10 Awesome Movie Effects That Aren't What You Think
6. The Floating Pen - 2001: A Space Odyssey
What You Thought
Early on in Stanley Kubrick's sci-fi masterpiece, Dr. Heywood Floyd (William Sylvester) is being transported in a space shuttle, as the audience is treated to a gorgeous zero-gravity sequence.
Memorably, a pen can be seen floating in the air before being retrieved by an air stewardess (Heather Downham).
Even with the film's eye-wateringly impressive and pioneering use of visual effects, it's fair to say that 1968 was just too early for the production to convincingly create the floating pen digitally, and most viewers likely figured it was executed with hidden wires.
The Actual Effect
The actual effect is hilariously simple and all the more genius as a result. Kubrick simply had his crew glue the pen to a large sheet of glass, which would be rotated around to give the impression of it free-floating.
Incredibly, Kubrick managed to avoid any telltale reflections, and the only vague giveaway is that Downham has to ever-so-slightly unseat the pen from the glue, rather than simply "pluck" it out of thin air were it really floating.
As complex a production as 2001 was, it's staggering that one of its most talked-about effects shots was achieved with such inspired simplicity.