Clayton George Wickham - final thesis

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twisting his head around 180 degrees, all sounds continuing in tone and volume.
This final shot is still less than a second long, but lasts slightly longer than the
previous shot. In addition to the consistent volume of the sounds in the sequence
and the fast pace of the editing reinforcing the victim’s perspective, 9 the match on
action cuts between the first stroke of the saw and the twisting of Axel’s head and
the clarity of the sound effects create a concise conceptual understanding of the
specific actions taking place. This allows the viewer not only to understand what is
happening without being seen, but the cumulative effect of the editing,
cinematography and sounds cognitively creates a clear visual conception of the
events, resulting in a design that aims to create a strong visceral response in the
viewer.
One significant sequence in Jason Lives! actually shows the bodily
penetration that accompanies the sound, but frustrates the viewer’s visual connection
to the sound through the extremely short shot length showing the mutilation. Cort’s
death, starting from the moment he sees Jason in the rearview mirror, rapidly cuts a
few shots together. The primary sound heard is the rock music playing on the radio
as he sings along, and calls occasionally to Nikki, who is now dead. In medium
shot, he looks into the rearview mirror, and his expression falls. Jason grabs his hair
and pulls his head back. There is a low angle shot behind Cort, with him out of
focus in the background, Jason’s hand holding a knife as he thrusts it toward Cort
moving from the top of the frame to the middle background. This shot, which lasts
twelve frames, is accompanied by a whooshing sound of the knife speeding through
the air. This is followed by a return to the medium shot of Cort, with Jason’s knife
9 This includes the deceptively irrelevant shot of what Axel is watching on the television as the event
occurs. This shot further solidifies Axel’s perspective.