Stanley Kubrick

Stanley Kubrick was and is one of the most influential and important writers and directors in film history. He leaves behind a body of work that is considered one of the most influential, critically acclaimed, and even controversial. His most famous works include The Shining, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Full Metal Jacket.

Born July 26th, 1928 in Manhattan, Kubrick was the first-born son of Jacques and Gertrude Kubrick, and was raised in The Bronx. Kubrick became fascinated with many hobbies and arts at a fairly early age. By his teenage years he already developed an affinity for chess, still-photography, and jazz music by the time he was thirteen years old, all of which he was introduced to by his father.

He remained an avid photographer all the way into his years at William Howard Taft High school, being chosen as the official photographer for a year. His academic skills were not as fleeting, however. His time there from 1941 to 1945 brought measly grades, graduating with a 67 average. Because of this, he was fairly skeptical of attending college; he only temporarily attended the City College of New York before leaving soon after.

His saving grace, once again, was his skills in taking photographs. By the time he graduated from high school he had sold a number of photos to be printed in Look Magazine, and made a living doing outside freelance photography and playing chess in several areas around Manhattan including Washington Square Park. Soon he would work his way up to being an official staff photographer for Look, which would be his primary occupation the next five years.

By 1951 he made his first move into film, directing a number of short documentaries for a newsreel series that was screened in US movie theaters entitled The March of Time. The first was titled Day of the Fight, a black-and-white film about a day in the life of a then-middleweight boxing champion Walter Cartier. Kubrick financed the film himself, and employed what would be a trademark film technique throughout his career known as the reverse tracking shot, in which the camera is mounted and moved across a rail in the opposite direction. Kubrick continued on to direct more documentaries, however only two others, Flying Padre and The Seafarers, have apparently survived the ravages of time. From there, he moved into directing full feature films.

By 1957, Kubrick had begun to establish a small of bit of a name for himself as a filmmaker. He started out with what he would later consider "embarrassingly amateur" films, such as "Fear and Desire" with his then-wife Toba Metz. Kubrick worked his way up and developed his craft until he caught the attention of major American media company MGM with "The Killing", Kubrick's first professional full-length done under his production company Harris-Kubrick Productions with producer James B. Harris. Although it did not make much money in theaters, it favorable cirtical acclaim, being most noted for a fragmented storyline and unhappy ending.

The following film was Paths of Glory, a World War I film starring and financially secured by actor Kirk Douglas, who plays a French humanitarian officer trying to prevent the execution of three innocent soldiers. Like The Killing, the movie was met with low financial success but great critical praise, noted for its black-and-white cinematography and intense action scenes. It marked Kubrick's place as the next major film director.

From there, he went on to direct the biggest films of his career, and some of the biggest films in history. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb of 1964 is now considered to be a cult classic, and his following film 2001: A Space Odyssey is widely regarded as one of the greatest films of all time. It is unique in that, although it runs past 2-and-a-half hours, it only contains about 45 minutes of actual dialogue. The rest is left to the amazing visuals and sound to speak for the film, pioneering a generation of film led by advanced special effects such as Star Wars and Alien.

As an established director, Stanley Kubrick was most known for his unique style to every film, as well as the intricacy and meticulous care that he put into every project, with a great sense of perfectionism down the very people that he cast, and even the sense of philosophical statements that he seemed to make with every movie.

As a person, Kubrick was very reclusive about his personal life and beliefs, often refusing to speak in public. Personal opinions towards Kubrick often vary; family and relatives often make him out to be an intelligent and compassionate human being, actors and co-workers tend to describe him as cold, rude, and egotistical.

Whatever the case may be, Stanley Kubrick is still the mastermind behind some of the greatest cinema, worldwide, of all time. Although his catalogue is far less extensive as other directors, it is the fact that many of these are widely regarded as classics that makes him a truly exceptional directory. He had an extremely fluid, unique style to his projects, that would spark great controversy and later be considered masterpieces.

Blog Commentary: Week 9

Core77: Red Bull's DJ Table

Very interesting design.  Functionality as well as simplicity.  The the table is designed for vinyl-oriented DJs and listeners.  The entire table just looks like one piece, but still has the necessary grooves and design to serve a great purpose.

Seth Godin: Marketing lessons from the US election

Seth again applying the concepts of the Presidential campaign to every life in general.  

Core77: Manfrotto's fold-flat tripod

Economic thinking in the form of great compact design.  Done by imaging & staging company Manfrotto, this handy tripod is a great example of supporting photographers & videographers on a budget.

Seth Godin: A friend in need

Is a friend indeed.  This ties into this quote by Dr. Thomas L.  Garthwaite, "People may not remember exactly what you did, or what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel."  Leaving a personal mark on anyone can go a long way in terms of progressing your business as a designer.

