Douglas Rain sounds more and more like HAL as the film goes on. It's like he's leaving his emotions and humanity behind the further he goes into the universe.
Yeah I read elsewhere that this was Douglas Rain, but I don't see him in the credits. It credits Stanley Jackson as "Commentator," and from checking out some of this other work for Canada's NFB, this sounds like him to me. Hm.
Fun Fact: This film's director, Roman Kroitor, would later go on to invent IMAX. Around the same time, a young film student named George Lucas would get his hands on a tape of Kroitor discussing science and religion, in which he refers to "the force".
@@bb1111116 Indeed. I first read about that many years ago but had not seen Universe until fairly recently. The influence is clear in several parts of 2001.
These old educational videos are absolute gems, especially this one. 2001 is my favorite movie. Interesting that back then they had found only 12 of Jupiter's moons and 9 of Saturn's.
My god I've found it. I saw this on bbc2 when I was maybe 6 or 7 and ever since I've loved space and science. Can't believe someone had it on TH-cam. I recorded it on a cassette tape at the time and listened to it over and over. Astounding. Thank you for the upload
So ahead of its time. This film might be one of the best I've ever seen; despite being released when all of my grandparents would have been no older than kindergarten age. Amazing.
This got the make up of Saturn's rings more right than the beginning montage of planets in the first season of Star Trek TNG (they decided to redo the beginning sequence because of the mistake after that season - outside our solar system). Very impressive!
I love the view looking out from the observatory. 60 years later, surrounded by houses, Walmart, and a Costco. Can't see the stars with the naked eye any more.
The music for the film is by Eldon Rathburn who was something of a house composer for the NFB in the 50s and 60s, composing across the genres for the likes of Norman McLaren and the Studio B 'boys' (Roman Kroiter, Tom Daly, Colin Low & Wolf Koenig) and culminating in the score for 'Labyrinth' at expo '67 in Montreal, a collage of multi-screen imaging and architecture that was, at the time, the most expensive film ever made in Canada (considering a special, Brutalist building was designed and built to be part of the experience). Rathburn was adept at both light jazz and at the cool detached Modernism you hear in 'Universe'. Though widely heard in his lifetime, few recordings of his work exist outside their film sources and he remains a sadly under-celebrated talent in Canadian film history and in film composing in general. Kroiter was involved in developing IMAX, and produced the first IMAX film 'North of Superior' which debuted in the Cinesphere at Ontario Place in 1971.
The astronomer, Dr Donald MacRae, is my first cousin twice removed, my grandmothers first cousin. Don used to stop at our home for a visit when he was on vacation on Prince Edward Island. Astronomy has always been my first interest since I was a kid. RIP Don!!
Que interesante que su primo saliera en éste famoso reportaje. Yo lo ví ( el documental) hace muchos años atrás...y ahora lo vuelvo a ver en pleno 2024.
Absolutely stunning work! Even as of today, typing this in January 2022. I can see where Kubrick got his inspiration for hyper-realistic space travel and special effects. So glad I found this documentary on TH-cam. If I was a kid in the early 60s and had been shown this, my mind would have been blown.
THis is really beautiful. What I love about this era is that it's all analogue and not assisted by computer... imagine the skill of the machinists who made that telescope, the special skills to balance it and polish that mirror, and making all these visual effects all by hand. Now we think we're doing it more cleverly now with computers, no way, all that's happened is we've lost all these skills. Poignant.
I was in the last class of mechanical drawing/drafting at my high school in the early 1990s. I also learned how to manually operate milling machines and lathes, aluminum casting and woodworking. The auto shop ended a couple years before I entered high school. Do high schools even offer wood shop these days? I have to admit that having a 3d router AND printer is pretty goddamn incredible.
Truly a breathtaking documentary. Some of the science is outdated, but much of it surprisingly holds up, over 60 years later. The effects, music and pacing really make it feel like a true work of art. I quite enjoyed this.
i like to fall asleep listening to this sometimes! douglas rain had such a soothing voice and HAL will forever be a major ‘comfort character’ for me :)
Strange how the special effects in this beautiful documentary are sometimes better than in its contemporary, 2001: A Space Odyssey. Kubrick said he went to Jupiter instead of Saturn, because they were unable to satisfactorily recreate the planet’s rings. They look beautiful in this documentary though. But I assume that the artist Kubrick had other goals than just pure scientific accuracy. It seems this documentary inspired other artists as well. 18:20-18:50 Looks like the sequence where, in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, the USS Enterprise travels throught the V’ger cloud.
2001 was shot in 65mm and color. And Kubrick was well aware of how all these effects were done, and many of the techniques used would not stand up to the added resolution of that format. And as great as this film is, the effects are not “better” than 2001. That is a ludicrous assessment.
