Directors are like this

I, René, am the actual producer of "Saw".

Lyman, he's just a phony.

Alright, the above was all said in frustration.

Because René was truly annoyed, not at Lyman's irresponsibility or anything, but because the director, James Wan, was being a damn slacker.

You see, the production cost of "Saw" was a solid $15M, even after deducting the actors' expenses, there's still over $8M left.

And now, not even four days into shooting, the actual progress of filming wasn't much at all. In the blink of an eye, over a million had been spent and it was nowhere to be seen.

And this was with him there helping to cut corners. If not for that, who knows how much they would have spent.

In theory, this early stage of filming mostly revolved around a basement as a set, and most directors would just use set design and props to recreate the internal structure, dim the lights to simulate it, and that would be that.

Not him, he said it lacked a sense of depth, so he actually rented a real basement.

This... didn't it cost money?

So, when he saw Lyman coming to the set, his first words weren't a greeting, but rather, "You finally showed up."

Within his words, there was a hint of reproach.

Lyman also felt a bit embarrassed. Everyone else was helping out, and he had taken two days off to move into his new house.

"Isn't it because I'm too busy?"

"Then go take a look on the set."

"What's wrong? Did something happen?" Lyman felt something was off and quickly asked.

"You'll know when you see it."

René emphasized this, and Lyman didn't have the mood to continue chatting. He could only head to the filming location.

...

"Saw" began shooting at the end of June.

It was also James' first time officially directing, and he was full of spirit and tirelessness.

He wished he could use every moment of the day for shooting, except for the necessary restroom breaks and meals.

Of course, the actors wouldn't allow it, and the union wouldn't approve. Even though he thought that way, he didn't have the means to do it.

However, he was still quite diligent. He would often study the next day's shots even when he went home at night, sometimes getting only 4 or 5 hours of sleep.

In theory, with this approach, the filming progress should be swift.

Unfortunately, it was all in vain...

As soon as Lyman entered the set, he felt that the atmosphere was a bit off.

The actors, including the filming team, were all in a bad mood, emitting a sense of suppression.

Even people who knew him felt the same way.

Hugo Weaving was reading the script with his head down; J.K. Simmons was doing his makeup; Jason Statham was resting his chin with closed eyes...

Something was off, very off.

Of course, James could feel that something was wrong with his crew. He wasn't blind; their emotions were written all over their faces.

But he didn't know where the problem was. He felt he was working quite hard. Maybe it was because the shooting volume these days far exceeded expectations?

Well, if he thought that way, it meant this guy didn't realize where the problem lay.

Actually, René knew, but he hadn't interacted much with James before, and before he joined the set, Lyman had asked him to look out for James more, so he didn't remind him.

After all, saying it out loud would be quite discouraging.

The situation was quite simple.

Lyman chatted with a few actors during a shooting break and figured it out.

The plot of "Saw" wasn't that complicated, and it didn't have much depth.

There were few characters, just one main plotline and one subplot. Apart from the identity reversal of the Jigsaw in the end, it was somewhat novel, but thinking about it, it was just like that.

Quite pale.

The reason it succeeded so well was due to the contrast with other works in the industry. Added to that, the film maintained a good pace, keeping the audience interested until the end.

Moreover, there was a considerable market base in the US for bloody cult films, and with a basically decent story, the results weren't bad.

Several main characters—Lawrence, Adam, and David Tapp—drove the plot development, so they naturally had substantial screen time.

However, James decided to break from the usual path doing some inexplicable stuff. Over the past few days of shooting, he gave a lot of screen time to those background extras, and even dug into Lawrence's family story.

Come on, who cared about his family situation? It could have been brushed over, but he insisted on expanding it.

That was very exasperating.

Who would want to do something so pointless? After such exhausting shooting, in the end, it would all be cut in editing.

It was like he was just playing around.

And the filming team was originally selected by Paramount and EuropaCorp, experienced people in the industry. With a director like James, who had so many ideas, it was natural for them to be somewhat dissatisfied. But they couldn't just burst out, after all, he was the director.

As for the actors, they definitely weren't too happy either.

They had delivered solid performances for their roles but didn't get much in return.

Spending every day on the set, shooting scenes that didn't even connect to the main plot.

They even suspected that James was deliberately messing with them to shoot in this manner.

For heaven's sake, had he thought about the family of Lawrence that much? Something that could have been glossed over, and he had to expand it.

This was very vexing.

Who would want to put in useless effort? After such tiring shooting, in the end, it would all be cut.

It was as if he was toying with them.

Of course, James hadn't thought this way.

And naturally, after learning the whole story, Lyman also understood him to some extent.

Considering it, he knew that for someone directing for the first time, it was easy to get carried away with the shooting, mixing up priorities, a common issue for newcomers.

In plain terms, it was a lack of experience.

...

At night, after finishing shooting, James returned to the hotel rented by the crew.

Just as he was about to take a shower, there was a knock on the door.

When he opened it, it was Lyman.

Lyman warmly welcomed him in and even poured coffee for him.

After taking a sip, Lyman asked, "What was your idea for behind the last scene today?"

He had naturally come over so late to "question the culprit". With so many people around during the day, he would certainly stand up for James.

Polite during the shooting, he hadn't said anything.

"Adding struggles to the character and giving a motive for the killing," James replied. He had shot more scenes involving the doctor Lawrence's family today, specifically when he was about to kill Adam.

"His wife and daughter are threatened by the deranged killer, and he has no choice but to do it," James added.

Well, the idea was quite good, but seriously, just for a minor role like this, a couple of scenes could have explained the identity within the movie's context. Yet, it took an entire afternoon to shoot, wasting film. Why bother?

Of course, it couldn't be said that way.

Lyman still had high hopes for James, at least his approach to filmmaking was clear and not chaotic.

"Have you considered the issue of runtime and the film's pacing?" Lyman looked at him and continued, "You see, why do these bloody, suspenseful films often not exceed an hour and a half? That's because these characters don't really have depth to dig into. Audiences just like to see bloody, violent scenes that give them a visual thrill. That's enough. Do you understand?"

"I..." James opened his mouth but didn't say anything.

Of course, he understood all this. After all, he had a professional background and his directing courses covered how to control the pacing of a film, including setting up major and minor climaxes to keep the audience engaged.

He understood it all. But often, when he was actually shooting, new ideas popped into his mind and he couldn't control himself.

Seeing his expression, Lyman continued to patiently talk with him.

Being a newcomer, he was brimming with enthusiasm and wanted everything to be perfect.

But a film needed a prominent main plotline and proper focus; otherwise, what was the point of having major and minor characters?

When you shoot in a chaotic style, trying to explain everything, the result often makes the film lack clarity, and the audience ends up with a headache.

After explaining all these principles, Lyman gave advice that characters could be explored, but it shouldn't be excessive. He emphasized finding the right balance and considering the hardworking crew members, right?

James was a sensible person too. After realizing his mistakes, he quickly made corrections.

Finally, the crew was back on track.