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Blog Commentary: Week 6

Seth Godin: What does this remind you of?

Very true assessment.  Companies and sellers often tend to try to reinvent the wheel when releasing a new product, which more often than not works against them.  Sometimes it is best to just do what works.  Actually, most of the time it's best to do that.

Core77: Apple design, old vs. new

I remember using one of the earlier Macintosh computers in my house when I was a kid.  It is true that Core77's assessment of the design of macs being awfully similar throughout the generations, however I believe that is due to the fact that Apple has always held onto the concept of simplicity and whatever is not needed is to be left out.  So extra broader design is simply not necessarily, and so it is not exhibited.  We see this concept especially now with the newest macs, in which Apple stresses the fact that they were design with fewer manufacturing pieces than before.  Again, the company truly has mastered the assertion that less is more.

Blog Commentary: Week 5

Core77: Deserve Your Dream: Design Education and Advocacy, by Mariana Amatullo
Amazing artwork. A simple yet powerful design with a profound message. A lot of cases in contemporary design this is a key concept that goes a very long way. Even the simple text at the bottom contrasting with the relatively "giant" blood splatter image drives the point home. This is something that can work very well in the area of advertising. Even if it's just advertising a serious subject and not just a product.

Seth Godin: Nine steps to Powerpoint magic

Certainly great tips to handling your presentation, especially in a class like New Media. Basically the main point in these tips is to simply give a genuine presentation, like you actually enjoy whatever it is you're trying to "sell". And if you don't enjoy it, act like you do. It'll make the biggest difference.

Core77: Youtube in SuperHD

Very clever. Even funnier that it's a Rick Astley video. I would not be surprised if Youtube made HD, or at least super high-quality video available to stream in the near future.

Core77: Harman Kardon Makes Crystal Bling Speakers

These look pretty nice in my personal opinion. Harman Kardon is known mostly for its speakers, but these are a distinguishable design that, according to the article, blend "bling" and "steampunk", which is bound to attract at least a small group of individuals looking for a set of speakers for their computer. Very interesting.

Blog Commentary: Week 4

Seth Godin: What advertising can't fix

Microsoft very well could have generated a great deal of buzz with the Jerry Seinfeld commercials if they weren't so weird and borderline terrible. This seems to be an ongoing trend in television advertising; doing commercials with quirky storylines that I suppose are intended to be funny or entertaining, and hoping the advertise the product solely off a "quirky" commercial. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Microsoft should've left it alone.

Core77: Foldaway furniture, part 1

An interesting and possibly useful concept. I can't imagine some of the furniture, particularly the bed and chairs, being all that comfortable or practical as foldable material, though. But then again I haven't tried it myself.

Seth Godin: When you stand for something
Another example of a lesson in everyday life applying to the world of design and business. You are seen as much more respectable when you make a clear stance on something and stick to it, rather than bending your own rules for the sake of trying to make everyone happy. This concept in the long run is impossible and unattainable, so it is better to know your limits in certain cases and stick to it.

Blog Commentary: Week 3

Seth Godin: In search of value

Indeed, the stock market is in quite of a slump this week, with Wall Street seeing a sharp drop, AIG Auto Insurance in need of $40 billion to survive, and the government takeover of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. However, one thing that my Global Studies professor mentioned on the topic is that this sort of activity can actually turn out to be a good thing, in a way, for particular groups of people. Houses will be much more affordable for buyers and ironically enough will lead to a great deal of jobs for Finance majors who will be needed to oversee the mass amount of financial activity in suffering companies.

Seth Godin: But you're not saying anything

In my personal opinion, the fact of having something like interchangeable logos (or interchangeable anything) is ultimately no excuse for relying on another factor that will make you "different" among your competition. Of course, you will want a logo that is "welcoming" to consumers, but having several aspects of your company relatively original can never go wrong.

Seth Godin: The small-minded vision of the technology elite

It's interesting to see in retrospect the very limited outlook of someone once so prominent in the computer industry like Ken Olsen, and how reaching beyond that outlook can greatly expand the prosperity of such an industry. I'm sure nobody really foresaw a company like Apple becoming such a dominant force in the industry as it is.

Nussbaum: Did Innovation Cause The Crisis on Wall Street?

I wouldn't necessarily say that innovation caused the crisis on Wall Street, but rather the inadequate testing of the new "innovative" practices by those businesses that caused it, as Nussbaum mentioned. This is the biggest keypoint of trying anything new, especially from a technological standpoint; to actually test it and evaluate it before actually putting it to practice and releasing it to the public. It's like if McDonald's shelled out frozen beef on their hamburgers...they have to be properly prepared for consumption.