Inspirational Director

1. INSPIRATIONAL DIRECTOR
–
Sean S. Cunningham

2. Inspirational Director
-Background
-Catalogue of work
-Their directing style
-Who they were inspired
-Make visual videos, images

3. BACKGROUND
Sean S. Cunningham is an American film director, producer and writer. He was born on
December 1st 1941. He is considered to be one of the most inspirational directors due to the
different genres he has worked with. Sean S. Cunningham graduated from Franklin
Marshall College and did a master degree at Stanford University. His first job was
managing theatre companies e.g. New York’s Lincoln Centre, The Oregon Shakespeare
Festival and the Mineola Theatre in Long Island.
Sean S. Cunningham is a member of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the
Directors Guild of America. This director is best known for his creation of the film ‘Friday
the 13th’. He has also produced other horror films such as ‘The Last House on the Left’ and
‘House’.
The ‘Friday the 13th’ was a slasher horror film which Sean S. Cunningham had created
starring Ari Lehman and Betsey Palmer. This film had a lot of positive reviews and was
specifically praised for the make- up effects and background score. The director also got
praised for achieving what the film promises to. By just watching this film we could see
that a reason that the movie was successful was because of the director and his hard work.

4. CATALOGUE OF WORK
Sean S Cunningham also produced the film ‘The Last House on the left’. This film was a horror film which
came out in 2009 starring Tony Goldwyn and Monica Potter. The ‘Last House on the Left’ grossed
$5,630,345, on 2,800 screens across 2,402 theatres. It did do better than it was expected to do. Although
this film did not do that well in the box office there were other films that Sean S. Cunningham produced that
did do well.
The film ‘Jason X’ was also produced by Sean S Cunningham. This was a American Science Fiction slasher
film. This film made $13,121,555 in the US and earned $3,830,243 overseas for a worldwide gross of
$16,951,798. This movie did turn out quite successful and gained positive reviews from two major film
magazines such as Total Film and Empire. Kim Newman particularly praised the film saying, "Wittily scripted,
smartly directed and well-played by an unfamiliar cast, this is a real treat for all those who have suffered
through the story so far.“
I personally liked the movie ‘Friday the 13th’ because the movies included everything that the audience
expects to see in the film. There are scenes such as the killings taking place which builds tension for the
audience which makes the overall movie more interesting. It follows all the conventional that we expect to
see e.g. gruesome killings, weapons, hear people scream etc. When watching ‘Friday the 13th’ there are some
scenes where it is really quiet and diegetic sound would be used e.g. footsteps. This makes the movie have a
lot of suspense to the overall story. Even the camera movements used in the film makes the audience feel
uncomfortable as we can feel how the victim feels if we were in their position. The absence of sound in some
scenes makes the audience who watch the film frightened as they know that something is going to jump put
on the screen from no where. They also know that unexpected events will take place in the film that will
make us feel shocked and uncomfortable for a few minutes which is the main aim of a horror film.

5. THEIR DIRECTING STYLE
Sean S. Cunningham had directed a lot of horror movies. If people knew that he was
going to direct a film the majority of people would think it is a horror movie because
the main films he had directed was mostly to do with horror. In most his films there
would be elements of horror added. There would be a lot of suspense to the films he
create which makes the audience want to watch his films. In most his horror films you
would be able to see jumpy scenes being used and he mostly uses an absence of
silence in his films to make the movie even more scary.

6. WHO THEY WERE INSPIRED BY
When making the film ‘Friday the 13th’ Sean S. Cunningham had said that he was
inspired by many things which made him come up with the concept of ‘Friday the 13th.
On an interview he said “I think Steve had done a whole bunch of hockey
documentaries, when he was learning the editing craft, and I think that just out of that,
he just said, ‘Let’s just try this,’ and that was the choice for ‘Friday 3’, and it just stuck
And every movie since then, there’s always, like, a readjusting of the mask, how to
make it just right. But it has stuck, and the character himself has just morphed so
dramatically over time that he has sort of, I don’t know… the movies wind up being
about Jason, and not the people Jason is threatening”.
This shows that he was mainly inspired by documentaries that he had watched to
create the film ‘Friday the 13th”.