| Creating a Thrill Ride to the Death - Director James Wong on FINAL DESTINATION 3 |
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| Friday, 10 February 2006 | |
 By Joseph B. Mauceri{Fearsmag} - James Wong & Glen Morgan became friends in an English class at El Cajon Valley High School, San Diego. Their love of genre films and television lead them to their feature films "Final Destination," "The One," and "Willard." For television, theyve written and produced for ì21 Jump Street,î ìThe Commish,î ìX-Files,î and ìThe Others,î in addition to creating the series ìSpace: Above and Beyond.î In bringing this third installment of the franchise to the screen Wong & Morgan create a terrifiyng roller coaster accident, but thats only the beginning. Those who survive the disaster discover that fate is hard to escape and death is not so easily cheated. FEARS: At what point after working on the first film did you and Glen Morgan start thinking about possibly returning to the franchise? James Wong: After we completed the first film we werenít really think about sequels because we never knew it would be such a success. FEARS: After you and Glen did ìWillardî for New Line you signed a development deal with the studio. How did you and Glen become involved with FINAL DESTINATION 3 (FD3)? James Wong: It came to use because the executive Richard Brener and New Line came to use one day and said, ìOkay guys, roller coaster!î That was all he said. For me, the hardest part of these types of sequels really is the inciting incident. What is the thing that takes them to the point where they cheat death? The first setup was relatively easy. Youíre stuck on an airplane and thereís no escape. You can easily see the possibilities. In the second film they did the freeway crash, so where does that leave you for a third film? All you might be able to think of is possibly a cruise ship next. It seems like the possibilities are running out, or at least cool ones. So when he said roller coaster I thought that was cool. Itís something weíve almost all have been on, once youíre strapped in you canít get out, and once it starts youíre at the mercy of physics. Whatever happens happens. FEARS: Which is a great hook that harkens back to the themes of the first film. James Wong: Exactly! But, in a different way I think. I thought that was cool. I thought it would be a challenge because I hadnít seen a roller coaster crash. Thatís what intrigued us and drew us into the project. FEARS: You and Glen trade off duties on projects. How was it decided that you would direct FD3? James Wong: What weíre trying to do is rotate if we can. As it turned out I directed ìFinal Destinationî and than I did ìThe One.î We were trying to get into this rhythm, so Glen directed ìWillard,î I directed FD3, and Glen is directing ìBlack Christmas,î which is the next film weíre doing. Hopefully, weíll get into this rhythm of producing/directing so we can have so kind of family life. FEARS: You and Glen have worked on original concepts, remakes, and now a sequel. Does doing a sequel present any different challenges as opposed to doing a remake? James Wong: Yeah, it does. In a sequel you canít repeat whatís already been done. In a remake you almost expect it to repeat some of the stuff. Audiences coming to see a remake are looking for some of what theyíve experienced before. There is a little bit of a philosophical difference in the approach. If you look at our body of work so far in movies 50-percent are originals and 50-percent are remakes and sequels. Itís a bit more challenging to do an original in that even the selling of it is a bit harder because people donít know what it is. Still, the easiest thing about working on an original concept is that all the ideas are open.  FEARS: Director Len Wiseman said that in order for a director to accomplish everything he is expected to in one day it world take 27-hours. Itís a tiring job, but when youíre working with a young cast is the energy level a bit higher on set? James Wong: Absolutely, because these guys are like the Energizer Bunny! Youíre not going to catch them napping and they never take a break. Itís amazing to me because when you think back to when we were their age you go, ìWow, I guess I never took a nap either!î Now I want to. They bring lots to it beside their energy. They have the voice of youth. They can help you by telling you if the dialogue doesnít sound right, or even suggesting playing a scene a bit different. I think you can get some great stuff out of them if youíre open to it. FEARS: As the cast was reading the script was there any bickering over how their characters got to die or maybe some of the actors felt their death scenes werenít as cool as some of the other characters? James Wong: Not at all! To me, I thought all the deaths were pretty cool because we worked really hard on making them different, and at the same time intense. I felt the deaths were cool and nobody brought up a concern that this guys death was cooler than mine. I think theyíre all very different and in all good ways. FEARS: When you and Glen sat down to write these new death scenes where did you turn to get your inspiration? James Wong: My philosophy about these deaths is that I want the audience, after they see the movie, to live that incident in their own lives. That was why we picked the drive through, the home improvement store, tanning salon, all things that people can actually experience. As they experience it hopefully theyíll have a chill and go, ìOh gee, this could happen here like in the movie!î  FEARS: So the
next time theyíre in a tanning salon and hear strange noises theyíll be
a bit nervous.James Wong: Exactly! So how we approached creating these deaths was to actually walk around those places. We spent days walking around a home improvement store waking at things and seeing how an accident might happen. So we were concerned that these things should be real, that these things exist in the places that they should exist, and if there was that quark of fate things could happen badly. We worker really hard at creating these things hoping the audience would get to experience what these characters experienced. FEARS: Give the complex nature of the film, did you find yourself turn more towards physical or digital effects to create the death sequences in the film? James Wong: There are obviously some things that canít be done physically, like the roller coaster crashing. Still, my philosophy is to do as much with physical effects verses digital effects. I think physical not only look more realistic but also they allow the actors to react to them. Where as visual effects you have to rely on someone elseís imagination. In our film I think they all worked out wonderfully. To me, if youíre watching a film and you know something is a visual effect, that it canít happen physically or it breaks the rules of physics, it becomes less scary. I think the audiences recognize that, even if it is on a subconscious level. Itís less scary because of that. FEARS: So there any particular death scene in the movie that was really pushing the envelop for you, maybe making you a bit nervous? James Wong: The tanning sequence was amazingly much harder to shot for me than any of the other ones. It was slower and more sadistic in that the girls were trapped in a place where they couldnít escape. They were acting, screaming, and it was a longer death. It was harder for me to deal with just it terms of having to witness that. There was also the fact that they were nude that added an element of discomfort in that I had to deal with actors who are already vulnerable. FEARS: You and Glen are working with composer Shirley Walker again, who scored ìWillardî for you. Why did you feel she was right to score FD3 for you?  James Wong: I thought the ìWillardî score was one of the best scores Iíd heard in a long time. Unfortunately, the film wasnít seen by as many people as we hoped and it didnít get the recognition we felt it should have gotten. When Shirley came up to us with the ìWillardî score and she told us she wanted to use accordions we were like, ìWhat!î But it was great. If only just for that it was reason enough to work with her again. I think for FD3 she took a younger and a less emotional approach than a film like ìWillard.î She used more contemporary themes and sampled sounds than she had done before. FEARS: As you mention, your next project is the ìBlack Christmasî remake. James Wong: Correct. Weíve already started shooting. In fact, Glen is up in Canada working on the film and thatís why he couldnít be here today. FEARS: And do you and Glen know what will come after that project? James Wong: Iím actually in the process of looking for something right now. Iím doing some research on this TV show we might do. Features wise, Iím not sure. Iím reading some stuff right now and there are also a couple of older projects that I might like to revive. Clink on a link below for more coverage on the film: FINAL DESTINATION 3 Film Page - Trailers, images, links, & more LINK THIS ARTICLE             |
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