GLASS

GLASS

SYNOPSIS AND DETAILS

Not allowed under 12 years

Shortly after the events reported in Split, David Dunn - the unbreakable man - continues his hunt for The Beast, nickname given to Kevin Crumb since it is known to be able to endorse 23 different personalities. For his part, the mysterious man suffering from glass bones Elijah Price again arouses the interest of law enforcement by claiming to hold vital information about the two men ...

Split, McAvoy and Joaquin Phoenix

Initially, it was  Joaquin Phoenix  who was to play Kevin's role in  Split and film for the third time under the direction of  Mr. Night Shyamalan , after  Signs  and  The Village . Unfortunately, the discussions with the actor never succeeded and it is ultimately  James McAvoy  who inherited the character.

Box office success

The first installment, Split , grossed more than $ 278 million at the global box office for a budget of $ 9 million. In France, the film gathered 1,782,431 spectators. Glass is the third collaboration between  Mr. Night Shyamalan and hit producer  Jason Blum after  The Visit ($ 100 million in box office for a budget of $ 5) and Split. This time, the director has benefited from a bigger budget: $ 20 million.

First trailer for Glass

shooting

The filming of Glass lasted 39 days. It began on October 2, 2017. Part of the scenes were shot in a psychiatric hospital that actually existed in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Staci Hagenbaugh , exterior manager, had a track that could match the expectations of the production. She explains: "I had previously worked with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 2 of its facilities, and I knew that the Allentown Hospital had been closed for a few years, but I had never seen any pictures of the place. At first glance, I knew that  Night was going to be in. He's a very visual person and I think he had a connection with the place as soon as he walked in. "  The place corresponded so much to the expectations of the director that the script was rehabilitated. Producer  Marc Bienstock says: "Night did not hesitate to revise certain points of the scenario in order to adapt it perfectly to the place and to integrate the action visually to the space."

Philadelphia

As with most of Mr. Night Shyamalan's films , GLASS was shot in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The two places that the director absolutely had to find were a brick warehouse where The Beast holds the cheerleaders he intends to kill - the warehouse that is also the scene of the epic fight between The Beast and David Dunn - and a building that could be used as a backdrop for the Raven Hill Hospital, where most of the film takes place.  To find the perfect places, Mr. Night Shyamalan asked Staci Hagenbaugh , an outdoor supervisor with whom he had previously worked on PHENOMENES ,  THE VISIT and SPLIT, to conduct research. Staci Hagenbaugh says:"We explored at least 25 brick buildings before we found the right one, and we had to make a choice between two, and that's finally the Frankford Arsenal, a former 19th century army ammunition factory located in the city. north-east of Philadelphia, which was going to be a lot of things in this place: a lot of waterfalls, visual effects, all at the same time.The structure of the building also allowed many interactions between the Night had been adamant that he needed to be able to use both the inside and the outside, which for me was a truly iconic place because nobody had for a very long time, we were really excited to be able to shoot. "

Sam and Bruce, 5th!

Glass marks the 5th collaboration between  Bruce Willis and  Samuel L. Jackson after Fatal Alarm , Pulp Fiction ,  A Day in Hell and Unbreakable .

Unpublished sequences of Unbreakable

Mr. Night Shyamalan  was able to incorporate unseen footage from UNCONABLE into GLASS for scenes depicting the memories of David Dunn or Joseph. He tells :"It was amazing because those scenes that we had cut in the editing for UNABLE were always in my head and I was sure they could be part of GLASS if I wrote it the right way. to the idea of ​​integrating them into the film because the public will not believe his eyes.In one scene, you see a young boy and in the next, he is 25. There is no computer-generated content it's the same person, and it's the same with Bruce Willis, seeing the same, naturally, 18-year-old character is really something powerful. "

Terrifying images

To create a terrifying and dark atmosphere,  Mr. Night Shyamalan  appealed to the director of photography,  Mike Gioulakis . The latter is none other than the person responsible for the oppressive atmosphere of  It Follows , the little surprise of the horror / horror genre released in 2015. It is also after seeing this film that the director of  Sixième Sens  decided to to hire the services of the chief operator for  Split then Glass .

A troubling actress

The talented young actress  Anya Taylor-Joy , only 22 years old, held the top bill in  Split  before returning to her role as Casey in Glass . The actress was revealed in the horror film  The Witch , very noticed when it was released in June 2016.

