| Universe | |
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 DVD cover |
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| Directed by | Roman Kroitor Colin Low |
| Produced by | Tom Daly |
| Written by | Roman Kroitor |
| Starring | Donald MacRae |
| Music by | Eldon Rathburn |
| Cinematography | Wolf Koenig |
| Editing by | Tom Daly |
| Distributed by | NFB |
| Release date(s) | May 1960 |
| Running time | 29 min. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Universe is a black-and-white short documentary made in 1960 by the National Film Board of Canada. It dramatizes the nightly work of an astronomer at the David Dunlap Observatory in Richmond Hill, Ontario, a facility that is owned and operated by the University of Toronto, Canada. The film was nominated for the 33rd Academy Awards in the category of best documentary, short subject in 1961. In the film, the astronomer prepares his equipment and then photographs by long exposure one star, using the technology of his era (to check that it works, he sets off a flare!). The short film then presents special effects which show an exploding nebula. Douglas Rain did the narration for the English version; the French version was titled Notre univers with narration by Gilles Pelletier. Eldon Rathburn composed the musical score. After this work, Colin Low worked with Stanley Kubrick on 2001: A Space Odyssey, but as that was a color film the same special effects would not work. His work on this short may have influenced Kubrick to begin his project.
Awards
Over a dozen awards, including Best Animated Film at BAFTA.
External links
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