Hugo Cabret Essay

Melies and the substitution splice technique, is clearly influential in Science fiction and fantasy films and really was a starting point do the special effects we see even today. Due to this, there is an admiration for his work in the film field, the technique, to some, is nostalgic as well as fantastical. ‘The Invention of Hugo Cabret’, is an illustrated book, based on Melies, that replicated the imagery of film, through suggesting camera movement. Martin Scorsese developed the book into the 2011 film, ‘Hugo’ - the film covers Melies brand-new special effects and this was an ideal platform for Scorsese to debut his work with 3D cinema (Bordwell/HUGO). Melies changed his style from documenting pedestrians in unedited manner to sci-fi fantasy, special effects flicks. Similarly, Scorsese had made documentaries about superb directors and films, but choose to use storytelling to

Developing a low-budget science-fiction however, is quite a challenge and it’s difficult to create something believable. One hundred and fifteen years after ‘A Trip To the Moon’ the techniques that used to cost around ₣10,000 and months to finish, now are achievable on a much smaller scale (Wikipedia, 2017). Instead, one could employ Melies technique to create something of ‘old-school’ science-fiction with practical and non-computer based effects (although replicating film editing process in digital editing), having not seen this used in film for so long,it might create its own charming, attractive, magical feel that a small-budget can attain. The ‘Substitution Splice’ is an inspiration, it’s simple to achieve, it’s amazing what that effect has developed into now and it introduces new filmmakers to the possibilities of practical effects within our means, through simply looking at things