Jaws Film Techniques
Jaws Media Essay
“Jaws” is a thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg. The film is about a great white shark that cause havoc to the small township of Amity, New England. The film is set around the 4th of July with the shark's first victim dying only a few days prior to one of the busiest days of the year, t. This is significant because in the USA the 4th of July is one of the biggest national holidays of the year, nearly all Americans will not be working and as it is in the middle of summer many Americans will be enjoying themselves relaxing on the beach. This makes the shark seem like a greater threat and emphasises the fact that people are going to be killed because as the higher amounts of people obviously increase the likelihood …show more content…
of a death. Another factor to take into account is that as Amity is a “summer island” the majority of the island's income comes from the tourists who come for the summer holidays and a shark attack that could potentially ward off tourists would be devastating for the island's economy.
Throughout the film Spielberg creates a tense atmosphere through the use of different cinematic techniques and especially putting emphasises on non-diegetic sounds and music.
The start of the film begins with a point of view shot of 'something' swimming through the water with the non-diegetic Jaws theme music playing the background. Near the climax of the theme, music the word JAWS appears on the screen. This immediately connects the music with the presence of the creature called Jaws.
The scene quickly cuts to a typical teenage beach party. There is a fire in the middle of the group alcohol being passed around and even a harmonica playing relaxing, “happy music”. As this music relaxes us it lures us into a false sense of security and we are less able to cope with the upcoming tension. We see a high angle shot of the group before the scene cuts to a panning wide angle shot of the vast sea. There is a buoy in the water with it's bell ringing with a flashing red light, from this point on we know something awful is going to happen. The camera follows Chrissie as she runs along the beach. With her boyfriend chasing behind her but having difficulty keeping up as he is obviously drunk although he claims otherwise, she is the first to enter the water. As she enters the water the theme starts to play. She swims out to the buoy but as she approaches it she begins to get pulled under by something very strong and powerful as Chrissie cannot free herself from it's grips. She begins to panic and starts to kick her legs and scream. We do not see what it is but as the theme is now playing we begin to sense that it may be the shark. In the middle of the attack it briefly cuts to Chrissie's boyfriend in which he is lying on the beach, this is a complete contrast to the panic and screaming we heard form Chrissie only moments before. After a small struggle Chrissie is submerged, never to come back up while her boyfriend is left lying on his back on the sand.
There are several things that we should take note of in this scene, firstly there is a fire in the middle of the group, this is ironic as since ancient times fires have been used to prevent large predators such as wolves attacking human settlements. However this cannot prevent the shark. The high angle shot is also important as this is a cinematic technique used throughout the film, it shows vulnerability, especially as you see the extreme long shot of the sea behind them, compared to the sea the teenagers are insignificant, it overwhelms them. Thirdly the sky in the brief shot of Chrissie's boyfriend lying on his back is red, throughout the film the colours red, orange and yellow are used to symbolise danger. An example would be Alex Kitner's red swimming trunks and his mother's yellow hat. Lastly a huge amount of tension is built up in this scene. Following Chrissie's shark encounter we are left watching her “not drunk” boyfriend pass out on the beach, at this point the music stops and is replaced by the sound of waves gently landing on the beach. This contrast releases the tension of the last scene perfectly.
In scene two we meet the protagonist of the film Martin C. Brody or “Chief” as he is commonly referred as. He is the chief of police for Amity Island and is willing to spend a lot of his free time into his job as seen as he studies sharks at home in the middle parts of the film. He is a family man so the audience can relate to him, he is “normal”. Spielberg specifically chose “unknown” actors so the audience could relate to them. Due to this connection between the audience and Chief Brody they feel close to him. This makes it easier for them to like him and as a result, most people do. Chief Brody also dislikes the water and due to this gains many people's sympathy. This also creates tension as the audience know of his amid phobia and know he has difficulties manoeuvring in it and would stand no chance against a great white if he was to fall in the water.
While on-board the Orca Brody keeps the crew together, mostly by keeping tensions between Hooper and Quint at bay. Brody acts as a middle ground in the crew adding to the average character Spielberg intended. It is likely the entire Orca and it's crew would of sank if Brody took sides with the feuding Quint and Hooper.
Some time after the initial attack and Brody's failed protests to shut the beaches there is an important scene involving the Kitner family and a dog.
