Friday, 23 October 2015

Thriller Director Case Study: James Wan & Marc Forster

 


James Wan was born on 27th February 1977 in Malaysia. He was bought up in Australia, where he got his bachelor of Art degree from Melbourne Institute of Technology', which is located in Melbourne.  Wan is an Australian film producer and director, who is well recognized for directing horror movies such as 'Saw' as this was his first official full-length movie.


Wan mostly directs thriller/horror genre movies:


James Wan
What are the similarities/differences between most famous works of James Wan?
What codes/convention does he use that fit in with the thriller genre?
What subgenres do these films fit in to?
To what extend has the director, James Wan, influenced the thriller genre?  
Saw (2004)

Similarities:
Wan mostly directs movies where the movie is based around one family.
The story is based on ‘Todorov Narrative Theory’.  
Background music, Settings, costumes, props.

Horror, Gore, Psychological, Suspense  
He has used different techniques to make the movie interesting such as the way he films it and the way he orders his scenes.
Death sentence (2007)

Settings, Background music, costumes, props.


Revenge, Action, Suspense, Mystery 
Insidious (2011) & Insidious: Chapter 2


Differences:
·         Has different sub-genres
·         Some are naturalist and some are non-naturalist (ghosts/sprits)

Settings, Background music, costumes, props.

Horror, Romance, Family, Suspense, Mystery 
The Conjuring (2013)

Settings, Background music, costumes, props.

Horror, Romance, Family, Suspense, Mystery 
Fast & Furious 7 (2015)


Settings, Background music, costumes, props.

Romance, Action, Adventure,Crime(some)


















Marc Forster was born on 30th November, 1969 in Illertissen, Germany however his family moved to Switzerland. Interesting facts about Forster is that in his early career he was proposed to direct a movie, where he would have received $500,000 but refused even though he was unemployed. This was because Foroster found the script was of atrocious quality. Not only that, he was also offered to direct Harry Potter and the prison of Azkaban, but instead directed Finding Neverland.  
   
Marc Forster
What are the similarities/differences between most famous works of James Wan?
What codes/convention does he use that fit in with the thriller genre?
What subgenres do these films fit in to?
To what extend has the director, Marcus Nispel, influenced the thriller genre?   
Stay (2005)

Similarities:
·         Most of his movie contains action scenes.
·         Contains guns & bombs
·         His story is based on ‘Todorov Narrative Theory’.  
 



Psychological, Mystery, Suspense
Most of his movies are based on true story. He has challenged the stereotypical view of how protagonist has to be played by a white male character.    
The Kite runner (2007)



Friendship, War, Action, Real-life.

Quantum of Solace
(2008)

Difference:
·         Different sub-genres
·         Some are naturalist and some are non-naturalist (ghosts/sprits)



Action, Adventure, Romance, Crime, Spy, Revenge.
Machine Gin Preacher
(2011)

Real-life story, War, Action, Suspense.
World War Z
(2013 )


Action, Non-naturalistic (zombies), Gore, Family, Romance.

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