Does James Wan's use of isolated children in his horror films make him an auteur?
Films
Item 1: The Conjuring 2 (2016)
Item 1: The Conjuring 2 (2016)
I chose this as my focus film because it is Wan's most recent film that supports my hypothesis. Wan's use of isolated children is prevalent in the majority of his horror films and I believe that this could possibly link to the fact that he himself feels isolated due to his background. The film heavily focuses on utilizing shadows in an attempt to fool the viewer into thinking something is lurking when it is in fact not; it's mise-en-scene being dark and eerie also adds to this. Wan's directing is evident when watching one of his horror features as he embraces complex narratives and character backstories, and it is these complexities that add to the thought of him being an auteur.
Item 2: Insidious (2010)
The first installment of the Insidious franchise shows further support for my question as Dalton, the main child character, is noticeably isolated for 99% of the film. Also, when watching Insidious and The Conjuring 2 the similarities in the directing style are evident through the use of low-key lighting and dark miss-en-scene. Like my other supporting film of choice, Insidious focuses on the isolation of the child to create fear and suspense within the audience and there are several key scenes that show this perfectly.
Item 3: Annabelle (2014)
My other supporting film, Annabelle, clearly shows isolation of children but more subtly. With the family moving into a new house with their baby, there are several shots where the baby is left isolated. Even though the demon is attached to the doll and is mainly targeting the mother, Wan's use of isolated children to induce fear is still apparent with this film. Annabelle's cinematography is highly similar to both Insidious and The Conjuring 2 and is easily recognizable as one of Wan's works.
Books
Item 4: The Filmmaker's Book of the Dead: A Mortal's Guide to Making Horror Movies
This book about how to make horror movies contains a short interview and bio on/with James Wan. He discusses how shooting the low-budget first Saw film went and vaguely discusses his directing styles. There is a paragraph from Wan explaining how he conducts himself with his actors and the characters they're portraying which will be helpful to me when linking his directing style to his own upbringing and life.
Item 5: Teach Yourself Film Studies by Warren Buckland
This particular book includes some helpful quotes that solidify my case. Not only discussing the details of auteur theory but also what makes a director an auteur.
Websites
Item 6: http://www.slideshare.net/karismakhuttan96/director-case-study-28674141
This past evidence on Wan's backstory and directing style techniques is helpful to me by explaining several different cinematographic techniques he uses in a large proportion of his films. It also talks about style used in The Conjuring; my focus film The Conjuring 2 is also part of this franchise. Because it talks about the styles of the same franchise it links to my question and will help me validate my hypothesis on whether Wan could be considered an auteur by his use of isolated children and other such techniques.
Interviews
Item 7: Slash Film
This online interview shows Wan talking about a particularly long take within The Conjuring 2 in which the ghost of Bill Wilkins is interviewed. The camera remains motionless on Ed, the interviewer, the a shallow depth of field. This is because Bill claims that he won't speak unless Ed is turned around and not looking therefore we see Ed's emotions but not Bill's. The separation between Bill, who is speaking through Janet the isolated child, and Ed is apparent; the space between the two of them is completely empty, further creating distance. This interview helps to support my question by taking about Wan's use of separation and his child actors within my focus film.
Item 8: Director James Wan discusses 'Insidious'
This YouTube interview by MakingOf not only gets Wan discussing Insidious but also touches on his influences and starting out as horror director. Because of this I will be including it in my presentation as it links to my question. Talking about his background, Wan gives us more of an insight into his mind as a horror movie director and his passion for film. It is how Wan describes the differences between his directing style in Insidious, which he has stuck more to with the haunted house sub-genre, and Saw. However he does describe Saw as being written as a psychological thriller but shot as a horror. The depth that he goes into when explaining his directing style is of utmost help to me.
Documentaries
Item 9: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfHnuZqtV68 "The Origins of Auteur Theory"
This short 20 minute documentary explains the origins and meanings behind auteur theory, this is helpful to my study because with an in depth history on the subject I can better uncloud my judgement on whether Wan is or is not in fact an auteur for his directing techniques. The history of auteur theory in fact quite interesting in itself and could prove an invaluable source to help with my question. Resources helping to better explain auteur theory in several mediums are forever helpful.
Item 10: https://vimeo.com/171209898 "James Wan:Sound and Suspense"
This 5 and a half minute long short explores Wan's signature use of tension building cinematography. It goes on to discuss how he utilizes subtle light and music cues to induce terror into his audiences. Although not directly speaking about his use of isolated children, it does clearly show several scenes with isolated children within them to either cause fear and feel fear; because of this I can use this shot documentary style spoken essay as a credible source for the answer to my original question.
Item 11: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQK01Mm7M_Q "How James Wan conjures up a scare"
This short documentary explains 5 main ways how Wan 'conjures' up a scare, non of which directly mention the use of isolated children. However, it does go into vast detail on how we manages to shoot his films in the way that the audience begin to genuinely care for the characters well-being and therefore builds a one-way platonic relationship with them. This can link to child isolation as it is a common feature throughout Wan's horror films and it is one of the many ways he grabs his audiences attention to care for his characters. Because his use of isolated children has not been properly explored yet my research will be one of the first to break this barrier.
Extras:
Item 12: Waterphone music video ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjjQqd0eLzw )
Waterphone music is prominent in Wan's horror features and is common within the horror genre. This piece of music will be used to add to the effect my presentation will give to the audience. It will be played as a video instead of a sound clip in order to let the audience see what a waterphone looks like as it is an unusual instrument.