A yellow shirted man throws a stick into the water for his dog to fetch only to find the dog will never return. Meanwhile Alex Kitner and his mother are at the beach enjoying themselves in the summer sun. Alex has a conversation with his mother before walking off the beach being followed by the camera. Alex grabs a yellow lilo from off-set before diving into the sea on top of it, he is wearing red trunks and lying on a yellow lilo, these colours have connotations of danger.
The camera cuts to Chief Brody who is being approached by somebody as some “cats” keep parking in front of his house. Brody however has bigger fish to fry, he is frequently looking over the shoulder of the man and panics and stands up as he hears screaming from a young couple playing in the water.
We return to the yellow shirted man who is now shouting his dog's name “Pippin” trying to find her when suddenly the camera cuts to the shark's point of view and the infamous Jaws them begins to play. “We” swim through the clear Amity waters before picking out a seal-looking object which is in fact Alex Kitner. As the theme reaches it's climax the camera cuts to the sunbathers on land who begin to point at the shark overturning the lilo asking if each other saw it. We cut back to the shark's perspective and see the now reddened murky
water.
This next shot is arguably the most famous shot of the movie. We begin on the sand and then zoom and track towards Brody at the same time. This is called a contra-zoom. Ellen, Brody's wife and the background have a motion blur on them so we have all of our attention fixed on the startled look of panic, fear and shock on Brody's face. He charges forwards screaming “get out of the water”. In seconds the entire beach is in panic. There are screams, yells and cries as hundreds of Islanders rush into the sea to try and evacuate the children. Mrs Kitner comes rushing from her towel calling for her son but her hopes are swallowed as a shark-bitten lilo gets washed up on the beach. Throughout this entire scene we still do not see a clear picture of our antagonist.
From the first seen Spielberg has taught us to fear the water, ever since Chrissie was killed. This makes us think of the shark every time we see the sea. The shark often never turned up but we we're still thinking “Don't go in the water, there's a shark in there”. This keeps us on our toes throughout the entire movie, we can't relax, as almost the entire film is set around water it keeps us looking out for danger.
In the latter half of the film Hooper, Brody and the now contracted Quint go out to hunt for the shark. As they are on a small fishing boat space is limited which makes the audience feel claustrophobic at times. Tension is kept high for the majority of the journey as Quint and Hooper have frequent quarrels and often need to be separated by Brody. Quint also becomes violent at a few stages but in particular when he smashes the telephone with a baseball bat while Hooper tries to call the coastguard.
When the three get drunk and start exchanging stories about how they got their scars in particular Quint. This says a lot about his character. It shows he is proud to be working class and a “man of the land” or in his case sea. Although not friendly with Hooper prior after Quint tells his story about thee USS Indianapolis Hooper gains a huge amount of respect for him and us as viewers now understand his deep hatred of sharks.
Another tension inducing event is when the Orca's engine gets flooded. Quint dismisses Hooper's advice and pushes the engine to it's limits and the Orca accelerates leaving a trail of black smoke behind. In this scene viewers constantly think “Are they going to make it.”
In my opinion, the scariest moment of the film is when I saw the Ben Gardener underwater. As Hooper examines the tooth Ben Gardner's eye falls out. The dead Ben Gardener suddenly pops up from the blackness with a high pitch scream which makes viewers jump. The camera used a close up shot and pans for a brief moment with Hooper's head moving Gardener's head side-swinging as if he was alive which made me jump. The shot makes you see more of the unwanted details and the lighting from the torch made it a lot scarier. The bright white colour reminds viewers of ghost's and because the background was black, it stands out. The music matches Hooper's expression, it is very fast and helps build fear. The music that was played was the theme but it was a higher pitch therefore it seemed unique and more scary. It also sounded distorted because it was muffled by “bubble” sounds. Hooper swims out as fast as possible and is panting when he gets out, this shows that he is frightened. This helped to build the anxiety level for the audience.
Chief Brody is my favourite character because he is down to earth and “normal”, he is unique. The majority of block busters lead characters are spies, treasure hunters, secret agents or something of the like, not the local policeman of a small island. Another quality he has is that he is creative, this saves his life and ultimately completes the objective of the movie itself, to kill the shark. Had Brody not had the creativity to through the compressed air canister into the shark's mouth and then shot it with his last bullet he would've died within a minute and died in vain, a great white shark is not going to die from one bullet from a handgun.
Overall I enjoyed the film, even though thriller isn't my favourite genre. I enjoyed how Spielberg thought about different elements especially “nature's colours of danger” as this kept me looking for clues as to who was going to die next.
