After completing "2001: A Space Odyssey", Kubrick searched for a project that he could film quickly on a more modest budget. He settled on "A Clockwork Orange" (1971) at the end of 1969, an exploration of violence and experimental rehabilitation by law enforcement authorities, based around the character of Alex (portrayed by Malcolm McDowell). Kubrick had received a copy of Anthony Burgess's novel of the same name from Terry Southern while they were working on "Dr. Strangelove", but had rejected it on the grounds that Nadsat, a street language for young teenagers, was too difficult to comprehend. The decision to make a film about the degeneration of youth reflected contemporary concerns in 1969; the New Hollywood movement was creating a great number of films that depicted the sexuality and rebelliousness of young people. "A Clockwork Orange" was shot over 1970–1971 on a budget of £2 million. Kubrick abandoned his use of CinemaScope in filming, deciding that the 1.66:1 widescreen format was, in the words of Baxter, an "acceptable compromise between spectacle and intimacy", and favored his "rigorously symmetrical framing", which "increased the beauty of his compositions". The film heavily features "pop erotica" of the period, including a giant white plastic set of male genitals, decor which Kubrick had intended to give it a "slightly futuristic" look. McDowell's role in Lindsay Anderson's "if..." (1968) was crucial to his casting as Alex, and Kubrick professed that he probably would not have made the film if McDowell had been unavailable.