Director Trademarks

Begins his films with segments taken from the middle or end of the story. Examples include Raging Bull (1980), Goodfellas (1990), Casino (1995), and The Last Waltz.

Frequent use of slow motion, e.g. Mean Streets (1973), Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980). Also known for using freeze frame, such as the opening credits of The King of Comedy (1983), and throughout GoodFellas (1990).
His lead characters are often sociopaths and/or want to be accepted in society or a society.

His blonde leading ladies are usually seen through the eyes of the protagonist as angelic and ethereal; they wear white in their first scene and are photographed in slow-motion (Cybill Shepherd in Taxi Driver; Cathy Moriarty's white bikini in Raging Bull; Sharon Stone's white mini dress in Casino). This may possibly be a nod to director Alfred Hitchcock.

Often uses long tracking shots.

Use of MOS sequences set to popular music or voice over, often involving aggressive camera movement and/or rapid editing.

Often has a quick cameo in his films (Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, The King of Comedy, After Hours, The Last Temptation of Christ (albeit hidden under a hood), Casino,The Age of Innocence, Gangs of New York). Also, often contributes his voice to a film without showing his face on screen. He provides the opening voice-over narration in Mean Streets and The Colour of Money; plays the off-screen dressing room attendant in the final scene of Raging Bull; provides the voice of the unseen ambulance dispatcher in Bringing out the Dead.

Frequently uses New York City as the main setting in his films, e.g. Gangs of New York, Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, The Age of Innocence, After Hours, New York, New York.

Sometimes highlights characters in a scene with an iris, an homage to 1920s silent film cinema (as most scenes at the time used this transition). This effect can be seen in Casino (it is used on Sharon Stone and Joe Pesci), Life Lessons, and The Departed (on Matt Damon). Iris is also the name of Jodie Foster's character in Taxi Driver.

Some of his films include references/allusions to classic Westerns, particularly Shane and The Searchers.

More recently, his films have featured corrupt authority figures, such as policemen in The Departed and politicians in Gangs of New York and The Aviator.

Guilt is a prominent theme in many of his films, as is the role of Catholicism in creating and dealing with guilt (Raging Bull, GoodFellas, Bringing Out the Dead, Mean Streets, Who's That Knocking at My Door, Shutter Island, etc.)

Slow motion flashbulbs and accented camera/flash/shutter sounds

Scorsese has been known to cast the same actors in his films, particularly Robert De Niro, who collaborated with Scorsese for nine films. Included are the three films that made the AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies list.

Before their deaths, Scorsese's parents, Charles and Catherine, would be given bit parts, walk-ons, or supporting roles.

Honours

In 2007, Scorsese was listed among Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the world.
In August 2007 Scorsese was named the 2nd greatest director of all time in a poll by Total Film magazine, in front of Steven Spielberg and behind Alfred Hitchcock.


Awards:

Martin Scorsese received the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1997.

In 1998, the American Film Institute placed three Scorsese films on their list of the greatest movies in America: Raging Bull at #24, Taxi Driver at #47 and Goodfellas at #94. For their tenth anniversary edition of the list, Raging Bull was moved to #4, Taxi Driver was moved to #52 and Goodfellas was moved to #92.
In 2001, the AFI put two Scorsese films on their list of the most heart-pounding movies in America: Taxi Driver at #22 and Raging Bull at #51.
On September 11, 2007, the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors committee which recognizes career excellence and cultural influence named Scorsese as one of the honorees at the ceremony to be held on December 1.
At a ceremony in Paris, France, on January 5, 2005, Martin Scorsese was awarded the French Legion of Honor in recognition of his contribution to cinema.
In 2007, Scorsese won the Academy Award for Best Director for The Departed, which also won Best Picture.
Scorsese was the recipient of the 2010 Cecil B. DeMille Award at the 67th Golden Globe Awards.

Films Martin Scorsese has directed:

He has directed many films in his career, including:

1)Taxi Driver
2)Bringing Out the dead
3)Goodfellas
4)Gangs of New York
5)The Aviator
6)The Departed
7)Shutter Island - which is coming out in cinemas this year.

He has reportedly announced several potential future projects.


Movie: Gangs Of New York 2002

This movie is about a boy, Amsterdam Vallon (Leonardo DiCaprio) who's father was killed by Bill 'The Butcher' Cutting ( Daniel Day-Lewis). He grows up to lead the Irish immigrants to fight for their rights against the Native Americans. He gets revenge by killing his fathers killer. This movie was nominated for 10 Oscars and another 59 awards. Gangs of New York boasts other actors such as Cameron Diaz, Jim Broadbent and John C Reilly.

Interview with Martin Scorsese

My Director

For my director study, I have chosen Martin Scorsese, an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor and film historian. He is also the founder of the World Cinema Foundation.

Early Life:

Martin Scorsese was born in New York city. His parents often took him to the movies, it was this stage in his life where he found a passion for cinema. Scorsese attended New York University's film school where he made the short films "What's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?" (1963) and "It's not just you Murray!" (1964). His most famous short of the period is the darkly comic "The Big Shave" 1967 which featured an unnamed man who shaves himself until profusely bleeding, ultimately slitting his own throat with his razor.This is a picture from the movie "The Big Shave"

From there he became friends with the influential "movie brats" of the 1970s:Francis Ford Coppola, Brian De Palma, George Lucas, and Steven Spielberg. It was Brian De Palma who introduced Scorsese to a young actor named Robert De Niro. During this period the director worked as one of the editors on the movie Woodstock and met actor-director John Cassavetes, who would also go on to become a close friend and mentor. This is where Scorsese started to make a name for himself.