Darren Bousman on the “Saw II” DVD Extras: Bousman said he was allowed more input into what went on the DVD than he expected. “They asked me my thoughts, what I think should go on there. And mainly because I had someone videotaping behind the scenes stuff from the day that I was hired all the way until the last day of principle photography so I had hundreds of hours of behind the scenes stuff, I told them where things were. I was like, ‘You know what would be cool? I filmed everything about the traps, how we did the traps from initial concept all the way through execution.’ I was involved in that respect.”
Speaking of the Traps… Were traps designed for all eight of the people inside the house? Bousman said, “No, they were ideas. This movie brings about a lot of debate about why we don’t see everyone’s traps and why this… The movie is not about the people in the house. They were a red herring; they were pawns in the much bigger game. The game was Detective Eric Matthews and his whole story so I think that if we added any more traps, it would have detoured from what the focus of the movie should have been and that was Detective Matthews and this game that he was playing.
I love blood and I love violence and I would have loved to put those traps in for nothing more than to show more blood and violence, but you know it’s funny because the biggest criticism that people give me on the film is that, ‘We didn’t get to know any of the characters from the house. The only people we ever got to hear is Jigsaw and Donnie.’ I was like, ‘Well great then I succeeded. It wasn’t about people in the house.’ The people in the house served as a reason to have violence. That’s what they were. They were execution scenes. They were scenes for the die-hard fans of blood and violence. They were red herrings to a much bigger picture. The main characters in this movie are Detective Matthews and Jigsaw and that’s great when people say, ‘That’s the only person we really got to know is Detective Matthews - and Jigsaw.’ That’s what the movie was about.”
Bousman on the Development of the Story for “Saw II:” “There’s many, many ways to do a horror film. There’s many ways to approach violence, many ways to. I wanted to continually trick the audience. The minute they thought they knew what was going on, they had no idea. The way the movie’s set up, you think it’s going to be about Daniel [Detective Matthews’ son] and Daniel’s involvement in this game in this house. And I continually wanted to flip the perception of what people thought was going on. As the film progresses we start to learn there’s a much bigger story going on, and the film just keeps switching back and forth. You never really feel safe. You never really know what’s going on. It was just a device to tell the story, which I think kept things interesting.”
The Timing of “Saw II:” Before the film’s release a lot was made in the media – particularly online bloggers and journalists – about the fact Lions Gate was rushing “Saw II” into production because of the monetary success of the first “Saw” movie. Asked how that perception affected him as the director of “Saw II,” Bousman responded, “Well as a director… I mean I didn’t get the money that was made from rushing so for to me it was a chance to prove myself. It was my first film. It was going to be my breakthrough, my introduction into Hollywood. So I approached that angle as, ‘You know, finally I’ve been given a chance – a once in a lifetime chance. I can’t screw this up.’ That’s how I approached it as a director.
I didn’t approach it as a sequel. In fact I think the movie stands alone, outside of it being a sequel. I think you can see ‘Saw II’ without ever having seen ‘Saw 1’ and completely enjoy it and go on the ride. So that was also very crucial for me. I wanted to make a film that you didn’t need to know everything going into it.
The other great thing about making this movie is that everyone wanted to be there, like it was a family atmosphere. Every night after shooting we all went and got drinks. We all hung out on the weekends. It was very much a family kind of thing and the set was so much fun. Forget the macabre atmosphere that you see on film. I mean it was pranks being pulled and joking around the entire time. So it was just a great place to be. I think that helped the success of this film. It was like everyone wanted to do what they were doing. It wasn’t just a paycheck for them.”
Page 3: Adlibbing, "Saw 3", and His Next Project
