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It IS DEFINITELY a stunt.

They pulled the same irritating crap with The Blair Witch Project.

Made a documentary they said was REAL and TERRIFYING.

It is just to promote the movie.  Nothing more.  I doubt there will be much truth in it whatsoever.

I was very irritated with Scifi Channel the first time.  

It won't make me stop watching them.  I love the channel.

But it does irritate me that they LIE for publicity.  It is not simply acting, because they advertise it as the truth.  That makes it a LIE.

This kind of crap should be below Scifi Channel.  They could have said it was a Fantasy Biography and I would have watched it anyway.  They do not have to LIE.

It's all advertising, just remember:

"Advertising is the rattling of a stick insdie a swill bucket." - George Orwell

"Advertising is legalized lying." - H.G. Wells

"Advertising is a valuable economic factor because it is the cheapest way of selling goods, particularly if the goods are worthless." - Sinclair Lewis

A paper called PAGE SIX reported that the "secret" involved a drowning M. Night witnessed when he was eleven years old. For real. This would explain his negative view on water in his movies.

Well I still enjoy Sci-Fi, but what I'm really looking forward to is October 31, 2004, when The Horror Channel hits the air. And kind of OT, have any of you seen the Sci-Fi movie "4400"? It's a decent WPAM. (Weird Post Apocalyptic Movie).

The only 4400 I know of is the USA (limited) series, about 4400 people who went missing, being returned in a ball of light.

It's called a "Mock-umentary"

That's what "The Buried Secret of M. Night Shyamalan" was - it was a piece of entertainment that was produced to promote Shyamalan's latest film. I keep reading where people are debating if it was "real" or a "hoax" but it's neither of those...are you people actually unfamiliar with the films of Christopher Guest like "This is Spinal Tap" or "Best in Show" - ????

Guest does his mockumentary movies as comedy, so I assume that's why you never hear about any of his stuff being labeled "a hoax" - but the mockumentry style works just as well for other genres, too.

The SciFi Channel even aired a very similar mockumentary a few years ago that tied in with the national release of "The Blair Witch Project" - I think the SciFi mockumentary was called "Curse of the Blair Witch" (or something like that) - and in it, they interviewed family members, professors, etc of those three "Blair Witch kids" - and they did the whole thing completely seriously, as if you were watching a genuine dockumentary.

THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT TO THAT STYLE!!!!

It's supposed to come across like it's "real" - but it certainly isn't a hoax in any way...it's just a particular style of entertainment and it's been around for quite a while.

That is really the difference. Guest's movies are presented as 100% comedy and fiction, in a documentary style. Everything is silly and over the top, there are recognizable actors, and no one is ever intentionally led to believe that it is anything but satire. You have to be pretty dumb to be fooled. The aim is to entertain, not mislead.

Make the movie serious in tone, centre it around a real person, and advertise it as a documentary, and that's a hoax. The aim  is to suck in as many gullible people as possible. Much as the Curse of the Blair Witch attempted to fool people into thinking that movie was at least based on a real legend.

Can't say I've ever heard anyone debate the reality of Best in Show or Waiting for Guffman. They're clearly fiction, although there is a lot of truth in them. More truth than you will find in a crappy publicity stunt masquerading as something real.

well...

I think "The Buried Secret of M. Night Shyamalan" was equally as identifiable as an entertainment piece (not a "real documentary" I mean) as is anything by Christopher Guest.

The very first scene were the host guy returns to his hotel room and finds that he has been mysteriously "checked out" of the hotel and all of his possessions have vanished - I think that tips off the audience right away, so it really isn't an attempt at "hoaxing" the viewer.

If an event like that would have really happened...in fact, if any of what we saw in  "The Buried Secret of M. Night Shyamalan"  would have "really happened" it would have been all over the news! There are a huge amount of entertainment news sources now, like the programs "Entertainment Tonight" and "Access Hollywood" and all of the magazines like the National Inquirer, etc - even CNN has a whole "entertainment department" with regular spots each day devoted to covering entertainment news so almost everything that occurs within the entertainment industry is reported to the public...even if the public really has no interest  (were any of us spared the news of Ben and J-Lo's tragic break-up?) ...if the events of  "The Buried Secret of M. Night Shyamalan" were "real" we (the public) would have heard all about it long before SciFi aired that program.

It was the same way with "The Blair Witch Project" - if any of it had been "real" (college aged kids out making their own documentary who simply vanish off the face of the Earth, with the footage surfacing some time later showing supernatural events) - that would be an absolutely HUGE story...there is no way any of us could have possibly been spared the details every time we picked up a newspaper or turned on the tv.