I remember this film as a kid. Brings back fond memories of when I had my first telescope and my younger brother and I would stay outside in the backyard during the summer stargazing well into the wee hours of until probably 3:00 AM . A few decades later I still enjoy the hobby with more than a few different telescopes. 🔭🌄🌇🌌🌑👍
I was wondering if there was some audio processing for the voice of HAL in 2001, because it sounds so much more velvety than in here. It's hard to believe Douglas Rain would be able to change it so much without any aid, but then from what I hear he was very good. Incidentally, his HAL voice in 2010 sounds completely different from the one in 2001, too.
@@rodrigobraz2 …one way into the character of Hal was for Rain (recording in Canada) to sit comfortably, with his bare feet resting on a pillow. Kubrick was sitting beside him, directing.
I remember watching this in School back in the 1970s. It is from the David Dunlap from Richmond hill, Ontario. I have always wanted to visit this wonderful place and this past weekend, I did. It was Doors Open Richmond Hill and I saw this movie again after SO many years. Aww the memories.
“And when we look this deeply into space, we are looking at a ghostly image of the distant past. For the light by which we see these regions started traveling towards us long before the dawn of life on earth. In all of time, on all the planets of all the galaxies in space, what civilizations have arisen, looked into the night, seen what we see, asked the questions that we ask.”
0:28 how did they get the 3 pillars of creation photo in this film? I thought the image was taken in the 90's by the Hubble space telescope. This Movie came out in 1960 someone please explain to me.
@@crossfam5940 OK I understand. Hubble made the so-called Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula famous. But good photographs of them have been around for a century. IIRC they were first photographed in the 1920s. I have several old books that feature black & white photos of them
Beautifully put together, vivid, educational and so heavily influential: I just learned about this documentary after reading the astonishing, riveting book "Space Odyssey: Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke And The Making of a Masterpiece" by Michael Benson. For any fans of this, 2001, and really anything Kubrick-related, this book is a must-read. It's so blatantly clear now how it influenced Kubrick & Clarke: special effects guy on this documentary, Wally Gentleman, was 'hand-picked' to work on 2001: A Space Odyssey, alongside others. But it was no picnic with Kubrick, as Gentleman and others involved, Clarke and Douglas Rain included, testify in the book.
NFB film inspired Kubrick to work with Wally Gentleman SP FX Cameraman. Kubrick was awarded the Academy Award for SP FX for 2001. Sadly it was a group of talented SP FX team that designed & built the SP FX for 2001.
I'm glad I did not see this or something like it when I was still an impressionable young boy. It would have left me too stunned (overwhelmed) to continue enjoying a carefree childhood. First two minutes are plenty unsettling, especially the stark black and white imagery. But now I love this stuff. This is incredibly beautiful cinematography, especially the scenes with dramatic long shadows. One more thing: after seeing so many wondrous things "out there" I feel fortunate and grateful to be on the most hospitable planet, our beloved Terra.
I believe the credit for "commentary" to Stanley Jackson refers to his writing. According to Wikipedia (citing others, incl historians of Canada's NFB) and IMDB, Jackson was a director and commentary writer of documentaries for the NFB (and, per IMDB, an occasional narrator). With years of expertise in voice work, and having listened to this audio track at slower-than-normal speeds, I can suggest very strongly that this narration was performed by Douglas Rain. Additionally, per Wikipedia, Kubrick and Clarke viewed and listened to Universe at the 1964 World's Fair in NY. I believe the attribution of the narrator role to Jackson on the Wikipedia page for the David Dunlap Observatory is incorrect.
The speed of light sequence at the 18 1/2 minute Mark was used as an opening title sequence for a TV anthology sci-fi movie series called "Worlds beyond" on channel 4 in Miami in the early and mid 60s.😮
Some of info provided has become obsolete (like Venus' surface is now known to be obscured by clouds), but even with such signs of age this has excellent execution and presentation.
Stanley Kubrick has seen this documentary in film school before he made 2001. He remembered Rain's voice as the narrator, and was so impressed, he eventually offered him the role as HAL's voice. Rain was a famous Canadian Shakespearean actor.
The narrative was very well done. It gave me the mental images. I didn’t even have to watch. Edit: the effects were really good to, for the time. I’m sure. I am glad I watched.
*MY GOD, IT'S FULL OF STARS!* Kubrick not only got Douglas Rain here, but he got several visual elements used in 2001. The most obvious was the camera behind the moon, peeking over the edge to reveal the earth, and past it, the sun. And there are others. Also, the asteroids, a sequence strangely like the stargate, and music impossibly similar to Atmospheres. The drum in the very beginning was identical to 2001's zarathustra. The feel of this film is like 2001, too. And at the end, the astronomer returns from beyond the infinite, to drive home to his girl like the starchild returning to earth, to be born again... and again and again, in the eternal recurrence Nietzsche wrote of. In 2001, everything circular is safe, and everything rectangular refers to The Secret. Of the 23 doors in the film, ONE is rectangular: the door to the conference room, where EVERYTHING is rectangular. And the negative space between those double door is shaped like the monolith. In fact, the only rectangular shapes _in the whole movie_ are the conference room, the monolith, and HAL's internals. God, there is SO much more...
