The Suicide Squad Director James Gunn Offers Up Directing Advice

James Gunn is known to Marvel fans for helming Guardians of the Galaxy and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and will soon be known to DC fans for directing The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker. In addition to his major comic book films, Gunn has some other movies under his belt, including Slither and Super. Gunn often answers fan questions on Twitter and recently shared some insights into his directing process.

“One of the things I deal with a lot with actors who have been a part of other performing arts (ie wrestling or comedy) is to get them to STOP JUGGLING and JUST BE. It’s not your job to entertain us – it’s simply your job to be present to the moment in front of you,” Gunn tweeted. “I’d pay some real MasterClass money for a MasterClass in this one issue/technique. Course this is basically 90% of directing after saying yes to art department,” @ModernWood replied. “For me designing & setting up shots is probably the biggest single aspect of directing, & I’m unusually actor-oriented. Many directors of big-budget films don’t pay much attention to actors – they become camera subjects as opposed to co-storytellers (to the audience’s detriment),” Gunn added.

“In your opinion, what is the most difficult cinematic shot to pull off??,” @BlackMajikMan90 asked. “I love pulling off a difficult shot, but for me, like with performances, all shots should work first & foremost to tell the story you want to tell, and never distract from it. I’d rather have the audience be emotionally moved than have them say ‘How did they do that cool shot!?,’” Gunn added. Logan director James Mangold also chimed in, saying, “Pure human thought behind the eyes at the right moment.” Gunn replied, “Love this. Also, anything with a cat.” You can check out some of the tweets here.

Gunn will soon be tackling the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise’s third installment as well as a holiday special. The director recently answered some fan questions about his upcoming projects on social media. He revealed that the GotG3 script is “written and most of the production heads have been hired.”

Gunn also recently tweeted about the Marvel/DC rivalry, sharing that Marvel Studios’ boss, Kevin Feige, paid a visit to The Suicide Squad set. He added that “there isn’t the enmity behind the scenes like there is in the fan community.” This comment received some backlash, so Gunn clarified, “I think by far the majority of folks in the fan community are accepting, cool people. But to say there isn’t a lot of unnecessary fractiousness between some Marvel & DC fans would be denial, ignorance, or dishonesty.” In another recent tweet, the director added that he’d love for some of the other DC directors to visit him on the set of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

The Suicide Squad is hitting theatres and HBO Max on August 6th.