Kubrick homage

[brownpaperbagproductions]

It's a story about a photographer, so we decided to shoot it as Kubrick would have because he was a still photographer before a movie director and he carried still techniques over to movies. It's a bit slow to get off the ground, like some Kubrick movies, but the main thing we're wondering was what could we do to make it more Kubrickian lighting wise and stuff. Thanks!

http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=5812731

 

[Dougyfresh13]

ok dont take this the wrong way but there are several things u could have done to make it more "Kubrickian". first of all Kubrick did not use handheld shots often if at all. also one of his trade marks is to have a close up of the main character and then dolly back to an extablishing shot. he used lots of moving shots but they were all steady moving shots with a dolly or a crane or even maybe a steady cam, but never hand held. his shots were very well blocked, it wasnt run and gun which is what urs seemed like. also kubrick loved wide angle lenses. proper white balancing is also neccessary. finally i didnt hear much if any music in ur short and if i remember Kubrick movies for one thing and one thing only is his technique of counter point music. he will play music that would give off a happy feeling if listen to alone but he puts it over a horrifying sequence like the rape scenes in Clockwork. i think ur short has potential but to make it more "Kubrickian" u are going to need to watch his movies over and over to really get all of the quirks and trademarks that he has developed.

 

[J.R. Hudson]

Many sequences in A Clockwork Orange were shot hand held. But generally, Kubrick employed more tradtional visual tecniques.

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I'm curious ? How is this Kubrickian ?

 

[Dougyfresh13]

JR u r right. what i was trying to get at was he used it when it influenced the story but i felt that this video didnt employ that that just didnt have a tripod on hand. and i am also wondering what they thought made it Kubrickian

 

[Oedipax]

Well, first off, the symmetry of the first few compositions is a big Kubrickian visual trait. The mannered acting, even if I don't think it's up to Kubrick's standards or quite the way he'd handle it, is another thing. And also some of the lighting choices, like allowing the photographer's equipment to blow out in the background, is of a piece with A Clockwork Orange as well as Eyes Wide Shut. Finally, something about the way the dialogue is edited, with long pauses and static medium shots (framed in 1.33:1, not widescreen) recalls for instance the bathroom confrontation with Grady in The Shining.

But I would definitely agree, it gets less Kubrick-like as it goes on, because it feels much less controlled. The last things that popped out to me were the zoom in on his face looking through the door (not nearly as fast/smooth enough, but I get what they're going for), and the credits with the music that is sort of Penderecki-like. And I guess also the handheld shots of the killer from the ground once the guy is dead, is kind of like the fight scene in ACO.

 

[brownpaperbagproductions]

JR u r right. what i was trying to get at was he used it when it influenced the story but i felt that this video didnt employ that that just didnt have a tripod on hand. and i am also wondering what they thought made it Kubrickian

Well, the whole thing was run and gun which is why the beginning shots are hand held. The scene when they're talking about the price we tried to stage like the bathroom confrontation in The Shining where there's this really awesome 180 flip cut that makes you feel like you're really there. The story isn't his style I don't think, but it was mainly the compositions that we tried to reference. Like the first close up of the photographer I wanted to feel like a silly kubrickian use of miseenscene with the light fixture poking out of his head and the weird painting on the wall, a take on the way he used the books and cleaning bottles in the apartment in The Shining, and the grotesque statue in A Clockwork Orange at the writer's house.

But, yeah we started to get lazier about it as the night wore on, mainly because one of us had to work the next morning. Like the really weird low angle on the guy getting his picture taken at the end, the camera was composed just for the guy to walk out of the bathroom and to the front door but the actors just started playing the whole thing out so I panned to get it all and got this odd shot, the actor even said to me at the time "what the hell kinda shot is that?" which ruined it and we had to cut around. And the zoom in on the photographer watching was too slow so we dropped frames to speed it up which is distracting and crappy looking.

The whole thing is supposed to be funny, but not in a really intellectual sardonic way like Kubrick would, just a three guys making a quick short kinda way.

I was wondering what would make the lighting more his style though, especially for close ups.