The Future Is White

A look back at production design for science fiction on screen, from Star Trek through 2001: A Space Odyssey to Alien and Blade Runner. I examine the all-white design aesthetic popular in the 1970s.
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STAR TREK STAR WARS ALIEN BLADE RUNNER 2001: A Space Odyssey SPACE STATION 76

[@nehukybis]

I grew up with original Star Trek and was still a child when Space:1999 came out. I asked my mother why Space:1999 was so white when Star Trek had so much color, and she said it was because in the 60s the studios were trying to get people to buy color televisions. Once most people had color TVs there was no longer pressure from the industry to make everything colorful, and there was an immediate backlash against the earlier aesthetic. I'm still kind of surprised that insightful media analysis came from my mother in the 1970s.

[@kirkdarling4120]

Your mother was right.

[@Woodkin007]

It was probably common knowledge if you knew someone who sold colour tvs

[@thermalreboot]

It was no secret, in the mid 1960's it was well known that TV shows were being made in color to sell colorful TVs. As I recall, Bonanza was among the first shows to be broadcast in color and was sponsored by a color TV manufacturer. Disney had a show on Sunday nights called "The Wonderful World of Color" which later became known as "The Wonderful World of Disney". NBC chose as it's logo a Peacock which would appear on the screen and fan out it's tail, each with a different color. Eventually the NBC peacock would become stylized. By the 1970's color TV was nearly ubiquitous.

[@ziggystardog]

There’s a practical reason for this. Real spaceships of the era like Apollo, Mercury, Gemini and the Space Shuttle were mostly white or reflective surfaces. Since they might be exposed to solar radiation. Reflective surfaces are hard to film, which left them with white.

[@bsd107]

What? Mercury and Gemini capsules were black!

[@ziggystardog]

@@bsd107 both spacecraft were predominantly white. Black is an even less practical color to film against a predominantly black star field background.

[@bsd107]

@@ziggystardog Seriously, do a quick google search. The capsules were both as black as night.

[@Dexter037S4]

​@@bsd107they were black on the outside, the cockpit was white.

[@j.rileyindependentproductions]

While not a Star Wars fan, I must defend the reasons behind the nearly all-white in the opening scenes... It is so that the ALL-BLACK Darth Vader would stand out so ominously. Same reason the Stormtroopers are in white.

[@AWriterWandering]

@@j.rileyindependentproductions if both of the storm troopers and their environment is white, does that mean their armor technically qualifies as camouflage?

[@j.rileyindependentproductions]

@@AWriterWandering They were able to storm the base on the ice planet of Hoth in Empire despite being notoriously bad shots... So, yes?

[@someboi4505]

If anything it makes more sense if you look at the color white making things look clean. It shows that this is some sort of high class vessel fit for a princess

[@LunarOverdrive]

This is quite a fun video but the title make me think this was some sort of klan manifesto 😭

[@DrFranklynAnderson]

The channel name didn’t help. I was _this_ close to blocking it, but decided to check first! 😅

[@SupremeGreatGrandmaster]

@@DrFranklynAnderson Thank you for taking the time to watch and to comment. 😄

[@BruceEverett]

@@DrFranklynAnderson same, lol.

[@iammichaeldavis]

I was going to leave this comment but saw that you already had lol

[@craigsurette3438]

Same!

[@AWriterWandering]

Of course the reason shows like Star Trek were so colorful is because it aired during the transition period to color television; Networks wanted all their shows to be bright and colorful. Early color movies had that same look.

[@BruceEverett]

I had noticed this, and I'd always assumed as a kid that the original rationale was that on the inside of a craft, space travel required cleanliness so as not to foul up things like air filters, while on the outside, white was chosen for thermal properties. (On the inside, a white backdrop makes it easier to spot muck that needs to be cleaned).

[@Mr_Kenneth]

BIT OF TRIVIA: Star Trek was sponsored by RCA who advertised their Television sets during commercial breaks. This was one of the reasons for a very colourful show. Same went for all the Irwin Allen shows like Lost in Space, Time Tunnel and Land of the Giants.

[@Mor4me]

Hum now I know looks like it’s all about the money 😮

[@analien5251]

The title had me scared and the channel name definitely did not help at all

[@SupremeGreatGrandmaster]

Thank you for watching and commenting.

[@JemieBridges]

@@SupremeGreatGrandmaster I concur. white and grandmaster had me thinking what kinda video this was gonna be and i almost clicked elsewhere lolz

[@kenwhitfield219]

Very sad that racial identity is invoked by such a title. But, I must admit that I too, was curious enough to answer the KZbin clickbait challenge. Thinking about the use of color in tv and movies in the post-Star Wars era though, I’ve always been more moved by the more natural color-infused scenes and images in modern cinema. For me, the whiteness symbolizes the more stark, unemotional sensations invoked by all-white scenes.

