James Wan: What makes horror movies work is the idea that "oh my God,...

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.

James Wan

aquariums swimming action

I think you can say a lot with the movement of your camera but you can also say a lot by keeping it still.

James Wan

cameras movement thinking

I always try to better myself with every movie I make. I don't take anything sitting back and so I try to learn from every film I make and carry that onto the next movie because I think it's important as a filmmaker to keep growing with each film and I think I am growing with each movie. And I think it's important because you need to strive to better yourself.

James Wan

important trying thinking

The whole wide world scares me! Seriously. I think what happens in our world is so much more frightening than anything I can come up with in my movies.

James Wan

scare world thinking

I think the financial restraint really pushes me as a director to be more creative with the way I shoot the film.

James Wan

creative directors thinking

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.

James Wan

scare people thinking

We're terrified of shocks but we're so fascinated by it at the same time. We're terrified of spiders and reptiles and all of that but at the same time you're fascinated by them - you want to go to the zoo and go behind the glass and look at all these creepy crawlies! It's the same thing with the supernatural. I think we're very frightened by it.

James Wan

creepy thinking

For me, the sound design and the musical score is a big part of what makes scary movies work.

James Wan

design musical scary

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.

James Wan

cameras helping way

We're not just horror fans. We're film fans. I love action films. I want to do action films. I want to do romantic comedies. I love all this stuff. So, if I find the good material, I'll do it.

James Wan

fans want stuff

I think that's my favorite thing about making scary movies, watching people watch them. When my films come out, I like to cinema hop and know what moments are coming up, I pop my head in and watch people squirm or slide down in their seats. I like that sadism!

James Wan

scary people thinking

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.

James Wan

hey character looks

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.

James Wan

design important believe

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.

James Wan

cinema emotional character

I generally go into a movie with a very strong vision, with how I want to make the film, how I want to shoot the film, how I want to edit the movie, what I want the sound to sound like. So I have a very concrete idea even if I don't storyboard it, I know exactly what I want to do once I get into the sequence. Now having said that, I try not to let that slave me to the process. So if I do storyboard a sequence I don't necessarily stick to it if I discover more exciting things on set.

James Wan

vision strong ideas

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.

James Wan

pain real blood

You know music and sound design can be very powerful with how you use it but also the absence of sound can say a lot as well.

James Wan

design powerful sound

I think you cannot be too complacent. I think that's dangerous and you cannot take anything for granted.

James Wan

granted dangerous thinking

When you work with an actor and then you discover new things that are better, I think you gotta be free to be able to go with the new things that you're finding. I think that's very important. I have a strong idea when I go to shoot a movie but I also love to discover things when I'm on set as well.

James Wan

strong ideas thinking

I always believe your instinct is the most correct instinct.

James Wan

always-believe instinct believe

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?"