The image is breathtaking; an illuminating fetus in a translucent orb serenely drifts through the vast emptiness of space. It actively gazes upon the passing stars and colorful planets with awe, taking in the experience whole-heartedly. There is no fear in the eyes of the fetus; instead, they emit a look of sacred naivety. The star child is motionless in his state of complete awareness, and traverses further into the universe with a brave sense of curiosity. In Maya Deren's "Meshes of the Afternoon" and Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey," the directors creatively use distinctive techniques of ambiguous symbolism, montage editing, and mis en scene to follow the human experience of chasing and confronting uncertainty for the sake of retaining sanity and moving forward in evolution. In doing so, the directors convey that while our subconscious emotions can deteriorate our level of consciousness, confronting and learning from them can expand our level of inner and outer awareness. .
Kubrick's creative control over the mis en scene shows how the evolution of technology and innovation has led humankind to become progressively impersonal and emotionally withdrawn. In the beginning of the film, the protohumans in the wilderness were prone to violence when given power. There are wide angle shots of the apes and animals working and gathering fruits alongside each other, creating a sense of unity in the struggle to survive. A monolith arrives from the sky in the middle of the protohumans in a long shot, where the apes are jumping and praising it out of awe and wonderment. This acts like a "jump in the process of evolution, [becoming the] visible idea of an imperative to advance, [ with the monolith teaching them how to use tools, such as bones]" (Kolker 665). Though the bones gave the apes the power to hunt for animals easier, it also taught them how to be violent out of the fear of losing power.
