Inspirational Director

 Inspirational Director

As my Inspirational Director, I decided to choose M Night Shyamlan (Manoj Nelliyattu Shyamalan), who although not specifically a  horror film director he has produced/Directed/Written Psychological Horrors/Thrillers.

His Notable films are as follows:

·        Praying with Anger

·        Wide Awake

·         The Sixth Sense

·        Unbreakable

·        Signs

·        The Village

·        Lady in the Water

·        The Happening

·         The Last Airbender

·        Devil

·         Thousand A.E.

 Introduction/Bibliography

 • Shyamalan is an Indian/American film director who is known for a number of films from the horror genre.

•The most notable films that Shyamalan has produced are, The Sixth Sense, Signs, and The Happening.

•He was born in India on August 6th 1970, his father,  Nelliyattu C. Shyamalan was a Physician his mother, Jayalakshmi, specialising in Obstetrics and Gynaecology

•Before Shyamalan was born his parents moved to the United States, however his mother returned briefly for 11 months, 6th of which she spent in India after Shyamalan was born, they then moved to Pennsylvania in America. 

Background/Style 

•Night is known for filming a lot of his films around Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he was raised.

•He has been compared to other famous film directors such as Steven Spielberg, and Alfred Hitchcock. 

•Shyamalan is known for his modern supernatural plots that peak with a twist ending. 

•His also known for Writing, Producing, and Directing his films as well as staring in them.

 The Sixth Sense 
•The Sixth Sense was his first financially successful film. 

•The film went on to receive a number of Oscars which included Best Director, and Best Picture.  
•The film was Written and Directed by M. Night Shyamalan, it was released towards the end of Summer, Shyamalan also admitted that he didn’t think that the film would do very well, only hoping to make back the cost of production.  
 

Signs  
•Signs was Shyamalan’s 3rd Successful film after Unbreakable, it was well liked by the critics gaining over $600 million at the box office with a budget of only $40 million.

•It was nominated for six Academy Awards.

•Shyamalan played a small part in this movie as Ray Reddy

•The twist at the end of this film was the possibility of killing the aliens just by using water

 

The Happening

•The Happening is a 2008 thriller/horror film which was Written, produced and Directed by Shyamalan.

•The film is about a man and his family who try to escape from a bizarre natural disaster, a substance which causes those who come into contact with it to commit suicide.

•The film grossed $163,403,799 at the box office. With a budget of $48 million making it a financial success.

•The film did however receive mostly negative reviews from film critics.

•M. Night Shyamalan is credited  as playing the part of Joey even though the character did not appear in the film.

Quotes

I knew the moment it happened, it was a miracle. I could have been kissing her when she threw up. It would have scarred me for life. I may never have recovered.

When they see those fourteen lights, they're looking at a miracle. And deep down, they feel that whatever's going to happen, there will be someone there to help them. And that fills them with hope. 

Movies will end up being this esoteric art form, where only singular people will put films out in a small group of theatres.

Controversy/Criticism

•Some people have accused him of being a One-Trick-Pony who over uses the idea of twist elements, although it is his traditional style and what he has now become known for.

•Shyamalan has also been accused of plagiarism, such as the similarities of Signs and Robert McIlhinney screenplay, Lord of the Barrens which was unpublished.

•Also The Village was stated for having similarities to Margaret Peterson Haddix  novel called Running Out of Time.