting my metaphors in a mix. That makes no sense. Apologies. Michael Benson is an artist, filmmaker and author of a range of exciting books including the magnificently comprehensive 2018 Space Odyssey: Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke, and the Making of a Masterpiece. Scott Bukatman is a cultural theorist and Professor of Film and Media Studies at Stanford University. He has written extensively about popular culture with a focus on how it mediates between modern technologies and the human experience. He is also the author of the wonderful BFI book on Blade Runner. Clarification: The quote I use near the beginning "Politics and religion are obsolete. The time has come for science and spirituality" originates from Indian philosopher Vinoba Bhave. Arthur C Clarke used the quote in a keynote address. Kubrick underlines the second half in his copy of the speech. (Michael then goes on to open his fantastic book with this quote.) 28:25 The concept of a technological singularity is a theoretical scenario in which technology increasingly becomes so advanced that is has unpredictable and irreversible effects ono humanity. 34:13 JPL is short for Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. 48:23 Mad magazine's parody of 2001 is available to view here: https://www.tumblr.com/keirdullea/34795391907/201-minutes-of-space-idiocy-a-mad-magazine Lastly: I concede that my internet search for the giant baby may have led me to some very dubious sources. Chapters 00:00 Introduction 19:00 The Sublime 11:30 Kubrick's minimalism 20:32 HAL 34:58 Doug Trumbull and George Lucas' Star Wars droids 37:57 Slow pace and filming restrictions 39:58 Legacy 46:50 Recommendations for the listener Recommendations Childhood's End and The Sentinel both by Arthur C Clarke 201 (minutes of) A Space Idiocy by Mad Magazine. (Link above) NEXT EPISODE! In the next episode we will be prepping to discuss the special effects of 2001 in two weeks' time!

As usual there are spoilers ahead! You can follow the podcast on social media on Threads, Instagram and Bluesky. If you have an air of gravitas and money to spend and would like to be a patron of the podcast, please do! You can join Patreon and for £3 or $3 a month you can get ad free version of the show. https://www.patreon.com/everyscififilm The novel Planet of the Apes was released in 1963 in France by French author Pierre Boulle. In that same year publicist Arthur Jacobs bought the screen rights while he was looking for something "like King Kong". Five years later in 1968 the film was released with one of the most famous twist endings of cinematic history. The film is a fun "off-planet" sci-fi adventure story with heavy commentary on societal expectations and standards. I have two lovely guests to help us understand this sci-fi classic. John Wills is a Professor of American Media and Culture at the University of Kent. He has written lots about popular culture including his new book Doom Town USA Phil Nichols is Senior Consultant to the Ray Bradbury Center at Indiana University, and formerly Film & Television course leader at the University of Wolverhampton. The Scopes trial was a 1925 case in the USA in which a teacher was accused of violating the law by teaching evolution in schools. The trial was set up on purpose to challenge the Butler Act which prevented the teaching of evolution. Chapters 00:00 Introduction 01:20 Book vs film 03:53 Arthur Jacobs 06:28 From astronaut to animal 11:10 Simian society 15:43 Concepts of civility 20:07 Western vibes 22:39 The Trial 26:40 Race 32:46 1968 USA 39:25 The twist ending 42:34 Liberty in ruins 47:37 Legacy 52:18 The brains behind the ending 53:19 Recommendations Recommendations Inherit the Wind (1960) Soylent Green (1973) NEXT EPISODE! Eep! It's finally here. I tried to put it off for as long as I could but the 2001: A Space Odyssey mini-series will begin next week with a two-part first episode. The film is available widely. According to Just Watch (where you can find the availability in your region) it is included in the HBO subscription in the USA and Australia. In Canada it's included in the Crave subscription. In the UK it's Prime video and Now Cinema. But the film can also be bought or rented online from many outlets including Apple, Fandango, Spectrum and Prime. Or you could buy a fancy DVD of it to add to your collection.

