Music
you
When he was younger he decided he was going to make a horror film so scary
that he would advertise it by saying you can get your money back if you can sit
all the if you get to sit all the way through that's right that was the idea
there'd be so frightening people would absolutely have to leave and then he
grew up and it was a bad idea. Stanley was a perfectionist he didn't want to
think artificial he wanted the real thing and that's what we did in the
finish we made it a real thing.
He had a second crew shooting all the exterior and then rebuilding it in
Bournwood and I think it was pretty frightening in the film yes. The shining
required a lot of second-unit stuff which was done by Doug Milsom and myself
basically we went to Oregon and shot the hotel we waited for Virgin Snow and we
got a snow cat driver and filmed him this is just second-unit so now
everything else with actors was done in Bournwood then called Elstree Studios
and it was a build and we had wonderful designers and they copied things with an
American look we had to get everything these rugs on the floor with an Indian
design and you just buy it you make deals and there were lots of people not
only me. First we did all the Cirrus stuff which I did with Jan Hall and up
in Oregon which was all the Overlook hotel exterior basically and then yes
we started shooting I became the first AC on the set as I was on Barry Linn
and right yeah right through to the end basically when I think finally John
Alcott had another commitment he always said he was going to put he was moving
countries he was moving to America and he had to leave at a certain time prior
to shooting it was always understood we'd finished long before John wanted
to move to America but of course as a lot of standings films they went slightly
over schedule and so he had to leave and I just simply took on the job of John
Hall complicated DP and that was for several late weeks so that was kind of
interesting really. We waited for a snow storm got up very early in the morning
hope and yeah Doug Milsen was the the camera man and we had a 2C in our
reflex 2C with 400 foot magazines and we went down obviously we had to go the
back way so not to leave tracks on the snow we had lower lights in our windows
we had each a bedroom which faced the front and we were able to put very
strong lights into that windows so the only room slid in the hotel so you go
down at night you get ready in position and you wait for enough light to get an
exposure at f2 and then you shoot it everybody else in the hotel is asleep
and we are talking about a ski hotel yeah people don't get up until 8 or 8 30 so
you know that's that's that's was a typical thing we did that many times
another thing we did is filming the snow cat driving up a road this is during
the day it's a ski run there's lots of people there very very famous ski hotel
skiing hotel and obviously you have to go early in the morning after snowfall at
night so that everything is in pristine condition and so these shots and in the
film you can see them very clearly now also we did a shot where the snow cat
where we're sitting in the snow cat and filming through the window and you had
extra lights in front of the snow cat to give you an exposure of the trees and you
see the snow cat arriving at the hotel and again in our bedrooms were the low
lights yeah it's it's the rawest form of filmmaking there was a helicopter
following the yellow beetle in the beginning that was more complex and the
art director for this was Jan Schluboch a German guy who also did the German
locations in Barry Lyndon yeah and that was a very skillful pilot who knew what
method the camera is on a so-called tile amount which is where you it's nice and
smooth and level but also you need early morning and no wind because if it's a
if there's strong wind then even the tile amount won't do if you want a very
silky smooth run and that's what we had it's a beautiful shot following the
beetle and that's of course immediately part of the story because we see them
you know Jack Nicholson the main character in that little yellow beetle
arriving in the hotel that's another big second unit shot yeah so it was Oregon
and Colorado Stanley never was there because he doesn't like to travel he
doesn't like to fly but yeah that could easily be done by other people I got
Greg McGilvery who was a friend of mine in the States who did the opening of
Tying Inferno in a movie I did in Greece called The Skyriders very good aerial
team Jim Freeman and Greg McGilvery although Jim got killed unfortunate
helicopter crash they were the best I'd work with and I recommended Greg to
Stanley and he shot the whole of the opening which was beautiful stuff he
shot that up in the Glacier National Park which was very very beautiful footage
following the little beetle yeah little beetle and then we shot the close-ups in
the studio of course with UNF projection back projection I think Doug and I
spent at least four weeks in Oregon in the winter and then the summer that was
quicker because there didn't matter the summer shots there were lots of people
there that was not too difficult Roy Walker was with us then as well he was
the designer and he organized it that was a quick but much bigger second unit
shoot but the winter shoot was just nothing it was just really Doug and
myself and the camera because there was nothing to do you didn't want to see
anything other than virgin snow because it was a ghost hotel and it was
supposed to be deserted and there's nobody living there that has to be made
believable
Elstree was a good place to shoot I thought the studio lot was fantastic I
think the excuse you wouldn't have known because the overlook was a big old
