FP: Shot by Shot Analysis - Friday the 13th (Cunningham, 1980)

Duration of shot	Camera techniques	Sound techniques	Mise-en-scene
0:00-0:05	Panning shot following the car: Emphasises the speed at which the vehicle is travelling. Also shot is from a stationary point, so the speed of the car going past shows how hard it would be to exit the vehicle whilst it is moving.	The engine of the car makes a sound resembling that of a growling animal, hinting at an unforeseen evil.	The road on which the car is driving is surrounded by trees, suggesting a woodland setting. Also the pan finishes on a mailbox and the car speeds past. This suggests that the passengers are now leaving civilisation.
0:05-0:24	Shaky POV shot from point of view of the driver: Shows the fact that the driver has power over the girl. The shakiness is unsettling and hints towards an upcoming turn of events.	Minor key string music playing. Short staccato cello notes are abrupt and jumpy, as are the shrill higher notes. The dialogue of the girl is delivered nervously and she is clearly uncomfortable. When she says ‘I think we better stop’, we hear the engine of the car speed up, suggesting that the driver does not want to let her escape and possibly intends to hurt her.	The girl in this scene wears a brightly coloured shirt and has long curly hair, suggesting she is an ‘innocent’ type character. She also has  a very concerned expression on her face which shows her discomfort and fear. The way she compulsively rubs her leg suggests that she feels the need to get out of the vehicle but can’t. She is trapped.
0:25-0:30	Second panning shot following car. This time from behind: The camera follows the movement of the car briefly but then stops and the car continues. This emphasises the fact that the car is getting further and further away from salvation.	Disappearing sound of engine again shows salvation getting further away for the girl.	This shot reveals more about the woodland setting. However now there are no signs of civilisation whatsoever. (alone)
0:31-0:33	Second POV from driver’s perspective. Again, energetic and nervous.	The volume and tempo of the music is increased, making the scene more stressful and suggesting something important is going to happen.
0:34-0:35	Static shot from road of car. Slight shake as car nears	Engine noise of car gets louder as car approaches.
0:36-0:37	Static shot from same angle, but closer, showing more detail of how she throws herself from the car.	Feminine scream: more a scream of pain than fear. Conventional of horror
0:37-0:42	Mid shot of girl struggling to her feet: high angle showing vulnerability	High pitched jab notes in string instruments evoke fear in the audience and show that the girl is in danger.
0:43-0:51	Shot from inside the car, reversing: Again, high angle from the car makes girl seem vulnerable and conveys the power of the antagonist.	‘Scary’ music continues, as well as struggling sounds of girl.	The victim is placed on the floor, showing she is unable to defend herself at that point and therefore is vulnerable.
0:52-0:56	Mid shot following the girl as she runs into the woods: Shows her leaving behind the road/any hope of salvation	‘’	The trees surround the girl as she goes deeper into the forest, showing she is isolated and alone.  The lighting is unconventionally bright for a slasher film
0:57-1:09	POV shot from antagonist’s perspective: following the girl through the woods as she tries to escape. Shows that the antagonist is chasing her and poses a threat.	Girl continues to make frightened struggling noises.	The girl continuously falls over which is frustrating for the audience because it means she is closer to being caught. Also it shows that she is afraid and unable to function properly.
1:10-1:13	Tracking shot from slightly in front of the girl: shows the fact that she is struggling to get away because of her slow pace. Also shows that her speed is hindered by an injury.	‘’	The foliage appears to become denser as she gets deeper into the forest, reducing her chance of escape.
1:14-1:16	POV shot is repeated: Shows that the antagonist is persistent and keen to catch her. Also, they do not move particularly fast, suggesting that they expect to catch her.	Music becomes more urgent and matches the pace of the girl’s running.
1:17-1:18	Close-up of the antagonist’s legs/shoes: this is the first glimpse we have of the antagonist.	‘’	We Only see a brief glimpse of the antagonist’s feet, so very little is revealed about them. This adds to the ‘fear of the unknown’ factor.
1:18-1:20	POV shot of the antagonist turning around	The music stays fairly constant at this point, as if it has reached a false climax	The motion of this shot suggests confusion and could mean that the antagonist has lost sight of the victim. (false hope/sense of security?)
1:21-1:29	mid shot following girl to static shot of her running away: Shows her becoming more desperate and then showing her becoming more isolated and lessening her chance of escape.	The music becomes repetitive, which could be representative of the fact that she is going in circles and getting lost.
1:30-1:33	Close up from in front of girl: reveals open space behind her and suggests she might be safe after all.	Music calms down slightly: False sense of security.
1:34-1:42	Low angle: suggests that she might no longer be vulnerable.	Music quietens and eventually stops, suggesting the threat is gone
1:42-1:47	Follow cam in front again.	Ambient sounds suggest all is calm again	Girl looks around nervously, showing she believes there is still a threat
1:48-1:52	Low angle again, convincing the audience she is safe and no longer vulnerable.	Distinct lack of sound, luring audience into false sense of security, until end of shot when high strings suddenly re-enter.	Girl bumps in to tree, showing she is dazed and shocked, antagonist suddenly re-renters, shocking and frightening audience. Stands over Girl-vulnerable.
1:52-2:01	High angle, showing vulnerability of the girl	Re-entry of high pitched, disturbing string music. Girl begs ‘No’	Girl is on floor, completely vulnerable to antagonist, who stands over her.
2:02-2:03	Close up	‘’	Knife, conventional of slasher, murder.
2:03	Close up	‘’	Knife is raised, tension
2:04-2:08	Mid shot, almost from position of killer	Gasp of air as throat is cut. Short, low, ominous note in the strings almost coincides with the cut.	Prosthetics used to create gory wound and trickling blood. Cut-throat conventional of slasher. Identity of antagonist still not revealed.

This research process has been extremely useful for giving us ideas as a group for how to use certain shots, characters and locations. Similar to our original idea, the protagonist in this sequence holds prevalence for almost the entire thing.

In this scene however, there is far more extensive use of close-up shots than we were originally planning to use, so perhaps we will now consider using more close-up shots in our film. Also in this sequence, the identity of the antagonist is kept entirely secret all the way through, as we were planning to do with ours. In our project we were hoping to increase the cutting rate as the sequence progresses, with the intention of building tension. However in this sequence the cutting rate remains fairly inconsistent and shows no significant patterns of increasing/decreasing, so perhaps we will have to re-consider our options, as clearly there are other ways of building tension without focussing on editing. For example, the other ways in which tension is generated in this scene include the use of high-pitched, minor keyed string music, which is conventional of this genre. If we can find some appropriate music that we are able to use for our project, it is a definite possibility.

 

   However, due to the fact that this film was made several years ago, and there have been drastic progressions in the production of horror films, there are several aspects of this sequence that I believe are not as effective for building tension as other alternative techniques. For example, there are several long cuts used, some up to 19 seconds. If there are long periods of time in which nothing much changes (e.g walking scenes), it has no effect on the tension of the scene. Therefore we will have to take into consideration the length of our cuts and make sure they are not becoming too long. Also, longer cuts are harder to film.

 

In conclusion, what we can take from this sequence is that the use of  sound is very important and effective and important for building tension. Also it shows that continuity editing (as we plan to use) is sufficient for this genre.