After perusing the Rotten Tomatoes page for The Happening, I feel secure in my initial decision to skip this movie. Even EW and Hollywood Report gave it a C.

I actually like Shyamalan in most circumstances. I even saw Lady in the Water, although it was overly simple for the melodramatic tone of the film, I wasn’t upset that I’d seen it. And Unbreakable is an excellent film. So why can’t M. Night deliver with his latest feature?

Basically, it’s a gorefest and nothing is resolved. Who wants to see that? Not to mention, I hear his characters have less than stellar dialogue. M. Night simply says it’s not supposed to be complicated and should be considered as a “fun b-movie”.

For Father’s Day this year, maybe skip the movies and go fishing instead.

Source: IWatchStuff

Last night, I watched Lady in the Water, directed by M. Night Shyamalan. Despite the shortcomings of the plot, it was very beautiful. The highlights were the cinematography and the production design. The apartment building, aptly named The Cove, was the perfect setting. Each apartment was made with care. I especially liked the finishing touches in the Chinese lady’s apartment. The misc en scene and cinematography really worked to create another world. It’s similar to the world we inhabit, but it has a tint of mystery and wonder to each scene. The colors were tinted with purpose. Everything was very cold and blue. That’s something that film has over the DV camera.

I wondered how he got some of the underwater scenes. I know it was more complicated than using a sony camcorder underwater. He had an extended scene underwater of Paul Giamatti searching for something. The color of the water was even deliberate.

Now, I’m thinking of what it would take to experiment with a camcorder underwater. With all the new HD innovations, could a camcorder produce such quality results as in this film? I wonder if there have been comparison experiments. Underwater photography is something that I’ve never really explored. It looks like you can rig up an underwater housing unit with some online instructions. Only catch is that if you are a poor craftsman, your camcorder is toast. I guess you could use a cheap camcorder. Or you could invest in a professional housing, but they are pricey. Plus, what if you’re just going through an underwater film craze for only a few weeks. Then, it’s kind of not worth it.

It does sound really fun to try and use. It opens up more stylistic doors for the amateur filmmaker. Water is a huge part of our environment. As filmmakers, we should try to incorporate it more into our movies. And not just for nature cinematographers, there are plenty of fictional scripts that require underwater scenes.