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the year that changed my life


David Mullen ASC

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I always remember that moment when "2001" first played on TV when I was a teenager... I had read the book and had spent many hours staring at the photos in my parent's soundtrack album of "2001", so when I finally had a chance to see it while growing up in a small town in the Mojave Desert (Ridgecrest/China Lake), I sat down about three feet from the TV set and did not move for three hours.

 

Recently I asked Michael Coate (former writer for Widescreen Review magazine) when that movie first played on TV, I thought it was in '75 or '76, I recall it being before the next big moment in my life, when I saw "Close Encounters" followed by "Star Wars". Turns out, according to Michael, that "2001" played on TV in February 1977.

 

So 1977 was a huge year for me in terms of driving me towards filmmaking. After years of watching "Star Trek" reruns, "Space:1999", and Japanese monster movies, I started that year with this "2001" experience, saw "Close Encounters" that fall while on a school field trip to Bakersfield, and then saw "Star Wars" (multiple times) when it arrived in Ridgecrest by the end of the year.

 

I turned 15 that summer, and by the next summer in 1978, my parents had moved our family to northern Virginia, far away from my friends but close to the Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian, where I recall buying a copy of "The Making of 2001" that summer and spending my lonely hours in a new town reading that book over and over again.

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Amazing, thanks for sharing.

 

I recall seeing Star Wars quite vividly; it made quite an impression on this 10-year old boy. But it was E.T. that first made me emotional in a movie theater. That is to say, emotional about the movie experience. There were plenty of other films that played my heartstrings, got me excited, etc., but it was E.T. that first hit me with the power and understanding of the emotional strength the cinema medium could wield. Later that same summer, Poltergeist scared the crap out o me and I began to appreciate the craft not just for pretty pictures and interesting stories but for the emotional manipulation.

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Not that anyone probably cares 'bout my own year, but it must've been 1993. I recall sneaking in, with my dad to see Jurassic Park (we had paid for Rookie of the Year, I think?) and being so in awe of what I saw on the screen. For awhile I considered becoming a Paleontologist, but I never forgot how magical that experience was-- I even built a model Jurassic Park in my basement on an old train set-- used the motors from the HO scale trains to pull the toy explorers along the track. For awhile I toyed with the idea of going into sciences, or designing space ships (I too watched more than my fair share of Star Trek,) But the image of that damned T-Rex giving that first terrifying roar has never left me.

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I wish I had a more romantic tale, like the first time I saw [insert Oscar winner, or classic film, or sci-fi epic] but the year that changed my life was 2001, and the movie was Pearl Harbor. The attack on Pearl Harbor was something I had studied for years. I could name every ship and carrier, and the captains and the timeline, and even built models. Needless to say, I knew my stuff. So I was appalled at how awful the movie was, from a historical standpoint as well as a storytelling one (Ben Affleck takes a freaking train to Great Britain!)

 

When I left that theatre, I said to myself, "I could do something better." Cocky, yes, but I was just a dumb high schooler. The important thing was I started writing scripts, then shooting some films. I discovered how much I enjoyed documentaries, and how much I loved running camera. And now I work as a cameraman and make documentary films.

 

So I guess I owe my career to the mediocrity that is Michael Bay!

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So I was appalled at how awful the movie was, from a historical standpoint as well as a storytelling one (Ben Affleck takes a freaking train to Great Britain!)

 

Isn't one of the first images in the movie a telephoto shot of some planes landing with some big California mountains in the background, with the caption "LONG ISLAND, NY"? I've been to Long Island and I don't recall it having a mountain range...

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But it was E.T. that first made me emotional in a movie theater. That is to say, emotional about the movie experience. There were plenty of other films that played my heartstrings, got me excited, etc., but it was E.T. that first hit me with the power and understanding of the emotional strength the cinema medium could wield. Later that same summer, Poltergeist scared the crap out o me and I began to appreciate the craft not just for pretty pictures and interesting stories but for the emotional manipulation.

 

1982 was another key year for me too -- that was the summer I moved back from Virginia to California after fours years, after my second year of college. That summer I moved to Los Angeles to start school at UCLA, and saw "E.T.", "Blade Runner", "Star Trek 2", "Road Warrior", and "Poltergeist", among others -- that was a big year for movies. I saw "E.T." a dozen times and went out and found the house they used for the front exteriors, walked around and plotted out all of Spielberg's camera angles.

 

1982 was also the year of "Das Boot", "Cat People", "Conan the Barbarian", "Rocky III", "The Thing", "48 Hours", "Gandhi", "Sophie's Choice", "Tootsie", "Dark Crystal"...

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I was visiting my Grandmother in North Hollywood from Chicago in 1963 (I think) when she asked me if I wanted to see a movie. So we arrived at one of the big Hollywood houses to see the movie she thought I might like. The movie? "Lawrence of Arabia" in 70mm on the largest movie screen I had ever seen. It took until "Star Wars" for another movie to dumbstrike me like "Lawrence" did.

