Tag Archive for 'stanley kubrick'

Stanley’s Promotional Images

Jan 30, '12  ·  Closed Tags: , .

Stanley wanted me to choose the stills that would be necessary for publicity. Movie promotional images were always produced by unit or special photographers on the set who photographed what they saw. Stanley held, correctly, that these traditional film stills weren’t an accurate representation of what was on screen and he prevailed with the studio in the unprecedented process of taking the images directly from the film. (Stanley, who had begun his career as a photographer for Look magazine, always had strong opinions about the medium.)

Mike Caplan on the preparation for, and first screen of, A Clockwork Orange.

“Kiran, out!”

Jan 2, '12  ·  Closed Tags: , , , .

Because at this point, any tidbit is a breath of fresh air; a short Kubrick story from Kiran Shah, whom Ring fans might remember as a scale double on Lord of the Rings, and now The Hobbit:

[he] got to know Kubrick a little bit, but even being on friendly terms with the maestro didn’t save him when he popped in for a visit on the set of Eyes Wide Shut. Stanley spotted him and said, “Kiran, out!” We all know the stories about how Kubrick didn’t like a lot of crew around and that was Kiran’s little tale about it.

This from Ain’t It Cool’s An Unexpected Journey, Part 1, a great travelogue for anyone excited about The Hobbit, as are parts 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

And a happy new year. When this baby hit’s 88mph, you’re going to see some serious shit.

Kubrick’s Wonderful, Forbidden Smile

Oct 16, '11  ·  Closed Tags: , , .

[During the production of The Empire Strikes Back] The art department experienced an awful setback, when Stage 3 at Elstreet Studios burned to the ground. “Stanley Kubrick had built a hotel for The Shining, and they kept on covering it with salt, which was melting, so the studio was a real mess,” says [Empire Strikes Back Production Designer, Norman] Reynolds. “And it was cold and it was just dreary, really dreary. And then the hotel set caught fire and the stage burned to the ground. It was a tough time, actually.”

“The still photographer on The Shining, Murray Close, took a wonderful picture of Stanley standing in front of the smoldering remains, and he had a wonderful smile on his face.” says Boone. “I saw a print of that, but Murray was forbidden to have that picture published.”

From Star Wars: The Blueprints, page 94. Murray Close was 19 at the time, and worked with Kubrick for three years on The Shining, a period he talks about in this interview.

Norman Reynolds recalls that [legendary production designer, John] Barry was dumbfounded one day while working with Stanley Kubrick on A Clockwork Orange. They were on an apartment set and, although the fridge would remain closed throughout the scene, Kubrick insisted that Barry fill it with food props that the character would’ve stocked. “They had a bit of a falling out as a result of that,” Reynolds says. [p101]

Stanley Kubrick attended the funeral of the John Barry, the the production designer on Star Wars, who had died suddenly:

“That really was a really big shock to see Stanley [Kubrick],” says Tomkins. “The only time Stanley came out of his shell. I mean, you never would get Stanley going to anybody’s memorial service, but he did come to John’s. So I was quite impressed by that, that he must have like the guy very much.” [p95]

Prior Art? Really?

Aug 24, '11  ·  Closed Tags: , , , .

Samsung cited the viewscreen used in a scene in Kubrick’s 1968 masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey as prior art in the lawsuit filed against them by Apple over the likeness of the Galaxy Tab vs. the iPad, claiming that:

In a clip from that film lasting about one minute, two astronauts are eating and at the same time using personal tablet computers. The clip can be downloaded (sic) online at http://​www​.youtube​.com/​w​a​t​c​h​?​v​=​J​Q​8​p​Q​V​D​y​aLo. As with the design claimed by the D’889 Patent, the tablet disclosed in the clip has an overall rectangular shape with a dominant display screen, narrow borders, a predominately flat front surface, a flat back surface (which is evident because the tablets are lying flat on the table’s surface), and a thin form factor. (Source)

Setting aside the fact that there can’t be any question in the minds of rationally thinking people, that the Galaxy Tabs treads in the footsteps of the iPad, albeit drunkenly and without much conviction, there’s the small issue that despite Samsung’s claims, the iPad shares almost no properties with the viewscreens in 2001.

  1. It is about twice the size of the iPad.
  2. It’s edges are flush with the screen, except at the bottom.
  3. It has ten physical push-buttons, numbered 1 through 10 at the bottom.
  4. There is no interaction with the device, aside from Bowman turning it on to view a video signal.

Samsung’s claim misleads by using the term ‘personal tablet computers’, when in fact there is nothing to indicate them as such. The claim also links to a YouTube video which specifically uses the words “Apple iPad” in its title.

There’s only one problem; the viewscreen in 2001 are not computers, they are, flat, battery-powered TVs. They look and and operate exactly how you would extrapolate a TV if you were looking to make a film taking place some 30 years in the future. Smaller and portable. And vertical, for the same reasons that hallways in science fiction films are never simply square. And they display no interactive properties beyond that, nor do they share such crucial properties with the iPad as its grapping bezel, or compact size. Not to mention the ability to function as something other than a TV.

It is no more prior art to the design of the iPad, than a TV set is prior art to the design of the Mac.

Read also: Joen and I follow up.

Update: Justice is served in Germany.

Q&A w. Jan Harlan on Stanley Kubrick

Sep 26, '10  ·  Closed Tags: , , , .

Jan Harlan at Cinemateket

We’ve just returned from a screening of Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures, at Cinemateket with Jan Harlan – Kubrick’s brother-in-law and the film’s director – in attendance. The documentary itself, supreme as it is, is available on DVD; however, the Q&A session with Jan Harlan isn’t. A shame, as Harlan was both funny, honest and insightful about Kubrick and his filmmaking.