I don't blame the producers of this style of entertainment if members of the public actually "buy into" the whole thing...publicity, after all, is their goal.

Now...take a step back from "The Buried Secret of M. Night Shyamalan" and let's say that you worked for the SciFi Channel and you knew all along that they were producing a "mockumentary" to promote the release of Shyamalan's latest movie. You look at the finished product and you're only real concern is:

"Will this entertain people?"

I think it was pretty well done, and ultimately it was entertaining.  I think that's the bottom line.

i know man sci fi sometimes lies just 2 get ppl 2 watch it

ummmmm...

no.

That's like saying the producers of the movie "Spiderman II" were lying because Tobey Maguire really can't do all of the stuff he did in the movie - they used CGI special effects to lie to people just to get people to go to the movie.

It's all just entertainment.

Then advertise it as such. If it's any good, people won't need to be tricked into watching it.

I can't believe I'm even participating in this discussion, since debate is exactly what the idiots at Sci-fi want, and it's not worth it. But when you compare anything by Christopher Guest to this crap, it's hard to sit still.

yeah - but you are debating it!

That's the point! That's what "they" wanted - and it's ok because all of entertainment IS a business...a movie sets out to make money, and nothing more. It doesn't matter if the absolute greatest piece of literature on Earth is sitting (in screenplay form) in the hands of some Hollywood producer, that great piece of literature will not be made into a movie unless it is believed that a profit will result from the project.

That's how all entertainment works...so that thing that the SciFi channel aired was meant to generate publicity and ultimately profit. There isn't anything wrong with that - it caused you and I to have this discussion, Andy (sorry for being so informal) so it was successful.

-and I prefer anything by Christopher Guest, too - but I still like entertainment with a "supernatural overtone" to it. I'm a sucker for any sort of documentary dealing with ghosts, but I also know that all of these types of shows are fake to some extent...because nobody has ever been able to prove the existence of the supernatural (I even think they made that point somewhere in  "The Buried Secret of M. Night Shyamalan" too) - and it is a valid point....no documentary has ever captured any "real" footage of a ghost on film.  I know that but I still love anything supernatural that airs on the Discovery Channel and I even watch those "America's Most Haunted Places" shows on the Travel Channel.

We watch that stuff because we like to be scared, even when common sense tells us it's all fake.....

Are you upset because you absolutely KNOW beyond the shadow of a doubt that "The Buried Secret of M. Night Shyamalan" was just fiction?

I mean - would you have liked it better if it tried to actually present itself as being "more real" or actually probable in some way?

Did you ever see anything about any other movie that was made for suspense having a disclamer saying "This movie is in no way true, it is a work of fiction" The answer is no!  They should not have to announce anything, it was made for the simple reason to get people curious about Night's movies and maybe nudge them to go and see 'The Village'
Spiderman never said anything about not being true.  Maybe somewhere out there is someone who really thinks that Parker is a real guy that really got bit by a spider and now has all of these powers.   They should not have to make it so that  people who are gullable(sp)  enough to think this is real, are not tricked.

in answer to this:

Did you ever see anything about any other movie that was made for suspense having a disclamer saying "This movie is in no way true, it is a work of fiction" The answer is no!


I've seen it the other way around.

The movie "Fargo" (written and directed by the Coen Brothers and starring Francis McDormand and William H Macy) starts out with a disclaimer that the events in the movie are entirely based on a true story...only some time later (like years after the movie had been released) they revealed that there was no "true story" and it was completely a work of fiction. They explained that the use of the "true story disclaimer" at the beginning of the film was just a way to set the tone that they wanted. They believed that the audience would accept certain things more easily if they believed the film had been based on an actual event.

When I first learned that there was no "true story" from which "Fargo" was based, it didn't bother me at all...it's a great movie (one of my favorites, in fact) and learning that the Coen Brothers had faked their disclaimer just makes the movie a little more interesting, I guess.

I don't have any idea what my point is....I guess I'm still just saying "Entertainment is Entertainment"

Nope, I just feel people were led to believe they were getting something else, perhaps some real dirt on the director. As it is, I'd say they got something better, but that's not really the point. Besides being dishonest, it plays on morbid curiosity.

On the other side of the coin, I'd be more likely to watch something that was simply billed as a scary story than I would something suggesting that it's going to give me the "buried secret" of some celebrity.

Can't say I'm really bothered by any of it. It's harmless enough. I just don't like what it says about human nature.

