Signs.

[J.R. Hudson]

Sigh...

I have been studying the shite out of SIGNS lately for several reasons...

1. It all takes place in one location (sans the pizza and recruiters office, M Knights house and the road where Mels wife gets jacked up).

2. The simple lighting (Non Popcorn lighting)

3. It seems like a project suited just for wannabe filmmakers like ourselves

Do you remember the DOG barking aggressively at the little girl? I sware its a composite shot. When you pause it frame for frame, there is a whole in the butt of the dog and you can see right though it.

[Scott_Spears]

Here's a little article I wrote about M. Night which follows your idea.

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M. Night Shyamalan: Microbudget Filmmaker?

My advice to microbudget filmmakers is take a look at the films of M. Night Shyamalan. These films could be made for almost no money if you take out the name stars and do a little trimming in the scope of some scenes. Night's filmmaking is very basic with little or no "showy" shots. Hell, in "Unbreakable" most scenes play in one shot.

Let's look at the logicistics for each film:

"The Sixth Sense", a guy spends most of the movie taking to a little kid. Locations are houses, schools, an office, a store, etc... to name a few. Small cast: doctor, kid, mom, doc's wife and a few supporting cast. Special effects: a few nasty wounds and puking green pee soup.

"Unbreakable". Come on, this film's second scene is a massive train wreck that we don't get to see! What a great cheat. Locations are just a little tougher here, with the train station, football stadium and wrecked train, but with some clever work you could have been imply the scope. Small cast, hero, villian, son, wife and some minor supporting characters. Special effects: stunt fall down stairs, wrecked car, wrecked train on TV that was low rez cgi work.

"Signs". Here again we have an alien invasion that happens off screen. What savings there. Locations: small town, farm house, a store. Cast: ex-minister, brother, son, daughter and supporting folks. Special Effects: this is the trickiest of the three with the full body alien suit, but hey, you only need one.

I'd say the hardest thing to do with all three of these movies is finding kids who can act.

What I love about Night's movies is that he is basically making dramas and then dropping a high concept on them. Here's a breakdown of the high concept vs. the low concept:
"The Sixth Sense": A kids sees dead people. No, that's not the real story. It's about grief and accepting death.
"Unbreakable": A guy finds out he's a superhero. Nope. It's about realizing that surpressing your abilities to please somebody else will ultimately destroy that relationship and upon re-finding your strength, you become whole again.
"Signs": A family reacts to an alien invasion. Not really. It's about a minister re-finding his faith.

I know some people who have felt cheated by "Unbreakable" and "Signs", but I think they're missing the real plots.

Be creative. Make your characters living breathing people. Think of the drama first, not the special effects which you really can't do well on a low budget anyway.

Scott

[J.R. Hudson]

Damn well put and I am rethinking how I think of the HIGH CONCEPT when LOW CONCEPT is the real deal.