Which is why I recorded it.

Enjoy.

Afterwards I asked him what had become of the 18 hours of material shot, I believe by Kubrick’s (later estranged) daughter Vivian, for Full Metal Jacket. Unfortunately it seems the sound was lost for most of it, and what remained is what made its way into this and the Stanley Kubrick’s Boxes documentaries. Shame.

Update: Thank you Jay Goodman Tamboli for normalizing the audio for me.

R. Lee Ermey talks Kubrick

Jul 6, '10  ·  Closed Tags: , , .

Taming Light

Jan 21, '10  ·  2 Comments Tags: , , , .

Taming Light Poster

I bought this beautiful poster from Martin Ansin last year, but didn’t receive it until just the other day (it’s a long way from Uruguay). I can’t wait to put it up on the wall I’ve got in mind for it.

PS: You can contact Martin if you’re interested in buying his posters. Both the art and the print itself are phenomenal.

SK

Mar 7, '09  ·  1 Comment Tags: , , .

Stanley Kubrick died today, 10 years ago, on March 7th, 1999 at the age of 70. It’s a strange tradition, to remember someone on the anniversary of their death, but it beats not remembering them at all. Luckily, Kubrick is most certainly worth remembering.

On my desktop I have an entry-draft of considerable length concerning Kubrick, which I had intended to publish today. However, instead I fell into writing on a science fiction project I’ve been working on for a while (making significant headway I might add), and I like to think that writing is something Kubrick himself wouldn’t have minded taking precedence over me idolizing him and his work; he after all held the act of creation in particularly high regard, and considering the problems I’m having writing my project, I see what he means.

In reality, idolizing Kubrick is probably better done simply by watching or re-watching one of his films anyway, any one of which speaks volumes more about the man than I ever could.

Stanley Kubrick and the Bad Films

Mar 3, '09  ·  1 Comment Tags: , , .

‘I used to want to see almost anything. In fact, the bad films were what really encouraged me to start out on my own. I’d keep seeing lousy films and saying to myself, “I don’t know anything about moviemaking but I couldn’t do anything worse than this.”’

- Stanley Kubrick, Stanley Kubrick: Interviews, softcover edn., Mississippi, p. 103.

Kubrick the Dog

Mar 3, '09  ·  Closed Tags: , , , .

It being Kubrick appreciation week, it seems fitting Matt let me know that somebody went ahead and named their dog after Kubrick. Not the man though, but the WordPress theme I did!

Kubrick is named after the default WordPress theme, Kubrick! It’s a really nerdy way of naming our new pup, but my husband wanted to name him with something that’s related to web design and development. #

Stanley Kubrick and the Phone

Mar 2, '09  ·  3 Comments Tags: , , , .

On the 7th, it’s a decade since Kubrick’s death, and so I wanted to spend this week tributing my favorite director, by leading up to the day with some small pieces from or about him. This first one comes from Michael Herr’s excellent ‘Kubrick’ book:

He viewed the telephone the way Mao viewed warfare, as the instrument of a protracted offensive where control of the ground was critical and timing crucial, while time itself was meaningless, except as something to be kept on your side. An hour was nothing, mere overture, or opening move, or gambit, a small taste of his virtuosity. The writer Gustav Hasford claimed that he and Stanley were once on the phone for seven hours, and I went over three with him many times. I’ve been hearing about all the people who say they talked to Stanley on the last day of his life, and however many there were, I believe them all.

- Michael Herr, Kubrick, hardcover edn, Picador, 2000, p. 3.

Coudal does Stanley Kubrick Again

Apr 18, '08  ·  Closed Tags: , , .

Coudal has a wonderfully extensive collection of Stanley Kubrick-related links, which was extensively updated yesterday.

NASA’s lenses in Barry Lyndon

Dec 23, '07  ·  Closed Tags: , , , .

To the people whom I told the story to on friday, consider this an errata, with a complete technical rundown.

The Stanley Kubrick Exhibition

Dec 23, '07  ·  4 Comments Tags: , , , .

Just learned that The Stanley Kubrick Exhibition is currently in Rome. Rikke and I had talked about going to Rome, and it would have been a great meshing of agendas, had the two coincided with each other. Unfortunately we’re not planning on going until late spring, and the exhibition is ending in early January.

The question is, how do I figure out where that exhibition is going next?

Set Designer Ken Adam Interview

Jun 29, '07  ·  Closed Tags: , , , .

I came across this interview with one of the greatest set designers of all time, Ken Adam. He’s the guy behind Bond’s fantastic larger-than-life sets and the fabulous war-room in Dr. Strangelove (“Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here. This is the War Room!”), and by proxy the greatest inspiration for Austin Powers and The Incredibles.

A batch of movie reviews

Jan 25, '04  ·  2 Comments Tags: , , .

Here’s a bunch of movie reviews, Google has any information you might need about them.

Continue reading ‘A batch of movie reviews’

Heilemann’s YMMV Law

Oct 28, '03  ·  14 Comments Tags: , .

I don’t remember my exact age, but I guess it must’ve been in my mid-teens when I first saw 2001: A Space Odyssey. Or that is, I saw some of it. I found it to be somewhat interesting due to the whole space-thing, but ultimately lacking in alien creatures and explosions.

A few years later I saw some of it again with Rikke and this time around it felt even longer and just mind bogglingly tiresome. I was a bit disappointed since I genuinely wanted to like this movie. Why people older than me hailed it as one of the greatest movies ever made I couldn’t quite understand, hadn’t these people bothered with watching Aliens!?

Continue reading ‘Heilemann’s YMMV Law’