hotel up in Oregon and we had every stage there we built that huge set in the
back lot we built the exterior of the hotel and so it was a big big deal we
took over the whole studio and we were shooting for nearly a year I think in the
end but a lot of preparation I mean 300 construction people on the payroll it
was one of the biggest movies made there for sure that old face here the whole
that front of that building which is 70 feet I think in more was rebuilt on the
studio lot at EMI he took over every stage even the workshops that we had at
the back he took those over the playroom in this film was a workshop
converted and then the toilet scene was the same same workshop changed we
changed that afterwards yeah seven eight and nine eight and nine was Jack's
apartment where he smashes the doors that was Jack's apartment in there stage
three was the main hall of the hotel and then we built corridors to link up all
the stages so that when the boy was running along on his trolley he went
continuously it was a continuous shop which he couldn't normally do but
managed with this new new camera he could follow the boy all the way around
and you don't lose him the lobby was on the next stage so that wasn't connected
but the whole that was built solidly and up the stairs and a whole there was a
whole series of rooms upstairs the woman the old lady in the bathroom so you
could go around all of that stuff yeah stage eight has got an open floor it
comes from the car park that allowed him to walk up the stairs into the living
room then stage nine stage nine was the bedroom that's where he smashes from the
door that's the bathroom in the bedroom side-by-side of course there was no
starboard stage down otherwise Stanley would have had that he would use that the
one of the first shots in the film and it was the hotel was built on our lot
ABC and he's got all the main artists and everybody there this walk up to the
entrance of the hotel and Stanley had this thing about he had his own dolly
he had his own cameras and everything and he said it came in he left the artists
where they were and he said make these dolly wheels yeah he said he didn't really
fit my track do you think you could do something with them I said well yeah but
not right now I said I've got turn them down and so on but yeah I can do it so
anyway I did one set of wheels and he had eyes in the back of his neck now
there's this long tracking shots this friend of mine who was the focus blow of
many years was his operator Kelvin Pike and the artists walking down they're
tracking down the cable boys are holding on the booms been run out and so on all
this movement and I'm just standing at the back of the set and I've got these
wheels behind my back and Stanley just let the artist carry on it was a shot for
a print and he turned it oh he said can you do it have you done it and that was
it he didn't he wasn't interested in the artist he was interested in the wheels
but that was Stanley because he was a frustrated technician basically and I
said yeah fine that's one done if I do fall like that it worked perfectly but
he wasn't because the artist was still acting their heart out everybody's
moving and will I send you left the set he's talking to me at the back but he
was a character I loved him I loved him he was a great guy but he had the main
I thought I don't know if stages were there but I mean there were one I think
there are four main stages with the four block stages were one one one one two
three and four stages and we had sets on all those and the triangle quite big sets
actually Roy Walker constructed or designed and so yes they were they're
basically those and they were all ready sets were built in there and they were
all lit basically pre-lit a lot of them were the back set the backings were
outside the windows of the hotel steps of the hotel I can't recall too many
people visiting his sets with the exception of his mother who turned up on
the shining and came to visit with Stanley and there's a lovely story
because she sat with Stanley and it was sort of interesting watching it to them
and she was handed the script of the shining which contained any number of
different colored pages and his mother said why are there so many different
pages standing well why are there so many different colors and he said well
every time I make a change to the script we use another color and she should have
shook her head in that wonderful kind of lovely Jewish mother look and said oh
you've made a lot of changes on this film so people popped in from directors
came in always from other sets I mean George Lucas Steven Spielberg that
people they're all the time because they wanted to watch Stanley work but no
visitors to the set one occasion I was suddenly given a typewriter that Jack
was using on set Stanley had decided it was the wrong color and he sent it up to
me about half past 12 midday I'm shooting after lunch and I want the color
change so I had to work from my lunch hour very quickly find a new color get
it painted and return to the set and once it back he approved it and sent
somebody up to say thank you it was nice of him actually what the biggest
challenge for me was on the gold room which was where they all dance and the
bar was there Stanley wanted up everything gold so they came up the
idea of gold tiles I had to paint all best part of a thousand tiles gold so
they could stick them to the ceiling and the walls and that seemed to me to go
on forever I realized it's part of the lighting that Stanley wanted and so they
could deflect their tile the lights wherever he wanted but I said there
must have been a thousand or more tiles I had to paint it went on for days days
