Shyamalan continues, “Fear doesn’t necessarily need to be something we are afraid of. Sometimes it just lets our imaginations run wild. I hope through ‘The Village,’ audiences are able to explore a world of fear and how, even in the midst of chaos, you can find a way to cope.”
The process of storytelling has always been the most important thing about filmmaking for M. Night Shyamalan. Shyamalan credits cinema audiences as starved for a challenge, and enjoys giving them what they want through uncomfortable suspense. Shyamalan captures the attention of the filmgoer by holding back information until just the right moment.
Says Shyamalan, “When I write I gravitate toward having a streamline of suspense. I like to surprise people and that just feels natural. At the same time I try and give humanity to my stories. Hopefully audiences leave with something to think about that is worthwhile.
“‘The Village’ is different from my previous films. I think it is me growing up and evolving as a filmmaker. I wanted to write about innocence. ‘The Village’ is set in the late 19th century, after the civil war and before industrialization when it was a simpler life. When it wasn’t about money or greed. People spoke without sarcasm and you could hear the truth and sincerity in their voices,” says Shyamalan.
Shyamalan continues making films in and around his home in a Philadelphia suburb. “I’ve kind of fallen in love with the simple life and slowing things down. Life can get so crazy. You forget what is important and you begin to fixate.”
Writing “The Village” was a long process for Shyamalan. Continues Shyamalan, “I keep this book of story ideas that I am constantly adding to. Details of ‘The Village’ characters kept presenting themselves and before I knew it, organically, one sentence turned into two, three, four pages, and over time grew into a full length screenplay.
“It was new for me to include elements of romance in my writing along with the unknown supernatural elements that audiences have enjoyed in my past films. This movie is ultimately about the power of what love can do to create things, and what it can overcome,” says Shyamalan.
Producer Sam Mercer, a collaborator with Shyamalan previously on “The Sixth Sense,” “Unbreakable,” and “Signs,” comments, “One of the amazing things about Night as a filmmaker is he writes and directs very visually. When you read a Shyamalan script you can picture every detail of the story. His imagery and dialogue enable audiences to instantly become part of his imaginary world in the most intelligent way.”
Before the cameras roll, Shyamalan prepares his well-thought-out imagery by working with storyboard artist, Brick Mason. The pair typically spend a few months framing each scene through illustrations. Much of their brainstorming for “The Village” was done at Shyamalan’s office in Pennsylvania. Associate producer Jose Rodriguez, who is part of Shyamalan’s company Blinding Edge Pictures, adds, “When you look at Night’s framing in his films, everything means something. He doesn’t shoot coverage on a set just to have it. He knows what he wants ahead of time and uses minimalism to achieve it.”
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