2001 is my favorite movie but I never knew about the circle/rectangle symbolism. If I watched it a thousand times I'd never pick up on it. It amazes me to think that anybody would, which makes me wonder why they bother to put it in. Maybe great artists don't care whether anybody understands their art.
Health and safety has evolved a bit since this film was made. “Yeah, mate just walk up the telescope to take off the lens cap. Don’t worry not many people fall…
There is a clip of this on a programme I have on tape called Eyes Of Canada. The narrator is Douglas Rain. Stanley Kubrick liked the film and he selected Douglas Rain to play the voice of HAL 9000 in 2001 A Space Odyssey.
Absolutely superb. Loved it. It said Commentary - Stanley Jackson. I thought this was Douglas Rain (ie HAL 9000)???? Check out 19 mins 40 seconds. "A cubic inch of dwarf star matter would weigh 40 tons". Fun fact - one cubic inch of solid nuclear matter would weigh about 500 thousand billion tons. Mind boggling, isn't it?
I think I did learn something after all. You look at how the astronomers did their jobs 50 years ago, and you are reminded of how physical a thing it is to use one of the biggest telescopes. We are mostly isolated from that with modern systems, but it's still there.
According to IDMB: Stanley Jackson was born in 1914 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He was a writer and director, known for Who Will Teach Your Child? (1948), The Quest (1958) and Cornet at Night (1963). He died on July 4, 1981 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
At 19:00 there’s a music cue that, I’m convinced, heavily influenced a cue Fred Steiner composed for the Star Trek - TOS episode Charlie X. It’s too close to be coincidental.
@@KutWrite Jackson wrote the commentary. By "commentary", that means the lines which serve as narration, which in turn Doug would deliver with his voice.
It was DEFINITELY rain's voice, which I've wanted to hear for decades, The giveaway is extra enunciation at the ends of words. But he is an octave higher. I wonder if Kubrick dropped it an octave with the same vocoder he used to when Hal sung DAISY.
This documentary is credited with influencing Stanley Kubrick on the making of 2001: A space odyssey, however, it is also credited with being narrated by Douglas Rain, and having brought Douglas Rain to the attention of Kubrick as reported in various articles both on the Web and published, such as Space Odyssey by Michael Benson. The credits at the end of this Doc state quite clearly, Commentary by Stanley Jackson. Is Jackson the script writer? Is Rain the narrator ? Yes, it seems Rain actually did the narration but wasn't credited, and came to the attention of Kubrick eventually, perhaps via Wally Gentleman while he was engaged early on in 2001's production.
Both Wally Gentleman and Colin Low were approached by Kubrick to work on '2001', the former accepted (Low's reasons for declining are not known...I doubt he was aware of Kubrick's reputation for being a headache [albeit a brilliant one]...he probably wasn't interest in doing a big 'Hollywood production). Gentleman lasted only a short time on the production before quitting; a pity because he worked briefly with Trumbull before departure...it would have been interesting to see what their narrative was like. There are things in 'Universe' that I still don't know how they were done.
Fun Fact: Stanley Kubrick saw this film and the VISUALS of his dream for 2001: A Space. Odyssey was born. If this were in color you'd clearly see how much it influenced his shot choices. Brilliant work better and with 2001. More proof that, "WE STAND ON THE SHOULDERS OF THE GIANTS WHO PRECEDED US."
Some of the other wonderful films that The National Film Board Of Canada did were Cosmic Zoom, The Tender Tale of Cinderella Penguin, Satellites of The Sun and The Animal Movie.
although the information is dated (such is the way of science) the visual effects were some of the best being made at the time, and stand up well, even after 84 years.
Correction to the imformation below. 'North of Superior' was not the first IMAX film produced: that honour goes to 'Tiger Child', which Kroiter and Graeme Ferguson created in 1970 specifically for EXPO '70 in Osaka, but because Tiger Child was not seen outside of Japan (and even there ONLY by audiences that attended EXPO), 'North of Superior' is commonly, if erroneously cited as the first IMAX film (given that it was shown regularly to a 'public' audience at Ontario Place in Toronto.) More Lucas/NFB factrivia: Le Grand Maitre des Jedis cites Jean-Claude's Labrecques '60 Cycles' as having had a major influence on his idea of the freedom of shooting style when he was in film school.
And we beat your Captain Kirk (Canadian btw) in that American show with another Canadian before that Leslie Nelsen in 58 with (Forbidden Planet). Canadians were all about Space on film and TV.
