Hugo

BackgrOuNd INfOrmaTION
■ The book ‘The Invention of Hugo Cabret’, by Brian Selznick, was inspired by an image from a
1902 French silent movie called A Trip to the Moon, which was made by George Méliès – one of
the characters in the film.
■ The Parisian train station set was built inside London’s Shepperton Studios. The external scenes
were shot on location in Paris.
■ Hugo is the first film shot in 3D for its director, Martin Scorsese.
■ The film’s director, Martin Scorsese, decided to shoot the film in 3D because he wanted the
audience to feel like they were ‘in’ the film with the characters.
■ At the 2012 Academy Awards, Hugo won 5 Oscars: for Best Cinematography; Best Art
Direction; Best Visual Effects; Best Sound Mixing and Best Sound Editing.
■ The story of George Méliès, depicted in the film is largely true. Méliès was a magician and a
toymaker, who turned to filmmaking when he saw the Lumière brothers demonstrating their new
camera.
■ Many of the silent films shown in the film Hugo are Méliès’ actual films – including Le voyage
dans La Lune (1902).
■ The automaton (mechanical man) in the film was inspired by real automata built between 1768
and 1774. Some of these automata are still working today.
■ The opening shot of the film, when the camera follows a train into the station, took a year to
complete. 1,000 computers were used to render each frame.
■ The film’s director, Martin Scorsese made the film with clip-on 3D lenses over his normal
glasses.