James Wan
James Wan
James Wan is a Malaysian-Australian film director, screenwriter, and producer...
NationalityAustralian
ProfessionDirector
Date of Birth26 February 1977
CityKuching, Malaysia
CountryAustralia
believe design important
Designing the technical aspects of my camera movement for me is very important. I want the camera to be a big part in telling the story as well, like what I really believe in with all the films I make.
character kind horror
I've always said that with a lot of the horror franchises that I've started, it's like directing a pilot. I come in, I direct the first movie and all these directors come in and direct all the sequels after me and hey have to kind of retain the look, the tone, and the characters.
audience
I don't like talking about sequels or spinoffs or franchise until they actually happen, until they actually work with the audience.
pain real blood
Not many people realize this, but I'm a really squeamish guy. When I watch other horror films that are really over-the-top with their blood and guts, I cannot watch it. So if my threshold to something onscreen is at that level, you can imagine how my threshold is to all the pain and suffering that is happening in the real world.
scary design musical
For me, the sound design and the musical score is a big part of what makes scary movies work.
character emotional cinema
For me and my films, I want my audience to experience cinema in its full glory. It's not just visual, it's audio as well. It's emotional, and I want you to be engaged with not just the scene but with the characters.
swimming aquariums action
When you're watching an action movie, you experience an action movie more outside of the aquarium, you're out of the aquarium looking in at all the swimming fish that are in there. Whereas horror films and thrillers are designed to put the audience into that box, into that aquarium.
thinking intellectual popcorn
Whether it's a popcorn movie or some really intellectual sociopolitical movie, I think to some degree they're all influenced by the social climate that we're living in.
one-day fans want
I'm a big movie fan, and I want to make movies in every genre. I want to make my romantic comedy one day.
thinking people important
We think craft is important, and the irony has always been that horror may be disregarded by critics, but often they are the best-made movies you're going to find in terms of craft. You can't scare people if they see the seams.
night doors ideas
What makes horror movies work is the idea that "oh my God, what would I do if I were in that situation? How would I get out of that alive? What would I do if I saw the door to my closet creaking open in the middle of the night and a doll on a tricycle comes riding out?"
way cameras helping
I realized that my camera work could help me in a lot of ways to put the audience in the driver's seat, so to speak, to get them in there with the action, and to get them as close and be as intimate with what was going on on-screen as possible.
smart artist looks
If I'm smart as an artist, I wouldn't be a snob and turn it down, because I'd look at it and go, this is great stuff, but I definitely do want to experiment in other genres, or make films in other genres.
believe instinct always-believe
I always believe your instinct is the most correct instinct.