In the Director's Chair with M. Night Shyamalan

On Tuesday (July 20th), acclaimed filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan took questions from Good Morning America's Joel Siegel, as well as diehard fans watching via satellite in theaters around the country about his career, the filmmaking process, and his upcoming film, The Village.

The presentation -- titled "In the Director's Chair with M. Night Shyamalan" -- took place, appopriately enough, at night, and allowed Shyamalan's fans to get an in-depth look at how he creates the films which have wowed audiences and critics alike.

The evening began with a montage of behind-the-scenes and in-front-of-the-camera footage from M. Night's major releases. Spliced in were short comments from some of the various actors he's worked with, discussing his style and strengths. After this, Night was introduced. Following some brief discussion with Siegel, the audiences were shown a clip from each of Night's widely-released major motion pictures; the final scene of The Sixth Sense, the "gun scene" in Unbreakable, and the "two groups of people" scene in Signs. Each clip was followed by applause, and a brief discussion about how it was filmed, and why it was chosen to "represent" the movie it was taken from.

The fourth clip shown was from The Village, and it featured Joaquin Phoenix and Bryce Dallas Howard (who was present in the studio) talking on a porch. It ended with what Night said was the first on-screen kiss in any of his films. He described the movie as a "love story," though he humorously added that it was a "sick and twisted love story."

This was followed by a series of live questions from Night's fans. Topics included the screenwriting process, where his ideas come from (a question he had exasperatingly said he got all the time shortly before it was asked, prompting laughter from the audience), how he came to collaborate with composer James Newton Howard, and what prompted him to create a film set in the past.

One question (asked by myself on behalf of this site) concerned the comparison between the relatively smaller casts he's worked with before, and the broad ensemble cast in The Village. Night replied that he had previously resolved never to work with an ensemble cast, and that his preference was to feature one star surrounded by unknowns. He pointed out the irony in the fact that his newest film is the exact opposite; a number of stars surrounding a single newcomer, and added that he didn't have any trouble balancing screentime between them.

Among the more interesting comments of the evening was Night's repeated claim that having his first two films (Praying with Anger and Wide Awake) fail was "the best thing that could have happened to me." He also mentioned that his next project, which has been all-but confirmed, will be an adaptation of Life of Pi, a bestselling children's book.

The image of Night projected onto Regal Cinema's 41 screens nationwide stood in stark contrast to the reclusive, secretive persona displayed in the Sci-Fi Channel's "Buried Secret" documentary, recently revealed to be a clever publicity stunt. Night was personable, down-to-earth, and often hilarious as he answered questions on both his personal and professional lives.

The Village opens in theaters everywhere on July 30th.