Stanley Kubrick and DSLR video...

Stanley Kubrick - self portrait

What many people don't know is that the famous director Stanley Kubrick got his start in still photography. As I keep seeing people online complaining about the addition of a video mode to cameras, I can't help but to think about how thrilled Kubrick would have been about this development. He would be able to shoot still photographs and film motion pictures, with the same camera.

It's a shame we will never see a movie shot on a DSLR such as the Nikon D4 by Stanley Kubrick, and I bet his stills would be as amazing as his motion capture.

He was a genius at getting the shots he wanted, from the extremely shallow depth of field candle-lit shot in Barry Lyndon (shot with the fabled Zeiss 50mm f/0.7) to the extremely deep depth of field of almost every shot in The Shining. I can't help but to surmise that if he had not been a still photographer first then he would never have become one of the greatest directors that ever lived.

So next time you start complaining about the "unnecessary video function" of the newest DSLR camera, take a moment and think about what Kubrick would have done with this technology. Broaden your horizons. Take a few hours and make a short film. If a young Kubrick could go from building his own darkroom and making his own prints to becoming one of the world's greatest directors, just think of what YOU can do with the amazing technology that you hold right in your hands.