“ You have been listening to the voice of the future when interplanetary space flight will be as common place as a trip from New York to Los Angeles…Try to believe it, even though you know there is No planetary station.”
"...in your own Bosom you bear your Heaven And Earth, & all you behold, tho' it appears Without it is Within In your Imagination of which this World of Mortality is but a Shadow." -William Blake
@@russellloomis4376 That's probably that it was presented that way but reality was more complicated. For example, all LGBT people had to live in complete disguise, and women had a lot less opportunity. Things like domestic and sexual abuse were covered up.
No offense, but how could a film made in 1969 be "among the sources used by Kubrick in '2001: A Space Odyssey'"? Kubrick began production in 1964. "Universe," narrated by Douglas "HAL 9000" Rain, was released in May of 1960. I purchased this remarkable on the NFB website.
+Bad: Yeah, I watched it to hear early Douglas Rain, but saw the credits too. Also, IMDB doesn't show Rain for this movie. I couldn't find Jackson's page. Maybe it's a pseudonym?
@@qed100 Yes and it was 40 years ago. That doesn’t say it is not better in Canada. I am prepared to believe there are few places other than China that are worse than the US. They have implemented many parts of the Communist Manifesto which as I understand it, is not a means to create a utopian communist country, but to destroy a free nation.
This sweet and rather somber film serves a a great marker for how much astronomers have discovered since 1960, when the size of the observable universe was thought to be around 2 billion light years across.
8:05 - It is reasonably certain that there is vegetation on Mars. And all the info they had on Venus was: "Venus has sandstorms or clouds. We don't really know." Man, we were clueless not so long ago. I can only imagine how my grandkid's grandkids will be laughing at and mocking today's clueless generation.
Fun fact, Douglas Rain, who supplied the voice of HAL in 2001 a Space Oddesy, narrated this film.
Douglas Rain sounds more and more like HAL as the film goes on. It's like he's leaving his emotions and humanity behind the further he goes into the universe.
You don't say
@@Prosaicus Open the dam Pod bay doors, HAL. Hal: No i won't, go away.
Yeah I read elsewhere that this was Douglas Rain, but I don't see him in the credits. It credits Stanley Jackson as "Commentator," and from checking out some of this other work for Canada's NFB, this sounds like him to me. Hm.
Yeah, I noticed it said "Stanley Jackson"@@jellyhelm
Fun Fact: This film's director, Roman Kroitor, would later go on to invent IMAX. Around the same time, a young film student named George Lucas would get his hands on a tape of Kroitor discussing science and religion, in which he refers to "the force".
that. is. INSANE.
thanks for sharing!!!!
An Ars Technica article that mentioned those things brought me here today.
@@johnsavard7583 ; the Ars article also said this movie influenced Kubrick in his making “2001”.
C. C. Q., guacamole on the side, please!
@@bb1111116 Indeed. I first read about that many years ago but had not seen Universe until fairly recently. The influence is clear in several parts of 2001.
These old educational videos are absolute gems, especially this one. 2001 is my favorite movie. Interesting that back then they had found only 12 of Jupiter's moons and 9 of Saturn's.
At least they found the vegetation on Mars.
My god I've found it. I saw this on bbc2 when I was maybe 6 or 7 and ever since I've loved space and science. Can't believe someone had it on TH-cam.
I recorded it on a cassette tape at the time and listened to it over and over. Astounding. Thank you for the upload
Great story! I'm glad you found it.
So ahead of its time. This film might be one of the best I've ever seen; despite being released when all of my grandparents would have been no older than kindergarten age. Amazing.
This got the make up of Saturn's rings more right than the beginning montage of planets in the first season of Star Trek TNG (they decided to redo the beginning sequence because of the mistake after that season - outside our solar system). Very impressive!
I love the view looking out from the observatory. 60 years later, surrounded by houses, Walmart, and a Costco. Can't see the stars with the naked eye any more.
One of the great documentaries of the 20th century.
The music for the film is by Eldon Rathburn who was something of a house composer for the NFB in the 50s and 60s, composing across the genres for the likes of Norman McLaren and the Studio B 'boys' (Roman Kroiter, Tom Daly, Colin Low & Wolf Koenig) and culminating in the score for 'Labyrinth' at expo '67 in Montreal, a collage of multi-screen imaging and architecture that was, at the time, the most expensive film ever made in Canada (considering a special, Brutalist building was designed and built to be part of the experience). Rathburn was adept at both light jazz and at the cool detached Modernism you hear in 'Universe'. Though widely heard in his lifetime, few recordings of his work exist outside their film sources and he remains a sadly under-celebrated talent in Canadian film history and in film composing in general.
Kroiter was involved in developing IMAX, and produced the first IMAX film 'North of Superior' which debuted in the Cinesphere at Ontario Place in 1971.
