Saw is a 2004 Americanindependent horror film directed by James Wan. The screenplay, written by Leigh Whannell, is based on a story by Wan and Whannell. The film stars Cary Elwes, Danny Glover, Monica Potter, Michael Emerson, Ken Leung, Whannell and Tobin Bell. It is the debut of Wan and Whannell and the first installment of the seven–part Saw film series.

The film's story revolves around Adam (Whannell) and Lawrence (Elwes), two men who are chained in a dilapidated subterranean bathroom and are each given instructions via a microcassette recorder on how to escape. Adam is told he must escape the bathroom, while Lawrence is told to kill him before a certain time, or Lawrence's family will die. Meanwhile, police detectives investigate and attempt to apprehend the mastermind behind the "game".

The screenplay was written in 2001, but after failed attempts to get the script produced in Wan and Whannell's home country, Australia, they were urged to travel to Los Angeles. In order to help attract producers they shot a low-budget short film from a scene out of the script. This proved successful in 2003 as producers from Evolution Entertainment were immediately attached and also formed a horror genre production label Twisted Pictures. The film was given a small budget and shot on a short schedule of 18 days.

A saw is a tool that uses a hard blade, wire, or chain with a toothed edge to cut through softer materials. A saw may be worked by hand, or powered by steam, water, electricity or other power. An abrasive saw uses a powered circular blade for cutting metal.

In a modern serrated saw, each tooth is bent to a precise angle called its set. The set of the teeth is determined by the kind of cut the saw is intended to make. For example, a rip saw has a tooth set that is similar to the angle used on a chisel. The idea is to have the teeth rip or tear the material apart. Some teeth are usually splayed slightly to each side of the blade so that the cut width (kerf) is wider than the blade itself and the blade does not bind in the cut. The kerf of the blade is adjusted with a tool called a saw tooth setter.

An abrasive saw uses an abrasive disc or band for cutting, rather than a serrated blade.

In ancient Egypt, saws made of copper are documented as early as the Early Dynastic Period, circa 3,000–2,800.^{[page needed]} Examples of saws and models of saws have been found in many contexts throughout Egyptian history. Particularly useful are tomb wall illustrations of carpenters at work that show sizes and the use of different types. Egyptian saws were set with the teeth projecting only on one side, rather than in the modern fashion with the more advantageous alternating set.

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects. The process of filmmaking has developed into an art form and industry.

Films are cultural artifacts created by specific cultures, which reflect those cultures, and, in turn, affect them. Film is considered to be an important art form, a source of popular entertainment and a powerful method for educating – or indoctrinating – citizens. The visual elements of cinema give motion pictures a universal power of communication. Some films have become popular worldwide attractions by using dubbing or subtitles that translate the dialogue into the language of the viewer.

Films are made up of a series of individual images called frames. When these images are shown rapidly in succession, a viewer has the illusion that motion is occurring. The viewer cannot see the flickering between frames due to an effect known as persistence of vision, whereby the eye retains a visual image for a fraction of a second after the source has been removed. Viewers perceive motion due to a psychological effect called beta movement.

James Wan (born 27 February 1977) is a Malaysian-born Australian producer, screenwriter, and film director of Chinese heritage. He is widely known for directing the horror film Saw and creating Billy the puppet. He also directed Dead Silence, Death Sentence and Insidious.

Wan was born in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia of Chinese ethnicity. He was raised in Perth, Western Australia from a young age. It was his dream to make films from the age of 11. He went on to study at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, completing his Bachelor of Arts degree.

Before becoming popular in the film industry, he made his first feature film Stygian with Shannon Young, which won 'Best Guerrilla Film' at the Melbourne Underground Film Festival in 2000.

He met future business partner Leigh Whannell while studying at RMIT. He would later go on to co-create and direct the 2004 horror film (and franchise),Saw with the help of Whannell, who wrote the script. Wan and Whannell made a short version of the film to showcase the script. Whannell played the role of David in the short film, and the leading role of Adam in the feature film. The three producers who saw the short film and read Whannell's screenplay agreed to produce the film before Wan and Whannell even landed in Los Angeles. Wan and Whannell decided to forgo upfront salary in return for gross profits. Shot for a low US$1.2 million budget, the producers had a straight-to-DVD release in mind. However, Saw was to become a surprise record breaking theatrical horror franchise, earning Wan and Whannell much more than they had originally predicted.^{[citation needed]}

"The Man" is a slang phrase that may refer to the government or to some other authority in a position of power. In addition to this derogatory connotation, it may also serve as a term of respect and praise.

The phrase "the Man is keeping me down" is commonly used to describe oppression. The phrase "stick it to the Man" encourages resistance to authority, and essentially means "fight back" or "resist", either openly or via sabotage.

The earliest recorded use^{[citation needed]} of the term "the Man" in the American sense dates back to a letter written by a young Alexander Hamilton in September 1772, when he was 15. In a letter to his father James Hamilton, published in the Royal Dutch-American Gazette, he described the response of the Dutch governor of St. Croix to a hurricane that raked that island on August 31, 1772. "Our General has issued several very salutary and humane regulations and both in his publick and private measures, has shewn himself the Man." ^{[dubious – discuss]} In the Southern U.S. states, the phrase came to be applied to any man or any group in a position of authority, or to authority in the abstract. From about the 1950s the phrase was also an underworld code word for police, the warden of a prison or other law enforcement or penal authorities.