‘Analyse the first scene in the movie ‘Jaws’ and the film techniques the director, Steven Spielberg uses to build fear and suspense to scare the audience’
Jaws is an iconic film created in 1975 which uses suspense and tension to frighten the audience. Jaws was the first of its kind in the film industry and is still heralded as a classic. Its director, Steven Spielberg, used new techniques like colour connotations and camera shots to create feelings of dramatic irony and scare the viewer. The film was based on the novel by Peter Benchley, it starred Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, and Richard Dreyfuss as concerned citizens of Amity Island trying to protect their villagers from a killer shark that is lurking in their seas waiting for a feast.
The director introduces music and sound within the first minute of the film. The dark, eerie title attack music dramatically changes to the light calm playing of the harmonica and guitar leaving the viewer guessing at what is to happen leaving them tense and agitated. The happy campfire music that is orchestrated in the first scene is a contradiction to what the viewer knows is going to happen and creates the sense of impending doom. Although the mood of the first scene seems joyous and mellow Spielberg keeps the sound of the ocean and crashing waves in the background to give the audience a constant reminder of what is out there and the dangers. John Williams wrote the iconic attack music that is now instantly recognisable with sharks, shark attacks and danger. This score earned Williams an Academy Award. The two – note music connotes that of the change in someone’s heart rate when they have been frightened. The tempo of the music changes from slow and gradual to accelerated and rapid. Tension is created because the viewers are the only ones that can hear the music which creates dramatic tension and shows the vulnerability of Chrissy and Drunk Boy. Steven Spielberg also uses sounds to create tension in the film. In the first scene after Chrissy has been attacked by the shark the buoy bell rings as if to symbolise her death, like those of funeral bells. The director uses this technique to relate back to the audience and make them feel more in touch with the film.
