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The World Tonight: Space Odyssey Events:
Summary about Wonderfest 2011
By Christopher Dalton
Photo above - Discovery model.
Wonderfest 2011 had some interesting exhibits and events that were related to both 2001 and 2010.
One of those events was a lecture on the SFX work created by Richard Edlund. An SFX artist who worked
on the 1984 MGM production 2010: The Year We Make Contact. The long awaited sequel to Stanley Kubrick's
1968 science fiction classic(and one of MGM's blockbuster hits), 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Regretfully, Richard Edlund had to cancel his appearance at Wonderfest due to both a scheduling conflict
and a prior commitment on a film project in Louisiana.
espite that disappointment, one of Richard's friends and associates came and filled in for him, during
the lecture and discussion on Richard's work. Past, present, and future. Pat McClung has worked with
Richard Edlund and his SFX company since the mid-Eighties. Fully prepared to take on the task that his
friend had to abandon, Pat McChung offered many interesting trivia and behind the scenes stories on the
various film productions that Edlund and his company have worked on.
Co-hosted by fellow SFX artist Lorne Peterson, both he and McClung discussed the various complexities in
SFX and the work behind it all. From model making, to blue screen effects, to the latest in CGI special visual
effects, both McClung and Petersen were very informative during the lecture, as well as the Q and A session
that followed immediately thereafter.
rriving promptly at 11am on the morning of May 14th, I anxiously looked forward to the discussion about the
2010 production and other film information that McChung and Peterson had to offer.
Needless to say, I was not disappointed in that area. The retrospective on Edlund and his work on 2010 was
very informative and well-researched.
While showing a slide presentation of the various projects that Edlund and his staff had worked on, McChung
and Peterson described what Edlund had been tasked with, and how he and his staff tackled various SFX shots
on films. Including and up o the creation of new SFX technologies.
During the slide presentation of the 2010 production, McClung described how Peter Hyams had Edlund and his staff
recreate the models for the U.S.S. Discovery, as well as the creation of the effects concerning the look and feel
both Jupiter and its various moons. With the assisatnce of model maker Mark Stetson and his staff, Edlund and the
rest of the sfx production staff were able to recreate the Discovery as well as the Discovery Pod bay, the bridge,
the corrdior, and other internal items of the American spacecraft. Right down to the finest detail. This monumental
task in film production design and visual effects was accomplished by the viewing and enlargement of various film
frames from 2001, concerning the Discovery and its various other parts(both internal and external).
As many film fans know, the late Stanley Kubrick had all of the sets, models, plans, and other props destroyed for
fear that they would be re-used in other productions. Surprisingly, a miniature of the A.E.-35 antennae had survived
such a disposal and was later re-used in MGM's 1971 sci-fi thriller Earth II(which starred Gary Lockwood no less).
How that got past Stanley Kubrick, is a mystery.
All that aside, McClung and Petersen later described in detail, the filming of the Leonov's unmanned probe(the scene
in 2010, where the probe scanned the surface of Europa and discovered traces of chlorophyl). This particular scene was
a stop-motion animation sequence that required certain frames of film shot at a certain camera ratio and in a number of
seconds.
I later spoke with Pat McClung to get an account of the sequel film's production. McClung offered an interesting
story about how Peter Hyams had a certain group of designers work on the look and feel of a certain set. After
viewing some conceptual designs, Hyams was satisfied with the final look of a set. One that was provided by veteran
artist and visual futurist Syd Mead, himself. McChung also described how some of the production staff enjoyed
working with Hyams, and how some did not.
After the lecture, I had the chance to catch up with Scott Alexander at his booth. His latest display was a finely
detailed model of one of the Discovery's EVA pods. Both of us were surprised that we hadn't seen Dale Charletta(Dale
if I missed seeing you at the convention, my apologies). After catching up on what we did the past year, I managed
to stumble across some new models of the Discovery, the Aeries 1-B space transport(the one used to take Heywood
Floyd to Moonbase Clavius in 2001), the Pan-Am Shuttleplane, and the Clavius Lunar Bus. I even came across another
prop of David Bowman's space helmet. This prop was also manufactured by Michael Scott(who crafted the helmet prop
that Keir Dullea tried on at Wonderfest 2008). Although this was not the same helmet that Keir and Gary autographed
some three years past, it was an excellent duplicate. Michael Scott's craftmanship was, as always, in excellent and
precise detail. It was also for sale at the price of $2000.00 USD.
If only I had that exact amount that day. If i did, I would have purchased it right then and there. It would have
been worth it, as well as my wife's scolding for spending that much. LOL!
Near the end of the day(I only attended the Saturday showing due to a prior commitment on Sunday), I was lucky
enough to stumble across another set of 2010 lobby cards and the original 2001 Press exhibit book. Since I already
had the set of lobby cards, I went on ahead and purchased the exhibit book. It was worth the one hundred dollars.
Overall, this year's Wonderfest was a huge success. Even though Richard Edlund had been unavailable, it was still a
very fun-filled Saturday.
Summary about Wonderfest 2008, Part 2
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