"I just don't like what it says about human nature."


ok, I do see your point there....while it is certainly a harmless form of entertainment, it really isn't an example of "creative professionals working at their best" is it?

???horror channel, ?will comcast have this channel???

of all the statements and replys made...none of them left open the possibility for belief. it seems to me many of you sat down in front of your tv's with closed mind. what would happen if one day someone did capture a bit of truth about the supernatural on film...who would believe it? would anyone? oh wait, the ignorant people might, right?

heres my view. the last thing night needs is money or fame, hes got both. realistically more than half of the people who see the 'documentary' will believe, be it ignorant or not. i cant see night wanting to be remembered as the guy who died - made friends with a dead kid named henry, and then came back to life to make movies about it. why would he want to go from being known as a thriller movie genius to a psycho who makes f--ked up autobiographys. hes got a family, he wouldnt want that for his kids or his wife.

 im not saying i believe, but i am aware that mr. shyamalan isnt your average director. there are so many connections between his childhood and his movies. and all the repetitions in his movies - like the water. anyone who will only answer preapproved questions is obviously hiding something. im sure this was all a set up, but im not sure who set up who. dont just look at the obvious, look deeper - maybe there is a little more to this than box office sales. what is it about phladelphia that inspires him? that seems to be his dirty little secret, but its also his secret to success.  

...without secrets life would be boring, dont you think?

http://www.joblo.com/index.php?id=4829

I watched it and I thought is was sort of funny how all these "things" sort of fall into place for no real reason. Like that kid who was the "big fan" where the f**k did he come from. I was sort of beliveing it.....for a sec. It's kinda sad that they couldn't just tell the REAL story b/c I like M. NIght I respsct him as a writer and director. The only reason I watched it was b/c I didn't really know anything about.....and I feel like I still don't!!!

That part about how his house in real life and the one in Signs are alike is stupid. So what? Maybe that's where he got the inspiration for it. It doesn't mean it really happen!! Come on people!!!!

And that fan site where they told him all this stuff.......does anyone know the addresses???? URL????

Laterz!!!

the site is at:

http://www.nightshyamalan.com/mns_site.5.html

but it was obviously just created very recently to tie in with the tv special....I've been debating there all day, too.

This is the most self-indulgent piece of trash I've ever seen. Shyamalan is no great filmmaker anyway. The doc has made me even less interested in the man's films and i definitely won't see the village until it comes on tv.

I see dumb people

Shadaap M night..   I think Sci Fi was duped with Blair witch.. i remember watching it on video like a year or 2 b4 the super hype and it convinced my ass to the point of not being sure either way... But this was just blatant marketing spewage.

there is a forum at nightshyamalan.com that you can go to and talk all you want about the doc the hoax or whether you truly believe (God help you)

Let us get over and on with it and into something more interesting to talk about..

lol, that is what we're supposed to be doing, talking about it. The spent all that money just to get us to talk.

yeah, so people should be on their website talking about it so they can make their money back...lol.  There is a whole forum dedicated it to this stuff...I talked about it too, but man it is dragging out!  Although I did enjoy the comment posted "I see dumb people"  :0)

Hey, the biggest clue was in the beginning credits.  There was a line there "Written by..."  A documentary is not "written."  I'll admit tho - I thought is was okay.

the narration for a doc is written, the interviews are not.  most docs have a written by.  this one just happened to have that AND be a hoax.

Per the buzz on the SciFi take of Night, and the Village; our non-fictional story of the same has been existant on the internet since 1995 at:

http://www.endtimeschronicles.com/j.htm

We advised touchstone, Buena Vista and Disney that our precedence in this issue existed and that the secrecy surrounding the Village is uncalled for as any can come visit the real region where this evil exists.
The photos are real, and the place is readily accessible for any tourist to view and photograph.

As for the photograph of Night, we maintain a database of the marks of mankind which is a mirror copy of the Vaticans and identified Nights photo from the special as we have attemtped to contact them per our precedence.

It should be no mystery, and you can view the pictures on the site and its map location, for it exists and cannot dissapear; as well as anyones marks on their face and their hands.

We have attempted to contact C Greene and Kahn to provide the information, yet they are busy on another project

View our information, and if possible-come to the real "Village" that exists without mystery, and then you can find the same in your own area and we do provide a photo service to identify marks on all individuals.

...ok....I went to the site you had listed and I can only think this: HAHAHAHAHA! You're f'in kidding, right?



Post Edited (07-27-04 10:10)