and days every every day I went in I had these piles and piles of tiles like
plastic format tiles and I had to paint them gold so they could stick them all
over this set it looked beautiful when it was done it's always difficult with
Stanley convincing him how many people you need to get ready and you have to go
through all that for Stanley which is a drama but where you want 20 makeup 20
air set it all up and another stage no that's not difficult to do that stuff
it's just a question again the right people in and the right set up you know
all the makeup mirrors all of changing facilities you know we don't we just do
that on all the big movies really and that looked great and we spent weeks and
weeks pre-lighting that you know and changing it it was a great set they did
it that was a great design that was Stanley and Roy did a terrific job on
that then when Stanley realized how long we were going to be shooting in there
he suddenly realized that we'd have to do the same with Grady when he drops the
stuff on him we better make put that in the toilet because otherwise we're going
to need to ground for another two weeks so that's how that happened and then we
built the red toilet I was added after we decided that it was going to take a
long time we need another two weeks with all the crowd so that's how that came
about yeah we spent many many nights up there all the sparks dancing around on
the thing shooting the lighting test it's good fun those were the best times
with Stanley in the evening shooting the lighting test he was very relaxed doing
all that stuff you still don't like I mean don't laugh with the boys
Stanley did have a who's notorious for many many takes and you would find
actors would peak they were quite used to peaking at sort of take five or six
but and Stanley would go on beyond that and they were trying to looking
searching for something different sometimes I think he did in fact achieve
that Leon Vitale fantastic job he did of looking after him and coaching him and
he was a lovely little boy and his father was a train guard they live like
200 miles south of Chicago and they never been let alone coming to England for a
year as it turned out I mean it's a real shock to them you can imagine oh he's
terrific Stanley really liked him and he was very caring of him really looked
after him as much as we could really taught me that any time we have kids
now I always have somebody and especially to look after them somebody good
an acting coach or whatever the ghosts are not frightening it's it's well you
never like quite know it's throughout the film where you are who's a ghost and
who isn't what's real and what isn't I think the actors were all very good in
it Stanley was very good with actors he let them do lots of lots of
alternatives and you know a lot of people said that Stanley wasn't a great
actors director but I think he was very good I think he allowed them all the
rope they wanted you know he'd let them do whatever they wanted to do and what
he wanted himself what he thought he was looking for I mean I'm sure many times
that the real takes that we use were probably the early ones you know when
you've got Jack Nicholson I mean he's not very different on take one to you
know probably better than take 81 and that goes for all of those sort of
actors he did go on a bit we wouldn't know that but he did because he's very
astute many many 40 on Scatman Crow the same we never got past 40 he really get
it right the way he wanted it so yet to go on and Warner Brothers had to take
the cost do something brilliant is what he used to say to Shelly when she used
to say what do you want me to do say you're the actress do something
brilliant Shelly she felt she Shelly Duvall felt she was harassed by Stanley
most of the time and she used to come because we were a sanctuary really our
theater was a sanctuary she used to come in and sit with us as long as possible
until she had to go back and shoot a guy she had a tough job on that maybe
Shelly you know because a lot of it was crying and running around and she was a
bit fragile when you got actors of caliber of Jack's then it's always you
know you're getting back much more than you think you're gonna get anyway you
know I don't know with Shelly I don't know I mean Shelly was sometimes you
know they'd go upset with him but he never lost his rag with him he was
just exactly very nice really to everybody he was he could have been a
bit lethal behind the scenes of him something not pulling his weight he
might suddenly not be on the ship next day or there was something to have to
you know replace him it doesn't mean through it was painters or decorators or
chippies and things like that you know there was a new kiss of people just
tight to him and you had his ear and that was it you know so they they were I
don't know you've got kind of kind of honored and you know gift and thankful
that you were part of part of his immediate team you know and you were
still there after three movies or maybe even four and that's how it weren't
it was a family affair you know but it's only like to keep it sworn I completely
agree with him I mean you go on a set in Hollywood even working on a stage with
two three people and there's 150 people coming in the studio and stumping in and
out chatting all the time from other movies and it's like a big holiday he
wouldn't have that he'd be more interested in the technical side the
artists could be almost doing what they like to a degree he was more conscious
all the technicalities of filming and the classic was he was doing on the
shining he had here we go just boggles names Jack Jack Nicholson and he had got
to sort of take 53 and Stanley had called me on to do something with him and I
