The film Jaws based on the novel written by Peter Benchley , discuss the Director's techniques of raising tension.

First Attack

The first attack was set on the beach, where a party was being held with a campfire. People were unaware and having a good time. The camera then zoomed in on a character looking at another. They looked at each other as if they were in love. Then they both ran off down the beach out of view, which builds suspense a little. The girl went in the sea swimming and the boy couldn't get his clothes off, so he could not get in with her. Everything is quiet and all you can hear is the sea. Suspense is raising dramatically at the moment and the fact that the girl is out on her own makes you go to the edge of your seat. Then Spielberg uses a point of view shot from the shark's point of view. This is dramatic irony and we know that the shark is underneath her, but the girl is again unaware.

We are waiting for the shark to attack, and Spielberg purposefully prolongs the attack for tension. The Jaws theme tune is playing in the background and getting louder, until it gets to a climax. Then it goes silent, and the shark pulls at her leg. It lets go and the girl is shocked. Then it starts to attack again pulling her around everywhere. Then the camera goes back to the beach where the boy is lying on the beach and everything is quiet. Then the camera flicks back to the girl frantically fighting and then she is submerged under the water. The scene ends like that and you are 99.9% sure she is dead but you still have the feeling she might be alive, making you want to watch on.

Second Attack

The second attack starts with a small boy coming out of the sea, and shows many other people at the seaside. You can hear the boy ask his mother if he can stay in the water for longer, his mother at first said he had stayed in long enough but said he could stay in ten more minutes. This raises suspense because we know there is a shark about. We then have a close up of Brody watching the sea nervously and everyone else oblivious to the danger. Spielberg then includes many people casually playing in the sea like normal but we all know that danger is coming.

Suspense is built up dramatically while Brody was watching a woman swim, Brody could see something black coming from under the water, and the watcher looks in intensely, then to see a man wearing a black hat. The climax is dropped and we see the relief on Brody's face. Then a big sunburnt man walks in front of Brody, blocking his view. This again raises tension as Brody cannot see if everybody is safe. Suddenly a women in the water screamed, which only caught the attention of Brody. He then realises that she was messing around in the water playing. Suspense yet again drops. Afterwards a whole group of boys ran into the water, this not only blocked Brody's view of other people but any one of the boys could be a victim, raising suspense almost to a climax. However the shots from under the water seeing the boy on the lilo and the boy's legs with the Jaws theme tune raises tension and suspense to a climax until we see the boy on the lilo get eaten by Jaws from a distance. The scene finishes with the chewed up yellow lilo being washed into Shaw and the mother looking at it along with the crowd.

Director's techniques of raising tension

Spielberg raises tension in many ways, he uses music and the Jaws theme tune a lot to give the watcher an idea of when Jaws is coming or something bad is going to happen. This is effective because when you are watching the music is subtle when you are not trying to hear out for it and it makes you want to watch on.

Then Spielberg uses under the water shots from the shark's point of view but not showing the shark. This is very effective because you think it is the shark but you are not quite sure and if it is the shark and if it is going to attack somebody.

The most subtle method Spielberg uses is the colour yellow. When Jaws is about to attack the colour yellow is on or around many possible victims and every time you see it you think if they are going to be victim to Jaws.

Structure of the film

The structure of the film is important and Spielberg makes Jaws attack twice at the beginning to let everyone know how dangerous it is and makes everybody scared. Brody had been responsible for the death of the second victim and now Jaws almost killed his Son. So Brody is linked to the shark almost every attack. Then towards the end of the film Brody, the shark catcher, and the geography expert were on a small boat far out at the sea where Jaws was toying with them. The fact that they were really defenceless like all of the other victims made the attack similar however now it is different because Jaws could not quite get them and they knew that Jaws is after them made the attack different.

Conclusion

I think that Jaws is a very successful film for its time because the effects of the shark and how realistic it looked. However my favourite method in the film is the use of camera shots. The use is very varied but very wisely used. My favourite shot was the under the water shot not showing the shark, I found this more scary and eerie only showing the victim's legs.

The scariest moment was when the geography expert looked at a wrecked boat and looked at a hole in the boat, then suddenly a corpse floated towards the hole and we saw the corpse slowly emerge from the boat, but the best bit about that scene was how it made you jump!