Arch 443/646: Architecture and Film
Fall 2005

Aelita (1924), Just Imagine (1930) and First Men in the Moon (1964)

Please answer the questions below. Use paragraph form. Your answer should be around 400 words. Email me your responses in Word .doc format to: tboake@sympatico.ca I will be posting these each week after the class. You should be prepared to deliver your answer in class -- but paraphrase, do not read it.

Some questions will include references to "Just Imagine" (the portion that we are viewing in class on the 21st of September. The answers are due for discussion at the beginning of class on Wednesday, September 28 at 10am. Please be on time as this takes around an hour, we will have a 20 minute break, then view Space Odyssey (which is over 2 hours in length).

Please refer to Timelines of Science to ground your thought in the relative level of technology as it relates to the film/book.

1. Liana Bresler

The environment of Mars as represented in Aelita seems to concentrate only on the presentation of interior spaces. (The novel, in contrast, presents both spatial types quite equally). Why do you feel the film makers felt it important to stress the interior environments?

Filmed in 1924, Aelita presented it’s viewers with elaborate sets depicting the interior environment on Mars, but only one shot in the movie offered us a glimpse of the exterior environment on that planet. It seems that the director would have shown us more of the exterior environment had it been technically possible to depict them in a manner that is close to what was described in the original novel.

The set was clearly an important part in the making of Aelita. The detailed and imaginative constructivist set help to paint the picture of a sophisticated and advanced society. Russian constructivist aspirations to represent modern technology and the spirit of the revolution were very suitable to describe an imaginary advanced society.

The vast interior spaces are shown in contrast to the cramped interiors on earth. Contrasting the Martians’ advanced society with the human society was perhaps important because it showed an ideal situation in which an extremely advanced culture chooses to go through a soviet revolution.

Depicting an exterior environment which was as impressive as the interior one was probably too much of a technical challenge for the creators at the time. Instead of compromising the image of the exterior environment described in the novel, they chose to focus on the interior set which was more feasible. The single shot of the exterior environment on Mars shows us what they might have built had they had today’s technology at their disposal.

2. Jonathan Cummings

What was the "style" that was used to portray the interior environments of Aelita on Mars? Why do you feel that the makers of Aelita felt that the "style" used to represent the architecture of Mars was appropriate? How did this contrast with the architecture presented on earth/in Moscow?

3. Kate Gould

Compare the aliens in Aelita and Just Imagine to First Men in the Moon. Why do you feel that Aelita and Just Imagine chose to make the inhabitants of Mars quite human (the book Aelita aliens were blue and green skinned), whereas First Men saw them so differently?

4. Allison Janes

The spaceships in Aelita, First Men on the Moon and Just Imagine all have quite different methods of "landing" on their respective planets. Given that at the time of the conception of all 3 films, no one had ever landed on another planet. Comment on their respective choice of contact.

5. Elfie Kalfakis

Comment on the variations in the use of cinematic devices and special effects in Aelita, Just Imagine and First Men in the Moon. Refer to the use of models, live sets and other visuals in attempting to portray a realistic vision of life on another planet.

In all three movies the use of live sets of earth and outer space are in contrast with each other. The tranquil Russian winters in Aelita or the English gardens and pastoral landscape of First Man in the Moon depict a calm natural landscape on Earth.  The conditions of outer space portrayed through rocky baron landscapes suggest a much harsher environment, reinforced by opposing film sets of earth & outer space.  These conditions validate the rough & cold built environment of space seen in constructivist style of the Mars sets in Aelita and Just Imagine and the subterranean set that must be v of the moon in First Man in the Moon.
  
Models in all three films are a dynamic and active part of the sets.  They are either being used by the actors and moving around or in front of them. One example is the ‘telescope’ invention on Mars in Aelita. It is not until the actors begin to use it that one starts to believe it could exist. The use of lighting in this film also creates a sense of depth within the sets. Luminating the foreground and creating dark voids in the distance, on the interior shots of the Mars kingdom, places the viewer in the scene. In older films like Just Imagine the use of camera angles and scene changes are important in creating a third dimension.  To view the shuttle take off in front of a crowd, see it lift off and then view it as a small object in the distance within space (although it clearly was being held up by a string) gives the illusion the spacecraft has taken off into space. Though a very primitive approach, for its time I assume it would get the point across to the audience.

