"However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light."
- Stanley Kubrick
A few weeks ago I visited the Stanley Kubrick Exhibit at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in downtown San Francisco. I must confess that I didn’t know much about Kubrick’s work going in, which is why I decided to take this opportunity to finally dig deep into the work and life of this legendary filmmaker. Besides, what better way to learn about someone than by walking through a museum floor dedicated solely to their life’s work?
I’ll try my best to keep this short and sweet, and I’ll start off by saying “wow!”
Hello, My Name is Alicia M. Blair and I am a Pack Rat
What hit me the moment I walked into the exhibit was the realization that I have something in common with Stanley Kubrick – we are both pack rats. I could see a lot of myself in the way that he documented and collected information for and about his films. The amount of time that he must have spent on research and study alone gives me hope that all my similar efforts have not been in vain.
Tip of the Iceberg
The museum begins with a collection of his film posters (I wanted them all). It then moves on to Kubrick’s earliest work as a photographer for Time Magazine, where he began working at the age of sixteen. From there you are lead into a room of his earliest films, then onward toward his most successful and revered work. There was even a room dedicated to films that he had not had the opportunity to finish.
I will end by saying that, as a young filmmaker, I left the exhibit feeling inspired and motivated. I enjoyed a great afternoon with a fellow photographer, and it was a wonderful experience to get to step into the world that was once Stanley Kubrick. He was a filmmaker that broke with the norm, creating content that danced with the taboo, and some would say, inappropriate side of life.
What I Learned from Stanley Kubrick
-You don’t have to dedicate your life to one genre. Interesting stories expand through time and styles. Find a story that resonates with you and make a film about it.
-Document everything and document it well. Not only is it fun to see how you’ve done things in the past, but it makes the filmmaking/photo-shoot process that much easier for everyone.
-Ingmar Bergman is quoted for saying “To shoot a film is to organize an entire universe.” After getting taste of the amount of work that goes into pre-production for films, I have a deeper understanding of that statement.
-Don’t be afraid to be controversial, the Greats usually are.
-Lighting, lighting, lighting! Composition, composition, composition! Train your eyes to see everything!
-The only way to become a great artist is to start making art.
-Look at all art, read up on history, read about war, understand production design, respect all the arts and their departments because the more you understand their worlds, the better your cinematic world will be.
-To be a great artist, you have to be fearless in your pursuit towards success.
Here is another interesting clip that shows you how Stanley Kubrick used symmetry in his films.
Thanks for reading!
Alicia M. Blair