Clayton George Wickham - final thesis

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twenty five years before the film, but we see Wade listening to the song on an mp3
player, which creates a vague tension, and aids the reading of Friday the 13 th (2009)
as a late 2000s nostalgic film text.
This then leads to alternate readings by the new viewer and the franchise
viewer. The franchise viewer has the opportunity to view the opening sequence as a
reminder of Jason’s background, immediately making a connection with the previous
films, not allowing him/her to break from franchise familiarity. The new viewer,
however, is presented with a brief background to understand why Jason kills during
the opening credits, so that the foregoing narrative and the character of Jason does
not seem motive-less.
Both the new and the franchise viewer, however, have the tools to make this
association with the nostalgia aesthetics of Friday the 13 th (2009). While the
franchise viewer, with the introduction, has an immediate reference for connection to
the earlier period through Friday the 13 th . The new viewer, based on his/her
familiarity with films from the early 1980s, has the ability to link cinematographic
and fashion elements to a period thirty years previous to the making of the film.
Through the Friday the 13 th film series, the aesthetic design of the films,
particularly the opening sequences, can be shown to either reward or inhibit the
viewing experience based on the specific perspective of the viewer. The serialisation
of the franchise appropriates an increasingly selective segment of the
mythos/backstory, and how this segment is presented in each film provides distinct
advantages and disadvantages for viewers based on their previous awareness and
knowledge of the earlier films. The varying techniques of establishing previous
character development and narrative and its relationship to the further narrative of a
sequelized film can create different readings based on the viewer’s previous