In more modern movies the use of blue screen creates a third dimension that allows the viewer to experience the film at a human scale.  It creates a foreground with a dynamic image in the background.  A couple of good examples would be the 'sunlight crystal' and 'caterpillar monster' in First Man in the Moon. Images on the blue screen were to be portrayed as much larger objects, having them as a background to people in the foreground gives the viewer that impression.  The blue screen also provides a more accurate representation of these creatures/inventions presenting the viewer with the materiality, texture and colour the object might have. This is one aspect that the earlier films lacked.

An accurate representation of materiality and texture of both sets and models creates a more believable landscape.  The use of realistic materials, evident in more modern films like First Man in the Moon, the 'strange or mysterious' objects and landscapes become something recognizable to the viewer. When provided with an element of 3 rd dimension, attention to materiality, lighting and proper camera angles viewer is able to place himself in the picture.

6. Emily Maemura

Comment on the spacesuits in First Men on the Moon, given the year of production of the film (1964), the book upon which the film was based (1901) and the existence of space travel (however limited) in the early 1960s.

The suits from 1899 scenes are modified deep sea diving suits. This follows from the technology available to a turn-of-the-century scientist – relatively new inventions of the time including the back-pack underwater suit and ‘rebreather’ used in deep sea diving. Space is seen as a body similar to the ocean. The logic is: ‘what keeps out water will keep air in.’ One specific oddity of the antique costumes is the exposure of hands, defying the extreme cold, as well as airtightness of the suit – however, if space is analogous to water, exposed hands should not be a problem. The atmosphere of the moon seems not to present any difficulties in terms of temperature or pressure and there is even breathable atmosphere in the moon where helmets and breathing apparatus can be abandoned. While these realities of life in space are played with or completely ignored, others are acknowledged if not perfectly adhered to. For example, the need for oxygen tanks is prevalent, as well as some concept of lesser gravity on the moon (Cavor and Bedford both carry weights on their suits initially to counteract this). However other concepts, like the lack of atmosphere on the moon limiting sound travel, are totally ignored. The low-tech solution to communication on the moon is to simply put helmets very close together and talk.

The oddities of the suits serve to emphasize the time difference and antique technologies available in 1899. As well, the costumes accentuate the relative ease of space travel which Wells presents in the 1901 book; an eccentric scientist with enough money can build a space ship in his own backyard. The exposure of hands is just one example supporting the idea of a more personal/individual outlook for a voyage into space – you can almost touch it.

This relative ease of space travel in 1899 is juxtaposed with the involved technical undertaking of the international 1964 mission. Yet despite outward appearances of these more technically advanced suits, they still possess attributes which tell of a lack of understanding of lunar life, for instance they still use lace-up boots. As costumes emphasized the absurdity of a single man reaching the moon fifty years previously, perhaps they also tell of an underlying public disbelief that top scientists could achieve the same goal in the present (of 1964).

7. Derek McCallum

Doors in space... how are they portrayed? why? is it appropriate?

Doors are important thresholds through which we pass, and in space they take on extra significance. They are barriers between life and death, and literally different worlds.

In Aelita, the simple and practical doors are of Earth are contrasted with the flamboyant and dramatic ones on Mars. The entrance to the spacecraft is given very little attention, perhaps alluding to the lack of knowledge concerning space travel. The thresholds between the various rooms of the “palace” are extremely important delineations between rooms – the observatory, assembly hall, Aelilta’s chamber, etc. Each one corresponds in a way with the occupation of the room to which it is granting entry. The doors to the assembly hall are massive slabs which are thrown mightily open for the all-powerful “king”. One passes through an elegantly unfolding fan-like door to enter the space of Aelita, the delicate “queen”.

First Men , being from the 1960’s, pays a lot more attention to the feat of traveling through space and the danger it poses. Thresholds play a special role in this feat. The doors to the greenhouse must remain closed in order to not undermine the experiment taking place – they are a critical point between success and failure. Such is the depiction of the spacecraft’s hatches – if they are compromised or opened at the wrong time catastrophe and death will ensue. Thus doors are extremely important to men and space travel. Interestingly, the inhabitants of Mars have a similar relationship with doors. They are the thresholds between a world of death (no air) and life (with air). Without them, they would not be able to exist. They are portrayed as massive slabs, but the men are able to open them with their bare hands. This shows how society has come to understand the effects of gravity. Within the subterranean world, similar to Aelita, the doors all slide open, blending into the actual “architecture” or space in which they are located. The significance of this is that perhaps in these worlds, there is no grey zone. All elements of life appear very extreme. One is either inside a space or outside it, never pausing in the doorway to think, “do I want to go through?” It would already be too late.

