Sam Mercer

Explores the nature of creativity and collaboration on the making of this very unique story in an earnest and unexpectedly touching manner.

Nearly every possible aspect of fimmaking used to produce the motion picture Signs (2002) is closely examined here. This serves as a good companion to the film, normally where a commentary track would. Though it does feature a portion of promotional value, it is still very informative and interesting to watch director M. Night Shyamalan at work.

This making-of features additional background on the original ideas for the film. Shyamalan discusses his initial inspiration to make the ultimate B-movie, but one that morphed into something deeper. The cast and crew discuss the character motivations, the mood of the film, shooting in and around Philadelphia, and more.

In this making-of documentary, we see movie snippets, shots from the set, and interviews. We get notes from the crew and cast. We learn about the movie's genesis and development, the choice of time period and setting, finding a location and creating the sets, the flick's visual design and cinematography, working with the actors and bonding on the set, the costumes, problems with the weather, shooting in the woods, casting, the actors' "boot camp", editing and storyboards, audio design, the score, and the movie's creatures.