The 2001 File: Harry Lange and the Design of the Landmark Science Fiction Film

From spaceships to costumes, sketches to finished objects, the acclaimed designs for Kubrick's sci-fi masterpiece

To celebrate the 50th birthday of the Apollo 11 moon landing and of the worldwide release of the science-fiction classic 2001: A Space Odyssey, Reel Art Press is reprinting its bestselling book The 2001 File.

A look behind-the-scenes at the making of this most legendary of films, the book gives an in-depth examination of the complete archive of art director Harry Lange's designs, concepts, roughs and photographs. Lange's strikingly realistic designs created an extraordinary vision of the future. By releasing this archive and explaining its significance, the book takes the reader/viewer on a journey deep into the visual thinking behind 2001.

The book is about the process, as well as the finished product. It examines how Harry Lange's experience with NASA fed into the innovations of the film. It includes rejected designs, concepts and roughs, as well as the finished works. It also reveals how the design team was obsessed with things that actually might work, and reproduces several innovations that were science fiction in the 1960s but have since become science fact, including an international space station, personal computers and flat-screen tablet technology. The remarkable designs for 2001 created a credible vision of the future.