8. Helen Pallot

For each spacecraft (Aelita, Just Imagine, First Men), why do you think that the authors thought their construction method/materials appropriate for space travel.

The construction of the space ships were shaped by the theories and technology of that time. All of the space crafts were constructed out of metal and used bolt and welded connections. Aelita and Just Imagine both functioned on fuel were as the 1900 craft in First men in moon moved on the theory of its anti-gravity coating.

The early 1900s craft from the First men in Moon was constructed by web of octagonal ridge connections that was the exterior exposed skeleton of the craft. This was made out of cast iron and had train stoppers welded onto the outward faces of the frame, this was to act as shock absorbers for the landing. What was interesting it that it didn’t appear to have any exhaust or rockets on it rather was catapulted into space by an explosion triggered by the furnace in the scientist’s living room and to activate landing the shutters that had anti-gravity coating on them controlled the crafts ability to land and lift off from the moon. This was much more imaginative and playful to the modern ideas of space travel that appeared in the beginning of the film, starting from the sleek cylinder shape of the craft to the dispatch of the explorer and its landing hydraulic legs.

In Just Imagine, the space craft was modelled on a plane, having a cylinder body that met at a pointed nose and had exhausts attached at the end and sides of it. Its make was out of a shiny metal more so to match the glitz and glam of the movie but in attempt to add to the mockery and spin up of movies about space discovery. The crafting was kept unknown but would have been constructed much like most machines and veichels of that time.

Lastly Aelita which it the oldest of the films made not long before Just Imagine, was the only space craft out of the three films that we witnessed the making of the craft. Constructed in secrecy in the 1920s just after the civil revolution in Russia, it was put together inside a shed which seemed situated in the industrial region of Moscow. The space craft was of considerable size and this might have reflected the notion of size equals power. It seemed to be the largest out of all the three crafts round in shape and the inside was accessed through a small opening around the lower side of the craft. The workers were able to access all areas of the craft by the wooden scaffolding that was built up and around it and the materials seemed to be measured and manufactured on site.

They all shared similar methods of construction, and it is evident as time went on the space crafts developed and have more integrity in their design. However overall the construction of a space craft in the context of any science fiction film has the excuse and drive to push the boundaries of realism and fiction.

9. Michael Panacci

First Men in the Moon, although based upon the oldest piece of literature of the 3 films, by virtue of advances in cinematography, has managed to create the most realistic setting for the film. Do you, or how do you, think such technology might have impacted the production of Aelita, had this been available at that time?

10. Nathan Rehorick

We are given a glimpse of a model of the exterior view of Mars in Aelita. Comment on the urban structure presented for the planet. Why does it look like that? What were its determining factors?

In the film Aelita, we are presented with a cityscape situated in a solitary, undefined location on the rocky and seemingly desolate planet Mars. This urban environment has a similar uniformity to the surface of the planet on which it sits. Hard, monolithic materials, similar to concrete or stone, form structures from simple geometries - pillars, cones, rectangles, arches. Thus, the film depicts the Martians urban environment as being of and growing from the typology of the planet.

It is important to note that it was not until November of 1964 that photographs were successfully taken by satellite in Mars orbit. Until this point, distant telescopic imagery from earth would have been the basis for speculation of the planet’s form. In this vain, the city’s repetitive geometric forms are reminiscent of the popular image of Mars as a barren planet of rock.

It is also interesting to note that 1915, twelve years prior to the film’s making, was the year of publication of Einstein’s theory of relativity, which states that any body possessing mass “curves” space around it, so as to produce a gravitational field. The urban environment of Aelita is built on similar gravitational principles to our own metropolitan areas: arched or flat bridges and tall, slender skyscraper forms are structured similar to ours on earth.

The city is also connected by a number of elevated cords strung between structures, which we might speculate are a form of technology like power lines. These elements seem to allude to technological connectivity or advancement, yet within an primitive or archaic environment. Similarly, to glass is used to on certain urban structures. This combination of stripped down geometry and building materials with technological advancement relates to modernist architectural practice arising up to and throughout the 1920’s.

The overall design of Aelita’s city works under the assumption that the Mars people live and interact in a world that is, at its roots, similar to the earth. Planetary principles of gravity and atmosphere are maintained, ideas of electrical power, and open areas of streets and plazas all have their places. It is primarily the monolithic material that gives the proposed a unique and foreign character.