The astronomer, Dr Donald MacRae, is my first cousin twice removed, my grandmothers first cousin. Don used to stop at our home for a visit when he was on vacation on Prince Edward Island. Astronomy has always been my first interest since I was a kid. RIP Don!!
Que interesante que su primo saliera en éste famoso reportaje. Yo lo ví ( el documental) hace muchos años atrás...y ahora lo vuelvo a ver en pleno 2024.
Absolutely stunning work! Even as of today, typing this in January 2022. I can see where Kubrick got his inspiration for hyper-realistic space travel and special effects. So glad I found this documentary on TH-cam. If I was a kid in the early 60s and had been shown this, my mind would have been blown.
Some note the soundtrack and effects observing similarities in "2001: A Space Odyssey". Wondering about Kubrick's inspiration sources.
THis is really beautiful. What I love about this era is that it's all analogue and not assisted by computer... imagine the skill of the machinists who made that telescope, the special skills to balance it and polish that mirror, and making all these visual effects all by hand. Now we think we're doing it more cleverly now with computers, no way, all that's happened is we've lost all these skills. Poignant.
Telescopes are still analog, made from steel & glass...
I was in the last class of mechanical drawing/drafting at my high school in the early 1990s. I also learned how to manually operate milling machines and lathes, aluminum casting and woodworking.
The auto shop ended a couple years before I entered high school. Do high schools even offer wood shop these days?
I have to admit that having a 3d router AND printer is pretty goddamn incredible.
@@rsvp9146They do, in fact offer wood shop.
And gained new ones!
What a wonderful clear copy of this movie!
“Open the telescope bay doors HAL!”
Sadly Douglas Trumbull did not get a screen credit at the end of this film. But he was a chief animator of the celestial effects.
7:50 - Mars vegetation. Yes, yes, back when we still could imagine (plant) life on Mars.
It's amazing he says that with "it is almost certain"!
what an incredible documentary, even 60+ years later - and the narration by mr. rain is of course a highlight!
Truly a breathtaking documentary. Some of the science is outdated, but much of it surprisingly holds up, over 60 years later. The effects, music and pacing really make it feel like a true work of art. I quite enjoyed this.
i like to fall asleep listening to this sometimes! douglas rain had such a soothing voice and HAL will forever be a major ‘comfort character’ for me :)
Great special effects.
This is the show that got Douglas Rain the Kubrick job.
Strange how the special effects in this beautiful documentary are sometimes better than in its contemporary, 2001: A Space Odyssey. Kubrick said he went to Jupiter instead of Saturn, because they were unable to satisfactorily recreate the planet’s rings. They look beautiful in this documentary though. But I assume that the artist Kubrick had other goals than just pure scientific accuracy.
It seems this documentary inspired other artists as well. 18:20-18:50 Looks like the sequence where, in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, the USS Enterprise travels throught the V’ger cloud.
Yeah. This was even 8 years *before* the release of "2001"!
2001 was shot in 65mm and color. And Kubrick was well aware of how all these effects were done, and many of the techniques used would not stand up to the added resolution of that format. And as great as this film is, the effects are not “better” than 2001. That is a ludicrous assessment.
I remember this film as a kid. Brings back fond memories of when I had my first telescope and my younger brother and I would stay outside in the backyard during the summer stargazing well into the wee hours of until probably 3:00 AM . A few decades later I still enjoy the hobby with more than a few different telescopes. 🔭🌄🌇🌌🌑👍
This gives us Douglas' real narratory voice and not the softened version he had to use for HAL.
I was wondering if there was some audio processing for the voice of HAL in 2001, because it sounds so much more velvety than in here. It's hard to believe Douglas Rain would be able to change it so much without any aid, but then from what I hear he was very good. Incidentally, his HAL voice in 2010 sounds completely different from the one in 2001, too.
@@rodrigobraz2 …one way into the character of Hal was for Rain (recording in Canada) to sit comfortably, with his bare feet resting on a pillow. Kubrick was sitting beside him, directing.
This was just wonderful.
I remember watching this in School back in the 1970s. It is from the David Dunlap from Richmond hill, Ontario. I have always wanted to visit this wonderful place and this past weekend, I did. It was Doors Open Richmond Hill and I saw this movie again after SO many years. Aww the memories.
5:55 Oh hi opening shot from 2OO1
“And when we look this deeply into space, we are looking at a ghostly image of the distant past. For the light by which we see these regions started traveling towards us long before the dawn of life on earth. In all of time, on all the planets of all the galaxies in space, what civilizations have arisen, looked into the night, seen what we see, asked the questions that we ask.”
Feel of "The Outer Limits."
YES!
The original one.
“Counterweight” comes to mind.
