Clayton George Wickham - final thesis

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Chapter 6: Conclusion and Defence of Method
Having analysed the Friday the 13 th films in detail, I will explicate my
findings and my methodology, with the aim of concluding this thesis. Firstly, I will
explain how perspective has proven significant for an understanding of the aesthetic
pleasures inherent within the slasher subgenre of horror, as well as horror itself. I
will also explain why the Friday the 13 th films have proven a useful both for an
understanding of the developments within the slasher and horror as a whole over the
last thirty-plus years, but also as an exemplary case study to advocate the use of
formalism. Finally, I will engage with writing that both opposes and supports my
formalist methodology, which will ultimately explain why I not only selected, but
champion formalism over other research and analytic methods.
Perspective and Friday the 13th
At its most basic level, perspective creates a framing element that dictates the
viewer’s experiential understanding of the narrative events. This is significant
within the horror genre, as it is central to eliciting fear from the viewer, as it draws
the viewer in, or in the rare case of omniscience, frustratingly separates the viewer
from a threatening and/or traumatic event. However, there are subtler textures of
this fear that are elicited, and the specific housing of perspective determines this
necessarily controlled use of positioning. Individually, the reading of the aesthetic
elements could be affected by chance: choosing the best of a series of bad takes,
either on film or on the audio track, cutting short a great take to omit a mistake, and
other potential circumstances that occur in the process of filmmaking. However, the
combination of elements is by nature meticulously designed in order to create a