11. Matt Storus

Compare the launching systems and set up for the three space ships from Aelita, Just Imagine and First Men on the Moon. How are they different? How are they alike? What about this early tendency to blast through the roof of a building on the way out? Comment on their "fuels" and methods to overcome gravity.

Within the early sci-fi movies Aelita, Just Imagine, and First Men In The Moon, the act of launching space ships to distant plants are varied in terms of their launch setup, fuels and dramatic take-offs. The depictions offer a glimpse into the particular social, political and scientific milieu of their respective times.

In Aelita (1924) the physical ship itself consists of a roughly 8m tall sphere constructed of a steel frame with riveted steel exterior panelling. The architecture of the vessel calls upon the industrial aesthetic that was popular during the time of intensive industrial build-up in post-revolution Russia. The propulsion system was demonstrated (during take-off) to be rocket propulsion, with its obligatory dramatic blast of fire and smoke. Inspiration for this type of “engine” could have come from the rudimentary rocket systems used in military applications, or even from the widely disseminated theoretical work of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, who is credited with pioneering ideas about space travel through rockets. The propellant for this rocket was shown as a number of highly reactive chemicals the main character Los was preparing in his apartment.

Similarly, in Just Imagine (1930), rocket propulsion was depicted, but the architecture of the vessel expressed its identity as a rocket in an aerodynamic and stylized way – recalling the design spirit of American automotive and aeronautical design in the 1930’s. Los’s spherical spaceship did not express itself as an object in flight, but may have taken its formal cues from iconographical ideas about the Platonic shapes of heavenly objects, or even Constructivist ideas of composition.

While the vessel in First Men In The Moon shares similar physical traits with Aelita’s vessel (albeit smaller and with a distinct Victorian nautical motif), its proposed method of propulsion is fundamentally different. Instead of directing an explosive force against terra firma in order to exploit Newton’s laws as a means of escaping gravity, Cavor’s method simply negates the question of gravity all-together. His anti-gravity paste allows the vessel to escape the earth with ease.

In each movie, the blast-off sequence is charged with symbolic actions. In both Aelita and First Men In The Moon, the ship is confined within its place of construction prior to launch. At the moment of launch, the ship bursts forth from its structural container and hurtles towards its extraterrestrial destination. On one level, this indicated the desire of the characters to escape their problems on earth (Los), or to begin a new life on another planet (Cavor). Since they plan to never return, it would make sense that they would no longer need their terrestrial abodes. On another level, it symbolizes a violent “birth” of interstellar man from the confines of his earthly womb. Although not within a building during take-off, the ship in Just Imagine shares an equally cinematic departure. The astronaut blasts off just as his lover runs to stop him. However just as she reaches the ship, it takes off – blasting her with smoke and rendering her unconscious in front of the shocked launch audience. This sequence of events might also imply a symbolic jettisoning of all earthly bonds and relationships by the pioneer-astronauts.

12. David Takacs

Speak to the "issue of fashion" as represented in Aelita and Just Imagine. Compare Martian fashion in Aelita and Just Imagine. What do you think is meant by the choice of attire? In the case of Aelita, how does this attire relate to the clothing of their counterparts in Russia?

The films Aelita and Just Imagine were both created at times when humanity was looking to reinterpret itself, namely after the first world war and during the ensuing great depression. They used a modern constructivist style, relying on the premises that there is a utopia achievable and that we just haven’t reached it yet, and that learning is an active process in which we construct new ideas based on our current knowledge using a cognitive structure to do so. Both of these films portray these styles faithfully, and it can be seen in their specific interpretations on the issue of fashion as well.

In Aelita and Just Imagine, Martian fashion is a great source of imaginative exploration that conveys ideas of the time to the viewer. Both films use flashy costumes, which make a great deal of noise and as well as much movement. The common colour seems to be gold, with many pieces hanging off. As well, it is clear that both films seem to find some sort of headdress, whether implanted or worn, a prerequisite to being a Martian. In making choices for fashion pieces such as the two films have, it can be seen as two things: The filmmakers are idealizing space and the unknown, it is a place where everything is glamorous and everyone wears nice clothing; more importantly, it is a contrast to the bitter reality of the times they were written in. As stated, the films took place at a grim time for mankind. The largest war, which caused great destruction and pain for many people, meant optimistic thinking in its wake. Ironically though, the typical Martian men, not including the leaders, are seen wearing double-breasted futuristic pieces, and double breasted clothing is still the standard today. Since clothing is something so common as to be almost unnoticed to us, stylistically it had to convey great hopes and thoughts for the future.