thought God I should never get back to do what I've been paid to do so Jack said
is that okay Stanley he said yes right he said but do another one Jack now this
is quite a long scene and you've done it 50 times and they and Stanley would
never look at the artist he also looks at a TV monitor he's got his back to the
artist because he's got video assist so he's looking at the other way from the
artists so okay that's that's that was good Jack so Jack said to Stanley did
you notice that different emphasis I put on that of course he's looking at about
a nine-inch monitor so no I didn't know it's any different from the previous
ones he said well if you notice Stanley I closed one eye throughout I thought it
was menacing of course Stanley hadn't seen it this tiny little one is that so he
said yeah very good Jack I like the idea but do another one and keep both eyes
open but Jack and close his eyes at all and then the next one okay that's a
print a lot of people said at the time when the film came out Jack was over the
top I never thought that really I mean I thought he was he was terrific in a
way Jack is brilliant yeah I mean I've worked with him later on Batman the
Joker at the self kind of character same kind of character but Jack could use
his eyes and act you know where other people could can't do it I mean you
really believed that Jack was mad I mean sometimes when he wasn't acting he was
mad but there's a game he was very good at it he would wait till around 8 o'clock
in the evening he was then on overtime so he's money went skywards and he would
cause a champagne for everybody on set you know don't matter how many there were
everybody got a glass of champagne because Jack was on overtime yeah and
in fairness Jack had a six months deal I think if I remember and even we made an
effort to get rid of him because he was on big overages after four or five weeks
of additional shooting on top of that Shelley of course was with us always
long hours with Stanley Stanley was not a morning person nor was Jack actually
because Jack was a late night guy so Jack and Stanley were equally the same in
the morning nothing really ever got done in the mornings you Jack would come in
and go straight to bed or lie on the floor and Tom Smith the makeup man would
make him up on the floor yeah nearly everything was more than one take I
don't think we know anything and one moved on but yeah but at the end of the
day they were got better sometimes they didn't other times they were worth
spending more time on other times I think you have to satisfy himself he was
gonna you know sign off this is it it's committed now so there's no going back
I think Rick would say well if I had the time the money's sanity and I made just
as good a job of that film as he did you know but the whole conception of what
he had in body and mind is until it became sort of clear to his image and
it stayed really keep going until something happened sometimes I would
break the scene would dissolve when the actors would dry up or whatever they
would do I don't know Scatman actually had a lot of problems with his dialogue
sometimes after many takes because you know it became other than learning his
lines he had to now believe what he was you know that sort of thing you know I
know always the thing with Scatman with going around the cupboard with all the
dialogue and what was in the cupboard and that went on forever you know I mean
you do 50 takes change the board to another 50 and I mean that was we do a
lot of that stuff and a lot of stuff with Jack but Jack got message pretty
quickly I don't think Jack tried too hard once he he knew he was going to be
there all day long doing it so Jack would sort of take his time it was all
very very long hours but Jack Nicholson was brilliant on it he never forgot a
line and he used to go back to each room and he used to just he's fine
everybody was very good and I'll never the first day on that this Scatman
Crowther and Stanley was said to me go and see if he knows his lines okay I
was doing something so I went up said excuse me Mr. Crowther do you know your
lines are you okay he said I only do my lines with Mr. Kubrick I said oh okay so
I went off somewhere so Sonya does he know his lines I said he'll only do them
with you so he went over to him he said when I tell someone like June to do
something that's law I want her to do the lines with you oh I am so sorry I'll
do my lines I'll do my lines I couldn't get rid of him do you want to know my
lines now do you I said no we I know your lines you know you're fine you're fine
no I'd like to do my love anyway one day we did a shot he never knew his
lines
one most interesting thing there right at the beginning we had Garrett Brown came
over with the Steadicam and which was the first movie I think he'd used it on
and Stanley very keen I remember meeting Garrett became became good friends and
then developments were made on that like the small boy on his pedal bike
pedaling around the hotel Garrett with Stanley got the idea of putting mounting
the Steadicam on the on the trolley and so we had the Steadicam buzzing around
also with the boy on his trolley so following the boy on his trolley well
I you know you think later on that you know it's a lot of you're gonna be a
sort of basketball player to wear that machine and fly with the way you know
most people do just could be immensely strong and very athletic but Garrett was
partly all those things but above all else he was an artist with it it was
become it become a tool that was part of his body totally inert he trimmed it
such that he could glide and I'd never seen anything like you and I saw a lot
of running stuff he did from previous things and Stanley had seen a lot of