[@munanchoinc]

I didn't know what i was getting into this video. Im glad i actually watched it in it's entirely. Subscribed. Hope to see more content

[@SupremeGreatGrandmaster]

Thanks for watching, commenting, and subscribing. I appreciate it.

[@tackyman2011]

Don't get me started on all the blue lighting now, sometimes with pink (The Expanse), and the dark, poorly lit esthetic (ST Enterprise.) It's every where today.

[@SyntheticHuman01]

It's an apple store

[@oncinaust5178]

My future is brown and tan walls, red and grey carpets, and LCARS on every panel. TNG is the life for me.

[@ABW941]

Alien had this too, they had white walls, living spaces etc. only a small part was about dirty and industrial environments. I guess it is not so much about the color white, but about light being everywhere, illuminating the unknown. The past was dark, we had the dark ages, candles and torches, the future is brightly lit by scientific progress.

[@SupremeGreatGrandmaster]

That's a good point. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@TheChadTI]

Damn right! Oh...oh StarTrek! Yeah, I like Star Trek. Everything was so clean and shiny before Star Wars. THX was a bit gritty in places.

[@mainstreetsaint36]

The staining would be wild with almost all white structures.

[@SailorBarsoom]

What several others have said about color TV. Look at shows like _The Big Valley_ or _Bonanza._ Those were westerns, but you had people wearing lavender shirts and stuff. And don't get me started on _The Monkees_ or _Batman,_ both of which came out the same year as original _Star Trek._ But the Enterprise itself was a sort of silver gray. Huh. Well, we were just starting to launch real spaceships at that time, and NASA stuff (and navy stuff, now that I think about it) tended to be either white or silver gray, so I guess that either white or silver gray starships seemed more realistic.

[@JemieBridges]

navy had super specific reasons for white interior (so light reflected because no windows) and "battleship grey exterior" (hard to be seen) and whatever colour their uniforms were (visibility)

[@SailorBarsoom]

@@JemieBridges It isn't surprising that there were practical reasons for the color scheme. And _Star Trek_ used "battleship grey" because it looked military; specifically it looked navy. I mean, sure, the Enterprise could have been pink with purple polka dots, but then they'd need a reason, because everybody would have been asking, "Um, why?" But silver gray, people don't even notice it because of course that's what a ship with a captain and lieutenants and commanders and such looks like.

[@kirkdarling4120]

@@SailorBarsoom And a very high percentage of the people involved with Star Trek had military backgrounds...WWII hadn't been that long before.

[@SailorBarsoom]

@@kirkdarling4120 This is true. A few of them were even decorated. It's strange to think that we are now further away in time from original _Star Trek_ than original _Star Trek_ was from WWII.

[@Insightfill]

John Carpenter's 1974 "Dark Star" stands out in its filth. I remember the Battlestar Galactica series was pretty grungy too. Dirt was code for underdog.

[@JemieBridges]

LMFAO. Algorithm got me!!! I was watching a bunch of "black stuff" then watched a single star trek episode and got this. My Mind conflated Supreme Grandmaster and the Future is white to be something completely different lolz. good thing i love sci-fi or i'd be hella confused at the jump.

[@MrTrincent]

R.I.P. James Earl Jones

[@PadraigG8]

LOL! You might wanna rethink the title of this vid, my friend. People might get the wrong idea.

[@FantomFilmmaker]

From someone called SupremeGrandMaster! I clicked on this expecting a very different video, I wanted to know why KZbin’s algorithm had decided I needed some racism in my life.

[@PadraigG8]

@@FantomFilmmaker HA! I think I got it 'cuz I'd watched a buncha Alien vids recently.

[@BlackOperations530]

Then let people get the wrong idea! The video title and the KZbin channel name, are just fine!

[@OptimusWombat]

I definitely did! 🤣

[@Hibbs4Prez]

Certain he knows and did it on purpose.

[@agfagaevart]

2:20 rewind and go back to Star Wars. Because Ridley Scott was influenced by it. the only white set was in the Blockade Runner. Death Star had dark grey sets. Most of Tatooine sets were dirty yellowed and browned. even the x wings were dirty!

[@SupremeGreatGrandmaster]

I meant to say this in the video. Only the first spaceship is white because it was designed to match audience expectations of what the interior of a spaceship should look like, in order to ease the audience into the new world before moving to a more realistic aesthetic. Thanks for watching and commenting. I appreciate it! 😁

[@nehukybis]

There was definitely a "silver egg" aesthetic in 1950s and 1960s SF. The design of Star Wars was a deliberate repudiation of that, but I think the association between the old Republic and the more traditional clean white or silver egg motif was deliberate. The shiny chrome aesthetic shows up a lot in the prequels. The overall message is that pure, clean white or black represents order (whether good or evil) and grunge represents disorder (which could mean either freedom or chaos).

