Discovery One Spaceship Original Model

Early in the production of <em>2010: The Year We Make Contact</em>, Director Peter Hyams had learned that all of the original large spacecraft models from <em>2001, A Space Odyssey</em>, including the original 50-foot model of the Discovery One, had been destroyed following the filming, as ordered by Kubrick, as had all of the original model-makers' designs for building the "Discovery One". Consequently, the new Discovery One spacecraft filming model had to be recreate by visual effects supervisor Richard Edlund and model shop supervisor Mark Stetson by analyzing clips and frame-by-frame enlargements from a 70mm copy from <em>2001, A Space Odyssey</em>. The special effects for <em>2010: The Year We Make Contact</em> were filmed on 65mm film (the live action scenes were filmed on 35mm) and, due to the differences in film size and ratio, there is a noticeable "cut off" area at the side of the picture during the space scenes when the film is viewed in widescreen. The effects were produced by the Entertainment Effects Group (EEG), the special effects house created by Douglas Trumbull. However, Trumbull himself did not work on the film, and the effects were supervised by Richard Edlund, who had just left Industrial Light & Magic. After completing <em>2010: The Year We Make Contact</em>, EEG would become a part of Edlund's own effects company Boss Film Corporation. The model in ScienceFictionArchives.com's collection is the large-scale model of the front section of Discovery One spaceship. Constructed in the same large scale as the primary “Leonov” filming miniature and used for scenes showing the two ships docked. Since most of the scenes would be shot in close-ups, only the command sphere and three cargo modules were built in this scale. (Long shots of the Discovery One were accomplished with a separate 12 ft. miniature.) The command “ball” measures 41 in. tall x 52 in. long. The top plate access panel gives access to the wiring loom. The cargo modules are separate items that attach to the ball via a steel pipe. Though only three cargo modules were used for filming, this model includes extra cargo modules that were built for the film.