Research work

For his films,  Mr. Night Shyamalan  has a habit of mixing exhaustive research with pure imagination. "I start from a recognized phenomenon, which people believe, and I develop.With the dissociative identity disorder, each personality believes in his own existence, 100% If one of them is convinced of to be diabetic or to have cholesterol, your body can be affected? The question is debated. Personally, I believe so.And if one of the personalities believes she has supernatural powers? so ?"explains the director. Mr. Night Shyamalan had already addressed the issue of dissociative identity disorder during his studies at NYU, and then continued to keep abreast of the development of theories on the subject. During the writing of the screenplay of Split  and Glass , he also documented the most famous cases and met with specialized psychiatrists on the subject.

Purple, green, yellow!

One of Paco Delgado's biggest challenges  was merging the palettes and visual styles of two 16-year-old films, while creating a GLASS-like aesthetic . He says: "We mix two stories, that of UNBREAKABLE and the SPLIT It's complex because you have to stick to a certain range Historically, each character has a distinct color wardrobe.. David Dunn wears green, Mr. Glass purple, and The Horde, yellow, so for GLASS, we took the three colors of the palettes of the films. You end up with a limited palette for the rest of the characters. On the other hand, what's nice is that you immediately have a very clear idea of ​​the colors to use. "  He continues: " We are dealing with characters who, in addition to being super- hero, lead a normal life. We have tried to find the moment when the ordinary human being ends and the superhero begins. These are two facets of the same character. For example, when you want to dress David Dunn, you keep the green palette, but it is much more subtle than when he wears his green poncho. It's the same for the other characters. "

Shyamalan psychologist

Where  Unbearable followed a man whom his modest image of himself had blinded to his true power; where  SPLIT explored the mortal power of a monster created by a traumatized mind, GLASS isinterested in the very essence of identity by asking a question: are we objectively what we are, or rather the physical result of what does our mind shape and determine? Are you a superhero if you think you are, even if it's just a fantasy? Mr. Night Shyamalan states:"I have been interested in psychology and psychotherapy since high school so I naturally wanted to deal with these topics, and over time my research and history began to feed each other. SPLIT, I was reading articles about dissociative identity disorder and I thought it would be a great subject. "Unbearable started the same way, I had broken the anterior cruciate ligaments of both knees playing basketball and I had spent a lot of time in rehabilitation and physiotherapy, it was this experience that provided me with the basis of the film. "

19 years later

19 years after Incassable ,  Spencer Treat Clark and  Charlayne Woodard are back in the roles of David Dunn's son ( Bruce Willis ) and Elijah's mother ( Samuel L Jackson ).

"UNCONABLE was a turning point in my childhood, it made me look back and see Joseph, remember how I interpreted it and see how it evolved." I got two great gifts, one of them came from Bruce, he gave me the complete sets of Led Zeppelin and the Beatles, which is really cool. CD was in my walkman during my teenage years, it was thanks to them that I started to play music, that I started to learn guitar and that I became a musician, " says Spencer.

Build each personality

Every personality played by  James McAvoy  had to have a distinct voice and presence; the director and the actor therefore worked to define each identity. "James is Scottish, but he played most of his roles with an American or English accent ,  " says Night Shyamalan . "I searched in his repertoire of accents and I suggested an idea: What if Hedwig had a hair on the tongue and James seized it with brio" . It was also necessary to avoid certain pitfalls:  "To interpret a child, most of the actors play a retarded adult" , explains the director. "Hedwig is very clever, and it turns out that he is 9. I said to James," You do not play an idiotic adult, that's not what we're aiming for. Use your eyes, you're very smart, but you're only 9 years old. This gesture you use, you do not know what it means "."

Impro or not improv

While  Mr. Night Shyamalan is  keen to follow his script to the letter, he nonetheless encourages actors to contribute. "I treat the script as a play and I do not change the dialogue afterwards, but to gain authenticity, the door is open to improvisation at the level of interpretation," he says.

Transition between characters

In a GLASS scene ,  James McAvoy has to transition between characters in a very short time. He says: "It becomes tricky when you have to switch from one to the other in front of the camera, you have to be able to enter completely into the next character while you still have the emotions of the previous one. so you may end up with a hysterical character, extremely sad or really panicked, while the next personality must be very calm, in a good mood and jovial.It's quite difficult because your heart rate is physically different from what it should be when you move on to the next guy, it's like you're suddenly changing gears. "  The most physically demanding part remains, however, by far, The Beast. James McAvoy explains: "He is extremely tense, always ready to jump like an animal, so much so that it hurts me physically to interpret it, and when I play him for several days in a row, my shoulders and neck hurt me. For hours, for SPLIT , it did not matter as much because I had only played The Beast for a few days, but this time, I play this character a lot. "

