To add another great filmmaker, my blog this week is on Stanley Kubrick.
Kubrick, noted for his lengthy methods of working and his perfectionism qualities, maintained a strong artist control over his films. His films are characterized by a formal visual style and extensive attention to detail - he often combined elements of surrealism and expressionism with cynicism.
Stanley Kubrick was born in New York, and despite his bad grades at school, he was considered intelligent. On his 13th birthday, Kubrick received a camera from his father. This sparked his interest and he became an avid photographer - he sold his photographs to Look Magazine and got a job with them at the young age of 17. After saving his money, he created his first film - a documentary called Day of the Fight (1951) and continued on from there.
Some of Kubrick's most famous films include 2001: A Space Odyssey, Spartacus, Lolita, A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, Full Metal Jacket, Dr. Strangelove and Barry Lyndon. He also collaborated with Steven Speilberg on A.I. (before he died). I named 8 out of 16 movies he directed...he was obviously very successful.
Some of Kubrick's most famous films include 2001: A Space Odyssey, Spartacus, Lolita, A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, Full Metal Jacket, Dr. Strangelove and Barry Lyndon. He also collaborated with Steven Speilberg on A.I. (before he died). I named 8 out of 16 movies he directed...he was obviously very successful.
One risky, well received film he make was Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. Kubrick started it as a drama, but soon realized how funny his ideas were and that they wouldn't be taken seriously. This film was made in 1964, a time where nuclear wasn't means for comedy. It was critically successful and the money he made off of it allowed him to continue with his other projects. So thank goodness.
All but three of Kubrick's films were adapted from existing novels - something I also take an interest in (from story to film and the enormous changes that go underway). He also uses a lot of voiceover narration - sometimes directly from the novel. Written dialogue is one element that must be balanced with mise-en-scene and editing, and Kubrick made sure to do just that.
“Everything else [in film] comes from something else. Writing, of course, is writing; acting comes from the theatre; and cinematography comes from photography. Editing is unique to film. You can see something from different points of view almost simultaneously, and it creates a new experience” – Stanley Kubrick
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000040/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Kubrick
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