Film Lighting | Factorylux for Martin Scorsese's Hugo

SHOP THE FILM LIGHTS

One of the seminal events in the Urban Cottage Industries story was being commissioned by Martin Scorsese's team to produce designer wall lights for his 2011 film Hugo.

Martin Scorsese is widely accepted to be one of the most talented directors in the history of film and his back catalogue includes some of the greatest pictures of all time. There are masterpieces such as Taxi Driver (1976), the unforgettable New York drama starring Robert De Niro; and Goodfellas (1990) an American crime classic about life in the Mafia, again featuring Robert De Niro and also starring Ray Liotta and Joe Pesci. Imagine the excitement that was caused when Factorylux founder Stanley Wilson was contacted by Martin Scorsese's team with a request to design, manufacture and supply lights for his latest feature film Hugo. It has become the stuff of legend that Stanley, then a sole trader, was unexpectedly liberated from his tiny flat crammed with fledgling lighting products by Martin Scorsese's chauffeur and whisked to Shepperton studios to talk about the film lighting for Hugo. The film is a stunning visual symphony and received huge critical acclaim. It was awarded two BAFTAs and a Golden Globe, before going on to win five Oscars at the 84th Academy Awards for Best Art Direction, Best Sound Mixing, Best Cinematography, Best Sound Editing and Best Visual Effects. The film takes events in the life of Méliès, a French illusionist and film-maker, and blends them with the fictional tale of a 12-year-old boy named Hugo (Asa Butterfield) who secretively lives in the walls of the Gare Montparnasse railway station in Paris. As the son of a deceased watchmaker (Jude Law), Hugo maintains the station’s clocks whilst endeavouring to repair his fathers mechanical robot. He soon makes friends with Isabelle (Chloe Moretz) and the two of them embark on a mission to bring the contraption to life. Stan designed, manufactured and delivered a range of lighting for the film, including the Maria Scorsese wall lights which illuminate the station clocks at the Gare Montparnasse in Paris. The light fittings were fitted with the long tube linear filament light bulbs. The Maria Scorsese wall lights have been available to buy since they were developed for the film and are available in three finishes: vintage brass, retro silver and antique bronze. They can be used un-shaded or the lamp holder takes a standard 40mm shade carrier ring. Hugo also featured cage lighting, used to protect the bulbs which lit the internal workings of the clock. The cages created an authentic industrial or workshop feel for the place behind the face of the clock where Hugo looks after the huge mechanism.

SHOP THE FILM LIGHTS