This question originally appeared on Quora.
Answer by Alfonso Cuarón, director, Gravity:
To quote the opening of Goodfellas, “For as long as I can remember, I always wanted to be … ” a film director. When I was a kid, my friends found me to be very annoying because while they wanted to play soldiers, I was pretending to film a movie about soldiers. I was staging them and trying to direct their actions. Later, as soon as I was able to hang on the streets by myself, I would go to the cinema at least once per day.
I always enjoyed the experience of going to the cinema and loved the moment of expectation before the curtain rose. I have always been enamored not only by the stories but also by the language of cinema: how stories and performances, but also visuals and sounds, could project emotions. I would see movies over and over, deconstructing the scenes. I was obsessed with trying to figure out the mystery behind it.
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