Rambo and thought bloody hell was that done you know and it I mean the the
possibility of what it could do were really limitless and that and and with
him framing the stuff and being the man behind that camera it was just something
signature to the Steadicam itself you know I never knew anybody could do it
quite as well at that time would you buddy and very few people trained even
how to trim and fly with this machine and I thought it really opened up a lot
of potential for the shining a lot of drama a lot of you know scurril moves
were completely compiled and made up and invented by the sets being integral
you could go through one into the other and always without knowing whether the
camera was it was it was a dolly shot or it was you know this amazing device he
invented he was also clever clever man to get that together and that's a lot of
stuff you know professor but he was a good fun bloke you know mercy I tried it
on I found it very uncomfortable I mean you know I could have probably pursued a
career maybe after that being a second nearly second as to standard of Garrett
but like I had a I had a problem with it physically you know and fun I couldn't
trim it right it was killing my back so I gave up on that and I was but yes he
could stand around with it on all day in between takes and he wouldn't really
notice it was the BL was heavy you notice it was there but it wasn't
killing him you know so it's a good tool I thought it was marvelous actually and
you'd see I think it was Garrett Brown running around the studio and it was his
invention running around the studio with an oxygen mask on trying to get keep fit
get fit for the film and you'd see him early in the morning you'd come in and
he was running around the studio the low angles with Daniel his bike it was
probably gonna kill Garrett being low-mo doing too much of that because it's
become you know very weighty the beard be old cameras a blender reflex so I
don't think way but it was probably close to 30 pounds on top of everything
else he was carting and there's a lot of weight centered around the lower
lower lumber and he thought this was a much better way of handling it you know
and I think it went well you pushed him all the way through all the corridors
and stuff like that and Mick Mason it was a term EMI then in the camera
department because although Mick started as a central loader at EMI he then got
Harold Payne wanted an assistant and Jim and Mick joined him so he then began to
run the cab department so he helped out a lot with adapters and one thing or
another and rigging certain bits and bobs that would make things work to the
shots Stanley wanted you know it was handy to have a guy that can you know
manufacture a piece of piece of kit that somebody makes it quick it's just an
armor or brackets to get that extra low or make it easier to stabilize it and
take any shock that might be there because you're in a wheelchair now it's
still the same rig it's still the cushioned arms of this thing which is
evened out or nearly all of a movement of vibration you know platform so it's
steady as a rock
it just involved us being in the rather bigger querying with a camera with its
stuff bashing into us you know down down the corridor it came straight at us we
cranked the camera up to a bit and there's a lift elevator door open it was
amazingly well constructed I think the way it did all that I think worked I
think it worked a net I think so yeah but I must have been I wasn't sure what
to expect because I'm a plate glass sort of panel in front of the lens which I'd
washed over I went down and there's that which is slightly bashing the
camera man standing with his crew and so on and Junie Randall the continuity
girl she saw thank God you've come on Mick Mason we're not getting anywhere
at the moment that's all right so hello Stanley what's the problem well now
this is the scenario the game is he said this is all a dream thing and the lift
comes down yeah then we're shooting this on the lot in the tank he said the lift
comes down the doors open and gallons and guns of blood come flooding out
gallons and guns I said right he said what speak would you shoot it I said
that's very embarrassing Stanley what do you mean I see with your camera and
say ask him you don't have to ask me that no I'm asking you I said well it's
embarrassing so John all caught telling me what you think each other we would
never get to it I said 144 frames why do you say that I said because you've
asked me I'm telling you if I'm wrong don't listen I said but we do better than
that Stanley you've got all these unit cars and chauffeurs yeah I said if you
shoot a test at 144 and I know I'm right you can get a day process at studio
film labs in Mordor Street Mead Street right and I see you have it back this
afternoon then you can sell what's used on the street if I'm wrong I'm wrong
okay that's what we do you know you've got to get the light some like two and
r stops brighter than it would to be shooting at a normal speed so to boost
the lighting and of course the blood was a bit I'm quite sure what they used but
I'm not sure if it was real blood or what or what they called Kensington
Gore which is a slightly pinker color which I wanted really but it's very
dark blood but it was actually interesting they were reflect reflections
already in there so it was I think it was bull's blood or something like that
from local knack of jobs that's careful it was definitely very heavy stuff it
dark you know I mean it was gooey and ghastly so and that wasn't I was in a
plastic sort of rubber rubber glove it went right over me so I wouldn't cop
any of it I could you know but I must admit it didn't impact on the lens quite
