Jaws

Jaws
Introduction
One of Steven Spielbergs best known and most renowned films, Jaws was created in 1975, with a screenplay by Peter Benchley and Carl Gottlieb, adapted from a novel of the same name, written by Peter Benchley. The main inspiration for the novel was in fact the story of a Long Island sports fisherman who, in 1964, caught a Great White shark (Carcharodon carcharias), which weighed an estimated 4,550 lbs, as there were no scales to weigh the giant. The novel was written in 1974, depicting the story of a small coastal town being terrorized by a large Great White shark during the 4th of July holiday celebration of independence, and the attempt, by a group of men, to hunt down the behemoth. While the basic underlying story of both the novel and film adaptation remains the same, several aspects were changed. The story depicts a city police officer, Martin Brody (Roy Scheider), who has recently moved to the small coastal island town of Amity, when mysterious fatal attacks start occurring in the sea. As a prelude to the 4th of July celebrations, chief Brody attempts to close the beaches until the attacks cease, but the mayor and townsfolk pressure him to leave them open to the public until the celebrations are over, with devastating Figure 1. Jaws. (1975). consequences, revealing the attacker to be an overgrown, extremely aggressive Great White shark. Enlisting the help of an oceanographer, Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss), and a garish sea captain, named Quint (Robert Shaw), the three men attempt to hunt down the beast and kill it to stop the series of deadly attacks. Though it was based on a simple storyline, the transformation from a novel into the resulting film was an extremely difficult process, forcing Spielberg and the production crew to utilize and develop many techniques of film-making.

Analysis
Straight from the beginning, the transformation from the novel into the film proved extremely difficult, fraught with technical and physical impossibilities, but due to some innovative ideas and knowledge of film production, Spielberg was able to create a masterpiece in cinema history. There were a great many techniques used throughout the film, utilizing a whole menagerie of methods, from animatronic sharks to real life footage of

Jaws Great Whites, to create the overall senses of peril and suspense. There are many attributes of the film that enhance these senses with great effect, but the greatest effect can be said to derive from the great absence of the appearance of the shark itself, until the climactic scenes of the film. Throughout the entirety of the film, with the exception of the climactic scenes, the appearance of the shark is kept highly secretive, due to several aspects of the films production, including the regular malfunctions of the animatronic shark, when it was placed in salt Figure 2. Jaws. (1975). water, and the psychological effects of the unseen danger. Unfortunately for the production of the film, the three fullscale animatronic sharks often malfunctioned when placed in the sea, but Spielberg was adamant in filming in the open-sea, as it would create a sense of hopelessness due to the prevention of escaping onto land. To resolve the severe malfunctions that prevented the shark from being used in the open-sea, Spielberg decided to keep the shark from view of the audience throughout most of the film, stating that he had to keep his moody monster beneath the oceans surface (Graham, 2012), which actually seemed to enhance the anxious tension through an object familiar with everyone, in this case the ocean, rather than an unfamiliar object, the shark. Due to the number of times the mechanical shark broke down, Steven Spielberg and the other members of the production team began to refer to it as the Great White Turd (A Look Inside Jaws, 2005), but alongside the animatronic sharks, they decided to use real life footage of Great White sharks, as they felt that to legitimize the movie there should be real life shark footage (A Look Inside Jaws,
Figure 3. Jaws. (1975).

2005).

Although this method sounds simple enough, due to the size of the sharks the film required, over 25 feet, which is extremely rare, they devised the technique of shrinking the objects that would be in the shots with the sharks. Enlisting the help of ocean conservationists and documentary filmmakers, Ron and Valerie Taylor, who also worked on the documentary film Blue Water,

Jaws White Death (1971), provided the expertize required to successfully film the sequences of real life sharks, even though they were only about 14 feet in length. To counteract the problem, for the production of these specific sequences, they decided to create a miniature shark cage and have a midget to act as Hooper, instead of Richard Dreyfuss, as the differences would have scaled the shark up (A Look Inside Jaws, 2005) and hopefully added another nine feet (A Look Inside Jaws, 2005) to their appearance. While the script actually demanded that Hooper be killed by the shark, after an incident with a large Great White shark, which got entangled in the wires of the miniature shark cage, the actor refused to re-enter the cage, forcing the writers to rethink Figure 4. Jaws. (1975). the script, having Hooper survive the ordeal. Even though the shark only makes a full appearance at the end of the film, a particular aspect of the attack scenes, the musical score, seemingly enhances the suspense of the film, as John Williams simplistic two note score, creates anticipation within the audience, as they are expecting an attack to occur at any moment. This association of the shark through the music occurs due to the opening sequence, which involves a shot from the point-of-view of the shark with the two note score overlaying the imagery. The sequence is filmed in such a way that it feels almost as if the shark is searching for something, implying a hunt for food, which leads to the first attack. This point-of-view style shot, along with the musical score, is utilized for the first few attack scenes of the film, but after the initial introduction to the shark, the shot style of the attack scenes is changed, while the music remains, as the story focuses on the three mens hunt for the shark, although there is one attack scene, when Brody is throwing chum into the sea and the shark appears, where neither the point-of-view shot or the music is used, in order to create a more terrifying scene of sudden shock. Though the technique appears out of place in a film that utilizes anticipation to create suspense, it is still effective at creating fear, using sudden unexpected imagery and cacophonous sound. It is also stated that the
Figure 5. Jaws. (1975).

