Alfonso Cuaron on the weight of 'Gravity'

One of the biggest challenges facing "Gravity" director Alfonso Cuarón was gravity itself.

"We're shooting on Earth and we're bonded to it," he explains. "We're doing a film in which everything is happening in microgravity. It was a miscalculation. ... I thought it was going to be simple, straightforward film to make with some visual effects."

To overcome those difficulties, Cuarón and the rest of the filmmakers on "Gravity," were forced to invent new technology to achieve the astonishing effects in the film, which follows astronauts dealing with a catastrophic disaster in space, leaving the two remaining crew members (played by Sandra Bullock and George Clooney) to survive being stranded in the final frontier.

amNY spoke with Cuarón.

Where did the idea for "Gravity" come from?

We started [with] one image of this astronaut drifting into the void. Immediately, we saw the amazing metaphorical possibilities of space. I've also always been a big fan of space exploration, so I always wanted to do something ... that plays with all the space technology that I grew up with.

How accurate is the film?

I want to be very clear that the film is not a documentary. It's fiction. And within the frame of the fiction, we tried to be as accurate as possible. ... The technology that you see is the technology that is up there right now. Actually, some is dated, but we wanted to use the space shuttle because it's in the consciousness of people.

Would you go into space?

I would love to go up there. Any second. It is one of my dreams since I've been a kid. In the same token, I would never, ever do a space movie again.