The second attack was on Alex, the young boy, and the dog. First we see the setting of a crowded beach with all ages of people. The boy called Alex, walks up to his mother on the beach, this is done using a simultaneous tracking and mid shot. It focuses on the boy, which highlights the amount of people on the beach. At this point the audience remembers Brody’s wish to shut the beach, they also begin to predict what is going to happen. The boy then asks if he can stay in the water some more. His mum allows him 10 minutes. Speilberg does this by a mid shot making the audiences expectations grow from the last shot. The audience thinks he’s going to get attacked and again the audience remember Brody’s wish. A man, wearing a bright yellow jumper, making him stand out, throws a stick for his dog into the water as a close up shot takes place. The yellow jumper makes us remember him and think that maybe he will be involved somehow. At this point we get lulled into a false sense of security thinking that usually animals don’t get hurt. We begin to wander, like we did with the boy if the dog will be attacked. The dog and the boy run into the water in synchronisation as a tracking shot. The audience continues worrying about the safety of both. We then see a close up of the dog running with a stick and the audience got ready for an attack. As the boy swimming on the lilo comes into view through a long shot and a tracking shot, the audience is still ready for an attack, and they are prepared for a shock. A point of view shot and a close up of Brody watching over the water are used to make you feel in the same situation as Brody, continuously nervous, agitated and keeping watch. A man in a black hat swims in the sea in a long shot and mid shot. Like Brody the audience is suspicious of his hat (when we do not know it’s a hat) therefore we connect more with Brody and his reactions. A mid shot then shows a sunburnt man blocking his view as he talks to Brody. We feel sorry for Brody at this point because of the man and start getting annoyed with the man. A woman screams in the water as a point of view shot and the audience gets ready for the shock of an attack. Although we relax again after we find out its not an attack. A tracking shot shows lots of boys run into the water splashing each other this builds up the audience’s fear of an attack. The camera view changes to a close up then a mid shot and them back to a close up as a little boy (Brody’s son) sings and the man calls for his dog repeatedly. The audience go back to their first expectations regarding the dog and suspect they have come true. Fear and suspense become increased. A tracking and low angle shot of the legs in the water scare the audience reminding them of the first attack and another might occur any second. A long shot shows the attack of Alex in the water confirming the audiences predictions of an attack that day. The audience experiences the same perspective as those on the beach, in particular Brody. We start feeling sorry for the boy and then we see a shot of the shark, not showing its actual size, therefore tension ans suspense are felt. A zoom in and close up show Brody realising what is happening and his look of horror makes the audience feel again sorry for Brody. The general public is shown by a mid shot and tracking shot. The terror of the attack scares the public just like it does to the audience. A yellow lilo washes up on the shore shown by a mid shot. The colour of the yellow contrasts with the red of the blood makes you notice it in the sea. The size of the bite mark gives the audience an idea of the size of the shark. The silence used at the end of the attack effects the characters and the audience alike because we both feel shocked, frightened and sad. Sound is used in a very effective way to create suspense and fear.
The director uses a range of techniques to build fear and tension, a technique that Speilberg uses to build up fear of the shark is the music. Whenever there is going to be an attack the music starts. The beat goes from quite slow to faster and faster as the shark gets nearer and nearer the victim, the shark is also getting faster, the same way as the music. The shark and the music work simultaneously (together) which scares the audience because when we hear the music they think there is most likely going to be an attack, which prepares them for one, the music alerts us of the shark. He also creates fear of the shark by the damage done, the decapitated head in the boat out at sea, the woman in the 1st attack only had 1 arm left and in the 3rd attack the man in the boat only had 1 leg left. The size of the shark, of what we can see, suggests anything that gets attacked by it is very unlikely to survive. The final way the director builds up fear and tension is through character reactions. When they feel fear and tension its like the audience is connected someway because we feel it too. When the characters are scared we are too. When the characters are upset and angry we feel the same emotions. Throughout the film it feels though we have a bond with the characters. The director uses good techniques to build up fear and tension.
The film is structures in a specific way to create tension and fear. The first and second attacks create fear immediately because they are both shown within the first 15 minutes. This is not what we expect from a horror movie. These attacks work because of the audiences’ imagination is being used, as we can not see the shark. The third attack involving Brody’s son introduces the size of the shark but is ambiguous, which means it gives us more than one idea. It is ambiguous because of Speilberg’s use of different camera angles, making the audience feel unsure and still scared because we do not know the full size, meaning the amount of damage done by the shark is unpredictable. When Brody’s son is involved we focus on Brody and his son and their reactions. The last scenes are highlighted through the size of the boat or the equipment on board, which highlights the lack of space on board, people might get hurt or go into the water.
Chief Brody is the main character, the shark expert, Hooper, is helping Brody with his search for the great white shark. Quint is the owner of the boat, he does not get on particularly well with either Hooper or Brody. Quint appears mad, enraged and determined, so much so he blows his own engine and the boat slowly starts to sink. We expect Hooper and Quint to die, we hope Brody will stereotypically survive as the hero.
At the end we find out hopes were right, Brody survives and surprisingly Hooper.
My personal view of the scariest point in the film is when Hooper is out in the boat with Brody, Hooper goes diving and finds a boat that obviously has been attacked by a shark. The point, which makes me scared and shocked, is when he swims up to a window and a bitten off head pops out. I personally quite like this film and I think Speilberg has done well directing it.
