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405. Directorpiece Theatre: Why Does M. Night Shyamalan Miss The Mark?
🕑 Added 2021-07-26 13:01:04 +0000 UTC
Old came out this weekend so we wanted to look at Shyamalan’s approach to scene work and camera motivation. In this episode, Adam dissects Unbreakable and offers an explanation as to why some of his films don’t connect with the audience emotionally.
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Adam Ganser: https://twitter.com/therealganz
Abe Epperson: https://twitter.com/AbeTheMighty
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Comments
You're cool, Adam Ganser. Don't listen to Dave.
Adam Ganser
No in fact it reinforces my point. That's a much more esoteric "cool" reason to do this camera work, which, makes it less accessible to all audiences than an emotional reason would. But it definitely is cool. A lot of things he does are cool.
There's a DVD commentary where shyamalan explains that a lot of the techniques you take issue with are his attempts at creating "comic book panels," because this was his attempt at a "comic book movie." The seats on the train create angular panels, the shifting camera in the opening uses the mirror and the doorway(I believe?), The curtains in the home at the end show the passage of time as the perspective shifts. Things like that. I appreciate that it's still, arguably, a technical flaw that alienates the viewers, but does his intent change your opinion at all? I love this film unconditionally, as a superhero origin not banking on any "twist ending." I also love you guys. Thanks for all the content, from cracked till this and whatever's next.