Rejected items:
The first installment of the Insidious franchise shows further support for my question as Dalton, the main child character, is noticeably isolated for 99% of the film. Also, when watching Insidious and The Conjuring 2 the similarities in the directing style are evident through the use of low-key lighting and dark miss-en-scene. Like my other supporting film of choice, Insidious focuses on the isolation of the child to create fear and suspense within the audience and there are several key scenes that show this perfectly.
Item 3: Annabelle (2014)
My other supporting film, Annabelle, clearly shows isolation of children but more subtly. With the family moving into a new house with their baby, there are several shots where the baby is left isolated. Even though the demon is attached to the doll and is mainly targeting the mother, Wan's use of isolated children to induce fear is still apparent with this film. Annabelle's cinematography is highly similar to both Insidious and The Conjuring 2 and is easily recognizable as one of Wan's works.
Books
Item 4: The Filmmaker's Book of the Dead: A Mortal's Guide to Making Horror Movies
This book about how to make horror movies contains a short interview and bio on/with James Wan. He discusses how shooting the low-budget first Saw film went and vaguely discusses his directing styles. There is a paragraph from Wan explaining how he conducts himself with his actors and the characters they're portraying which will be helpful to me when linking his directing style to his own upbringing and life.
Item 5: Teach Yourself Film Studies by Warren Buckland
This particular book includes some helpful quotes that solidify my case. Not only discussing the details of auteur theory but also what makes a director an auteur.
Websites
Item 6: http://www.slideshare.net/karismakhuttan96/director-case-study-28674141
This past evidence on Wan's backstory and directing style techniques is helpful to me by explaining several different cinematographic techniques he uses in a large proportion of his films. It also talks about style used in The Conjuring; my focus film The Conjuring 2 is also part of this franchise. Because it talks about the styles of the same franchise it links to my question and will help me validate my hypothesis on whether Wan could be considered an auteur by his use of isolated children and other such techniques.
Interviews
Item 7: Slash Film
This online interview shows Wan talking about a particularly long take within The Conjuring 2 in which the ghost of Bill Wilkins is interviewed. The camera remains motionless on Ed, the interviewer, the a shallow depth of field. This is because Bill claims that he won't speak unless Ed is turned around and not looking therefore we see Ed's emotions but not Bill's. The separation between Bill, who is speaking through Janet the isolated child, and Ed is apparent; the space between the two of them is completely empty, further creating distance. This interview helps to support my question by taking about Wan's use of separation and his child actors within my focus film.
Item 8: Director James Wan discusses 'Insidious'
This YouTube interview by MakingOf not only gets Wan discussing Insidious but also touches on his influences and starting out as horror director. Because of this I will be including it in my presentation as it links to my question. Talking about his background, Wan gives us more of an insight into his mind as a horror movie director and his passion for film. It is how Wan describes the differences between his directing style in Insidious, which he has stuck more to with the haunted house sub-genre, and Saw. However he does describe Saw as being written as a psychological thriller but shot as a horror. The depth that he goes into when explaining his directing style is of utmost help to me.
Documentaries
Item 9: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfHnuZqtV68 "The Origins of Auteur Theory"
This short 20 minute documentary explains the origins and meanings behind auteur theory, this is helpful to my study because with an in depth history on the subject I can better uncloud my judgement on whether Wan is or is not in fact an auteur for his directing techniques. The history of auteur theory in fact quite interesting in itself and could prove an invaluable source to help with my question. Resources helping to better explain auteur theory in several mediums are forever helpful.
Item 10: https://vimeo.com/171209898 "James Wan:Sound and Suspense"
This 5 and a half minute long short explores Wan's signature use of tension building cinematography. It goes on to discuss how he utilizes subtle light and music cues to induce terror into his audiences. Although not directly speaking about his use of isolated children, it does clearly show several scenes with isolated children within them to either cause fear and feel fear; because of this I can use this shot documentary style spoken essay as a credible source for the answer to my original question.
Item 11: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQK01Mm7M_Q "How James Wan conjures up a scare"
This short documentary explains 5 main ways how Wan 'conjures' up a scare, non of which directly mention the use of isolated children. However, it does go into vast detail on how we manages to shoot his films in the way that the audience begin to genuinely care for the characters well-being and therefore builds a one-way platonic relationship with them. This can link to child isolation as it is a common feature throughout Wan's horror films and it is one of the many ways he grabs his audiences attention to care for his characters. Because his use of isolated children has not been properly explored yet my research will be one of the first to break this barrier.
Extras:
Item 12: Waterphone music video ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjjQqd0eLzw )
Waterphone music is prominent in Wan's horror features and is common within the horror genre. This piece of music will be used to add to the effect my presentation will give to the audience. It will be played as a video instead of a sound clip in order to let the audience see what a waterphone looks like as it is an unusual instrument.
Rejected items:
- Saw (2004) - This film was rejected because although it is indeed a horror, it is more gore than the suspenseful paranormal side of Wan's films that I am exploring.
- Lights Out (2016) - Many think that Wan directed this film but in actual fact he only produced it, therefore not getting as much creative input as the director would get. For this reason I have rejected this possible source.
- Furious 7 (2015) - Wan decided to branch out from his normal horror genre films to make this action hit last year so that he did not get bored of making horror films. So even though he did direct this, it has no relation to my hypothesis and thus is rejected.
- Horror, the film reader (book) - Although being about the horror genre, this book is too general and does not relate to my question. It also does not contain anything about auteur theory.
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