Clayton George Wickham - final thesis

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The first device to be discussed will be the point of view (POV) shot, or
eye/camera shot as I prefer to call it, which will be the subject of Chapter 2. This is
an overt method that is used to strictly house a film’s perspective. Here, I have
developed and used the term eye/camera which alludes to two different terms used
within film studies: I-Camera, brought to popularity by Carol Clover (1992), and
Camera Eye, a term with links to Dziga Vertov (1922), and used by theorists such as
Alan Spiegel (1976). I read the term I-Camera as a concept that focuses primarily on
the viewer and his/her relation to the film text, while the term Camera Eye seems to
address the apparatus itself, and the unique way in which the camera views the
world. I therefore develop and introduce the term eye/camera, which incorporates
both of these concepts; the term eye/camera reflects the viewing dynamic of
compressing three visual planes: the eye of the fictional character in a film, the lens
of the camera, and the eye of the viewer. The visual coding of an eye/camera shot
indicates to the viewer that he or she is experiencing the eyesight of a character
within the film. The discussion of the eye/camera will begin with an analysis of
prevalent critical accounts its function, focusing on the tendency to interpret its use
as voyeuristic. This will be followed by a historical account tracing the development
of this device from early usage up to more modern and self-reflexive innovations
that create greater experiential complexity within the viewer. This historical
groundwork will be necessary to understand the context within which the Friday the
13 th films both appear and respond.
Chapter 3 will move from historical accounts of the eye/camera to an analysis
and exploration of the way in which the device relates specifically to the Friday the
13 th series. Exploring the development and usage of the eye/camera within the series
will provide a firmer understanding of the specific importance of perspective to the