Jaws film is highly effective as it is built on a very primal level (Empire, s.d) of fear. This scene of sudden noise and appearance seemingly supports this idea, as the fear of very sudden loud noises, ligyrophobia, is a natural occurrence in everyone (aka the jumping reflex).

Conclusion
Seeing as Jaws is often regarded as Steven Spielbergs career defining and most renowned film, it is not surprizing that it has had great influences and been inspiring to many other films, whether they feature a shark or similar storyline. Similarly to the technique used to create suspense throughout Jaws, the creation of the suspense and tension in the audience when viewing Ridley Scotts Alien (1979) utilizes the same technique of hiding the deadly creature from the audience, only to reveal it at the climax of the film. With the great success of the initial film, Jaws (1975), there were several sequels to the film, of varying quality.

Figure 6. Jaws 2. (1978).

Figure 7. Jaws 3D. (1983).

Figure 8. Jaws: The Revenge. (1987).

The first sequel to Jaws, Jaws 2, was created in 1978 by Jeannot Szwarc and is once again set on Amity Island shortly after the first Great White shark was killed. Still living in the community, chief Brodys two sons, Michael (Mark Gruner) and Sean (Marc Gilpin) head out to sea to go sailing with friends, but when they are attacked by new overgrown Great White shark, Brody (Roy Scheider) must attempt to rescue his children and the group of teenagers lost at sea. Directed by Joe Alves, the third film of the franchise, Jaws 3-D (1983), depicts the story of Michael (Dennis Quad) and Sean Brody (John Putch) attempting to protect the public from an enormous 35 foot shark that has become trapped in a Sea World theme park. The final film of the series, Jaws: The Revenge, was created by Joseph Sargent in 1987 and depicts the appearance of a large shark that seems to be attempting to kill the family members of the deceased former police chief Martin Brody.

Jaws Similarly to the Jaws franchise, there are various over films based around shark attacks that create suspense within an audience and utilizes human nature to create the fears and tension. Another film that creates tension and suspense around shark attacks is 12 Days of Terror (2005), which is a TV docudrama based on the recollections of Richard Fernicola, who witnessed a series of attacks by a young Great White shark in a series of northern New Jersey waterways in the summer of 1916. Similar to Jaws, the TV film focuses on the natural occurrence of a deadly ocean predator arriving in a small community and wreaking havoc, but other films, such as Deep Blue Sea (1999), go beyond natural themes with more of a scientific perspective, such as genetic modification, on the stimulating factors of the attacks. Deep Blue Sea clearly demonstrates more modern themes of films, as it depicts humans nature to attempt to better themselves through technological advancements and scientific discovery, but the effects man can have on nature, especially when manipulating it for their own benefit, seem to be represented by the catastrophic uprising of the sharks that occurs in the film.

Jaws

Illustration List
Figure. 1. Jaws. (1975). [Poster] At: http://southernsjc.net/brianc/files/2012/08/JAWSPoster.jpg (Accessed on 05/02/2013). Figure. 2. Jaws. (1975). From: Jaws, Universal Pictures. Directed by: Steven Spielberg. [Film Still] U.S.A: Universal Pictures. Figure. 3. Jaws. (1975). From: Jaws, Universal Pictures. Directed by: Steven Spielberg. [Film Still] U.S.A: Universal Pictures. Figure. 4. Jaws. (1975). From: Jaws, Universal Pictures. Directed by: Steven Spielberg. [Film Still] U.S.A: Universal Pictures. Figure. 5. Jaws. (1975). From: Jaws, Universal Pictures. Directed by: Steven Spielberg. [Film Still] U.S.A: Universal Pictures. Figure. 6. Jaws 2. (1978). [Poster] At: http://www.impawards.com/1978/posters/jaws_two_ver3.jpg (Accessed on 05/02/2013). Figure. 7. Jaws 3D. (1983). [Poster] At: http://images.wikia.com/halloween/images/d/d3/Jaws_3d_poster.jpg (Accessed on 05/02/2013). Figure. 8. Jaws: The Revenge. (1987). [Poster] At: http://www.impawards.com/1987/posters/jaws_the_revenge.jpg (Accessed on 05/02/2013).

Bibliography
A Look Inside Jaws. (2005). Directed by: Laurent Bouzereau. [DVD Bonus Features] U.S.A. Universal Home Videos Graham, Jamie. (2012). Reviews: Jaws. At: http://www.totalfilm.com/reviews/cinema/jaws1 (Accessed on 05/02/2013). Empire. (s.d). Reviews: Jaws. At: http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=4317 (Accessed on 05/02/2013).