Shyamalan Talks The Last Airbender

The acclaimed director of supernatural fables tells us about bringing the popular Nickelodeon series to the big screen as a live-action, vfx-intensive feature.

By Bill Desowitz | Thursday, July 1, 2010 at 3:32 pm

Posted In | Site Categories: 3D, CG, Films, Visual Effects

Check out The Last Airbender trailers at AWNtv!

Aang takes on a supernatural aura before air bending, which looks smoky, ghostly and wispy. All images courtesy of Paramount Pictures.

Once M. Night Shyamalan became a big fan of Avatar: The Last Airbender, he was intrigued with bringing the animated series to the big screen as a live-action franchise. But this epic world and larger narrative scope, despite being steeped in the supernatural and spirituality, was certainly the most ambitious undertaking of his career. Fortunately, when it came to bending the elements of air, water, earth and fire, Shyamalan was in great hands with ILM (under the supervision of Pablo Helman). With The Last Airbender opening today from Paramount Pictures, the soft-spoken director discussed this potentially career-altering experience.

Bill Desowitz: What was this experience like?

M. Night Shyamalan: I've never been so drained because basically it's like two-and-a-half times the size of one of my movies. I guess I underestimated the toll that it would take physically and emotionally. That's probably what I can comment on. I know I've never been more excited about a movie. When we finished it and I did the sound check, I was really, really taken by it -- the subject of the movie. Maybe because the original idea wasn't mine, I could have a little more distance quicker. But it really helped me watch [the animated series] as an audience member at that time, which is very rare. But as a process, it was Herculean.

BD: But you can certainly see the spiritual and supernatural themes that interest you.

MNS: Yeah, there are a lot of conversations about faith that I use and the supernatural as the vehicle to talk about it.

BD: Talk about the collaboration with ILM, as your most vfx-intensive movie.

MNS: It was a long, complicated process of thousands of sessions of talking through shots and seeing each stage and trying to get a common language of aesthetics. And I screened the movie very early for the animators when there was nothing in it and I talked through my hopes and what I imagined was there. I really tried to approach it with a common philosophy. So there wasn't a bunch of boutique animators doing something but all under a common point of view. And I learned on the job about how to communicate my thoughts and what's important. At first, it was all overwhelming to convey from scratch everything I needed. But soon a language developed and ILM gave me the very best people that they had.

Water bending takes on a zero gravity characteristic.

BD: A naturalistic aesthetic?

MNS: Yes, I definitely go for the minimal amount we can do. Where does the eye go? Very much about what it represents for the characters. If we're talking about creatures, I'll definitely talk in depth about their personalities. In ways, I talk to the animators as if they were actors and what the motivations are coming from.

Printer-friendly version

Comments

I knew this would be a make a break moment for M. Night. I honestly have been intrigued by some of the concepts of his past work and really enjoyed a few of his movies. BUT with Avatar: The Last Airbender... First of all it's NOT his story so to make changes to, and to have done so is beyond reckless. I didn't go watch it because I could clearly see only one strong dynamic in the trailers, the action of the bending.

There were no trailers that made me laugh as Sokka's character should easily provide. There were no intimate/endearing trailers that between Katara and Aang as we know they deeply care for eachother. There were no trailers depicting Zuko's hardship from being exhiled and how it truly hurt him. Had these aspects been emphasized and done well, I guarantee the reviews would have been completely different.

This should have been an easy movie to put togther, and not an opportunity to put M. Night's signature on it because it is not his work. The casting is an entirly different topic that I won't go into now.

Off of word of mouth alone I won't waste my money on it. I can wait to be disappointed later, especially since I was optimistic about M. Night showing people what he is capable of. He has a knack for being imaginative, it's the technical side of directing that he has an issue with.

Reply to this Comment

legendary703 | Sat, 07/17/2010 - 06:37 | Permalink

I couldn't pinpoint all the things i didn't like but here are some.
_characters didn't resemble cartoon
_most of the main characters sounded like they were bad readers reading from a book
_movie was not true to the cartoon series
_got charged $4 for 3D glasses to watch a movie that seemed to have less than 10 minutes of 3D.
_roles were reversed in some scenes. like the encounter with the imprisoned earth bender. in the cartoon the chick does all the talking there!!!
_His name is pronounced differently in the movie.

I had doubts Shyamalan could pull this movie off! All of his movies suck balls! Quit Fucking up movies!