[@fiktivhistoriker345]

I guess that it was intended to give the empire a more grey "industrial" look, to show how inhumane they were. Leias ship as the opposite was clean white. Then came the natural colours on Tattooine and the used look with the Falcon and the rebellion. There was no room for joyful bright, shining colours. That came with Naboo.

[@CIS101]

As of 1:20 hold on a moment. 2001 A Space Odyssey was a revolution in movie making hands down, and had a huge, and lasting cultural influence. At the same time (literally) Star Trek had a particular lighting designer who was especially good at bathing the sets in different color lighting which I can only guess may have been due to many factors like compensating for a low budget and/or to provide an other worldly appearance to that Star Trek would not end up looking like Leave it to Beaver.

[@seanmurphy7011]

1:38 - The reason for Star Wars opening in all white is right there on your screen. To set all black Vader against a white stage.

[@alexr4208]

I think they brought it back for a while. Tom Cruises Oblivion had a lot of white in the production design.

[@JohnDoeXYZ]

You forgot to include the first Star Trek film as part of the all-white aesthetic. You also forgot to mention that Star Wars pioneered the dirty spaceships look.

[@shipmcgree6367]

It's nicer white, honestly

[@jneilson7568]

In THX1138 the characters are practically invisible.

[@Ogrematic]

White reflects light, therefore requiring less lumens to illuminate a workspace. Most of the clean rooms I've worked in were white.

[@lunarcat632]

I think for future we should focus on color psychology and make certain rooms and outfits modes of what type of action, emotion, and thinking is desired for that time frame. Blue is associated with communication, clarity, and improving concentration. I’m sure there’s more according to shade but 💕💕 ya

[@samuelchan699]

The future is white, and grundy and cluttered. Source: International Space Station

[@SupremeGreatGrandmaster]

🤣🤣🤣

[@Jonnyrockin71]

Great video!! Nice 😂

[@SupremeGreatGrandmaster]

Thanks!

[@Jonnyrockin71]

@@SupremeGreatGrandmaster A video idea, look into how sci fi or post apocalyptic sci fi presents ideal good guy societies. Hint. Lots of agrarian economies with white linens.

[@TRayTV]

In the 60's and early 70's they were trying to appeal to owners of the color TVs.

[@mufflejoy]

Brilliant 🙂Somehow the all white aesthetic, which is also very dominant in Scandinavian interior design, has an element of insane asylum to it. Straight jacket optional.

[@MegaKnight2012]

At least the Star Wars Prequel trilogy brought back even more color.

[@Adonnus100]

Hey. I live in the future, you're honestly not wrong!

[@SupremeGreatGrandmaster]

Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@DonCDXX]

I hope the future brings back 60s-70s style wood paneling.

[@Procopius464]

Now it's dark with a bunch of 3D displays and/or flares.

[@user936]

I remember watching some video about an alien (from the future) who reviewed our movies. Can't remember which one it was but he described it as "a world set in Afro Futurism... or as we call it... Afro" and I thought that was some smart script writing.

[@ianwilliams6042]

I use to assume that everything in space was white because it contrasted with the blackness of space.

[@NormanSaxon331]

I also saw the title and thought either white supremacist ideas or how in old movies about the future the cast was largely white and then...oohhh. The white future came after the chrome-n-shiny future of the 50's, and did hold up a little better because the lighting looked more natural, but even the best cleaning robots in the world couldn't keep the floors from turning into a scuffed-up mess. The grungy junkyard look held on the longest--also supported by post-apocalypse movies like The Road Warrior, but when it got to Waterworld it was getting ludicrous, everything is made of rusted scrap metal even floating on the ocean

[@Darhan62]

The future is green!!! (With shiny white buildings.)

[@kevincaulfield9736]

Technically white isn't a color it all color s together

[@pauljenkins6877]

Actually, it is the absence of colour.

[@rcschmidt668]

@@pauljenkins6877It depends on whether you are using pigment or light. White has no pigment, but white light has the full spectrum.

[@knightforlorn6731]

the irony of that statement of a title

[@shroomzzz]

Whew...not what I thought it was gonna be. (grateful)

[@jkb2016]

1:15 "Even the robots were white" - until Ice Pirates went against the rule: kzbin.info/www/bejne/g6ndiK1-Zcegfdk

[@rcschmidt668]

LOL! “I wanted him to be perfect.” 😂 And still a funny movie.

[@Mor4me]

Thanks for sharing, I would imagine that the more things change the more they stay the same.

[@mindhost]

Good content, great bait and switch with the title and whatnot, but you might want to fix your audio, get a better mic perhaps?

