research for creative investigation on James wan

1. Research Presentation
Bethany Stephenson

2. My Hypothesis
James Wan is the auteur of his films due to his auteur features that are
consistent throughout his body of work, thematic preoccupations and
certain collaborations.
Primary Sources (focal films):
 Saw (2004)
 Dead silence (2007)
 The Conjuring (2013)
I have chosen these three films as one of them is from the beginning of
his career (Saw) and the other two are more recent (Dead Silence and
The Conjuring). I thought this would be good to show how his style has
developed but also to show that he has distinct auteur features that are
consistent throughout his body of work. Therefore, these films allow me
to consider the three major points of my research.

3. Saw (2004)
Saw (2004) was Wan’s first feature film in which he
wrote, directed and produced meaning he was
there for every phase of the production of the film
which means from pre-production to release. It is
an American horror film about two strangers that
awaken in a room with no recollection of how they
got there or why and they soon discover they are
pawns in a deadly game perpetrated by a notorious
serial killer.
Although this film was made in 2004 where as my
other focal films were made more recently, I believe
that this is one of the best films to analyse when
looking at Wan as an auteur as it was the beginning
of his career and his distinctive style that would
highly influence his later films.

4. Progression from Saw to now
 Auteur features such as use of wide angles and dark
lighting used however has developed through
technological advances especially in The Conjuring.
 Themes like religion, spirituality and death are
consistent with his future work.
 Narrative style has changed as his later work
became less linear and more based on true stories
and often used paranormal scare rather then
psychological scare.

5. Dead silence
 Dead Silence (2007) is an American horror
film about a young widower who returns to
his hometown in order to search for
answers to his wife’s murder, which may
be linked to the ghost of a murdered
ventriloquist.
 This is one of Wan’s least credited films as
it didn’t get any nominations for any
awards therefore resulting in having no
wins; having met with almost entirely
positive reviews. This is because the film
had some few poor scenes but then
leading on to keeping the audience waiting
to jump but overall the main point of the
film is to be horror and nothing more.
 I chose to use this film as one of my
primary sources because I believe this is
one of the best films that represent his
distinctive visual style along with it showing
the progression from his first feature Saw
(2004). It also again shows his consistent
themes and collaborators.

6. The Conjuring
 The Conjuring (2013) is one of Wan’s most
recent released films and is one of Wan’s
most successful and critically acclaimed
horror film.
 It is a mystery thriller film, about
paranormal investigators who work to help
a family who are terrorised by a dark
presence in their farmhouse.
 This film is regarded as one of Wan’s
greatest film; I chose it because the film
marked the return of James wan to the
directors’ seat and his return to horror film.
I believe it would be interesting to see the
similarities and differences between his
first film and recent film and between his
two most recent films, in terms of my three
subtopics.

7. My three sub-topics
 Auteur features (visual style)
 Thematic preoccupations (recurring motifs)
 Collaborations

8. Auteur Features
Wan has a consistent visual style throughout his body
of work as demonstrated through the following auteur
features:
 Steadicam shots
 Wide angle shots
 Cluttered mise-en-scene
 Manic editing
 Nauseating colour scheme
 Hand held footage

9. Auteur Theory
Auteur theory suggests that consistent visual style throughout a directors body of work makes them
the auteur of their films which I believe Wan has from the many auteur features that can be recognised
throughout his body of work. However there are many disputes which arises because the concept of
authorship has at least 3 different meanings. These are: Author as production worker, Author as
personality and Author as a group of films.
 Cahiers du cinema argues that films should reflect the directors personal visual; an auteur to have
a distinctive style throughout his body of work.
 David Kipen argues against auteur theory and proposes “the Schreiber theory which essentially
suggests that the screen writer is the auteur of a film - “A filmgoer seeking out pictures written by,
say, Eric Roth or Charlie Kauffman won’t always see a masterpiece, but he’ll see fewer clunkers
than he would following even a brilliant director like John Boorman, or an intelligent actor like Jeff
Goldbum. It’s all a matter of betting on the fastest horse, instead of the most highly touted or the
prettiest”.
 Sarris said that an auteur can be recognised by technical competence and distinguishable styles -
“Over a group of films a director must exhibit certain recurrent characteristics of style, which serve
as his signature”.
 Another theorist that supports Sarris is Francois Truffaunt

10. Thematic preoccupations
Wan has a consistent motifs throughout his body of
work:
 Death
 Spirituality
 Cherish what you have
 Never wish upon the devil
 Good vs Evil

11. Collaborations
Wan has a consistent visual style throughout his body
of work as demonstrated through the following auteur
features:
 Leigh Whannell- worked on most of Wans film as a
producer.
 John R. Leonetti.- worked on some of wans films as
a cinematographer.