“Jaws” is a thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg. The film is about a great white shark that cause havoc to the small township of Amity, New England. The film is set around the 4th of July with the shark's first victim dying only a few days prior to one of the busiest days of the year, t. This is significant because in the USA the 4th of July is one of the biggest national holidays of the year, nearly all Americans will not be working and as it is in the middle of summer many Americans will be enjoying themselves relaxing on the beach. This makes the shark seem like a greater threat and emphasises the fact that people are going to be killed because as the higher amounts of people obviously increase the likelihood …show more content…
of a death. Another factor to take into account is that as Amity is a “summer island” the majority of the island's income comes from the tourists who come for the summer holidays and a shark attack that could potentially ward off tourists would be devastating for the island's economy.
Throughout the film Spielberg creates a tense atmosphere through the use of different cinematic techniques and especially putting emphasises on non-diegetic sounds and music.
The start of the film begins with a point of view shot of 'something' swimming through the water with the non-diegetic Jaws theme music playing the background. Near the climax of the theme, music the word JAWS appears on the screen. This immediately connects the music with the presence of the creature called Jaws.
The scene quickly cuts to a typical teenage beach party. There is a fire in the middle of the group alcohol being passed around and even a harmonica playing relaxing, “happy music”. As this music relaxes us it lures us into a false sense of security and we are less able to cope with the upcoming tension. We see a high angle shot of the group before the scene cuts to a panning wide angle shot of the vast sea. There is a buoy in the water with it's bell ringing with a flashing red light, from this point on we know something awful is going to happen. The camera follows Chrissie as she runs along the beach. With her boyfriend chasing behind her but having difficulty keeping up as he is obviously drunk although he claims otherwise, she is the first to enter the water. As she enters the water the theme starts to play. She swims out to the buoy but as she approaches it she begins to get pulled under by something very strong and powerful as Chrissie cannot free herself from it's grips. She begins to panic and starts to kick her legs and scream. We do not see what it is but as the theme is now playing we begin to sense that it may be the shark. In the middle of the attack it briefly cuts to Chrissie's boyfriend in which he is lying on the beach, this is a complete contrast to the panic and screaming we heard form Chrissie only moments before. After a small struggle Chrissie is submerged, never to come back up while her boyfriend is left lying on his back on the sand.
There are several things that we should take note of in this scene, firstly there is a fire in the middle of the group, this is ironic as since ancient times fires have been used to prevent large predators such as wolves attacking human settlements. However this cannot prevent the shark. The high angle shot is also important as this is a cinematic technique used throughout the film, it shows vulnerability, especially as you see the extreme long shot of the sea behind them, compared to the sea the teenagers are insignificant, it overwhelms them. Thirdly the sky in the brief shot of Chrissie's boyfriend lying on his back is red, throughout the film the colours red, orange and yellow are used to symbolise danger. An example would be Alex Kitner's red swimming trunks and his mother's yellow hat. Lastly a huge amount of tension is built up in this scene. Following Chrissie's shark encounter we are left watching her “not drunk” boyfriend pass out on the beach, at this point the music stops and is replaced by the sound of waves gently landing on the beach. This contrast releases the tension of the last scene perfectly.
In scene two we meet the protagonist of the film Martin C. Brody or “Chief” as he is commonly referred as. He is the chief of police for Amity Island and is willing to spend a lot of his free time into his job as seen as he studies sharks at home in the middle parts of the film. He is a family man so the audience can relate to him, he is “normal”. Spielberg specifically chose “unknown” actors so the audience could relate to them. Due to this connection between the audience and Chief Brody they feel close to him. This makes it easier for them to like him and as a result, most people do. Chief Brody also dislikes the water and due to this gains many people's sympathy. This also creates tension as the audience know of his amid phobia and know he has difficulties manoeuvring in it and would stand no chance against a great white if he was to fall in the water.
While on-board the Orca Brody keeps the crew together, mostly by keeping tensions between Hooper and Quint at bay. Brody acts as a middle ground in the crew adding to the average character Spielberg intended. It is likely the entire Orca and it's crew would of sank if Brody took sides with the feuding Quint and Hooper.
Some time after the initial attack and Brody's failed protests to shut the beaches there is an important scene involving the Kitner family and a dog.