What a gorgeous shot from one of Jupiter's moons. This must have seemed incredible in 1960!
0:28 how did they get the 3 pillars of creation photo in this film? I thought the image was taken in the 90's by the Hubble space telescope. This Movie came out in 1960 someone please explain to me.
Serious question?
@@AIainMConnachie I’m genuinely curious
@@crossfam5940 OK I understand. Hubble made the so-called Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula famous. But good photographs of them have been around for a century. IIRC they were first photographed in the 1920s. I have several old books that feature black & white photos of them
Beautifully put together, vivid, educational and so heavily influential: I just learned about this documentary after reading the astonishing, riveting book "Space Odyssey: Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke And The Making of a Masterpiece" by Michael Benson. For any fans of this, 2001, and really anything Kubrick-related, this book is a must-read. It's so blatantly clear now how it influenced Kubrick & Clarke: special effects guy on this documentary, Wally Gentleman, was 'hand-picked' to work on 2001: A Space Odyssey, alongside others. But it was no picnic with Kubrick, as Gentleman and others involved, Clarke and Douglas Rain included, testify in the book.
NFB film inspired Kubrick to work with Wally Gentleman SP FX Cameraman.
Kubrick was awarded the Academy Award for SP FX for 2001. Sadly it was
a group of talented SP FX team that designed & built the SP FX for 2001.
Kubrick was a copycat.
This is the superior quality version of this film other versions on TH-cam are not as good as this both visually and sound quality.
16:55 He's hitting the switches on his scope.
Its interesting how the narrator refers to Pluto as a dwarf.
Prophetic
I love that effect at the 18 and 1/2 minute Mark of speed of light travel.
3:20 "Open the observatory doors, HAL."
I'm glad I did not see this or something like it when I was still an impressionable young boy. It would have left me too stunned (overwhelmed) to continue enjoying a carefree childhood. First two minutes are plenty unsettling, especially the stark black and white imagery. But now I love this stuff. This is incredibly beautiful cinematography, especially the scenes with dramatic long shadows. One more thing: after seeing so many wondrous things "out there" I feel fortunate and grateful to be on the most hospitable planet, our beloved Terra.
Pro black and white work. Yeah, I came for Doug. You begin o see how good his HAL performance was.
I believe the credit for "commentary" to Stanley Jackson refers to his writing. According to Wikipedia (citing others, incl historians of Canada's NFB) and IMDB, Jackson was a director and commentary writer of documentaries for the NFB (and, per IMDB, an occasional narrator). With years of expertise in voice work, and having listened to this audio track at slower-than-normal speeds, I can suggest very strongly that this narration was performed by Douglas Rain. Additionally, per Wikipedia, Kubrick and Clarke viewed and listened to Universe at the 1964 World's Fair in NY. I believe the attribution of the narrator role to Jackson on the Wikipedia page for the David Dunlap Observatory is incorrect.
Wiki needs to be updated as there is no reference for that mistake on the David Dunlap Observatory page.
But there's a storyline credit.
@@flaggerify As in movie credits Story is often a separate credit from screenplay, or commentary as is the case here.
The speed of light sequence at the 18 1/2 minute Mark was used as an opening title sequence for a TV anthology sci-fi movie series called "Worlds beyond"
on channel 4 in Miami in the early and mid 60s.😮
14:35 same sound effect used in Star Wars.
This is so cool!.. thank you for posting!
Hubble Telescope has really improved the imaging .... and today we can actually detect planets moving around remote stars. Come a long way.
Some of info provided has become obsolete (like Venus' surface is now known to be obscured by clouds), but even with such signs of age this has excellent execution and presentation.
Stanley Kubrick has seen this documentary in film school before he made 2001. He remembered Rain's voice as the narrator, and was so impressed, he eventually offered him the role as HAL's voice. Rain was a famous Canadian Shakespearean actor.
Not sure I learned anything new from this, but the music is just SICK.
The narrative was very well done. It gave me the mental images. I didn’t even have to watch.
Edit: the effects were really good to, for the time. I’m sure. I am glad I watched.
*MY GOD, IT'S FULL OF STARS!*
Kubrick not only got Douglas Rain here, but he got several visual elements used in 2001. The most obvious was the camera behind the moon, peeking over the edge to reveal the earth, and past it, the sun. And there are others. Also, the asteroids, a sequence strangely like the stargate, and music impossibly similar to Atmospheres. The drum in the very beginning was identical to 2001's zarathustra.
The feel of this film is like 2001, too. And at the end, the astronomer returns from beyond the infinite, to drive home to his girl like the starchild returning to earth, to be born again... and again and again, in the eternal recurrence Nietzsche wrote of.
In 2001, everything circular is safe, and everything rectangular refers to The Secret. Of the 23 doors in the film, ONE is rectangular: the door to the conference room, where EVERYTHING is rectangular. And the negative space between those double door is shaped like the monolith.
