Stanley Kubrick- Inspirational Director

1. Inspirational Director

2. ‘2001: A Space
Odyssey’
Considered one of the
greatest films ever
made and won
His Work
Here is a timeline of Kubrick’s cinematic work, beginning from his breakout movies in the m
mid-50s, to his Hollywood blockbusters of the 70s and 80s.
‘Fear and Desire’
Kubrick’s debut
feature film
1953
‘The Killing’
First Hollywood film
1956
‘Paths of Glory’
First of two
collaborations with
Kirk Douglas
1957
‘Spartacus’
Second collaboration
with Kirk Douglas
1960
‘Lolita’
Kubrick’s First British
production
1962
1968
‘Dr Strangelove’
Political satire black humour
film- considered one of
cinema’s greatest comedies
1964
‘A Clockwork Orange’
Dystopian crime horror,
caused controversy due to its
extreme violence and
exploration of mental
disorders
1971
1975
‘Barry Lyndon’
The film that made Kubrick notorious for his
scrupulous attention to detail, each scene of the 18th
century meticulously perfected- the film was
nominated for seven academy awards‘The Shining’
Considered to be a
horror classic and is
ranked as the 27th best
thriller of all time
1980
‘Full Metal Jacket’
British-American war film, received critical acclaim and
an Academy award nomination
Kubrick’s only personal Oscar
1987
1999
‘Eyes Wide Shut’
Erotic drama film,
exploring sexual relations.
Kubrick died 6 days after showing the final cut to
Warner Bros.

3. Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, and is often cited as
one of the greatest and most influential of all time. Born in New York
City in 1928, Kubrick was raised in the Bronx and attended William
Howard Taft High. School as a teen, yet his mediocre grades and
introverted nature prevented him from partaking in higher education.
Instead, he developed his keen passion for literature, photography and film, and taught
him himself all the aspects of film production rather than going to film school. He began
working as a photographer for Look magazine in the late 1940s, Kubrick began to make his
own short films, and finally producing his first Hollywood film ‘The Killing’ (1956) for
United Artists. This was followed by two collaborations with renowned producer and
director Kirk Douglas, and together they produced the epic pictures ‘Paths of Glory’ (1957)
and ‘Spartacus’ (1960). It is widely known that Kubrick’s biggest influence was the
German-born director Max Ophüls, whose complex and fluid camerawork was deeply
embedded in Kubrick’s own cinematic work. His heavy use of camera tracking, swoops
and pans are characteristic of Ophüls style, as well as his signature stories of thwarted love
and predatory men, which Kubrick as a director often implemented into his films.

4. Film Focus- ‘A Clockwork Orange’
Kubrick’s 1971 crime horror is an adaptation of the novel by the same name, and explores
themes of extreme violence, youth gangs, juvenile delinquency and psychiatric analysis. It is set
in the near-distant future of a Dystopian Britain, focusing on the protagonist Alex who leads a
gang of thugs who carry out extreme acts of violence and inflict horrific crimes within the city.
This film paved the way for a new more explicit type of violence shown on screen, as it
explored previously taboo subjects like rape in a very blunt and almost invasive way for the
audience. The movies plot follows Alex and his gang the “Droogs” as they embark on a spree of
extreme modification crime and violence, robbing, raping and pillaging. Eventually, Alex is
apprehendedand jailed for bludgeoning to death a woman named the Cat lady, and is subjected to a behaviour programme in order to
earn his freedom. In this programme, he is manipulated psychologically and his mind altered so that he now hated
violence- sent back into the world, he is now defenseless, and is hunted down, becoming the victim to his previous
victims. Kubrick was known for not including huge Hollywood stars in his films, apart from a few exceptions such as Jack
Nicholson and Tom Cruise, and so cast British actor Malcolm McDowell in the lead role of Alex DeLarge, Northern Irish
actor Patrick Magee as one of Alex’s victims, Steven Berkoff as Detective Constable Tom, and Michael Bates in the role of
the chief prison guard. The movie received much critical acclaim, grossing $26 million at the American box office, and
was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1972.

5. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
The Shining (1980)

6. Film Focus- ‘The Shining’
The Shining is perhaps one of Kubrick’s most famous pieces of cinema, as the 1980 horror film is
considered a cult classic, catapulting the horror genre forwards in regards to how films within the
psychological thriller sub-genre are executed. Kubrick’s brilliant combination of the physical violence
and gore with the deep emotional trauma that is inflicted upon his characters makes The Shining so
effective and iconic as a horror film. Widely considered as one of history’s most iconic and terrifying
horrors, Kubrick’s aims for this film was to create an “uncanny” mood for audiences, often drawing
inspiration from renowned psychologist Sigmund Freud’s theories to create a frightening atmosphere that audiences will
be unsure of what exactly is frightening them. This carefully constructed enigmatic feeling was created by Kubrick using
many of Freud’s methods, including the use of the repetition of numbers to build a feeling of unease; for instance the
often repeated room number 237. The narrative follows the lead Jack Torrence who becomes the winter caretaker at a
large and isolated hotel in Colorado. Bringing along his wife and son, the young boy begins having psychic premonitions,
e.g. visions of two creepy twin girls and a corridor full of blood and dead bodies. Torrence hopes to overcome his writer’s
block with the help of the isolation and quiet, but gets nowhere, eventually discovering the hotel’s dark secrets and
beginning his descent into a crazed homicidal maniac who is hell-bent on murdering his family. The main cast is
comprised of legendary Hollywood actor Jack Nicholson as Torrence, American actress Shelley Duvall as the wife Wendy.
Kubrick’s film did not receive much critical acclaim when it was released, but is now known to be one history's most
iconic and popular horror films. The movie is a close adaptation to Stephen King’s 1977 novel by the same name.

8. Directing Style
Stanley Kubrick is well-known within the world of cinema for his forward thinking and innovative directing style, his
techniques often seen as extreme and eccentric at times. For instance, when filing The Shining, Kubrick’s intense attention
to detail would result in many heated arguments between himself and actress Shelley Duvall, over her acting methods-
which resulted in Duvall actually becoming so stressed that her hair started falling out. Kubrick’s approach may have
appeared too intense to many, but his cinematic works are considered masterpieces in their own rights and have won him
critical acclaim as one of hollywood’s most iconic and influential directors. Kubrick’s main focus in is works was the
understanding of the human mind and our actions, and how society functions and effects us as humans in various ways. He
was intensely interested in the psyche behind human nature, and this exploration into the human mind combined with the
idea of violence within all his films- how we react to violence and how we carry it out, the effect it has on our society. More
specifically, Kubrick’s direction in regards to cinematography is very characteristic of his style- for instance, the use of
symmetrical shots in The Shining and A Clockwork Orange work to make his films more frightening and unnerving; and his
continued use of extreme camera angles to disorientate audiences and match the tone of the scenes. Kubrick was an
innovative director of his time, being one of the first directors to employ the use of extreme wide angle lenses as well as one
of the first to use the steadicam in his filming. One of the most notable aspects of Kubrick’s style is his immense attention to
detail, shown in his iconic period drama Barry Lyndon, which won four Academy Awards for its production. Each shot was
carefully composed to Kubrick’s specific direction, the director notably not using electric light, and only filming by
candlelight. He employed revolutionary techniques film this way, using super-fast lenses with huge apertures.

9. Cinematography
Kubrick is known for his unique use of cinematography, and many of his films like
Barry Lyndon have been widely regarded to be some of the most complex and
revolutionary works in modern cinema. His editing style as well as his use of camera
and lighting, among many other technical codes, were innovative and pioneering in
the world of film; for instance in Barry Lyndon, Kubrick made the decision early on
to film the entire movie with ambient lighting- only by candlelight to be exact. To
do this, the director employed the use of state-of-the art NASA lenses in order to
convey this painterly look of the 18th century, many of the scenes’ compositions and
framing almost paintings in themselves; mimicking the work of painters of the time.

10. Cinematography
Kubrick is known for his mix of political messages with disturbing character relationships
and iconic horror imagery, as seen most prominently in his 1980 psychological horror,
The Shining. His labyrinth-like geometric framing of the hotel setting transformed
inanimate objects like tricycles and corridors into characters in themselves, capable of
conveying horror and unease even without explicit violence. Lighting was also key to
many of Kubrick’s work, his use of practical lighting which provided both specific tones
and conveyed messages within the work- a video on this key idea is shown below. Often,
Kubrick’s cinematography would mirror his own early photography, a famous photograph
of his from when he was younger inspiring The Shining twins.

11. Kubrick’s eras of cinematography
Early independent features: his first feature works
- Fear and Desire (1953)
- Killer’s Kiss (1955)
- The Killing (1956)
Kirk Douglas Years: features in collaboration with actor Kirk Douglas.
- Paths of Glory (1957)
- Spartacus (1960)
The Peter Sellers Comedies: features in collaboration with actor Peter Sellers.
- Lolita (1962)
- Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

12. Kubrick’s eras of cinematography
The Master Works: the string of groundbreaking features that solidified his
reputation as a master filmmaker
- 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
- A Clockwork Orange (1971)
- Barry Lyndon (1975)
- The Shining (1980)
The Final Features: Kubrick’s final two features and the legacy he
leaves behind.
- Full Metal Jacket (1987)
- Eyes Wide Shut (1999)