Bruce Willis superhero

In the 16 years that have passed since the INCASSABLE events , David Dunn, played by Bruce Willis , lost his wife to cancer. He started his own security business with his son and dedicated himself to the fight against crime as a vigilante. But the price to pay for all this is high and the performance of Bruce Willis shows it well. James McAvoy says:"Of all the people I've met in my life, Bruce is the most cool, he's extremely relaxed, but he manages to bring incredible weight to the role. a theme rarely seen in superhero films: the weight on his shoulders, the price to pay for the mission he has given himself Bruce manages to make it brilliantly, his natural relaxation is transformed into something David Dunn is a lonely man, the only things that matter to him are his role as a vigilante and his son.There is such purity and sadness in what he manages to play ... is deeply poignant. "

MG Initials

One of the biggest advantages of working with actors who have all played their characters before is that they bring their own ideas for certain clothes and accessories. For one scene, costume designer  Paco Delgado had dressed Elijah Price with a tie with a hairpin, but the artist was not satisfied with the hairpin. He remembers: "Suddenly,  Sam Jackson told me," Why do not we make a pin with my initials, Mr. Glass, "so we made this pin with the letters" MG, "in diamonds. loved the idea. "

Anya Taylor-Joy soulmate of McAvoy

Anya Taylor-Joy  has such an intense connection to her character that it scared him to find him. "The first day of filming GLASS , it was very strange to go backwards because the film is only 3 weeks after the SPLIT events,  but Casey is different, it was a little surreal. I ended up being really grateful because I was able to separate myself more decently from my character, otherwise I would never have known the rest of his life, I did not know if Casey and Kevin would see each other again, so my first scene with  James McAvoy was really moving. "  In the film, Casey defends Kevin Crumb when he is hospitalized. Despite his illness, he was the first person to actually see the girl, to understand her pain. In return, she too recognized hers. The actress concludes: "If these two characters are united by such a link, it is because they have both been deeply wounded, truly broken, they are soul mates."

Dr. Sarah Paulson

The most important new character in the trilogy is Dr. Ellie Staple ( Sarah Paulson ), a renowned psychiatrist, specializing in patients who believe they are superheroes of comics. She has developed an experimental medical procedure to help them get rid of their delusions, but it is not without risk. We do not know if his intentions are honorable or not, and the public's perception of them changes during the film. This complexity of the role required an actress who could not only stand up to three very impressive characters (and actors) - Price, Crumb and Dunn - but also someone of great emotional depth. It was in Sarah Paulson that  Mr. Night Shyamalan found this ideal alliance. He specifies :"I wanted an actress who could equal these three men in terms of the quality of the game, but also the moral strength and the ability to entertain." She also had to be able to compete with them in terms of She had a real presence on the screen in front of these three superstars ... Sarah was chosen to lead this fight and she was more than perfect. "

Mr Glass

At the end of INCASSABLE , Elijah Price proudly confessed his crimes and declared himself the super villain Mr. Glass. Since then, he has been in the psychiatric ward at Raven Hill Hospital. Now unable to leave his wheelchair, he is almost always sedated to prevent him from using his fascinating intellectual abilities. At the beginning of his stay, he had managed to cut off the entire electrical network of the hospital. During his first appearance in GLASS , he is only a shadow of himself, an empty shell with an absent look that does not even realize that his mother comes to visit him and is even less able to answer his questions. . But it soon becomes clear that much more is happening than is believed behind this facade. Samuel L. Jackson explains, "He's pretty much the same guy as before." Elijah is still very calculating, always very vigilant and always very powerful, and spent a lot of time in isolation, which gave him even more time to forge opinions, imagine plans, and dig deeper into what he believes. "

Fight in the rain

Filming a fight scene in the rain was particularly trying for James McAvoy . The comedian says, "It was downright terrible!" Making waterfalls in the rain on the site of this factory was rather fun, but I play someone who does not feel cold, I found myself standing shirtless in the rain howled to shout "I AM THE BEAST!", when I mostly felt like a wet hen freezing with my nipples harder than stone! "  Even worse, James McAvoy had to attack  Bruce Willis while he was carrying a camera. He tells : "Bruce was carrying a camera on a steel stand, the amounts of which were protruding, so when I clung to him with all my strength trying to kill him, those goddamn amounts came in. Fortunately, Bruce is a nice giant. he was great. "

The rooms of the heroes

In the psychiatric hospital, the rooms of the three main characters - Dunn, Price and Crumb - had to integrate harmoniously with the visual style of the hospital, but also be arranged to control the powers of each one of them. It is therefore the characters and the story that guided the design of the sets. Producer  Ashwin Rajan states:"Each room is adapted to the personality of its occupant, and David Dunn, who fears water, is installed in a room with a shower system that can spray him if he tries to escape. Crumb) is kept in a minimalist room with lamps that can control his personality disorders, while Mr. Glass (Price) lives in a padded room to prevent his bones breaking. personality according to the character who lives there. "

