Step Inside the Mind of Kubrick with This 2001: A Space Odyssey VR Experience

Happy Finish, in partnership with director and photographer Norbert Schoerner, has created a 360º Virtual Reality experience to celebrate a master of cinema for the new exhibition at Somerset House, “Daydreaming with Stanley Kubrick”. 

Invited to respond to a film, scene, character or theme from the Kubrick archives, shining new perspectives onto his legacy, Happy Finish set their brains to daydream how best to bring Kubrick’s work to life. This filmmaker was a genius, way ahead of his time. Known not only for his storytelling, but also how he pioneered, embracing new technologies, from steadicam to NASA satellite lenses. 

Virtual Reality is all about immersion and offering a new perspective. Happy Finish wants viewers to live a scene as if they were present, and offer a new and lasting experience. The opportunity to give visitors to the Daydreaming exhibition the chance to live the scene from 2001: A Space Odyssey, where Dr. Francis Poole runs vertically through the circular centrifugal space of Discovery One made perfect sense. It's not just about having presence in the scene but also about a new sensation. 

The experience places the audience in the skin of the astronaut. Enabling the viewer to look around freely and experience  the scene in angles not possible before. Audio plays a key part in the piece; offering greater immersion, Happy Finish used the heavy breathing and classical audio tracks that will automatically take you to 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Happy Finish CG artist, Martin Ocheng, recreated the scene: “After studying the video footage of the centrifuge scene I started creating the environments and later focused on the lighting and textures. The whole process went quite smoothly, but the main challenge was to find enough information from the original images to accurately recreate all angles with as much detail as possible.”

Norbert Schoerner, photographer and co-creator of the experience, adds: “This is the fourth project I have created in my ongoing relationship with Happy Finish and yet again they have exceeded my expectations with an experience to help me celebrate this iconic filmmaker at Somerset House. The creative team at Happy Finish was an integral part of the process and keep pushing the boundaries of new technologies.”

This 360ºVR installation, called 'Das Problem der Befahrung des Weltraums',referring to the eponymous 1929 book by H. Noordung,  is part of the Somerset House Exhibition “Daydreaming with Stanley Kubrick” and will be on display until the 24th of August.