In Aelita specifically we can contrast the clothing of the Martians to the clothing worn by their counterparts in Russia. We are shown peasants wearing shabby clothing, a country left shattered in the wake of the war. Since this was the first Soviet science fiction film, it allowed for a typology to be invented carrying peoples hopes for the future. This can be seen as the entire logic behind the films, not just in the fashion, but in the entirety speaking to the masses as a tool for a bright future.

13. Mat Triebner

Comment on methods of "communication" between Mars and earth in Aelita and Just Imagine. As well as what is "viewed". If the creation of such communication devices is indicative of "superior intelligence", how is this conveyed in the representation of the life forms on the other planets?

In both Aelita and Just Imagine, communication is limited to the voyeurism of the Martians. There is not real sense of communication between the two planets, only the passive gazes directed at life on Earth. We have no sense of what the telescope was used for viewing prior to Aelita’s grand tour of the earth provided by the king, but her further acts of espionage tend to be focused on the cosmonaut and his impending journey. Similarly, the telescopic like object in Just Imagine is only used to display the astronaut’s lover left behind. The incredible bonus to the Just Imagine telescope, however, is the presence of audio. Now we can not only see life on earth, but hear it as well. This rather limited and sappy use of the telescope is quite surprising. Two technological gifts cursed to very limited use as play toys of the powerful. Where is the scientific investigation? Why are there no scientists huddled around the telescopes trying to learn as much as they possibly can about earth? This apparent disinterest in life on the other planets is particularly strange. Only Aelita herself seems truly curious as to the happenings on earth, and even then her focus is that of a boycrazy teenager, not an intrepid scientist. Despite the obvious technological prowess of the Martians in both films, their societies seem otherwise intellectually primitive and are represented as such. The use of slave labour in Aelita and the basic conflict been the two warring tribes in Just Imagine are indicative of rather primitive societies, leading us to believe that the invention of their respective telescopes (especially in the case of Just Imagine) is an anomaly on the Martian technological front.

14. Andrea Wong

Comment on the presentation of science and discovery in Aelita and First Men in the Moon. Space/futuristic films are normally expected to illustrate either cutting edge technology, or a fantasy of things yet undiscovered. How do you see this in these films?

Aelita was made over forty years before the first men landed on the moon. Therefore, the mere thought of a successful journey into space, let alone beyond the orbit of the earth, was likely still in the realm of fantasy. This is specifically illustrated in the way space travel in this movie is explored mainly in idea rather than in technological feasibility. For example, there is almost no attempt to resolve issues related to humans living and operating on Mars; they arrive dressed in three-piece suits. Defying fundamental properties of the Earth and of science have long time been associated to eccentric individuals reclusive in their own obsessions. In First Men in the Moon, this stereotype is carried on with the agitated scientist finding a way into space using methods similar to alchemy. However, in this movie, more attention has been put on making the technology used to travel into space convincing; most of it even resembling the equipment used by Neil Armstrong and his crew on the first mission to the moon a few years after the movie was made. In general, the depiction of cutting-edge technology in science-fiction films is based on abstractions of our earthly commodities mixed with mysticism, thus working around the specifics of how the technology actually functions.

15. BJ Smith

Discuss the interior environment of the spaceships as presented in Aelita, First Men in the Moon and Just Imagine. Are they appropriate? or realistic in terms of the "time" in which they were created (bearing in mind that the Wells book was written in 1899.)

