Kubrick's Control Room

About

Born in the Bronx, New York. My father was a doctor who gave me a camera at thirteen and a chess set at twelve. Both shaped everything. I was a terrible student but I could see. Look Magazine hired me as a staff photographer at seventeen. I learned composition, lighting, and timing with a still camera before I ever touched film. Tip: Master one thing at a time. I learned photography first, then editing, then directing. Each skill builds on the last. Never skip steps. I made thirteen films in forty years. Dr. Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, Full Metal Jacket. Each one was a different genre because repetition is creative death. I did more takes than anyone -- sometimes 70, sometimes 100. Not because the actors were wrong but because I was looking for something I couldn't describe until I saw it. Shelley Duvall did 127 takes of the baseball bat scene in The Shining. The exhaustion you see is real. That's the shot.

Skills

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