severely I must admit nobody else was there but me looking through the
camera he was way back looking at it on the monitor
was a fire I call and the roofs of all the four stages which are complete
composite sets basically one built into the other so you could go from one almost
one stage to another were built they no roof left and you know they're burnt
through these cameras were in there too actually when there was a blaze at the
time but I wasn't I wasn't going to volunteer to rescue them no I didn't
think so and the stage down really did and it gave him a long delay which for
some reason it was quite fun because he could rethink certain things whenever a
film starts from then on every minute counts so if you suddenly get a delay
like that I don't know where he was quite dizzy what he now could do because he
could think about it and rewrite this and rewrite that or no they may be better
not and well the one that burned down was where the big lounge set was they
were fought together the lobby was next door and then can't remember what the
other sides were stage three was the Colorado lounge yeah that's the one that
burned down yeah that was big big set and solid so it was very difficult when
the fire started you couldn't get in there it's too dangerous for the fun we
had all the fire people turn up that night and fortunately the wind changer so
I think all of those four stages would have been down that was a very big
insurance claim they were all connected the stage at stage one two three yeah
they were well they were connected they had connecting doors but obviously they
were closed but yeah it was a big a big deal when that happened and we had
never actually finished in the thank goodness for that because that was a
big lead to rebuild that would have been ginormous you know how to close down for
six months we were told there was a fire on stage three thinking it was a little
fire and then suddenly the door burst open and this man walked in all dressed
up with a bow tie blood pouring down his face and he said please can I stay in
here he said that the paramedics are trying to take me away and he was an
actor Norman Gay's name was he was an actor and he supposedly had an axe cut
through his head part of the ghost scene and but the paramedics thought it was
real so they tried it and all he wanted really you try to get his suitcase out
of the dressing room before the whole thing burnt down and because we didn't
realize the fire was so tremendous and it was I mean it was just raging there
were we were busy working away when we went out so we couldn't believe it all
the girders were twisted like ribbons incredible mind you Stanley all he
worried about was to get any sound from the sound transfer bay so that didn't
get burnt down he wanted his sound removed quickly before anything happened
so I think Star Wars used them they wanted them to for something they were
doing there as well so I think one what finally when they were built down
but downstairs you can have the stages now but because they had no roof on
them so I didn't really help them at all
there'll never be another Stanley Kubrick that's a guarantee when we did
strange love we had a geared head a camera geared hand up sit up for Stanley
to play with he was intrigued with that so he said the master of the control of
that business of tapping your head and rubbing your tummy and getting the
handles going the right direction there's a keen on operating himself which
he he did then on Barry Linden and a clockwork orange he called me on before
doing the shining and we sat down and talked and asking what I've been doing
and this conversation he said I've decided to give up operating and take up
directing I take you to come back so it was great so I went back and operating
for him again. Stanley enjoyed operating like Ridley used to do but
eventually he gave that up I think he said to Kelvin that you know he'd start
correcting again he suddenly realized that I think he used to enjoy doing it
it's a lot of fun being a camera operator it's one of the best jobs on a
movie I mean being a cameraman is the best because he's the highest page
usually the real guys get 25 grand a week all he needs a bag of meters and very
little criticism whereas the director you have to take all of the stuff. Making a
major screw-up out of a master plan wasn't the idea he had a master plan if
it didn't work we just kept trying to make it put it into operation and the
best possible so that took a lot of discussion and thought and all that and
stuff so that was that was you know pressure really for us always because
it's the notebook was out and have you done this have you done that I just
love it didn't matter you know it's a whole list of things which you had to
be sure you had to follow up with when he asked for them and you know I don't
know the concept of how we how we wanted to certain seeing shot but he wasn't
sure how to do them so you know this was where all the gizmos came into
practice he loved gadgets and that's it you know so yes that that's you
know keeping the equipment working and on and discussions and all the rest of
it and we're lighting with John was you know took up half the time really and
the shooting was there many takes so you know up to stand is to try and get the
performance he wanted or the meaning behind the message that he wanted from
the actors not just learning their lines but understanding the meaning behind
what they were saying I don't have any problems with Jack Nicholson for that
because he was always spot on every take every time but other actors weren't and
so you know those are the days you spent a little bit more time portraying the
scenes and seeing that the they function in his department as well as ours
