Q Analyse the ways in which the director builds suspense and scares the audience in the film JAWS
Lights, camera, action! Those were probably the first signal words given by Steven Spielberg as he directed the film JAWS. Set at Amity Beach in America, Jaws tells the story of a great white killer shark and of the three men who try to capture and kill it. The film was based on a true story of a series of shark attacks in New Jersey. Spielberg chose to set the film on the 4th of July because it is the American Independence Day. The director effectively uses music, camera techniques, tension and showing the power of the shark to build the suspense and mind-blowing terror which made JAWS the first ever summer block buster.
Probably, the most well known music in cinematic history is that of the E and F note composed by John Williams. Spielberg trains the audience to associate this music with the presence of Jaws by playing it whenever the shark is around or when he is about t attack. He uses this music piece combined with silence to create tension and suspense in the audience. A good example of this is in the first scene a t the start of the movie. It starts with a very relaxed atmosphere of a large group of people chatting and sitting round a camp fire and we can hear someone playing a harmonica in the background. Spielberg has purposely created this sort of atmosphere to make the audience feel calm. The scene continues on to show a girl and a boy running off towards the shore. As they head away from the group, the chatter of the people fades and the only sound we can hear is that of the drunken boy trying to catch up with the running girl who had already reached the ocean. A long shot is used to show the girl entering a serene and calm beach with only the sound of the bell from the buoy. The boy on the other hand has fell unconscious from all his heavy drinking on the beach. This leaves the girl all on her own as she swims towards the deep end of the water. Suddenly the E and F note starts to play and the atmosphere becomes very intense as a point of view shot is used to portray the sight of the shark from under water. At this point the audience becomes very anxious and alert-expecting something dramatic to happen. The POV shot ends and a normal shot is used to show the surface of the water and all the audience see is the girls head bobbing up and down in the water. First her head jerks forward twice and she begins to scream and yell in pure agony and pain. Her body swivels from left to right and then she is pulled under water. By now the audience knows that she has been eaten by the shark. But then as suddenly as the girls scream started it stops just as quick and the sea looks just as it was before – serene and completely harmless. This sudden contrast between the music and silence is used by Spielberg to put the audience a t the edge of their seat. Another example of this contrast is towards the end of the movie where the three men Brody, Quint and Hooper are at sea in the cabin of the ship. In this scene they are all very drunk while they tell the stories of their body scars. The atmosphere is very tranquil as Quint tells the story of his encounter with sharks in world war one with his fellow soldiers. Then they all sing “Show Me the Way to Go Home” noisily. Spielberg does this the audience feel very amused and not expecting anything to go wrong which makes what happens next a surprise. Due to their loud singing and desk banging the three men do not realize at first that the shark has started to attack their ship, bashing repeatedly on its side. Spielberg does not use music to signal the audience so they will always be uncertain of when JAWS will attack, keeping them on the edge of their seats. When the shark leaves all is quiet again as before like nothing has happened.
