The One-Point Perspective of Stanley Kubrick

[Botch]

I'm not a big movie fan, but I've seen just enough to have two favorite directors, Brian de Palma and Stanley Kubrick. This video showed a bunch of examples of Mr. Kubrick's "one-point perspective" that he apparently uses often. I didn't realize he had done The Shining, even though I've seen that film and really admired it. I didn't see any scenes from Dr. Strangelove, and haven't yet seen Clockwork Orange nor Eyes Wide Shut so I don't know if they're depicted here either.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2yqw7qGrgU[/youtube]

I'm not enough of a student of film to have noticed this before, but from a previous art class I do know of a good example of one-point :mrgreen:

 

[Babs]

^ Highly interesting. Stanley Kubrick directed some incredibly unique but kind of twisted films. IMO, some, very erotic.

I have seen both A Clockwork Orange and Eyes Wide Shut. Stanley died several days after the final cut for Eyes Wide Shut. A Clockwork Orange came out, I believe, in the 70's?? A real eye-opener as I was quite young when I saw it the first time. Malcolm McDowell played the lead character, Alex. Malcolm was also in Rob Zombie's Halloween. I luv horror flicks!

A lot of people didn't care for Eyes Wide Shut, I did. A lot of beautiful bodies, FYI. Story line was a real thinker.

Both movies were a part of the one-perspective video, Botch. More so with A Clockwork Orange, I noticed a lot from The Shining.

 

[Botch]

Thanks Babs, guess there's a couple films I need to see on Amazon Prime...

 

[Deleted member 133]

The Film Noir period was drawing to a close when Kubrick was beginning his career as a director of feature films. His Killer's Kiss (1955) was merely an ok offering, however he followed that Noir up a year later with another that would be recognized as one of the greats: The Killing (1956.)

He did not do any others, but over the rest of his career he had masterpieces in every genre, save for the western: 2001 (sci-fi); Full Metal Jacket and Paths of Glory (War); Barry Lyndon (multi genre); and Spartacus (ditto) and Lolita (romance) - to name essentially the rest of his oeuvre not already mentioned.

As varied as his films are, so too are the mis-en-scene that he choose for each - framing technique being but one element of such. It would be a shame to become fixated on his use of one-point perspective at the expense of perhaps overlooking everything else that made him such a visually-incredible director.

Jeff

ps. I've often said that I am blessed to not have "golden ears" when it comes to this audio hobby of ours. That way I can spend lots of time enjoying music, and not fret about the imperfections within it (and the system that's playing it). When it comes to movie viewing, I unfortunately took some university film studies courses, and I have to fight off the tendency to analyse each scene - or even frame - from a film student's perspective. It's been a while since I took a course, and I find that I can now just sit back and enjoy - rather than study - what I'm watching. But every so often I get jolted back to class - curse you Herr Botch!

 

[Botch]

As varied as his films are, so too are the mis-en-scene that he choose for each - framing technique being but one element of such. It would be a shame to become fixated on his use of one-point perspective at the expense of perhaps overlooking everything else that made him such a visually-incredible director.

Jeff

Oh, I've noticed a few other things. The Colonel who commits suicide at the beginning of Dr. Strangelove did a short monologue at his desk immediately before, and the way the light hit his cigarette smoke was stunning, especially in black-n-white. :eusa-clap:

 

[The DirtMerchant]

Just want to say, the music from the "One-Point Perspective" video was Lux Aeterna by Clint Mansell and the Kronos Quartet from Requiem For A Dream. One of the most truthfully disturbing movies I have seen.

 

[The DirtMerchant]

So...what is the idea behind One-Point perspective? What is that view supposed to evoke in the person watching the film?

 

[Huey]

So...what is the idea behind One-Point perspective? What is that view supposed to evoke in the person watching the film?

I'm just guessing here, but I would think that it's just another way of shooting a movie, only from the point of one person. I'm trying to think back to Full Metal Jacket, but if I remember correctly, you see the story through Mathew Modine's eyes, figuratively, and there's no bouncing around between characters.