American Cinematographer - December 2000 - 54

Extrasensory Perception
The crew
dollies toward
Willis on
location in

Philadelphia.
Shyamalan
confirms that
all of his
camera moves

emotionally

are

motivated: "A

dolly straight
is different
from a dolly on
on

an

angle. I have

my own beliefs
about what

[various]

moves

mean,

and

while working
with Eduardo I
would go

through them
'These

and say,

are

the

emotions that I
want to convey,
so what's the
best way to get
them?"'

imagery had the combination of
richness and gentleness that I wanted
for Unbreakable. It felt very real and
beautiful without being 'artsy-fartsy.'
I liked the idea of incorporating that
type of artistry into the kind of bigbudget, supernatural movie that I do.
A lot of Hollywood movies rely on
that slick look to get a response from
the audience, but I feel you should

Eduardo also said that you

like your camera moves to
vated by emotion.

be moti¬

other main elements of the film's

visual

[various]

to earn

it.

You've mentioned the

color and
course

use

arcs over
are

of

the
the

style?
Shyamalan: I wanted the
to

backdrop,
have

lighting

of the movie. What

scenes

an

have
so

a

monochromatic

that the movie would

almost black-and-white feel

and

specific elements would pop out
was a
very metic¬
ulous strategy that affected the entire
crew. A character couldn't just walk
through the frame; he or she had to
be dressed appropriately, the back¬
ground had to be just right, and
of the frame. That

December 2000

that moved through the
to be very specific.

Shyamalan: When you're
watching a movie, the camera is you,
so it's important for a filmmaker to
really understand what a pan or a tilt
means. A pan is not
just moving
from right to left; it has a certain
emotional value, just as a tilt or a
zoom does. A dolly
straight on is
different from a dolly on an angle. I
have my own beliefs about what

have

52

every car
frame had

moves mean,

as

he makes his decision,

we

dolly straight on, from a low angle,
right up to him. If it were a different
moment

for the character

-

he didn't understand what was
on,

if, say,

going

and then suddenly got it - we'd

have
we

come

at

him from

an

angle, and

wouldn't have been in front of

him until his

big realization. The
doing the
same thing in each of these examples
standing still and looking
upwards - but the two different
character would still be

-

camera moves

convey two

and while

working with Eduardo I would go
through them and say, 'These are the
emotions that I

and

to

I've described would

different ideas.

What emotion do you attach
the Steadicam or to handheld

camerawork?

convey, so

Shyamalan: I'm still devising

them?'
Can you give me a specific
example from Unbreakable?
Shyamalan: Okay, let's talk
about a dolly move in the movie.

my opinion about what emotion a
Steadicam move represents, and I'm

want to

what's the best way to get

There's

a

moment

character has

to

make

when Bruce's
a

decision. He

has all of the information he needs,

yet comfortable with my own
analysis. The Steadicam has that
floating feel, and I want to make sure
I understand it more fully before I
use it
extensively.
not

On the other

hand, I have

a
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