The interior environment of the spacecraft portrayed in these films simply manifests the technology of the day to create an environment intended for controlling the craft – showing knobs, gauges, switches. Not surprising is the resemblance of these main cabins and their equipment to that of the technology of vessels of the day; the main bridge of a battle ship or submarine. Hence the portrayal is directly tied into the current notion and perception of what truly exists. This distinction of time is well illustrated through ‘First Men in the Moon’, where there is a differing portrayal of the space craft interior environment; as the modern day (1965) craft resembles much of the machinery and space technology of the time, while there is no attempt to bring that into the craft of Wells’ 1899 story, it stays distinct and true to its own time period. The film makers have taken no liberties when recreating the space vessel of Wells’ 1899 story, regardless of making the film over 60 years later; they maintain the attitude of the time period. This begins to develop a relationship between fantasy and reality, that being, that the fantasy must be based in a reality. Without the grounding notions of the current paradigm of space travel, the illusion would be out of reach to keep an audience believing. In essence the illusion still requires its own reality, to define the boundaries of that fantastic reality. By looking at the shown movies in chronological order we can see how the progression of interior craft set design correlates to the developing ideas and knowledge of space travel. Similarly, the relationship of how difficult we perceive space travel and how the control of the spacecraft becomes just as convoluted to address our more perplexing notion of space travel. In other words, the audience demands that the movie addresses our notion of space flight in rooted terms as to create and maintain the fantasy.

Further to the technological appropriateness of the interiors, there is a similar development with the interior’s sense of enclosure. In general, all the movie’s spaceships portray the craft’s interior as an enclosure. But what develops is the size and the degree to which this enclosure relates to the individual. This feeling of enclosure slowly evolves from simply being in a room, into becoming encapsulated within the craft, and again, is congruent with the development of our idea and realization of space travel. Although not as strongly seen in ‘Aelita’, but more prevalently in the crafts of ‘Just Imagine’ and then best seen in the modern craft in ‘First Men in the Moon’, the interior environment can be seen decreasing to be more enclosing and snug. This change and development are most likely related to the awareness of the reality and dangers of space, therefore addressing them accordingly through the vessel. Development of the enclosure may also be directly related to the further understanding of antigravity. Once in space, everything will begin to float about in aimless directions, the natural reaction would be to collect or gather everything. - In essence, bringing the enclosure in tighter to maintain and hold on to the contents of the craft. By comparing the spacecraft of ‘Aelita’ to that of the interior of the Wells craft clearly shows the difference which can better address the effects of weightlessness. The change in enclosure is not just relative to the known methods of space travel but also to developing a sense of safety and security. Overall the interiors of the spacecraft from these films are respectively appropriate to the time in which they were produce as they reflect the perception and knowledge of the period.

16. Maia Spadafora

Comment on the representation of "nature" and "plant life" on Mars and the Moon in Aelita, Just Imagine and First Men in the Moon. How does the representation of plant life impact your reading of the film and its attitude towards life on other planets?

The representation is very different in these three films.

In Aelita, one can’t really speak about Nature, or the usual concept of Nature. Here, Nature seems to be something built, like a sculpture, it’s stylized to such an extreme that it looks closer to an inorganic block of concrete. This kind of Nature influences life on Mars. The Inhabitants live far from this: the scenes focusses the attention on everything that has been built up, on interior views, so we really don’t know what happens outside the buildings, in the “external” Mars environment.

In Just Imagine, we find a Nature that attempts to be real. I think it is represented here in two different ways: from far away, where mountains and trees are recognizable even though their forms are not completely real, and from near, where ultimately we don’t see much difference between Nature on Mars and on the Earth, by looking for example at leaves and shrubs with long stems. The inhabitants of Mars live in peace with the Nature and they feel good together.

In First Man in the Moon, instead, Nature is portrayed through “special effects” . The images are realistic and bring us back to the modern idea of the Moon: rocks shaped by the erosion of glaciers or craters that remind us of volcanos. The landscape seems to warn that any kind of life is impossible outside. In the cave the landscape changes. We find organic forms of life: from the plant kingdom, with giants mushrooms, exotic and carnivore plants, cristal or quarz stalks, to animals, like insects. Here Nature only constitutes the background scenario where the scenes unfold and gives us the idea of a hostile environment.

If I had to choose a color to represent Nature in each film, I would pick grey for the concrete and buildings in Aelita; green, like the leaves and trees, for Just Imagine; and brown, like the mountains and rocks, for the First Man in the Moon.

If I had to choose a sense to describe the attitude of Nature towards life on another planet, I would choose the Hearing, alluding to something I can listen to, but don’t actually know, for Aelita; the Touch, like something I can feel near me, for Just Imagine; and the Sight, like a landscape I would rather just see but not approach, for the First Man in the Moon.

17. Davide Plantera

What is the respective view of "earth"or "planet/moon" in each of the films, as portrayed through "special effects"? How does this sort of footage impact the film?

The relationship between the Earth and the other planets is definitly related to the historical period in which the movies were shot.

