Martin Scorsese's 3D Will Be In Your Face

As you know by now, Academy Award-winning filmmaker Martin Scorsese is directing a 3D adaptation of Brian Selznick's novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret (one of the projects that has been on the director's slate since 2007).  Scorsese has said in the past that he's "very excited by 3D...But if the camera move is going to be a 3D effect, it has to be for dramatic purposes – not just throwing spears at the audience. And that, maybe I can't do that. Maybe my daughter's generation – she's 10 now – can think that way."

Directors like James Cameron and studios like Pixar have been approaching 3D like a window to another world, letting most of the 3D play out in depth rather than have objects coming out at you out of the big screen. Scorsese hopes to play more with the extra dimension, and have it "jump out at you."

This according to Scorsese's longtime collaborator/editor Thelma Schoonmaker, who told the following to a masterclass at the Aruba International Film Festival:

"Scorsese is in love with [3D]. He looked at Avatar and Alice [in Wonderland] and Scorsese didn't feel that the 3D he saw was as interesting as in the old ones like Dial M for Murder and House of Wax. He's decided he wants to be stronger with 3D to make it jump out at you. He's going to go a little bit further with it."

Many people relate the more in your face 3D with the gimmicky past of the 3D format. PErsonally, I agree that filmmakers could use the space to further immerse the audience in the story, artfully, without letting the 3D become a distraction/gimmick. I'm sure a lot of you will disagree, but lets wait and see — remember, this is Scorsese we're talking about! Schoonmaker also explained that this is "a whole new kind of film for us."

"It's a whole new kind of film for us," she says. "It's very visual, very little dialogue, lots of opportunities for wonderful 3D shots, because the boy's job is to keep the clocks wound, so you can imagine the giant wheels being built. Everyone's very excited about it. It will have a broad appeal, it won't just be Scorsese fans going to this, it will be kids and families and Scorsese fans."

The Aviator scribe John Logan penned the screenplay adaptation of Brian Selznick's bestselling children's novel. The book description for The Invention of Hugo Cabret follows:

Orphan, clock keeper, and thief, Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. But when his world suddenly interlocks with an eccentric, bookish girl and a bitter old man who runs a toy booth in the station, Hugo's undercover life, and his most precious secret, are put in jeopardy. A cryptic drawing, a treasured notebook, a stolen key, a mechanical man, and a hidden message from Hugo's dead father form the backbone of this intricate, tender, and spellbinding mystery.

So far, the film will star Sacha Baron Cohen as the inspector, Ben Kingsley as the old man, Asa Butterfield (The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Nanny McPhee) as the titular Hugo Cabret, and Chloe Moretz (Kick-Ass) will play "an eccentric, bookish girl" who comes into Hugo's life as he navigates the Parisian train station where he lives. Production on the project begins June 28th in London, and Sony will release the film on December 9th, 2011.

source: ScreenDaily