2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) — bone-to-satellite match cut
See our character’s iconic-scene parody →An ape uses a bone as a weapon and throws it into the sky, and the tumbling bone turns straight into a satellite in orbit. Borrow it when you want to connect two things across a huge jump in time and scale, skipping millions of years in a single cut as if showing the 'evolution of tools'.
The bone tumbling in the sky turns directly into a satellite of similar shape. Wikipedia explains that this cut joins a primitive tool and an advanced tool to sum up humanity's technological progress.
To recreate it: Put the last frame of the bone shot into the start frame of the satellite shot as a reference image and instruct 'same position, same angle and size'.
It skips millions of years in a single cut. According to Wikipedia, the Kubrick scholar Michel Ciment called this the director's characteristic abrupt ellipsis.
To recreate it: Change the sound sharply between the shots (from rough wind to calm music) so the ear also knows that a huge amount of time has passed.
According to Wikipedia, the bone-smashing scene is the only one in the film shot outside a studio. It was filmed looking up from a small platform they built, so that distant passing cars would not show and only sky would be in the background.
To recreate it: Write 'low angle, only empty sky behind' to empty the background, so it is easier to join with the next shot.
The motion of smashing a skull with the bone and the motion of throwing the bone into the sky appear in slow motion (Filmsite).
To recreate it: Make the slow sections as 'slow motion' from the generation stage, so they don't stutter when stretched later.
The bone floats alone in an empty blue sky and the satellite alone in black space, so only the shapes of the two objects catch the eye (observed in the clip).
To recreate it: Write 'nothing else in the frame' clearly in both shots so no other objects creep into the background.
According to Wikipedia, it was shot on 65mm negative with Super Panavision 70 at a 2.20:1 aspect ratio. The African setting of the prehistoric scenes was built inside the studio with a large front projection.
To recreate it: Put the same film-texture phrase in both shots so the grain of the picture carries through even though the eras differ.
Cinematic multi-shot sequence, 9 seconds total. Shot 1 (3s): slow-motion low-angle shot of a stone-age hunter in rough fur raising a sharp flint hand axe high against an empty blue sky, shouting in triumph; Shot 2 (2s): static slow-motion shot of the axe spinning end over end, centered and tilted diagonally from lower left to upper right; Shot 3 (4s): hard cut to a static extreme wide shot of a long gray space station drifting above the curved blue Earth, centered and tilted at the same diagonal. Consistent centered diagonal composition, harsh sunlight, deep black shadows, 65mm large-format film, 2.20:1 widescreen, wonder and the leap of time.
If you join two objects of similar shape at the same spot, the audience reads the two together as 'a primitive tool and a high-tech tool'. The contrast in brightness between the bone filmed from below against the sky and the satellite in black space is large, so it becomes clearer that the shapes are the same but the eras are completely different.
Low-angle shot of a stone-age hunter in rough fur standing on a rocky desert plain, raising a sharp flint hand axe high and shouting in triumph; camera near the ground looking up, empty bright blue sky behind him, slow motion, harsh midday sun, 65mm large-format film.
A flint hand axe spinning end over end high against a clear bright blue sky, centered in the frame and tilted diagonally from lower left to upper right, nothing else in view; static camera, slow motion, bright sunlight, 65mm large-format film, fine grain.
A long gray cylindrical space station drifting slowly in pitch-black space above the curved blue Earth, centered in the frame and tilted diagonally from lower left to upper right; static camera, hard sunlight from one side, deep black shadows, 65mm large-format film, 2.20:1 widescreen.
This is a graphic match cut: hard cut to Shot 3 at the moment the tool tilts at an angle in Shot 2. Match the angle, position, and size of the two objects, cut off the rough wind sound before the cut and change to calm music, letting the ear know too that a huge amount of time has jumped (time compression and ellipsis).
When making the start frame for the space station, put the last frame of the tool shot in as a reference image and instruct it like 'same composition, same position and size, replace the axe with a space station' (Graphic Match Cut). If the angle is off, adjust only the rotation and scale a little in editing, and choose the cut point frame by frame.
Wikipedia — 2001: A Space Odyssey (film) · Wikipedia — Match cut · Filmsite — 2001: A Space Odyssey