Style of M. Night Shyamalan

Just like each and every one of the other authors that have their own style of writing, including film directors. From the films we can see different styles of filming from the directors. One of the best examples is M.Night.Shyamalan, from his film we can see his unique way of filming.  A few signature-filming styles of his own can be found in his own film.

A) Long Shot

Long shot also one of the signatures of M. Night Shyamalan that can be found in almost all his films. In the film Sings (2002), the long take shot use when Graham and his family hide inside the basement to escape from alien. The camera is following the movement of their touch light when the moment blackout of the basement. In the scene is very focused, pointing to bring specific scare to the audiences. 

In the film The village (2004), technique of long shot also can be found when the scene that Ivy running in the wood blindly before she able to find herself surrounded by a patch of red berries. By using long shot technique in this scene, it will able to stimulate curiosity of the audience because they don’t know what will come out soon. The camera also then tracks back again after revealing berries to revel “those we don’t speak of”. 

In the film The Happening (2008), Shyamalan choose to use long shot technique for the scene at the construction zone which when the moment the workers commit suicide one by one due to the tonix gas. The camera moves around to show that not only the incident but also the expression of the contractor. Shyamalan able to make this scene faster pace by using long take techinique. From the three movies above, we able to see that the long takes technique that use by Shyamalan is become more dynamic in subsequent films with more camera movement.

B) CAMEO

Cameo is one of the techniques that M.Night.Shyamalan like to use in his own film. Shyamalan always show up in the end of his own film. The character that Shyamalan plays in his own film is the speaking role that gives out impactful information and it helps to move forwards the plot. In the film The Village (2004), Shyamalan that act as Jay, the guard at desk, appeared when the park ranger, Kevin Lupinski is trying to steal the medicine for Ivy. The camera did not show us directly the face of Jay, but it was shown in the on the glass door using reflection. During the appearance of Jay, instead of showing the face of Jay, the camera was shooting at the newspaper that is one of the reasons why the village is being build. 

And also in the film Signs (2002), Shyamalan also took a role which is Ray Reddy that is responsible for Coleen’s death which is Graham Hess’s wife. Shyamalan also plays an important role in the film Signs, because of the phone that he had made that indirectly leads Graham to believe that there are actually aliens in the world that they are living. In the film The happening (2008), Syhamalan also plays a role of Joey in the film by using his voice only through Alma’s phone. 

C) Twist of the Plot

M.Night.Shyamalan is well known for the “twist” that he always had in the end of his film. We can actually found that, the way he twist the plot of the story become more mature and complicated to bring his film to the climaxes of the story. For example in the film Signs (2002), Graham was keen on not believing the existent of the alien until the moment that the news of alien is being broadcast in the television.  Graham had cooked all of their favorite dishes during dinner that he believes that it would be their last dinner. Then he closed the door and nailed it so that the aliens could not break in. The aliens have arrived in front of their house and they panic, at that moment they realized that they have a basement that can hide themselves from the aliens. When we thought that they are safe because they are safely hide in the basement, but then they found out that there is another that might lead the aliens towards them. At the same time, Morgan was having an asthma attack but then they don’t have any medicine for him. From here we can see that how well Shyamalan had twist the stories.

In the film The Village (2004), the way that Shyamalan twists the movies able to bring audiences to the points that they wasn’t expected. In the movie, we were being told that “those we don’t speak of” is a monster that would kill the people in the village if they have entered the woods. After Lucius being stabbed by Noah, Ivy wanted to enter the woods to collect medicine so that Lucius can be save. This is where Ivy’s father, Edward, tell the truth to Ivy that the stories about the “those we don’t speak of” are not real. After Ivy entered the woods, she did met the “ those we don’t speak of” and she is being attacked by it. M.Night.Shyamalan has play with the flow in the story, in the end of the story; we found out that “those we don’t speak of” actually is Noah. M.Night.Shyamalan let us believe that there is actually the existent of “those we don’t speak of” but the in the end of the film, we were being told that is actually never exist from the starting of the film.

In the film The Happening (2008), the plot twist is that there is no plot twist when the audience expects it. As such, this show sophistication because he is mocking the audiences as he knows the audience will expect a plot twist like happen in his films before the happening.

Overall, the styles of M. Night Shyamalan have successfully established his own special signatures and differentiate him from the other directors. This also made him become one of the famous directors in Hollywoord. He also was get highly revered and regard for his style of movies.