Inspirational director- james wan

1. Inspirational Director-
James Wan
By Matthew Jones

2. Background
James Wan is a film producer, screenwriter and film director with being widely known for
directing many horror films. The Australian director attended the Royal Melbourne Institute of
Technology University where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree, while he started to create
shorts and music videos. Since an early age Wan had always wanted to be a filmmaker and when
he met aspiring filmmaker Leigh Whannell at school they started to create and put together the
idea for a horror movie. With this idea the pair created a short which allowed them to seek
financial support. The US film studio Evolution saw the short and were impressed by the pair
and decided to commision the full feature film which we now know as the renowned horror Saw
(2004). Since then Wan has being involved in many horrors and other genres with some of his
work including Dead Silence (2007), The Conjuring (2013) and Furious 7 (2015).
James Wan and Leigh
Whannell short:

3. Catalogue of James Wan Work
Year Film Director Producer Writer
2000 Stygian Yes No Story
2003 Saw (Short) Yes No Story
2004 Saw Yes No Story
2005 Saw II No Executive No
2006 Saw III No Executive Story
2007
Dead Silence Yes No Story
Dead Sentence Yes No No
Saw IV No Executive No
2008
Doggie Heaven
(short)
Yes No Yes
Saw V No Executive No
2009 Saw VI No Executive No
2010 Saw: The Final
Chapter
No Executive No
2011 Insidious Yes No No
Year Film Director Producer Writer
2013
The Conjuring Yes No No
Insidious:
Chapter 2
Yes No Story
2014 Annabelle No Yes No
2015
Demonic No Yes No
Furious 7 Yes No No
Insidious:
Chapter 3
No Yes No
2016
The Conjuring 2 Yes Yes Story
Lights Out No Yes No
2017
Annabelle:
Creation
No Yes No
Jigsaw No Executive No
2018
Insidious:
Chapter 4
No Yes No
The Nun No Yes Story
Aquaman Yes No Story

4. Saw (2004)
Saw is James Wan’s first feature film directorial debut. The film written by
close friend Leigh Whannell and is based on the story which both had a part
in creating. Once the pair had written the script they had struggled to get
the script produced in Australia but both decided to take the script to LA with
a chance of hopefully being produced. To help them attract producers the pair decided to shoot
a low-budget short film from one scene from their script. Following the short they were very
successful with Evolution Entertainment picking up the film. The film was then given a small
budget of $1.2 million and was shot in only 18 days. In the film two men who awake to find
themselves chained in a large bathroom, with one being ordered to kill the other or his family
will die. The film was incredibly successful with making $103.9 million at the box office. Thus
leading to one of the most successful slasher franchises to be created with its eighth film,
Jigsaw, being theatrically released in 2017 with Wan being the executive producer on the film.
Saw Trailer

5. The Conjuring (2013)
The Conjuring is a supernatural horror film which was his sixth feature film that Wan had
directed. The story which takes place is based on the real life reports of The Amityville Horror
story. In the first instalment of the franchise we follow paranormal investigators Ed and
Lorraine Warren in their assistance of the Perron family, who have been experiencing a high
amount of disturbing events to their home. The principle photography of the film only took 38
days and was filmed around Wilmington, North Carolina. This film also saw the collaboration of
Wan and Patrick Wilson, Ed Warren, who has featured in five of Wan’s featured films and is the
most recurring collaborations that Wan has had. The film received positive reviews and saw a
total box office worldwide of $318 million against the budget of $20 million.
The Conjuring Trailer

6. Directing Style
In Wan’s films a wide range of techniques are used to create the
films and capture his audience. The majority of films that Wan has
made are horrors and involves him using a wide range of camera
shots and using a wide range of cuts to encapsulate his audience. In
his films the use of constant close ups of the characters face to
show their emotion at key moments in the film. This is done so the
audience can feel the fear of the character causing themselves to
become frightened. As well when editing his films the use of rapid
cuts is done to build tension in the narrative causing the audience
to be constantly on edge throughout the film.