Jaws Media Coursework

Spielberg uses effective camera techniques throughout the film, and especially in the second attack. When the sunburnt man was talking to Brody there was a point of view shot as Brody watching the screaming girl in the background instead of listening to the man. This shows how concerned Brody is for everyone on the beach. It also makes the audience start to panic. Another effective camera technique is the point of view shot from the shark as it is picking its prey. As it gets closer the music also gets faster and louder. Because it is a point of view shot, you can see that the shark is picking its prey, and when it has picked it makes you want to warn the person that is about to be attacked. Panning shots are also used. These shots let you see a lot more than just a normal still one. An example of this is when the shark attacked a boy in the sea and then there was a panning shot which lets the audience see all the panic of the people on the beach or in the sea.

Spielberg makes every person that dies seem more like real people we can compare with rather than just food for the shark. One of ways he does this is by making sure the audience knows the name of all of the victims. Another way is that the victims have a family or someone who cares about them. The audience develops a connection with Brody and his family throughout the film. Near the end of the film where the shark was attacking the boat Brody was on the audience all wanted Brody to survive because of the connection the audience made with him. Spielberg does this by showing how much the family care for each other and how much Brody wants to make sure they are all safe.

Using fake/false alerts have a good effect on building up tension. By using false alerts of a shark attack, it builds up tension then suddenly drops when the audience realise its just normal things that are happening. This also shows Brody's concern for the people as from his point of view, he's looking for anything that could possibly be an attack.

Spielberg makes the audience fear about the shark using a few different ways. One way is showing how powerful it is, he shows this by how easily it kills its prey and when it had been shot and had 3 barrels attached to it, it still wouldn't rise to the surface. Another way the shark is made more and more scary is by not seeing it properly until near the end so the audience doesn't know what to expect. Also when the shark suddenly comes out of the water scares the audience because it was very unexpected. This is when you get to know what the shark looks like and see how big it really is.

At the very end where the shark is swimming towards Brody with the barrel in its mouth, this is when there is the highest point of tension in the whole film. This is because it was his last chance to kill the shark and if he didn't it would kill him and Hooper. The scariest moment of the film is when the shark suddenly puts its head above the water to eat the bait that Brody is shovelling in. It's the scariest part because it's the first time you get to see the shark properly and its all of a sudden when the audience doesn't expect it. Spielberg's camera techniques and the music in the film gave much more effect in the scenes compared to just a single camera angle in silence of a shark attack. I think these techniques made the film a lot more entertaining and dramatic which made Spielberg very successful.