Production Techniques

Stanley Kubrick's Clockwork Orange: Composition and Camera Angles



Stanley Kubrick's Clockwork Orange: Composition and Camera Angles

Introduction

Clockwork Orange is a mega hit of 1971. It was written, produced, and directed by British American Stanley Kubrick. It was an adoption of a novella A Clockwork Orange. The film was successful in many ways; its story, cinematography, photography, composition and editing; the music was also greatly liked by the audience. The film employs the violent images on the topic of psychiatry, juvenile's physical abuse, delinquent behaviours by gangs, and other socio-political factors. The central idea of the movie revolves around morality, teenage delinquency, and psychotherapies. Because of the violence shown in the film, it remained banned in the UK till the death of Stanley Kubrick. The film was warmly received in other parts of the world, but it could not be shown in the UK. The decision of the withdrawal of the film from showing in the UK was made by the director himself. This affected his career negatively as the film was withdrawn when it was ranked as the most successful of the times. However, the film was released in the UK in 1999 after the death of Stanley Kubrick. The following paper is a review of his film focusing on the camera angles and composition used in the film as it is believed that Stanley Kubrick was a perfectionist in the art of film making.

Overview

Composition in Film Making

It is said believed that in the making film, just like in painting and graphic designing, composition plays a significant role. Composition in the film refers to the arrangements of volumes, shapes, and forms in the artistic frame. In the visual design of the film, this is a key element that makes the film unique, inspiring, and speaks of the mastery of its director. Composition of the film is always a process of thoughtful work. There are few instances in which the director has been successful in converting the film into an arena visualized by poetry; this is only possible with the careful composition of the scenes. Poorly composed films leave the viewers with no satisfaction (Ager, 2010).“. For instance, a painter is able to predetermine the position of different elements in his painting; the filmmaker also has a complicated job to decide the position of all the elements in the scenes. One wrong colour can ruin the entire effect of the picture, poor composition also ruins the film, no matter how must its music, dialogues and acting of the characters are powerful. The key to composition for the film is the awareness of the director in terms of composition; it must be dynamic, always in flux, and ever changing. Incorporating, camera movements or subject movements, the elements in the frame must change their position accordingly (Ward,2014). With this, it is the director's job to figure out each composition in the changing elements. Starting out with the perfect frame and then a small movement of the subject or the camera destroys the effect ...