Martin Scorsese on Hugo- Film4

I recently watched a programme on Film4 where Martin Scorsese talks about his latest directorial debut in Hugo. I found this very interesting to watch to see how such a film is made and what the effects are on the director. I had no idea that the film would be such a personal trip for Scorsese and in the way that he talks about it, it resembled a lot of his childhood. For example, in the film, the main character (a child) is a part of the world as though the child is 'on the outside looking in', this relates to Scorsese as he states that he 'contracted asthma as a child' and as a result was kept away from anything that aggravated this. The exciting part for him was to do something different that audiences hadn't seen before, to do something special, and in that way it didn't feel much like a job.


One of the things that he is passionate about when talking is that the film is not a fantasy film, but that fantasy is there in the child's imagination. I personally haven't seen the film but in a way i understand what he is saying as he states that his own 'daughter links him to the limitless imagination of children, that they expect and believe in anything.'


He then goes on to explain his choice of using 3D technology, stating that his fascination came from 'stereoscopic images that he saw as a child and when he saw them with a stereo device and the world that’s created in the image, particularly in the view masters, it was like looking in a box/ window, something that sparked in his imagination to create a world that wasn’t real'. He felt that  '3D had a strong responsibility to do something special'. He tried not let '3D overwhelm the story but by experimenting with new technology' he could create a special world through film. 


He goes onto state that film making is a major a part of his life which he found in the project. But it threw up some consequence that by using new technologies,  slightly made him worry about the preservation of current film making, however these new technologies open up new doors for future film makers.


Overall i found this short documentary enjoyable to watch as it gave a personal insight into the mind of a good director and also gave his personal views on how the film effected him, not only as a director but also as a person in how his personal experiences related to a story he was trying to create.