[@AlphanPeter]

Space1999 was cool.

[@helenmachelen4200]

Correct!

Or maybe is "white for the rich, dark for the workers".

[@robertsouth6971]

Because the Apollo spacesuits were white.

[@FireOccator]

Today everything in the real world is either white, or black, or glass.

[@tomb7942]

OR, the white just made the lighting easier.

[@Enoch-wi2qz]

Its okay to be

[@nsawatchlistbait289]

I found a good channel

[@joshm3484]

I suspect a lot of it involved the limitations of film and cameras at the time.

[@nehukybis]

It was sort of the opposite- When the original Star Trek came out, there was an arrangement between studios and TV manufacturers to make everything colorful so people would pony up the small fortune it cost to buy a color television. By the seventies, anyone who could afford a color TV already had one, and the old garish colors had become associated with camp television like Batman. Especially in SF, which had a reputation for campiness, muted colors were a way of signaling a show was trying to be more sophisticated.

[@davestevens4193]

White on

[@louisgallo2658]

damn your right!!!

[@MemphiStig]

In the future, everything looks like a hospital. With laser guns and robots. And apparently, people still smoke. 😆 Maybe it's actually good for you by then. Like Screamers.

[@SupremeGreatGrandmaster]

Or Millenium (1989)

[@isaackellogg3493]

Shout out for Movellans

[@karlnemo8658]

Noticed that too. And it makes me feel old.

[@dallassegno]

So, the future is white and gray and the cyber punk future is black and gay?

[@MaddMango]

Elon is bringing back the white aesthetic.

[@ericbaker8781]

That’s quite a title, Grand Wizard

[@DavidWiles]

WHat will the future colour be? Probably rainbows everywhere, ensuring all colours are equally represented and acknowledged.

[@DavidMyrmidon]

What a fuckin' nightmare that would be.

[@johntrevy1]

Yaaaaaaay. Can we have unicorns too? I want my space unicorns 😊

[@kalliste23]

It's way easier to film and light white and pale colours.

[@MinorityRespecter88]

It sure is brother HH

[@rembrandthpc]

Maybe because the color white is cheap to make, use and maintain?

[@85justsomedude]

White is right

[@nriqueog]

Want to see WHITE? Try checking out some of the latest Star Trek Fan movies. Their casting is BLEACH WHITE, enough to make Gene Roddenberry roll in his grave.

[@GremmPaltakin]

they have to offset the official DEI Trek on Paramount Plus

[@saberhap2639]

Nothing wrong with being white or having a majority white cast.

[@DissociatedWomenIncorporated]

@@nriqueog man it’s sad that the only two replies you got are from people who don’t know what Star Trek is. Live long, and prosper 🖖

[@skyserf]

@@DissociatedWomenIncorporated It's sad that Star Trek isn't interesting anymore.

[@DissociatedWomenIncorporated]

@@skyserf if that were a true statement, it would be sad. If it’s a true statement for you, then it is indeed sad for you. Have you considered watching the HD rerelease of Babylon 5 instead?

[@arrjay2410]

Woodgrain.

[@timbuktu8069]

Title was a little deceptive.

[@SupremeGreatGrandmaster]

It wasn't meant to be. Thank you for taking the time to watch and comment. 👍

[@timbuktu8069]

@@SupremeGreatGrandmaster No worries I've just been seeing too many YTs on an unrelated topic.

[@HalfassDIY]

💫💫💫

[@JedimillerReturns]

is this why apple makes everything white/?

[@mikepatton8691]

Now that you mention it, probably.

[@LukeLovesRose]

It will probably look like India.

[@PiDsPagePrototypes]

The majority of the conculsion presented, are wrong. Buck Rogers had some white sets, all related to Space activities. Star Wars had one, and it's predominant colour scheme is Sand, followed by Steel. Space1999 has only white in the ships, everything else is standard '70's Earth Tones, shades of brown from cream to mud. Battlestar Galactica has no white sets, nor does UFO. The influence of Alien, is 'industrial' and 'organic'. Blade Runner is copied from Manga.

[@Turanic1]

Apollos were white with some black maybe to do with that 😂

[@izaks14]

John 14:21-23 ESV Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him." [22] Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, "Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?" [23] Jesus answered him, "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

[@ozzymandius666]

Colors were cool, until THEY came and wrecked them.

[@RovinTan]

The future is colorful because the future is LGBTQ.

[@DexterWhite-v8i]

LGBTQ won't continue the human species. It's very nature runs contrary to procreation.

[@skyserf]

Little Ghetto Beaches That Queef.

[@zlocish]

racist af

[@SupremeGreatGrandmaster]

You didn't watch the video, did you?

[@jamesquinn6662]

Gee i wonder whether this has anything to do with the apollo program 🤔