American Cinematographer - December 2000 - 51

and it

scripted by the director
picture, however,
Shyamalan worked with a different
director of photography, Eduardo
was

himself. On this

Serra, AFC, who
the film with

able to infuse

was

a new

and distinctive

visual

style.
Although the narrative twists
of Unbreakable were being kept
under tight wraps, Shyamalan was
gracious enough to offer AC some
intriguing details about the film
during a friendly and freewheeling
phone call from his base of opera¬
tions in Philadelphia.
American

Cinematographer:
inspires you to dream up
stories with paranormal themes?
M. Night Shyamalan: I don't
have that as an agenda, but when I sit
down to write a story, it just often has

approach to be the most compelling
entree into supernatural material,
and it's also the point of view that
gets me the most personally invested
in that type of story. If you come up
with an idea that involves, say, fairies
or some other fantastic
subject, it can
be hard to relate to. I try to find a way
to bring those kinds of fictional
subjects, which are beyond the norm,
to viewers in real ways that they can

what's

relate to. I

last two times out,

want to

make the audience

feel fear, wonder and excitement, and

wonderful

wonderful about
lot about the

and

not

so

[them]. I also think

tones I want to

bring
subject matter, the
dialogue and the characters. I spend

a

out

of the

months

on

tions, and

all of those considera¬

I sell the

screenplay I
begin storyboarding and prepping
like crazy. Only after all of that stuff is
once

done do I feel confident that I
to

the

set

and deliver
on

a

can
go
movie. The

The Sixth Sense

and Unbreakable, I've felt that all of

I think it's easier to do that if you use

my

marriages, children and the family
dynamic as your jumping-off point.
My main goal when I'm writ¬

real

massive preparation gave me a
advantage in the battle to accu¬
rately bring those visions to the

screen.

What

that

sort

Opposite page:
Just 30 years old,
Shyamalan
already has the
eye of a seasoned
pro. This page:

of bent; if it doesn't, it feels

The director

two-dimensional than I'd like

more

the movie

add that

to

discusses

pivotal

be. Somehow, when I

supernatural angle,

becomes whole

with actors
Michael Kelly
and Bruce Willis.

a story

to me.

Where did you get

a

scene

the idea for

Unbreakable?

Shyamalan: It came from a
couple of different sources. I was
actually working on an idea for
another movie, which involved the
sole survivor of

plane crash in
everybody else dies and he
emerges unharmed. Eventually, the
a

which

character has this realization about

who he is. I told my

wife about the
story, and she said, 'Wow, you really
need to do that.' It was just a beauti¬
ful, simple, powerful idea that I knew
I could write

a

two-hour movie

about.
fantastic
its

movie around

core.

even

though Unbreakable has

supported by

premise, the story

strong.

never

strays far from the family dynamic
at

-

Hand Luke. You
it works

Even
a

ing is to create a movie that has both
a
strong plot and a strong central
character
someone like, say, Cool

The

same

about The Sixth Sense,

could be said
so

I'm assum¬

ing that the idea of family is close to
your heart.
Shyamalan: You're right; on
both movies, I've basically taken a
humanistic approach to supernat¬
ural subject matter. I find that

Do you

a

can

build

a

Did the tremendous success of
The Sixth Sense have any bearing on

strong character, but

approach to Unbreakable?
Shyamalan: Definitely - just
the failure of my first feature film,

your

whole
as

better if the story

Wide Awake [1998], had an effect

a

upon

is
plot that's equally

plan to continue writ¬
ing your own scripts exclusively?
Does that way of working make
things easier for you as a director?
Shyamalan: Yes and yes; I
don't know, maybe I'm not a good
enough director to do someone else's
script! It takes me a long time to hack
out my ideas, and then figure out

The Sixth Sense in terms of my
directing and the lessons I'd learned.
On The Sixth Sense, I

learned

a

lot

about what worked in the movie,
what didn't work, and why the film
had such

effect

people.
developed theories about those
factors, and I tried to bring some of
a

resonant

on

I

those elements
still

to

attempting to
try new things.

Unbreakable, while
move

forward and

American

Cinematographer 49
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