Editing Fear and Desire (section)

==Production==
Prior to shooting ''Fear and Desire'', Kubrick was a ''[[Look (American magazine)|Look]]'' photographer who had directed two short documentaries in 1951, ''[[Day of the Fight]]'' and ''[[Flying Padre]]''. Both films were acquired for theatrical release by [[RKO Radio Pictures]]. From his experiences in creating short films, Kubrick felt he was ready to make a narrative feature film.<ref name=PD>Duncan, Paul. "Stanley Kubrick: The Complete Films." Taschen, 2008. {{ISBN|978-3-8228-3115-1}}</ref> Kubrick quit his full-time job with ''Look'' and set forth to create ''Fear and Desire''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/1999/03/kub-m27.html |title=Stanley Kubrick—an appreciation |first=Marty |last=Jonas |website=wsws.org}}</ref>
 
The screenplay was written by [[Howard Sackler]], a classmate of Kubrick's at [[William Howard Taft High School (New York City)|William Howard Taft High School]] in the [[Bronx, New York]]; Sackler later won the [[Pulitzer Prize]] for his 1968 drama ''[[The Great White Hope]]''. [[Virginia Leith]], who played The Girl in this film, went on to play Jan in the 1962 cult classic ''[[The Brain That Wouldn't Die]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/virginia-leith-dead-star-brain-wouldnt-die-was-94-1254393 |title=Virginia Leith, Star of 'The Brain That Wouldn't Die,' Dies at 94 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |date=12 November 2019}}</ref> [[Paul Mazursky]], who later received recognition as the director of such films as ''[[Harry and Tonto]]'' and ''[[An Unmarried Woman]]'', was cast as the soldier who kills the captive peasant.<ref name=PD />

Funds for ''Fear and Desire'' were raised from Kubrick's family and friends, with most of it coming from Martin Perveler, Kubrick's uncle and the owner of a profitable pharmacy.<ref name=SFC>{{cite news |url=https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/the-ones-that-almost-got-away-three-films-2918428.php |title="The Ones That (Almost) Got Away," San Francisco Chronicle, July 18, 1999 |work=The San Francisco Chronicle |first=Edward |last=Guthmann |date=July 17, 1999}}</ref> The film's original budget has been estimated at $10,000.<ref name=PD />

The production team consisted of 14 people: the director, five actors (Paul Mazursky, Frank Silvera, Kenneth Harp, Steve Coit, and Virginia Leith), five crew members (including Kubrick's first wife, Toba Metz) and three Mexican laborers who transported the film equipment around [[California]]'s [[San Gabriel Mountains]], where the film was shot. Due to budget limitations, Kubrick improvised in the use of his equipment. To create fog, Kubrick used a crop sprayer, but the cast and crew was nearly asphyxiated because the machinery still contained the insecticide used for its agricultural work.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,867001,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081214130314/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,867001,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 14, 2008 |title="The New Pictures," ''Time'', June 4, 1956 |date=June 4, 1956 |access-date=May 2, 2010}}</ref> For tracking shots, Paul Mazursky recalled how Kubrick came up with a novel substitute: "There was no dolly track, just a baby carriage to move the camera", he told an interviewer.<ref name=SFC />

To reduce production costs, Kubrick had intended to make it a silent picture, but in the end the adding of sounds, effects and music brought the production over budget to around $53,000,{{sfn|Baxter|1997|p=50}} and had to be bailed out by producer [[Richard de Rochemont]], on condition that he help in de Rochemont's production of a five-part program about [[Abraham Lincoln]] for the educational TV series ''[[Omnibus (American TV program)|Omnibus]]'', filmed on location in [[Hodgenville, Kentucky]].{{sfn|Duncan|2003|p=26-27}} Kubrick also ran into difficulty in editing a key scene where one of the soldiers throws a plate of beans to the floor and enters the frame from the wrong side. Kubrick's [[Blocking (stage)|blocking]] of the crucial scene was faulty, and his actors accidentally crossed the so-called "[[180-degree rule|stage line]]"; this required the negative to be flipped in the printing process to preserve continuity, which was another expense.<ref>Buchanan, Larry. "It Came From Hunger!" McFarland & Co., 1996. {{ISBN|0-7864-0194-X}}</ref>