As the camera is manovering through the sea, the music builds up and begins to get louder and faster. The audience are now expecting something to happen with the shark, but it all of a sudden changes to the campfire scene.
As the scene changes, the music also changes. Now instead of loud, fast music a mouth organ is being played. This happens to try and confuse us, as Spielberg wants us to be on the edge of our seat.
The light coming of the bonfire is the only light around and is there to create shadows. As the mouth organ is played the camera pans across to show us there are a lot of people there. Spielberg has chosen to do this in order to create a comfortable and happy atmosphere.
We know immediately who the main characters are because as the camera pans across, you can see that everyone is talking in small groups until he camera stops on two people who are sitting on their own opposite each other.
These two people are also attracted to each other. Although there has been no actual conversation between them, we know this because the information is being communicated to us through clever camera techniques for example the camera flicks from the girl to the boy, and the boy to the girl.
The director isolates the two main characters by showing everyone else talking in small groups except these, which immediately isolates them from everyone else. Then when the girl looks at the sea and starts walking along the beach towards the sea, the boy follows. This is the last time we see them together. I think Spielberg chose to do this in order to show the audience how vulnerable they both are and to show that there is no specific bond between them.
The sea is supposed to look attractive like its sparkling in the moonlight and there is nothing to suggest there’s a shark lurking in the sea. This presents a nice, calm and relaxing atmosphere.
As the boy and girl are heading towards the sea you can notice a difference between the way both of them are moving. The girl is moving more steadily than the boy, as she is running and he is staggering. The boy is very drunk and clumsy, which makes him much slower than the girl. Spielberg has done this to let us know that something is bound to happen to one of them, as they are drunk. He’s made the girl look more steadily compared to the boy to show us that the boy is completely out of control, and isn’t very reliable at this specific moment.
The girl runs into the sea and then dives further into it, by this time the boy has fell down a hill onto the beach. We can now see that the boy and girl are both separated. We know this because the director shows us by panning across from the girl who is in the sea and the boy who is lying on the beach.
When the girl dives into the sea it looks attractive and there is nothing to suggest that there’s a monster lurking in there. Spielberg shows us a wide long shot of the sea, he does this to tell us that instead of the sea being attractive and sparkling in the moonlight it now represents danger. While the girl is swimming we can hear a clang of a bell.
As the girl swims under the water, the light disappears from the sea and you can now see the sun rising in the background. The sea now looks more sinister because it is very dark and mysterious. Spielberg makes us aware that the girl is very far out because you can see a buoy. This makes us feel anxious because we know something is about to happen to the girl.
Spielberg flicks between the sea and the beach to remind us that the girl and boy are separate still. We get a close up on the girl when she says “come on in the water” because Spielberg wants us to focus on nothing else but the girl. All we can hear is her heavy breathing.
We know the shark is lurking because the music builds up and the camera shows us a low angle shot of the sea to show us the shark’s perspective.
While the girl is swimming she looks angelic and she is floating all over the water elegantly with her hair hanging behind her. This makes us feel anxious and worried for her.
When the shark first attacks the camera switches from the top and bottom of the water. The girl is shocked when the shark first attacks you can tell this by the look on her face. It takes her a few seconds to realise what is actually happening to her that’s when she starts screaming. This is worrying for the audience because they realise that the girl is never going to be saved.
The director makes the attack look incredibly violent by the way the camera follows her when she is gliding along the water. The girl is being pulled under the water by the shark, which might make us think she is drowning instead of being eaten by the shark. She has very violent movements during the attack. This is worrying for the audience and makes us feel helpless.
During the attack the camera flicks back to the boy who is slumped on the beach. At this point we cannot hear the girl screaming all we can hear is the buoy ringing. This tells us that the girl is never going to be saved.
At the end of the attack the girl just disappears. This is shocking for the audience because it is like she was never there in the first place.
The scene ends back with the boy on the beach and all you can hear is the waves lapping in the background. We can also see the sun starting to rise this represents a new day and a new start for the boy but not for the girl.
The first ten minutes of the film has a huge effect on the audience it leaves them gripped to the rest of the film. They will also be wondering what will happen next and whether the shark strikes again or not. The director wants this to happen because he wants them to be on the edge of their seats through out the play and wants them to be feeling anxious.