A yellow shirted man throws a stick into the water for his dog to fetch only to find the dog will never return. Meanwhile Alex Kitner and his mother are at the beach enjoying themselves in the summer sun. Alex has a conversation with his mother before walking off the beach being followed by the camera. Alex grabs a yellow lilo from off-set before diving into the sea on top of it, he is wearing red trunks and lying on a yellow lilo, these colours have connotations of danger.
The camera cuts to Chief Brody who is being approached by somebody as some “cats” keep parking in front of his house. Brody however has bigger fish to fry, he is frequently looking over the shoulder of the man and panics and stands up as he hears screaming from a young couple playing in the water.
We return to the yellow shirted man who is now shouting his dog's name “Pippin” trying to find her when suddenly the camera cuts to the shark's point of view and the infamous Jaws them begins to play. “We” swim through the clear Amity waters before picking out a seal-looking object which is in fact Alex Kitner. As the theme reaches it's climax the camera cuts to the sunbathers on land who begin to point at the shark overturning the lilo asking if each other saw it. We cut back to the shark's perspective and see the now reddened murky
water.
This next shot is arguably the most famous shot of the movie. We begin on the sand and then zoom and track towards Brody at the same time. This is called a contra-zoom. Ellen, Brody's wife and the background have a motion blur on them so we have all of our attention fixed on the startled look of panic, fear and shock on Brody's face. He charges forwards screaming “get out of the water”. In seconds the entire beach is in panic. There are screams, yells and cries as hundreds of Islanders rush into the sea to try and evacuate the children. Mrs Kitner comes rushing from her towel calling for her son but her hopes are swallowed as a shark-bitten lilo gets washed up on the beach. Throughout this entire scene we still do not see a clear picture of our antagonist.
From the first seen Spielberg has taught us to fear the water, ever since Chrissie was killed. This makes us think of the shark every time we see the sea. The shark often never turned up but we we're still thinking “Don't go in the water, there's a shark in there”. This keeps us on our toes throughout the entire movie, we can't relax, as almost the entire film is set around water it keeps us looking out for danger.
In the latter half of the film Hooper, Brody and the now contracted Quint go out to hunt for the shark. As they are on a small fishing boat space is limited which makes the audience feel claustrophobic at times. Tension is kept high for the majority of the journey as Quint and Hooper have frequent quarrels and often need to be separated by Brody. Quint also becomes violent at a few stages but in particular when he smashes the telephone with a baseball bat while Hooper tries to call the coastguard.
When the three get drunk and start exchanging stories about how they got their scars in particular Quint. This says a lot about his character. It shows he is proud to be working class and a “man of the land” or in his case sea. Although not friendly with Hooper prior after Quint tells his story about thee USS Indianapolis Hooper gains a huge amount of respect for him and us as viewers now understand his deep hatred of sharks.
Another tension inducing event is when the Orca's engine gets flooded. Quint dismisses Hooper's advice and pushes the engine to it's limits and the Orca accelerates leaving a trail of black smoke behind. In this scene viewers constantly think “Are they going to make it.”
In my opinion, the scariest moment of the film is when I saw the Ben Gardener underwater. As Hooper examines the tooth Ben Gardner's eye falls out. The dead Ben Gardener suddenly pops up from the blackness with a high pitch scream which makes viewers jump. The camera used a close up shot and pans for a brief moment with Hooper's head moving Gardener's head side-swinging as if he was alive which made me jump. The shot makes you see more of the unwanted details and the lighting from the torch made it a lot scarier. The bright white colour reminds viewers of ghost's and because the background was black, it stands out. The music matches Hooper's expression, it is very fast and helps build fear. The music that was played was the theme but it was a higher pitch therefore it seemed unique and more scary. It also sounded distorted because it was muffled by “bubble” sounds. Hooper swims out as fast as possible and is panting when he gets out, this shows that he is frightened. This helped to build the anxiety level for the audience.
Chief Brody is my favourite character because he is down to earth and “normal”, he is unique. The majority of block busters lead characters are spies, treasure hunters, secret agents or something of the like, not the local policeman of a small island. Another quality he has is that he is creative, this saves his life and ultimately completes the objective of the movie itself, to kill the shark. Had Brody not had the creativity to through the compressed air canister into the shark's mouth and then shot it with his last bullet he would've died within a minute and died in vain, a great white shark is not going to die from one bullet from a handgun.
Overall I enjoyed the film, even though thriller isn't my favourite genre. I enjoyed how Spielberg thought about different elements especially “nature's colours of danger” as this kept me looking for clues as to who was going to die next.