because we did have our departments as well but he tended to control nearly
every everybody in every level really so it wasn't just me it was others as
well you know control not in that you know in a
unfriendly way just you know G Doug won't be done this if you done that you
know yes Daniel did just and so we ready okay okay so we're gonna keep
keep this in focus so you know we just mentioned everything out if we do and I
think it's a whole process of making films rather than just that let's
shoot it and see what happens you know it's gonna be spot on and that I enjoy
he was very clear and very precise you just had to follow his instructions you
take photographs and then he tells you exactly what he wants where the camera
should be what angle he wants what speed as a term yeah what speed the slow cat
snow cat should move etc he tells you exactly what he wants and you have to
execute it based on his wishes he gave me drawings one of the drawings is in
the in the kubri exhibition was this is his type written notes on it you know
saying this is how it has to be this is how it has to be that was lovely it's
perfect no no this was it was good fun he used to let us get on with the job but
he was there to to retake retake retake and I remember he came in one day on the
shining and we had about eight music tracks on the maze seeing where Jack was
chasing Danny and he wanted to run each piece of music and check how we would
lay it out so we ran it all I made copious notes he made his notes and
then he suddenly said and I had an idea of what I would do how I would mix
across from one piece to another but he suddenly said I'd like to mix this so I
said fine so we let him mix it took something like two days I think to mix
it and when we finished I said if you'd left it to me I'd have done it in 20
minutes he laughed because I then showed him my list and the footages of where I
would have mixed one piece to another piece and it more or less coincided with
what happened you know but that was fine it was his movie and he enjoyed doing it
so I only cuss warned the brothers a few extra pennies so that didn't matter but
Dalies were all quite interesting because he'd always sit very close to the
screen and you know I was always the back to look kind of sharper to me you
know I didn't have to also I was out of his eye line so if there was something
wrong I was very quiet and didn't say anything like I wasn't there you know
but he always looked out of focus to stand because he was so close to the
screen almost count the granules or the bees on the screen reflecting
immediately mirror out of it he wouldn't allow anybody in the doors were locked
and even the pothole there where the projectionists looked to see whether
things were in or out of focus and the light level was correct the hole was the
actual glass was covered with black paper so it was a minute hole for him just
about to look out he was the only one who could actually look to the screen so
anybody that might come in or stand behind him couldn't see anything through
through the glass every lunchtime they would we'd run that stuff and a lot of
lighting tests and stuff from night after shooting you know Stanley would we'd
go off and shoot preparing stuff for the future was that with John John John was
a camera man Dougie Nelson was focused boy very tough job with Stanley pulling
focus we had a screening room at here at his house too but I think we got them
shipped into the theatre which so he used his own protectors and they were
brilliant I mean they were illuminated perfectly the balance was right the
swing was clean and we had a guy looking after all that stuff Melio largely
his chauffeur was the projectionist for us things like that's amazing character
and all these people went with Stanley stayed with him for years you know so
you know he was a good guy to people looked after me I mean he was oh everything
was standing over and yeah come on you're jerking so he didn't wait about the
schedule too much he worried about the running cost Stanley he worried about the
budget he knew that he was going to take a long time so he kept the running cost
down small crew apart from when you really needed all the people for the big
scenes but and of course it was a smallish movie in a way the fact that you
really just had the three three principles in a lot of the film it's
pretty good I mean he had a minimal crew normally on the floor as well so he
didn't spend as much money as a lot of people do spend on fair even though he
did a lot of takes so he was he wasn't really disciplined about time if it
took three months it would take three months not that he did because he
normally had a release date of some sort and people like Warner Brothers were
jeering him up by having people over here to make sure that things went
reasonably smoothly like junior Julian senior who looked after that sided it on
couple of the film he he was a hard task master
Stanley Kubrick a very very fine director and very interesting and
actually in a lot of the time good fun too I mean not particularly when you're
shooting but then all the other pre-production and post-production
periods you know Stanley had a very dry sense of humor yeah I think he was
quite pleased making a scary film where you don't have to take it that serious
but at the same time you you have to be a really good film director to make it
count you know make it frighten people's socks off every frame is very carefully
thought-through and yeah there was no shooting from the hip yeah this was
everything was carefully planned and carefully executed yes and the film shows
it I mean it's brilliantly done there's no doubt about it
