Stanley Kubrick’s Cinematography Planning

[Loki Laufeyson]

Hello all!

I have a production for a short film coming up in a little under a year, so I’m just now starting pre-pre-production, basically.

One of my favorite directors is Stanley Kubrick, so I like to look at his work and learn from it, whether that’s his films, his photography, behind-the-scenes of his productions, etc.

Something interesting that I learned about Stanley Kubrick is that he didn’t like to have a lot of the cinematography planned out beforehand; he liked coming up with a lot of shots on set because he felt that it was more creative, and it allowed him to find unique shots/compositions that he wouldn’t have found if he already had the whole scene planned out.

I found this very interesting, and I wanted to try it out on my upcoming short film, but I want to hear the opinion of other directors/cinematographers first.  Is this beneficial, and have you done this before for a film – if so, how did it go?  Should I edge away from this  Stanley Kubrick method of cinematography and stick to more common practices of having all of my shots planned out beforehand?  Should I settle for something in the middle – or is there something I haven’t even considered at all yet?

I’d love to hear all of your thoughts. Thank you!

 

Topic

[Stip]

I’m a cinematographer turned director. I think this is personal preference and also depends on the story/project imo. For me, having a plan is what enables me to get creative on set, not the other way around. Kubrick was a special talent.

Having a safety net is what allows me, and others, to get creative on set. The lack of it usually does the opposite in my experience.

What I like to do is get as much time as possible on location before shooting starts. Either make a basic storyboard then or in the coming days, with the location in your head. Then on the day of shooting you’ll have a plan everyone can follow, a safety net if things get hectic, that will enable you to stay open to spontaneous input from actors, DP, yourself ect.

[Author]

Replies