SlasherEG4: Friday the 13th (original)

DVD cover

Friday the 13th 
(Sean S Cunningham, 1980)

Budget: $550, 000 (estimated)
Box Office: $5.8m (USA)

last titles

It starts with a paramount ident. After the ident immediately on the screen is 'A Sean S. Cunningham Film'. This is written in white sans serif font and
on a black background. This is a similar convention in a lot of slasher films and one that we may consider for our coursework production.

Exposition

The film starts with diegetic sound of wildlife and you can hear frogs and crickets in the background. From the original black screen you see clouded moon come into focus. You then start to hear people singing camp fire songs and the shot starts to pan through the darkness to show a lake and some cabins. Some exposition then comes on the screen saying 'Camp Crystal Lake 1958'. The shot then changes to a cabin presumably with the people in who are singing as it has got louder as the camera has got closer. This gives the impression that this might be a point of view shot and someone is watching/stalking these people that are singing. You then get the shot of the group of people sat round singing.

Camp fire shot

Point of view

The next shot looks very hand held and shaky which gives the signifiers that it is definitely a point of view shot. Non diegetic music has also started at this point which is creating tension and suspense for the audience. The person whose point of view this is walks into a cabin with a lot of children asleep in. This may make the audience think that the person might be looking for one of the children or that one of them might be a future victim. This kind of point of view shot would be something that we could easily recreate for our coursework production and it can come across very effective if done and used in the correct way.

killing

In the opening sequence there is also a good example of a stalking scene. Analysing this is very useful for our production as it is something we are likely to do. In this stalking scene the characters are framed a lot with objects slightly obstructing the frame. This is so it looks like someone is stood behind something trying to descreatly watch them. Once again when following them the camera is hand held and very shakey. The non

First titles

diegetic music starts to climax as the first killing approaches. It then stays dramatic as there is a build up to the scream queen being killed. You don't actually see her being killed, it freezes on her face screaming and the audience automatically presume she is killed. This is something that we may choose to do as it doesn't show any gore or blood which could look unrealistic if we attempted to do in an ammeteur way.

film titles

After this first killing the title of the film is shown. This is again white on a black background but the lettering is animated and gradually comes flying on to the screen. A number of titles are then shown on the screen. All in sans serif font and white on a black background.




This opening sequence ends at 6.26