The importance of colors

In general, the chief designer  Chris Trujillo aspired to a subtle artistic direction, but using color strategically. He explains: "There is a very specific color theme in all sets and costumes, and the quality of the color is specific to certain places so that the audience understands our intention.A space can have an ethereal, almost claustrophobic atmosphere. while another will be more saturated, with a slightly more sustained color.We try to be very precise as to what we suggest about the psychology of the characters through the color of the spaces.It is perfectly deliberate. "  This will is most striking in the room where Dr. Staple is treating Dunn, Crumb and Price in their group sessions. Chris Trujillo notes: "This huge, fabulous piece is monochrome in pink tones, it was a bit counter-intuitive for me, but  Night was very confident, and in the end the rendering is pretty incredible. this hypnotic room, with a strange atmosphere that is very Kubrick . "

Visual effects

One of the hallmarks of Mr. Night Shyamalan's films  is the seamless integration of visual effects into a real world. Unlike most other great studio movies - and certainly all superhero movies - its effects never draw attention to them. In appearance, it is often impossible to say which elements, if any, are generated by computer. This is explained both by a pure creative will and by practical considerations. Mr. Night Shyamalan explains: "With GLASS, we make a comic film that costs ten times less than another film of this kind. I do it for many reasons, but artistically speaking, I believe in minimalism and constraints. I am convinced that it is when we are confronted with specific parameters that we do our best: here are your four pencils, what chart can you do with it? "

Marvel vs Shyamalan

Mr. Night Shyamalan  wanted the film to be grounded in reality while competing with the level of entertainment the audience expects from a Marvel movie. "The public knows implicitly that when they come to see my films, that's not what they'll see, they'll see a psychological thriller, which gives us an advantage." If you drive at 50 km / h and you climb suddenly to 75 km / h, you feel like 100 km / h, we are counting on this illusion, you are watching a drama and suddenly something extraordinary is happening. image synthesis allowed us to do in this movie. " For GLASS , Mr. Night Shyamalan, Director of Photography  Mike Gioulakisand the rest of the creative team worked with powerhouse company Powerhouse, originally based in Philadelphia, to produce effects that will thrill the audience without taking it out of the movie for a second. The director says, "I've already had filming sessions where I did not trust the special effects team, and when that happened, I was looking for ways to do without it." But when you're working with a company like Powerhouse, you suddenly think it's possible, it's another way of looking at things, they've done a wonderful job and often with things the public will never achieve. "

Music inc (l) sable!

All the sagas, from  STAR WARS to  JURASSIC PARK and BACK TO THE FUTURE , have their own musical themes. The music of these films is immediately recognizable. GLASS is perhaps the third part of a trilogy, but it differs from the others. This is precisely what gave  Mr. Night Shyamalan and his composer  West Dylan Thordson the opportunity to create a score that is unlike anything that has ever been done before. Mr. Night Shyamalan elaborates: "For GLASS , music was a unique challenge because we were producing two films from two different generations.UNCONABLE is still on an old-fashioned Hollywood model. This is unusual and there is a big movement that relies on percussion. It was avant-garde for the time, while being played by an orchestra of 100 musicians. For SPLIT , we adopted a very different sound, almost with a Nine Inch Nails atmosphere. We took a cello sound that we modified by distorting it. Again, it was avant-garde, even for our time. "

Music inc (l) switchable

Composer  West Dylan Thordson has taken up the themes of INCASSABLE , composed by James Newton Howard , and revisits them in his own style and with his own musicality. Mr. Night Shyamalansays, "We got some tones that approached West's music, minimalist, sparse, simple." The composer then used the musical themes he had composed for SPLIT . At the same time, he has composed new pieces specifically for GLASS . Finally, for the INCASSABLE flashback scenes, the team used the original music of this film. The director continues:"In fact, we've gone through an evolution." West has been working on the film for almost a year, he has taken his commitment very seriously, moved to Philadelphia, installed his equipment at home and in our offices, and he started, he has a really unusual way of tackling a project. "   For an experience ultimately not used in the film, the composer even recorded sounds at the Allentown hospital where the scenes of Raven Hill were shot. Mr. Night Shyamalan says:"He was doing incredible things with the drums, he was going and recording all night, after we had finished shooting." At 4 am he was playing drums and playing a violinist, and he recorded the echoes who were swelling in the auditorium and running in the corridors, and these kinds of sound, intellectual and ineffable objects will resonate the scenes in the audience.  "

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