Translation for the intro: A race against time. Office time against outside time. Who's winning? I don't know yet. Apologies as I am coming down with a heavy cough and need sleep. I am so out of it that I almost forgot that it is release day! But I jumped out of bed with quite a shock and here you have the episode. Phew! As always, there are spoilers ahead. You can follow the podcast on social media on Threads, Instagram and Bluesky. If you have an air of gravitas and money to spend and would like to be a patron of the podcast, please do! You can join Patreon and for £3 or $3 a month you can get ad free version of the show. https://www.patreon.com/everyscififilm 1968's Je t'aime, je t'aime (AKA I Love You, I Love You). A wonderfully unusual science fiction film about memory, love and loss by French New Wave director Alain Resnais. If you would like an overview of the plot you can find it on the Wikipedia page here. The time code after the beep (indicating the discussion about sexual violence is done) 50 minutes and 40 seconds. I have two magnificent guests! Mark Bould is a professor of Film and Literature at the University of West England, Bristol. He has written/edited extensively about science fiction cinema. Mani Sharpe is a lecturer in Film Studies at the University of Leeds. He is the author of the book Late-Colonial French Cinema: Filming the Algerian War of Independence. At one point Mark mentions Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius by Jorge Luis Borges and I'm mentioning it here as I had to look it up and it might be on interest. Chapters 00:00 Introduction 01:42 Alain Resnais 07:20 France in 1968 11:27 Cancelled Cannes Film Festival 13:51 Editing and Chronology 20:10 Continuity conventions 24:33 Editing words and memories 33:23 Unreliable Narrator 39:05 The film watching experience 44:21 Loss and heartbreak in sci-fi 50:55 Legacy 55:05 Recommendations Recommendations New Rose Hotel (1998) by Abel Ferrara Alain Resnais by Emma Wilson NEXT EPISODE! Wish me luck as I attempt to arrange an episode on Barbarella in two weeks. As this hasn't been finalised I would suggest that you might also like the watch Planet of the Apes just in case should the fates be tricky! Both of these films are quite easy to find to rent.

As always there are spoilers ahead! We've discussed Czech scifi before with Karel Zeman's gorgeous steam punk offering from 1958 Invention for Destruction (dubbed into the English language The Fabulous World of Jules Verne) and we've also covered Communists in Space with 1960s The Silent Star (AKA First Spaceship on Venus). The Czech Ikarie XB-1 (1963) has connections to both of those films but also offers an aesthetic that seems to directly inspire Kubrick for 2001: A Space Odyssey. The year is 2163, communism has won, and a crew of 40 are sent to find life on the white planet in Alpha Centauri with a journey fraught with sociological, psychological and physical challenges. I have two amazing academics to help give insight into the film. Evan Torner is an Associate Professor of German Studies and Niehoff Professor of Film & Media Studies at the University of Cincinnati. Simon Spiegel is a lecturer of Film Studies at the University of Zurich. He has written extensively about Science Fiction and Utopia and has just released the book The Fear of Knowing about spoilers in film and media. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 01:11 Stanislaw Lem's The Magellanic Cloud 04:28 Czechoslovakian New Wave and film industry 09:49 The striking introductory scenes and Kubrick's 2001 13:05 Cabin fever in spaaace! 15:13 Music by Zdeněk Liška 16:57 Communist utopia in spaaace! 20:57 The draw of sociological stories 26:19 A utopian party and a red alert 28:15 The capitalist ship and the 20th century 32:47 Putting science into sci-fi 39:30 Evan's Dark Matter Shenanigans 42:21 Post Stalin faith 43:41 The ending 45:39 The US edit 47:27 Legacy 52:18 Recommendations NEXT EPISODE! I will be taking a detour next episode to talk about Afrofuturism which I've been wanting to discuss since the very early days of research before I launched the podcast. Almost two years late but I hope you enjoy it. After that we will be discussing Dr Strangelove and I would recommend you also watch Fail Safe (also 1964) if you have time.