Student Filmmakers - June 2008 - (Page 27) a supermarket and they use their credit card and the cashier asks, “Are you related to…?” Now, with them it’s like, “I guess you’re doing okay”. When I told my mother that the President invited me to the White House, she said: “Well, I hope something good comes from this.” I said, “Mom, he’s not going to give me a country or assign me an area of the planet! What do you want him to do?” Today, with the new digital tools and the democratization of the media, do you think it’s necessary for aspiring filmmakers to go to film school? M. Night Shyamalan: Let’s put it this way – it’s less important. It really depends on which type of filmmaker you want to be. If you want to be the gathering filmmaker – where you gather all your footage and kind of figure it out in the editing room – then I don’t think so. You can come at that world in many different ways, like making music videos, for example. However, if you’re going to come at it from designing the movie, executing that design, and then, in the editing room, refining that original design, then yes, I think going to film school is necessary. This [method] is the old way – the classic way – to make movies. I know you’re a dedicated film guy, but are you planning to make the transition from film to digital cinema anytime soon? M. Night Shyamalan: I’m going to be the last man standing, as far as shooting film goes. I was persuaded to try a DI [Digital Intermediate] on The Happening. I didn’t like the look and feel of it; it was too cold. So we tried another and I didn’t like that one either. That’s when I said: “That’s it. We’re going back to film.” You realize, of course, that a total digital cinema is inevitable in the near future? M. Night Shyamalan: Yea, I know. I just can’t reconcile myself to that fact yet. Photos Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox. June 2008 studentfilmmakers 2 http://www.columbiacollege.edu
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