Behind the Effects: A Floating Pen Space Odyssey

2001: A Space Odyssey is a tough nut to crack.  There isn’t much along the way of information as to how the film as a whole was maid.  Stanley Kubrick was very restrictive about who was allowed on the set of the film, and even went out of his way to make sure none of the props survived the production (he was kind of crazy.)  The film isn’t very easy to understand, but finding much definitive information behind the special effects is surprisingly difficult.

So what special effect was the most mind boggling?  Were you more surprised by the strange panoramas near the end?  How about the rotating running track or the 1960’s video phone?

Well for the purpose of this article we’re going to pretend that the most mind-boggling effect was this one. . .

Yup, that pen was floating in space.  Was it’s little metal inky frame somehow immune to the power of physics?  Was it a hand-drawn animated pen that was added in later?  If so then how did the stewardess with the “Spaceballs” hat pick it up?

The answer, as per usual, is actually much simpler than you might think.  But before I tell you about it I’m going to have to introduce you to a couple of friends of mine.

Say hello to double sided tape.

"Hello Double Sidded Tape" - You

Double sided tape is an alternate form of the adhesive tape that started popping up during the early 1900’s.  Unlike the average tape, double sided tape is sticky on both sides to allow all sorts of new uses to come about.  This brand-spanking new form of tape did not really come into existence until forty years or so after the first real adhesive tape was invented by Dr. Horace Day.

Now say hello to glass.

"Hello Glass!" - You

Glass naturally occurs in nature in a few forms, but most glass that you’ve probably encountered is man made using surprisingly complex chemistry that I don’t understand.  The first man-made glass that we know about comes from ancient Mesopotamia, and that same sort of glass is till used today; though the technology and processes by which it is made for industrial and domestic reasons has become increasingly advanced.

So what do these two friends have to do with floating pens? Well these two friends of mine, glass and double sided tape, are the two main components in making the floating pen effect.  You could even argue that they are the only two components.

First they got a pen.  Then they stuck the pen to a piece of glass and moved the piece of glass around in front of the camera to make it look as if it was floating.  When it was time for the stewardess to pluck the pen off the glass, she just pulled it off like a band aide and put it into the sleeping dude’s front pocket.  Watch the video again, and you can even see her pulling a little too hard to get that pen out of thin air.  Look at the pictures bellow to see someone preparing their own imitation of the effect.

Pretty simple huh?  You might even say that this effect was so simple that I shouldn’t have bothered writing a full blog-post on it.  You might even hate me for doing so.  Well I don’t care if this article is boring as crap, I had fun writing it, and I hope your curiosity is piqued enough to go find out more about 2001: A Space Odyssey.  As well as the marvelous effects behind it. 

Thanks for reading! If you wanna appear to float in space (or if you just want to get updates on Atchley-O-Saurus) then I suggest you sign up for email alerts or follow us on social media.  If you want to write for us, or have any other smart remarks you can email me at atchleyosaurus@gmail.com.  Check back this weekend for a new movie review or two