Friday The 13th Part III - Production

Production

The script for Part III called for Jason to wear a mask to cover his face, having worn a bag over his head in Part 2; what no one knew at the time was that the mask chosen would become a trademark for the character, and one instantly recognizable in popular culture in the years to come. During production, Steve Miner called for a lighting check, but none of the effects crew wanted to apply any make-up for the light check, so they decided to just throw a mask on Brooker. Martin Jay Sadoff, the film's 3-D effects supervisor, kept a bag with him full of hockey gear, as he was a hockey fan, and he pulled out a Detroit Red Wings goaltender mask for the test. Miner loved the mask, but during test shots it was too small. Using a substance called VacuForm, Doug White enlarged the mask and created a new mold to work with. After White finished the molds, Terry Ballard placed the new red triangles on the mask to give it a unique appearance. Holes would be punched into the mask, and the markings were altered, making it different from Sadoff's mask. There were two prosthetic face masks created for Richard Brooker to wear underneath the hockey mask. One mask was composed of approximately 11 different appliances, and took about six hours to apply to Brooker's face; this mask was used for scenes where the hockey mask was removed. In the scenes where the hockey mask is over the face, a simple head mask was created. This one piece mask would simply slip on over Brooker's head, exposing his face but not the rest of his head.

This was the first Paramount Pictures film produced in 3-D since 1954. The film was shot with the Arrivision "over and under" 3-D camera, the same that was used with Jaws 3-D. It was also the first film in the series to be presented in Dolby Stereo upon its theatrical release.

Some of the deaths in the film were edited in order to avoid an "X" rating, including: Andy's death, which showed his right leg being cut off and his stomach being torn open; Vera's death was cut of bloodshed and her subsequent reaction (this was cut for supposedly looking "too good"); Edna's death was cut for excessive blood flow; Chili's impalement with the red-hot poker was cut of steaming blood hitting the floor; Debbie's original death showed blood spraying across her chest and face.