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I always remember that moment when "2001" first played on TV when I was a teenager... I had read the book and had spent many hours staring at the photos in my parent's soundtrack album of "2001", so when I finally had a chance to see it while growing up in a small town in the Mojave Desert (Ridgecrest/China Lake), I sat down about three feet from the TV set and did not move for three hours.

 

 

 

I saw it on general release here, just before I was 9. It was a bit confusing but I had my very smart American airline pilot uncle to discuss it with.

It's still a bit confusing, though. The 'Guardian' has just voted it the best SF film. That isn't confusing.

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1982 was another key year for me too -- that was the summer I moved back from Virginia to California after fours years, after my second year of college. That summer I moved to Los Angeles to start school at UCLA, and saw "E.T.", "Blade Runner", "Star Trek 2", "Road Warrior", and "Poltergeist", among others -- that was a big year for movies. I saw "E.T." a dozen times and went out and found the house they used for the front exteriors, walked around and plotted out all of Spielberg's camera angles.

 

1982 was also the year of "Das Boot", "Cat People", "Conan the Barbarian", "Rocky III", "The Thing", "48 Hours", "Gandhi", "Sophie's Choice", "Tootsie", "Dark Crystal"...

 

Good God, how did I forget that Blade Runner was that same summer? I had been reading American Cinematographer for years and Cinefex magazine for some as well, but when I saw Blade Runner I came thisclose to going into visual effects. I think I even penned a fan letter to some of the ILM names I found in Cinefex. Of course by the time I graduated college it started to migrate over to CGI and then visual effects became stunningly less interesting to me.

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  • 2 months later...

I had that same movie on TV experience, only mine was "The Third Man" in the early 1960's. But for me it was straight out of the blue, I'd never heard of it before.

 

My movie on TV discovery was Dr. Strangelove. It was a late show on our local UHF station and I was maybe eight. I had absolutely no clue what I was watching and didn't realize it was a comedy until pretty far into the movie with the "you can't fight in here, this is the War Room" line. Even little 8 year-old me thought that was kinda odd and I started to slowly get it as I watched more. I was pretty proud of myself for discovering black comedy and satire by the time Slim Pickens rode his big phallus to oblivion. Now I've probably seen the film 50 times.

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My movie on TV discovery was Dr. Strangelove. It was a late show on our local UHF station and I was maybe eight. I had absolutely no clue what I was watching and didn't realize it was a comedy until pretty far into the movie with the "you can't fight in here, this is the War Room" line. Even little 8 year-old me thought that was kinda odd and I started to slowly get it as I watched more. I was pretty proud of myself for discovering black comedy and satire by the time Slim Pickens rode his big phallus to oblivion. Now I've probably seen the film 50 times.

 

For me it was yet another Kubrick film. It was 1974 My parents were just divorced and I moved with my mum from Glasgow to London. It was a Saturday night very late on BBC-2.

The film is already underway It's in B&W and already I'm thinking time for bed! What looks like Kurt Douglas is walking down world war 1 trenches inspecting his men but It can't be

Kurt Douglas because he looks young and this looks like a modern film, so I look in the film guide "Paths of Glory 1957"

That film blew me away! I was already a fan of Kubrick but had never seen or heard of this.To this day I challenge anyone to watch 10 min of that film and not be engrossed in It's imagery, acting, and visceral storytelling. Ahead of It's time like so many of Kubrick's films.

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  • 7 months later...

Speaking of TV.. I think it was HBO that made me want to become part of Hollywood...

 

I'd remember when i was kid, i used to watch more movies than cartoon on TV.

And my mom would take me and my sister to the theater when we get a discount coupon.. I loved all those movies back in 90's, didnt want to leave the theater.

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  • 8 months later...

1965. I saw a double bill of 'The Loved One' and 'Dr. Strangelove'. I wound up spending the whole day there, probably watched them three times. Though that was already one of my habits by then. How I miss double bills and continuos showings.

 

Those two pictures made me fall in love with B/W.

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  • 1 month later...

I saw 2001 projected at an art house theater when I was a wee lad of 9 and I totally got it. Years later went to a lecture hosted by Douglas Trumbull very cool..

 

Ridgecrest? I got a wife from Ridgecrest.

Edited by Jack Aversano
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I saw 2001 projected at an art house theater when I was a wee lad of 9 and I totally got it. Years later went to a lecture hosted by Douglas Trumbull very cool..

 

Ridgecrest? I got a wife from Ridgecrest.

 

You sir, are a winner! :lol:

Oddly I never watched 2001 until recently. I'd always turned my nose up at it, because it's what everyone raved about.

Having seen it, I can see why. Although being shown the birth of mankind at the start of the film is probably the biggest curve ball ever thrown in a movie!

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