In fact, the only rectangular shapes _in the whole movie_ are the conference room, the monolith, and HAL's internals.
God, there is SO much more...
2001 is my favorite movie but I never knew about the circle/rectangle symbolism. If I watched it a thousand times I'd never pick up on it. It amazes me to think that anybody would, which makes me wonder why they bother to put it in. Maybe great artists don't care whether anybody understands their art.
Wonderful complement to 2001 collection of sources!
Health and safety has evolved a bit since this film was made. “Yeah, mate just walk up the telescope to take off the lens cap. Don’t worry not many people fall…
The fact that this video doesn't have millions of views is a shame.
There is a clip of this on a programme I have on tape called Eyes Of Canada. The narrator is Douglas Rain. Stanley Kubrick liked the film and he selected Douglas Rain to play the voice of HAL 9000 in 2001 A Space Odyssey.
This is such a cool piece of history.
Absolutely superb. Loved it.
It said Commentary - Stanley Jackson. I thought this was Douglas Rain (ie HAL 9000)????
Check out 19 mins 40 seconds. "A cubic inch of dwarf star matter would weigh 40 tons". Fun fact - one cubic inch of solid nuclear matter would weigh about 500 thousand billion tons. Mind boggling, isn't it?
The opening music & narration could have been from the Twilight Zone. Very nice and I understand why Kubrick wanted people from this film on 2001.
Is this narrator the same dude who was the voice of the Hal 9000?
Yes
Farewell, voice of HAL 9000.
I think I did learn something after all. You look at how the astronomers did their jobs 50 years ago, and you are reminded of how physical a thing it is to use one of the biggest telescopes. We are mostly isolated from that with modern systems, but it's still there.
According to IDMB:
Stanley Jackson was born in 1914 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He was a writer and director, known for Who Will Teach Your Child? (1948), The Quest (1958) and Cornet at Night (1963). He died on July 4, 1981 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Stunning miniature work at 26:25. Just been staring at if as it's so strangely realistic but not correct so my brain is doing flip flops.
At 19:00 there’s a music cue that, I’m convinced, heavily influenced a cue Fred Steiner composed for the Star Trek - TOS episode Charlie X. It’s too close to be coincidental.
I could almost recognize Douglas Rain's voice. Open the pod bay doors, HAL. 🇨🇦🌎🌌
I thought so too, but the credit is to Stanley Jackson.
IMDB doesn't show him with a credit for this film either.
www.imdb.com/name/nm0706937
@@KutWrite Jackson wrote the commentary. By "commentary", that means the lines which serve as narration, which in turn Doug would deliver with his voice.
It was DEFINITELY rain's voice, which I've wanted to hear for decades, The giveaway is extra enunciation at the ends of words. But he is an octave higher. I wonder if Kubrick dropped it an octave with the same vocoder he used to when Hal sung DAISY.
@@Miss__Understands Vocoder? Didn't they just slow down a tape machine?
So, Douglas Rain (narrator, voice of HAL) isn't included in the final credits? NFB: time to update!
Made with such love
I saw this movie in my high school physics class in 1970. Good memories.
This documentary is credited with influencing Stanley Kubrick on the making of 2001: A space odyssey, however, it is also credited with being narrated by Douglas Rain, and having brought Douglas Rain to the attention of Kubrick as reported in various articles both on the Web and published, such as Space Odyssey by Michael Benson.
The credits at the end of this Doc state quite clearly, Commentary by Stanley Jackson.
Is Jackson the script writer?
Is Rain the narrator ?
Yes, it seems Rain actually did the narration but wasn't credited, and came to the attention of Kubrick eventually, perhaps via Wally Gentleman while he was engaged early on in 2001's production.
Very cool...NFB produces some high quality content
I read where the man narrating, Douglas Rain, was the voice for the Hal 9000 computer on 2001 A Space Odyssey. Fun fact.
Both Wally Gentleman and Colin Low were approached by Kubrick to work on '2001', the former accepted (Low's reasons for declining are not known...I doubt he was aware of Kubrick's reputation for being a headache [albeit a brilliant one]...he probably wasn't interest in doing a big 'Hollywood production). Gentleman lasted only a short time on the production before quitting; a pity because he worked briefly with Trumbull before departure...it would have been interesting to see what their narrative was like. There are things in 'Universe' that I still don't know how they were done.
Fun Fact: Stanley Kubrick saw this film and the VISUALS of his dream for 2001: A Space. Odyssey was born. If this were in color you'd clearly see how much it influenced his shot choices.
Brilliant work better and with 2001.
More proof that, "WE STAND ON THE SHOULDERS OF THE GIANTS WHO PRECEDED US."
