Collaboration stories in Stanley Kubrick’s cinematography department: The question of authorship and autonomy

Manca Perko

Manca Perko Film Production and Cinematography, Bournemouth University and Wiltshire College & University, UK

Keywords: Authorship, collaboration, Kubrick, Alcott, Milsome, cinematography, autonomy

Abstract

This paper is based on my research of collaborative authorship and collective creativity in Stanley Kubrick’s filmmaking, but it problematises authorship and autonomy from a more contextual, socio-cultural perspective. I emphasise the nature of the collaborations in Kubrick’s filmmaking and wish to bring focus to the cultural context and social characteristics of the connection between collaborative work and creativity. I push the idea of collaboration further by recognising the significance of the ‘noises’ of production by bringing their stories to light. By revealing the unheard voices in the production process, and so challenging the common perception of them as ‘noise’, my research questions the applicability of authorship theory to the study of filmmaking practice and explores collaborative authorship.
This paper is based on my research of collaborative authorship and collective creativity in Stanley Kubrick’s filmmaking. The still dominant auteur approach in Kubrick studies identifies the director’s filmmaking practice as autonomous, with little creative input from his crew members. Following the recent shift in research that
focuses on the collaborative nature of filmmaking, I argue for a different perspective on creative practice in film production.
My analysis is predicated on the view of filmmaking as an intrinsically collaborative endeavour, hence its focus on the crew’s inputs. I emphasise the nature of the collaborations in Kubrick’s filmmaking and wish to bring focus to cultural context and social characteristics of the connection between collaborative work and creativity.
I push the idea of collaboration further by recognising the significance of the ‘noises’ of production by bringing their stories to light. By revealing the unheard voices in the production process, and so
challenging the common perception of them as ‘noise’, my research questions the applicability of authorship theory to the study of filmmaking practice and explores collaborative authorship.

Author Biography

Manca Perko, Film Production and Cinematography, Bournemouth University and Wiltshire College & University, UK

Dr Manca Perko is a lecturer on the Bournemouth University BA (Hons) Film Production and Cinematography degree course in the UK. She teaches film and media history and theory, documentary and short filmmaking, professional development, and supervises dissertation students. She has a PhD and MA in Film Studies (University of East Anglia, 2019, 2014), and a BA in Cultural Studies (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, 2009). Manca has also been working in the film industry as a freelance script supervisor and assistant director since 2009, creating a number of feature films, shorts, and TV series.

Manca’s academic interests are Stanley Kubrick, the process of collaboration in film crews, and problematising the attribution of creative autonomy and authorship in film industry. She is an Associate Member of the Slovene Association of Cinematographers and a member of the IMAGO Education Committee, striving to bridge the gap between film practice and academia.