''Universe'' (''Notre univers'') is a 1960 black-and-white documentary short film made in 1960 by

Roman Kroitor Roman Kroitor (December 12, 1926 – September 17, 2012) was a Canadian filmmaker who was known as a pioneer of ''Cinéma vérité'', as the co-founder of IMAX, and as the creator of the Sandde hand-drawn stereoscopic 3D animation system. He ...

and Colin Low for the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; ) is a Canadian public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and altern ...

(NFB). The NFB writes: " he filmcreates on the screen a vast, awe-inspiring picture of the universe as it would appear to a voyager through space. Realistic animation takes you into far regions of space, beyond the reach of the strongest telescope, past Moon, Sun, and Milky Way into galaxies yet unfathomed." This visualization is grounded in the nightly work of Dr. Donald MacRae, an

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...

at the David Dunlap Observatory in

Richmond Hill, Ontario Richmond Hill ( 2021 population: 202,022) is a city in south-central York Region, Ontario, Canada. Part of the Greater Toronto Area, it is the York Region's third most populous municipality and the 27th most populous municipality in Canada. Ric ...

. Using the technology of his era, MacRae prepares his largely manually operated equipment and then photographs, by long exposure, one star. He actually strikes an arc between iron

electrode An electrode is an electrical conductor used to make contact with a nonmetallic part of a circuit (e.g. a semiconductor, an electrolyte, a vacuum or a gas). In electrochemical cells, electrodes are essential parts that can consist of a varie ...

s and makes a simultaneous exposure, which he can compare to the star's spectrum to determine its movement relative to Earth.

Production

and Colin Low considered making a film about the universe five years before the launch of

Sputnik 1 Sputnik 1 (, , ''Satellite 1''), sometimes referred to as simply Sputnik, was the first artificial Earth satellite. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957 as part of the Soviet space program ...

. A budget of $60,000 was requested. Don Mulholland, the Director of Production, wanted the film divided into three parts in order to justify its cost. NFB Commissioner Albert Trueman gave the film $20,000 per year, and they put the film on hold once they used up the money for that year. The film was not completed after three years so more money was given with the requirement that it be completed within the next year. The film was completed on 31 March 1960; its budget was $105,146.

Release

300 prints of the film were ordered by

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

and the NFB sold over 3,100 copies by 1976. It was one of the more widely distributed educational films ever made.

Awards

Legacy

After ''Universe'' was released, Colin Low worked with

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American filmmaker and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Stanley Kubrick filmography, his films were nearly all adaptations of novels or sho ...

on '' 2001: A Space Odyssey''. Kubrick chose narrator Douglas Rain as the voice of the HAL 9000 computer and hired cinematographer Wally Gentleman, who did optical effects for ''Universe'', to work on ''2001''. According to Kubrick biographer Vincent Lobrutto:

References

;Notes :1. The Dunlap Observatory is an optical astronomical observatory formerly owned and operated by the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

. It is now owned by the City of Richmond Hill and operated by the

Royal Astronomical Society of Canada The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) is a national, non-profit, charitable organization devoted to the advancement of astronomy and related sciences. At present, there are 30 local branches of the Society, called Centres, in towns an ...

Works cited

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External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Universe (1960 film) 1960 documentary films 1960 animated short films 1960s English-language films National Film Board of Canada documentaries BAFTA winners (films) Best Animated Feature BAFTA winners Films directed by Colin Low (filmmaker) Canadian animated documentary films Documentary films about outer space Black-and-white documentary films Canadian short documentary films Astronomy education works Films scored by Eldon Rathburn Films produced by Tom Daly National Film Board of Canada animated short films Films directed by Roman Kroitor 1960 short documentary films English-language Canadian films National Film Board of Canada short films 1960s Canadian animated films Short Film Palme d'Or winners English-language short documentary films