Dealing with imaginary worlds was not an easy game for directors of the first Sci-Fi movies. They had to face for the first time the problem of showing us places and planets where no one had gone before, forecasting something difficult but not impossible although in a far future.

Aelita is the first Science fiction movie made in USSR, the plot is more a comedy than an adventure in the space, but in 1924 the genre was at the beginning of its career and I think that in that period there were not a precise concept of Sci-Fi movies as we have nowadays. These movies infact are often contaminated by noir (Der Golem) or by a futuristic exaltation of the machines (F. Lang, Metropolis). In Aelita the respective view of the Earth and the Moon didn’t required any special effect, just a painting or maybe a 3-d floating sphere and a dark background. I think that the most interesting relation between the planets is not the image of the planets itself but the sequence where the Queen looks at the Earth from her telescope. The next frames show us an aerial view of a city, the city where Los lives, with the caotic traffic, the cars, the people and the everyday life. This sequence anticipates some famous frames of Dziga Vertov’s movie “The Man with the camera”, movie shot three years later in 1927. I think the special effects in the movie are very poor if we compare them with other famous works shot in the same period like Eisenstein’s movies or the works of the Kinoglaz group, movies in which the special effects are based on a sofisticated film editing and on frames overlaps.

The view of the Earth in Just image is not very different in the concept, a sphere in its entire shape, with a light that makes the planet shining. We have again a physical model with a reverse sil houette effect: the Earth is a bright subject with a dark background.

It’s interesting to notice how the position of the Earth celebrates the country where the movie is produced. In Aelita the Earth shows us the entire extension of USSR from Moskow to Vladivostok, in Just imagine, just the America continent.

Definetly different The First man on the moon, a more recent movie where the visual effects and the animations were designed by the famous Ray Harryhausen. At that time real pictures of the Moon from telescopes were avaible and very popular, the relation between the planets is more dynamic and we can see the escape of a spaceship from the Moon, allowing us a different approach that in Aelita and in Just Image was limited to static frontal views. Between Aelita and The First Man in the Moon fourty years passed, when the camera moves from the Earth to the other planets we have intermediate frames and we don’t need a subtitles to inform us that we are not anymore in the Earth but in the Palace of Aelita on Mars planet.

18. Allison Janes:

The significant difference between the choices of landings from the three different movies is a result of the technologies and cultural mindsets of the ages in which they were produced.

The landing in Aelita and the 1899 landing of First Man on the Moon are uncontrolled collision-like landings with the foreign planet. The occupants of the vessels do not control the speed and location of the landing. In a many ways these landings are similar to a cannon blast. Both the spaceships are spherical in form, and both are shot from the earth by their respective methods of propulsion. The landing is dependant on the trajectory set. These landings are fast, brash and bold. The space travelers arrive on the planets confidently.

The landing in Just Imagine is as confident as that of Aelita, this spaceship takes the form of the plane. The plane is a new technology that is rapidly developing and becoming mainstream during the thirties. Just Imagine follows these developments with speculations of its own. That which we use to fly on earth would certainly be used to fly to space. They speculate a construction of metal as opposed to wood, jet or fire propulsion as opposed to propellers. Special attention is paid to the landing gears as the ship takes off from earth and as it lands on Mars. This time the landing is not a crash but a controlled, if not very fast touch down. This may be a more realistic method of landing however the filmmakers have chosen to ignore the possibility of rough terrain. The landing craft is able to find a perfectly flat space to touch down on the foreign planet. The landing is also more slow and considered as they climb out of a door and walk down steps as opposed to clambering from an insignificant hatch.

The second landing in First Man on the Moon reflects the technologies present during the 1960’s. Space travel is a reality however people have not yet landed on another planet. That will happen in another five years time. The concepts of gravity, and lack of oxygen are well understood. It is also understood that we know very little of the environment of space. Therefore this landing on the moon is cautious. The spaceship is not the same machine that is used to take off but a module that is released from an orbiting mother ship. It is a vessel constructed specifically for the careful purpose of landing. This can be seen through the use of the landing legs, specifically designed to hold the human occupants above the planet floor, and adjustable to accommodate for topography change. These legs are very similar to those used on the lunar landing module. Specific attention is paid to decontaminate the astronaut before he exits the ship. He is then carefully lowered to the ground.

The landing has become a careful scientific process, slow and tentative as opposed to a heroic crash. Perhaps this reflects uneasiness with what might be encountered and what we might learn now that the reality of landing on the moon is so close.