but he would listen if you spoke to him privately he would listen if you whatever
you he'd take advice from anybody I mean he probably claim it was his
suggestion three days later but that was fine that's what the job is really he
was open to ideas very open to ideas and there are things on the screen there
which are somebody else's idea but he was acknowledged the fact that if somebody
had a better idea than he he would do it will be used but he had the ability to
recognize a bit and a better idea if there was one
I made a couple of mistakes and being asked my opinion by Stanley and actually
giving it which was a mistake end of the shining he showed me the film just
before it was sent to America for the press show it literally went the pressure
on the Tuesday night for a screening on Wednesday the film was opening on the
Thursday and he showed it to me just before it left went to the airport he
said what do you think and I said well Stanley I think the ending doesn't quite
work for me I just didn't understand the rest of it I think it was necessary to
have her going back you freeze on Jack Nicholson in the snow and then you
slowly track up to the photograph of the hotel a photograph on the wall of the
hotel of the Overlook Hotel July fourth ball in 1921 and now the story makes
sense it's the hotel that's alive now it all makes sense I just didn't understand
the rest of it and I realized we're walking on the back lot of DMI studios
and I realized that after a couple minutes I was walking on my own it stopped
25 pages behind me you know the studios back lot it's kind of for me analogous
with life in the film industry the lots of derelict discarded staircases you
know if you notice that stairs going nowhere which is I guess perhaps as it
should be and I walked slowly back towards him sheepishly you know like a
little boy you know not looking him in the eye you know when children are in
trouble they never look parent or teacher in the eye they always look at the
floors if that's something magical going to appear and I said I'm really sorry
Stanley but he said next time I want to know how to direct a film I will not
ask you the film went off to the United States opened on the Thursday on the
Friday morning Stanley called me said please can we be friends yes can you
get an editor I want to cut the film post-opening as you know one of the great
stories the film had already opened and he chopped out the last two minutes of
it there's no music I found it at five o'clock in the morning I said Stanley we
cannot call this man it's five o'clock in the morning he said good well at least
we would know he'll be at home which is a good bizarre wonderful logic and we
phoned him and he was at home and I told him exactly I said I'm gonna put
Stanley Kubrick on the phone with you and he said come on children five o'clock
in the morning you'll get out of the scene he truly will talk to you he said
get out countless gave him the footage counts gave him the directions to cut
out the last two minutes of the film positive cuts of prints that have played
in the cinema and this Stanley went off he said generally just make sure it
happens I got back on the phone with the editor and he said please just one
favor will you call the managers of the cinemas and tell them it's okay for me
to go and cut Stanley Kubrick's film
he was very surprised himself that he was making a horror film but then once
you you know you decided that that'll be good really something when it came out
it wasn't considered as a success I think it I spoke to Jack a lot about it
over the years because I've worked we've been lucky enough to work with him on
three movies and last time on the pledge we're up in Vancouver and he said he
always thought it would become a classic the very true guy Jack Nicholson but
he's still I mean if he he would have liked to have made it even more
frightening but then thought that would be not very wise the producer and him
decided not to make it even more frightening but it's a pretty scary
film most people tell me they really are frightened by it it's something you
can't tell if you know the story you're not frightened you know you know what
happens next the signing was very successful and stands out as a
different type of a horror film because there's no resolution you know there's
no stake through the heart and so but but it's it's enigmatic it doesn't
really make logical sense but that's what Stanley wanted yeah it's a ghost
film of course it doesn't make any sense you know it's alright you know let
let people interpret whatever they want don't don't explain it it doesn't
make any no ghost film really makes any sense it doesn't have to that's a
character of it and that's what he did that's what he liked it that's what he
liked not the critics didn't particularly like it some of the audience
were very disappointed because it didn't have the classic aha so there's the
baddie and the baddie has been removed no it was all yeah very internal a dream
like and he liked he was very happy with the film look for him it was the most
important thing to be satisfied himself with his work that was so hard that it
was also relatively easy to take his demands because he directed them first
of all on himself now and really because most people who saw that movie
thought it was for real a hotel Roy never got any I didn't even get nominated
for a Calabrian ward for that and that was really because everyone thought it
was a hotel and I went to the hotel I visited a friend of Agnes in Oregon and
people drove us up the mountain because a lot of snow and they didn't know and I
didn't know and there was the hotel from the film and apparently they're doing
very well because people all recognize it it is that hotel
