M. Night Shyamalan
There are a lot of things I can take, and a few that I can't. What I can't take is when my older brother, who's everything that I want to be, starts losing faith in things. I saw that look in your eyes last night. I don't ever want to see that look in your eyes again.Collection: Faith
Always in life bad times will lead to great times.Collection: Great
When you say 'fear of the unknown', that is the definition of fear; fear is the unknown, fear is what you do not know, and it's genetically within us so that we feel safe. We feel scared of the woods because we're not familiar with it, and that keeps you safe.
There's a monster outside my room, can I have a glass of water?
See what you have to ask yourself is what kind of person are you? Are you the kind that sees signs, sees miracles? Or do you believe that people just get lucky?
I offer originality: you don't know what my films are like until you go to them. I think that's the reason I've been getting all this attention.
That's something we should be taught as kids: To be okay with ourselves.
My biggest fear in life is to be average.
Is it possible that there are no coincidences?
My secret to all casting, and specifically kids, is cast good human beings.
The combination of the CGI, 3-D, and sound effects, it's just impossible to separate them. It gives you a more immersive experience, and I prefer that.
I love my stories being multi-layered, and coming at it from different angles, so that you don't understand the film's true emotional motivation until the very end.
Anime is intended to have ambiguous features. That's part of the art form.
When they see those fourteen lights, they're looking at a miracle. And deep down, they feel that whatever's going to happen, there will be someone there to help them. And that fills them with hope.
I knew the moment it happened, it was a miracle. I could have been kissing her when she threw up. It would have scarred me for life. I may never have recovered.
Are you in my dream too?
There is no one looking out for us. We are all alone.
I like to write in a shroud of secrecy because I have to keep finding ways to scare myself.
Movies will end up being this esoteric art form, where only singular people will put films out in a small group of theaters.
Movie making is not like other art forms, like painting, or writing a novel, because that can be digested or interpreted... It takes two years to make each one of these, and it's always judged on money.
I think I take what you might call a B-movie story, deal with B-movie subjects, and I treat it as if it's an A-movie in terms of my approach, my crew, my actors, my ethics and so on. I guess that's my trademark or one of them, anyway!
If I'm hesitant at all about an idea, then that's not the right idea.
I've never had an issue with studios. I believe in them as true creative partners in the process.
I don't want to pretend I'm any cooler or smarter than I am.
I have a naive outlook on life. That's who I am.
When I was a kid, I had two great guilty pleasures. One was horror movies and the other was martial arts movies.
I feel most akin as an artist, in my life and my career, to Agatha Christie.
I grew up watching Steven Spielberg and scary movies.
For instance, 'The Sixth Sense' had mediocre to bad reviews. Slowly, the audience pushed it and it received critical attention.
I have worked hard and learnt that I have to make a decision - whether I am going to conform and protect myself or not. I chose not to.
'The Last Airbender' is genetically engineered for me. I love martial arts. I study it. The movie's based on a lot of Buddhist and Hindu philosophy. I was raised Hindu.
'The Exorcist' is the scariest movie ever made. It just felt dead-on real, like you were watching the existence of the devil.
Over the course of history, the people who are not scared go into the woods and are mauled by a bear, are not going to survive.
My normal cycle for movies is eighteen months and each part is separate.
I'm a big believer in our connection to nature.
So 'The Last Airbender' 's philosophy and culture feels like a beautiful idea to me: That we inherently have connections to the elements and what they teach us, and to each other.
If I had a big brother who was a year older than me or something, I probably wouldn't have ended up being a filmmaker.
I don't like to chase an audience. You can smell when someone is chasing an audience and it's not good.
The thing that's protected me creatively is that the movies have made profits.
The first two movies I directed failed, when I was 21 and 23, and that was the greatest thing that could have happened.
Being insecure - I'm a master, a virtuoso - they can be handing me the keys to the kingdom and all I can think is, I hope I don't drop the key.
If ever I was feeling down I would go and write something. It's a form of escape.
You don't get to celebrate yourself unless you risk being mocked or rejected. As an artist, you cannot play it safe. You just can't.Collection: Artist
Giving should be a part of your routine, just like working out, eating, and sleeping.Collection: Sleep
When you say fear of the unknown, that is the definition of fear; fear is the unknown, fear is what you do not know, and its genetically within us so that we feel safe. We feel scared of the woods because were not familiar with it, and that keeps you safe.Collection: Woods
There's no staying where you were. If you're not doing anything, your skills and point of view are atrophying.Collection: Views
You're never the same. You're degrading, or you're getting better. You don't stay the same.Collection: Get Better
When you find your voice, your life takes on grace.Collection: Voice
I find it very eerie when somebody is being really polite.Collection: Eerie
Sometimes we do not do things that we wish to do, so others will not know that we wish to do them.Collection: Wish