(If you want a modern example of bleach-bypassing, look to Roger Deakins and The Assassination of Jesse James.) In order to ensure not-so-grand looking footage, Kubrick and Milsome chose to desaturate the image (seemingly) through the process of bleach-bypassing. After much deliberation, Kubrick eventually chose 35mm.

Finally, after testing seven cameras and 70-80 lenses, he decided to go with 35mm. Once he decided that wasn’t right, he went the other direction and opted for 16mm in hopes of achieving the previously mentioned documentary feel. With Full Metal Jacket, he originally wanted to shoot 65mm stock in order to capture a grand image that rivaled The Longest Day.

While choosing the film stock, size of film, lenses, and camera bodies are always a possibility when entering into a film’s pre-production, Kubrick was about as specific and intentional as they get. Let’s look at how it all played out with this extensive breakdown from the YouTube channel CinemaTyler. Not quite cinéma vérité, but not quite the steady precision associated with something like A Clockwork Orange or The Shining. He wanted to shoot Full Metal Jacket like a documentary.

Kubrick worked on Full Metal Jacket for almost a year before shooting it to ensure everyone on the crew had an acute understanding of what he was trying to do and of the story he was trying to tell. (Milsome had previously served as John Alcott’s first assistant, usually pulling focus on Kubrick’s previous films.) Nonetheless, modern filmmaking owes a lot to how he and cinematographer Douglas Milsome decided to shoot it. People on both sides would probably agree that the film’s unassuming look and feel can make it almost not even register as a Kubrick project. I’ve heard people argue that Full Metal Jacket is one of Stanley Kubrick‘s more underrated films. In today’s edition of “Holy Crap, That’s So Interesting,” we’re going to look at how a classic film (with a big budget) used minimal lighting and a DIY approach to tell its story. Through the clever use of Nikon stills lenses and carefully chosen film stock, Stanley Kubrick created one of the most naturalistic war movies of all time.

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