How Alfonso Cuaron Created The Weightless World Of ‘Gravity’


When a British journalist asked director Alfonso Cuaron what it was like shooting in space for his award-winning film Gravity, we all snorted jovially to ourselves. Nobody can shoot in space, obviously, but how has he and his team made it look like they did? This behind-the-scenes glimpse shows you how the team tore apart cinematography to create something new.

Instead of simply suspending the actors on wires and throwing up static lights in front of them, the team behind Gravity created a light box for the actors to float inside of which simulated the open environment of space. A robot would then move the camera in ungodly ways to simulate the floating observer as it spins around the dynamically lit actor.

Sandra Bullock in her role as Dr Ryan Stone also undertook a huge amount of dancing and choreography training to make the wires look effortless in her performance.

Give them all the awards now, please.


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