The credits that start the scene also install fear in the audience with the white font they chose for ‘Jaws’. The most obvious colour to have chosen would have been red – symbolising blood and gore – but it has become apparent that the white of the font may reflect the colour of the shark’s teeth. The director chose to use a point of view shot of the shark moving through the weeds; it is easy to assume it is a shark, therefore increases suspense, and heightens the worry of what might happen next. This shot is also in daylight, which is unusual, as usually to create more fear, suspense, tension etc., scenes are shot in the dark. This automatically makes the audience think they are not safe from the shark during the day or night.
Here, the music increases in tempo and crescendos, creating profound tension and anticipation. The sound of the strings could be related to the shark’s heartbeat: as it gets nearer to its prey, it quickens and there is an extremely tense build-up at this moment. The biggest shock in the film is when the shark appears without any string build-up and the director, Steven Spielberg, realised the impact it would have on the audience and the fear it would create, as they had no warning that it was going to happen. When the music suddenly slows and stops there is an increased intensity and makes the audience question what the shark is going to do next and is there going to be a death?
The title sequence then cuts to the opening scene; the director uses a medium-close panning shot and the audience can see a beach party of some sort. There is the sound of a mouth organ being played in the background. This shows that there is normality outside of the water and people are unaware of the dangers that are within it. It shows a huge contrast between the introduction and the opening scene: here, the general atmosphere on screen is chilled out and happy; the mouth organ created a relaxed and casual mood whereas it was extremely tense before. Moreover, there is a large bonfire on the beach, which naturally symbolises warmth, security, comfort and safety and in some way counteracts the darkness encountered in the introduction.
The camera then pulls back to show a wide shot of the ocean. The audience can hear a non-diegetic sound of the ocean, which creates a small amount of tension as the sea will always be associated with the shark. After that, there is a medium close up of a teenage boy, seemingly drunk. There is also a young teenage girl framed off centre in the shot; she is sitting away from the main group or circle. This makes the audience think she is different and something is likely to happen to her.
The girl then decides to go swimming with the boy; this is a typical stereotype of a female doing something unintelligent. This also demonstrates dramatic irony in the way that the audience know what is in the water and she does not but moreover, creates fear in the audience for her and maybe pity, as she seemed so innocent when sitting alone on the beach. As they are both running away the sound of the ocean get louder and the mouth organ more distant meaning they are going further and further away from safety.
The director next uses a medium range shot with the ocean included and this gives the audience a first sense of danger. Whilst the girl is in the water there is no music, creating suspense and makes the audience ask themselves when the shark is going to get her. There is also a view of the young boy and it makes the audience think that if he was awake and sober he would have been able to help the girl, Chrissie, but in his current state he is useless.
The camera then switches to a point of view shot again and the audience are made aware that the shark is there and an attack is going to happen. This shot shows the shark as an almost silent predator but then there is a return of the strings and an increase in tension. Subsequently, the camera then switches between the top and bottom of the water; this shows the contrast between the danger below the water and the ignorance above it. There is then a shot of the girl’s legs kicking and the camera slowly zooms in; this attracts the shark and the slowness of the camera adds to the build-up to the shark attack. The signature shark music starts again but this time there is a sudden attack. This has a profound impact on the audience here as it is the first attack of the film and they did not know quite what to expect. The girl is screaming and moving around violently as if being pulled by an unseen force in the water but the audience can still not see the shark: this has them asking what it looks like and how big it is and brings back the fear of an unknown enemy. There are pauses in the attack, and the camera shows a shot of the boy still lying asleep on the beach. This shows that there was never going to be anyone to help or rescue her or even know what happened to her. This somehow implies that the shark has won which would create even more fear of the shark itself.
After the attack, there is a sudden silence, which, in a way, marks the death of the young girl and how dangerous and lethal this predator is. It also invokes sadness into the audience at the demise of such an innocent and naive girl. This scene then ends and all the audience can hear is the sound of the sea; it says the shark is not done yet and there is plenty more to happen – implying that there is going to be a lot more deaths and this notion would generally put fear, suspense and tension into anybody in the audience.
Overall, in my opinion, Steven Spielberg used the most appropriate media devices he could for each individual part of the title sequence and opening scene. This resulted in injecting the audience with as much fear and suspense as possible, which created the perfect opening for Jaws.