Some of the other wonderful films that The National Film Board Of Canada did were Cosmic Zoom, The Tender Tale of Cinderella Penguin, Satellites of The Sun and The Animal Movie.
That astronomer looks so lonely in that observatory, marching down that little path to that car.
although the information is dated (such is the way of science)
the visual effects were some of the best being made at the time,
and stand up well, even after 84 years.
How is this footage so clean
Correction to the imformation below. 'North of Superior' was not the first IMAX film produced: that honour goes to 'Tiger Child', which Kroiter and Graeme Ferguson created in 1970 specifically for EXPO '70 in Osaka, but because Tiger Child was not seen outside of Japan (and even there ONLY by audiences that attended EXPO), 'North of Superior' is commonly, if erroneously cited as the first IMAX film (given that it was shown regularly to a 'public' audience at Ontario Place in Toronto.)
More Lucas/NFB factrivia: Le Grand Maitre des Jedis cites Jean-Claude's Labrecques '60 Cycles' as having had a major influence on his idea of the freedom of shooting style when he was in film school.
play it at 1.25 speed and he sort of sounds like bomb # 20 in Dark Star.
:) Great reference
¡Qué buen documental!
HAL MAKING A DOCUMENTARY
And we beat your Captain Kirk (Canadian btw) in that American show with another Canadian before that Leslie Nelsen in 58 with (Forbidden Planet). Canadians were all about Space on film and TV.
Narrated by Douglas Rain - the voice of HAL9000 in '2001 A Space Odyssey'.
2001: A Space Odyssey is on tv now.
Thanks to Massimo (@Rainmaker1973 on Twitter) for directing me to this one
“ You have been listening to the voice of the future when interplanetary space flight will be as common place as a trip from New York to Los Angeles…Try to believe it, even though you know there is No planetary station.”
Douglas Rain
6:03 went straight into 2001
Absolutely brilliant. And for it's time, must've come close to some as being heretical.
Sadly, in 2021 it still comes close to being heretical to some fundamentalist.
Back when public television sought to elevate and educate, not indoctrinate.
Holy hell, HAL narrates educational documentaries.
"...in your own Bosom you bear your Heaven
And Earth, & all you behold, tho' it appears Without it is Within
In your Imagination of which this World of Mortality is but a Shadow."
-William Blake
The purity of this time in Canada is lost and gone forever.....
Not just Canada, but the whole world was simpler back then.
purity my ass. the canadian government has killed the natives without mercy
@@russellloomis4376 That's probably that it was presented that way but reality was more complicated. For example, all LGBT people had to live in complete disguise, and women had a lot less opportunity. Things like domestic and sexual abuse were covered up.
I went to an astronomy summer camp in 1973 and our teacher projected that movie. At that time, I thought it was William Shatner that was commenting.
He does sound like Shatner. I suppose it’s a Canadian trained voice thing.
No offense, but how could a film made in 1969 be "among the sources used by Kubrick in '2001: A Space Odyssey'"? Kubrick began production in 1964.
"Universe," narrated by Douglas "HAL 9000" Rain, was released in May of 1960.
I purchased this remarkable on the NFB website.
The Stockwell | You are correct, this is from 1960. Maybe NFB will correct the description.
I hope so. The NFB is a terrific organization.
If you check the end credits, this was narrated by Stanley Jackson, not Douglas Rain.
+Bad: Yeah, I watched it to hear early Douglas Rain, but saw the credits too.
Also, IMDB doesn't show Rain for this movie. I couldn't find Jackson's page. Maybe it's a pseudonym?
I looked him up - he was a minor director for the CBC and did some narration. Sounds close to Rain's delivery but unfortunately, no.
I still watching it in 2024
Flagrant OSHA violations; climbing into the telescope without proper safety equipment. It is a wonder we can get anything done today.
@@qed100 Yes and it was 40 years ago. That doesn’t say it is not better in Canada. I am prepared to believe there are few places other than China that are worse than the US. They have implemented many parts of the Communist Manifesto which as I understand it, is not a means to create a utopian communist country, but to destroy a free nation.
This sweet and rather somber film serves a a great marker for how much astronomers have discovered since 1960, when the size of the observable universe was thought to be around 2 billion light years across.
Back when Pluto was a real planet love it!
Ah. The voice of HAL!
I can't say that definitely sounds like Rain, and he's not credited.
It's him.
Una joya de la FANTASIENCIA! Para los feligreses de la nueva religión!
8:05 - It is reasonably certain that there is vegetation on Mars. And all the info they had on Venus was: "Venus has sandstorms or clouds. We don't really know." Man, we were clueless not so long ago. I can only imagine how my grandkid's grandkids will be laughing at and mocking today's clueless generation.
With what is taught in schools nowadays, I don't think it'll be a problem.
Sounds like a young Douglas Rain but why is credit given to Stanley Jackson?