Jaws, 1975

Figure 1.

Set on the small island Amity, a tourist location that relies on it's summer season, 'Jaws' begins with the savage shark attack on a teenage girl. Police Chief Martin Brody, who is shown as an outsider, new to the island, is called to the beach where the girls remains have been discovered. With the town mayor stopping Brody's attempts to close the beaches, a young boy is killed by the same shark. The attacks spur the towns fishermen into action, all hoping to receive the bounty placed on the shark's head. Ultimately Brody teams up with oceanographer, Hooper, and shark-hunter Quint to track and kill the great white. The trio set of aboard Quint's vessel, the Orca. The beast proves more difficult to capture than any in Quint's experience and succeeds in sinking the boat and devouring the fisherman. Brody saves the day, using a canister of compressed air to kill the shark. Directed by Steven Spielberg, 'Jaws' is a fast paced horror, fuelled by a

powerful score and fantastic cast, that's been terrifying audiences for the past thirty years. Spielberg managed to achieve a level of tension and fear in a Hitchcock-like style.

Figure 2.

Figure 3.

Spielberg was working with extremely thin material let's face it, Peter Benchley's source novel is pretty lousy and the potential for disaster was enormous (more so since the mechanical shark didn't work most of the time). But the director, drawing from a screenplay (by Benchley and Carl Gottlieb) that improved upon the book, in the end fashioned an instant classic whose success owes as much to his superb orchestration as to the substantial jolts and knockout performances by Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss. (Brunson, 2012)

It is widely agreed that the power of 'Jaws' does not lie in the shark, but the score and cinematography that

represents it. The shark is far more frightening before the audience lays eyes on it. Through the use of an under-water camera, focusing in on the legs of unsuspecting swimmers, Spielberg create tension in the suggestion of the shark's point of view. The fast-moving 124-minute film engenders enormous suspense as the shark attacks a succession of people; the creature is not even seen for about 82 minutes, and a subjective camera technique makes his earlier forays excruciatingly terrifying all the more for the invisibility. (Murphy, 1975) During the film's climax, Quint's death is far less scary than the earlier attacks, as the shark's unrealistic appearance is distracting and almost comical.

Best of all is Steven Spielberg's direction: the camera moves like a predatory animal, gliding eerily across the surface of the vast Atlantic, creating sequences of almost unbearable suspense (never mind that the scariest scene was shot in a swimming pool). Its no wonder a generation of holidaymakers still thinks twice before stepping into the water. (Huddleston, 2012)

Figure 4.

John Williams composed perhaps one of the most famous scores of all time. Before we see anything, our ears are chilled by composer John Williams' menacing two note soundtrack which then builds into that unforgettable frenzy as the unseen shark savages its first victim. Never has a film score so perfectly propelled the action or us to the edge of our seats. (Martin, 2012) Earning the composer an Academy Award, the soundtrack builds tension and stays with audience long after the screening has finished.

Steven Spielberg's 'Jaws' is a sensationally efective action picture - a scary thriller that works all the better because it's populated with characters that have been developed into human beings we get to know and care about. (Ebert, 1975) Roy Scheider's character, Sherif Brody begins the story hating the water, standing on the beach watching the sea. Through the film his character develops, overcoming his fear and becoming the hero as he slays the shark, saving Amity tourists.

Under the facade of a nature horror, where the people of Amity are powerless to fight against the beast haunting the waters surrounding them, there is an underlying theme of a corrupt authority. ...for all its thrills and spills, ofered a post-Watergate savaging of corrupt authority: Amity Islands mayor (Murray Hamilton) protects profits over lives, tossing touristchum to a great white shark. I wanted to make a movie that left its mark, not at the box office but on peoples consciousness, said Spielberg. (Graham, 2012) When the grieving mother of the young boy killed on the beach blames Brody for not warning the town of the danger lurking in the water, the audience feels anger towards the mayor and business owner's who prevented him from taking action. Brody's guilt causes the audience to feel sympathy for him, for example in the touching family scene, where Brody's youngest son sits next to him at the table, mimicking his every more.

In one of the most recognised scenes, Spielberg uses a contra-zoom to show Brody's reaction to the second shark attack on the busy beach. A contra-zoom has the efect of disorientating the audience and unlike continuity editing, it draws attention to itself. In 'Jaws' this efect is used to put the audience inside Brody's head. Within the same scene point of view and over the shoulder shots are also used to this efect.

Figure 5.

Illustration List
Figure 1. Jaws Film Poster 1975 At: http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120813023825/horrormovies/images/thumb/7/7b/Jaws-movieposter_(1).jpg/846px-Jaws-movie-poster_(1).jpg Figure 2. Still from Jaws 1975 At: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/lp6sRnpyKng/UOIjrkGa0MI/AAAAAAAAA0o/h1uvPHU7LEg/s1600/JawsOpeningScene.jpg Figure 3. Still from Jaws 1975 At: http://twentyfourframes.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/jaws-swimmervictim.jpg Figure 4. Still from Jaws 1975 At: http://www.miserableretailslave.com/jaws-sigler-thumb-560xauto28062.jpg Figure 5. Still from Jaws 1975 At: http://application.denofgeek.com/pics/film/jaws01.jpg

Bibliography
Brunson, M Jaws, Full Metal Jacket, MST3K set among new home entertainment titles 2012 At: http://clclt.com/charlotte/jaws-full-metal-jacket-mst3k-set-among-new-home-entertainmenttitles/Content?oid=2810094 Murphy, A.D Jaws 1975 At: http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117792123/?categoryid=31&cs=1 Huddleston, T Jaws (12A) 2012 At: http://www.timeout.com/london/film/jaws-2012 Martin, B.H Shark Attack Jaws Is Back 2012 At: http://www.u.tv/blogs/B-H-Martin/Shark-Attack-Jaws-IsBack/01dadc82-fc82-49f0-bbd6-88f09371c29d Ebert, R Jaws 1975 At: http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article? AID=/19750101/REVIEWS/501010332 Graham, J Jaws It's Time to Get Back in the Water 2012 At: http://www.totalfilm.com/reviews/cinema/jaws-1