Clayton George Wickham - final thesis

79
Cunningham: “Working on a limited budget, there wasn’t much choice other than
doing it that way. I’m hoping that people can take it as sort of a tip of the hat to Mr.
Carpenter.” (Quoted in Martin, 1980; 64) Unlike Halloween, the opening of Friday
the 13th breaks up the eye/camera shots with third-person shots that establish the
location and potential victims in more detail.
The film begins by establishing Camp Crystal Lake in 1950 populated by a
number of campers, and a group of counsellors singing “Michael Row the Boat
Ashore” and “Tom Dooley” at night by a fire, two of which are attracted to one
another and sneak off to be alone. Within this establishing sequence, an eye/camera
shot is included, taking the first person perspective of someone stalking through the
cabin of the young campers, asleep in their beds. The proximity fear is immediate,
as we know that all of these young children are vulnerable to attack specifically due
to the sinister music accompanying the shot, along with the fact that it is night and
they are asleep. Although nothing happens, tension is created by the device.
The two counsellors that have been making eye contact with each other sneak
off to a nearby barn, go to the upstairs room and begin to make love. The
eye/camera stalks them, following the sounds of their voices up the stairs until they
come into view. The two counsellors notice the stalker and quickly stand up to
straighten their clothes, embarrassed. The eye/camera pushes toward the boy, who is
stuttering trying to explain what they were doing, and then lunges toward him as he
doubles over, apparently struck in the stomach. After this long continuous
eye/camera take, the film suddenly cuts to a long shot of the boy, who stumbles
backwards, holding his bleeding stomach as he falls over. The audience is presented
with the attack and death of the boy from two perspectives: first person and third
person. Through this moment, Friday the 13 th challenges the audience to decide