“Signs” by Night Shyamalan

Characters: Rev. Graham Hess Merrill Hess Morgan Hess

Morgan Bo Hess Officer Paski Ray Reddy BO

Mise-En-Scene mise-en-scene: the arrangement of

scenery and properties to represent the place where a play or movie is enacted. (Setting of the Movie)

Setting: the time, place, physical details, and circumstances in which a situation occurs. Settings include the background, atmosphere or environment in which characters live and move, and usually include physical characteristics of the surroundings

What are the first images in the film (often while the credits are rolling), and what do they tell you?

A faded image of Merrill, Morgan and Bo. A baby monitor with flashing lights. A fuzzy screen/like a TV going out. Dim blue light After the Credits: A backyard/corn field/ old swing&table Photograph of the family

Where and when is the film set and how do you know this?   

Bucks County Pennsylvania (USA) 45 miles outside of Philadelphia We know this because the director

shows us. Late 1990’s/early 2000

› Cordless Phone

Non-diegetic sound coming from a source outside story

space.

The opening song.

Piano music after the dog dies.

Diegetic sound:  Sound whose source is visible on the screen or whose source is implied to be present by the action of the film

For example: The crickets in the corn field or the dog barking outside of the house.

Close-up shot: An image in which the distance between the subject and the point of view is very short, as in a "close-up of a person's face.“ (Arm-pit up)

(5:51) Rev. Graham Hess is on the phone expressing his concerns regarding the crop circles. He is talking to Lee

High angle shot: The camera is placed higher than the

subject, often suggesting a God's-eye view of helpless and vulnerable people.

5:08 – The Camera is looking down at the Hess Family and the dogs. They look helpless and vulnerable.

Pan shot: The camera is mounted on a non-

moving base and films while pivoting on its axis along the line of the horizon from left to right to right to left.

36:47

Rev. Goes into the corn field at night to look for intruders.

Track Shot A camera shot taken from a moving

dolly. Identify an example of a track shot. (3:44)

Rev. Graham Hess and Merrill Hess are running through the corn field in the very 1st scene of the movie. They can hear the children screaming and the dogs barking.

Dissolve: (1:09) - A method of making a transition from

one shot to another by briefly superimposing one image upon another and then allowing the first image to disappear. A dissolve is a stronger form of transition than a cut and indicates a distinct separation in action.

Zoom: (3:50) Rev. Graham Hess and Merrill Hess

have just spotted Bo, she is alone in the corn field. She has been screaming.

Also, (11:47) after Morgan killed the dog.

Complete “Theme” activity Feel free to talk to your neighbour.

Conventions of the Horror Film: the monster (Aliens) is the repressed horrors or fears we have within ourselves and within society.

Suspense: How does the director Night Shyamalan build suspense in the movie Signs?

Find two scenes in the movie “Signs” where the author uses this technique to put the audience on the edge of their seats even before any scary stuff even happens.

Scene 1: (1:18) The aliens 1st attack the house.

Scene 2: (1:22) Morgan in front of Coal Shoot.

Point of View: sometimes called “over the shoulder shot”- the camera takes on the perspective of the character’s eyes.

A Reaction Point of View shot: It is usually established by being

positioned between a shot of a character looking at something, and a shot showing the character's reaction.

1:22- We see Morgans reaction to the Alien through the Rev. Eyes.

This enhances the fear of the unknown

Iconography Iconography is the representation of an

idea through an image: Iconography is an important aspect of

genre. We expect to see certain objects on screen when we see a particular genre, for example, in a Western, dusty lonely roads, saloon bars, cowboy hats and horses, jails, sheriffs badges, guns, etc.; in a modern horror film, we expect young girls, ‘normal’ objects, use of dark and light and suspense.

The best example of iconography in the film “Signs” is the house. What idea does the house communicate to the audience?

It is old, haunted, coal shoot....

It reminds us of the classic haunted house stories we heard when we were children.

In the film “Signs” the focus on water is a symbol of purity. Find three examples in the film where the director focuses on water. How do these scenes symbolize purity? (16:30)

Bo does not want to drink the water because it is dirty. (She is pure)

The water kills the evil Alien because it is pure.

Ray Reddy thinks it is safe by the water.

In the film “The Open Spaces Between Characters”, “The Repetition of Family Portraits” and “The Empty Chairs” are all symbols of “The Loss of Wife and Mother”. Find an example of one of these three symbols and write a brief description of the scene.

Family Portraits: at the very start of the movie.

Empty Chairs: 16:48

46: 25 When the Rev. Is having a lapse in faith

the film fades out into one of his memories of his wife.

Thus, the loss in faith is emphasized through the use of fades.

What does the repetition of the cross symbolize?

The idea that a person may turn away from faith but that faith does not disappear is reinforced by the repetition of the cross.

2:58 48:53

The fact that aliens blend into the background suggests that evil is camouflaged in the familiar. In our modern day society is evil camouflaged in the familiar? If so, provide an example.

38:00

Graham’s internal struggles are most strongly illustrated through the use of light and shadow. Find two examples in the film where Graham is struggling internally. Is the scene dark or light? Are there any shadows?

42:20- Rev. Talking about faith/luck and his wife.

1:10

Analyze the Alien Shot on the Roof: Bo Tells Graham, “She doesn’t answer

me either,” Graham’s emotional state is emphasized by what type of a shot? Describe the shot.

-Long Shot of Alien on roof.....................

13:26

What object in the film foreshadows the Alien Invasion?

The image of the house in Morgan’s alien book.

51:00

Storyboard: Create a storyboard for the “Alien

Attack Scene” on Morgan.

132:59