In the second paragraph the reader is told that, at this stage, all the fish can sense through its “series of tiny canals, filled with mucus and dotted with nerve endings” are the “vibrations” given off by the movement of the woman. The reader’s worst fears have been realised and the tension is building up as the shark has notice the woman. The final sentence of the second paragraph is the first point at which the reader knows that an attack is almost certain to happen. Being short and to the point the sentence leaves the reader with a terrible realisation of what is about to happen.
When Chrissie runs down to the sea a panning shot is used. This is very effective as it makes the audience feel as though they are moving along side her. The camera is very close to Chrissie, her breathing can be heard over the noises of the sea and the distant party. The way that Steven Spielberg gradually changes the background noise from the party to the sea is very clever as it separates the two character from the rest of the party and changes the whole atmosphere without the audience realising. The audience can tell that the boy is drunk by the way runs and states “I’m not drunk, I just can’t walk or undress myself.” The director has used the drunken boy so that at first the audience is relieved that the girl isn’t on her own. There is safety in numbers so the audience can make themselves believe that no harm is going to come to Chrissie. However, this relief is short lived when the audience realises that the boy is in no fit state to swim and that he might aswell not be there.
The darkness of the night is lit only by the moonlight, which creates an eerie atmosphere. Because of the lack of light the picture is quite unclear which makes the audience feel insecure, as they cannot see clearly what is going on. When Chrissie enters the water the audience knows that she is in a lot of danger so when a long shot of her reveals her elegant, synchronised swimming the audience can instantly reassure themselves that she is quite capable and will be able to get herself out of difficulty. Steven Spielberg then uses close – ups, with the camera at water level, to make the audience feel that they are in the water with her, thus involving them in the film. At this point a distant ringing of a buoy bell can be heard, making the whole atmosphere really eerie. Whilst Chrissie is in the water the shot switches back to the boy on the beach who has since passed out. Chrissie is now all alone. There is nobody who can help her if she got into difficulty. The audience will by now be willing Chrissie to get out of the water but they know that realistically she is there to get attacked. The shot switches back to Chrissie whom, oblivious to what the audience has already seen (the shark), is relaxed and calm. The fact that she is not frightened adds to the tension, as the audience knows that in the danger she is facing she should be very worried. The audience feel out of control and desperately want to shout out to Chrissie that there is a shark in the water but they know that nothing or nobody can help.
In both the film and the novel the woman treads water and rests. In the novel the author has shown this when he has written “But she was tiring, so she rested for a moment, treading water, and then started for shore” In the film Steven Spielberg has shown this by using a shark’s eye view camera shot. The shot is underwater and looking up at her legs which are clearly treading water. She is simply a silhouette in the water because of the moonlight. The audience now knows how close the shark is and her bare, kicking legs make her very vulnerable as they are so easy for the shark to catch hold of. In the background a harp can be heard playing softly and gently. This creates a mysterious atmosphere and it makes the audience think of mermaids. The camera shot now switches between long shots and close- ups but Chrissie always looks happy. The peaceful music stops and starts and the calm sound of rippling waves can be heard in the background. This relieves some of the tension caused by the shark and keeps a little hope alive that Chrissie might still survive. However, I think that really all the tranquillity is just the calm before the storm. The shot then switches back under water as a sharks eye view and the dreaded ‘Jaws’ music starts. This is what the audience has feared because they know that as soon as this starts an attack is definite. It diminishes any last hope they had of Chrissie surviving. Once again the long, minor notes of the cello gradually increase in tempo and volume with the intention of building suspense. The camera zooms in on Chrissie’s legs giving the impression that the shark is getting closer and closer to her. The audience’s hearts will be pounding as the climax of the suspense is reached. The audience is now waiting for the moment when the shark grabs her leg.
In the novel the reader knows that the shark is closing on the woman by the way Peter Benchley uses more and more short sentences and also repeats the word ‘she’ when referring to the woman. In the film the audience knows that the shark is close because they can see from the shark’s eye view that the shark is looking directly up at Chrissie’s legs. Another sign that the shark is getting closer is when the “Jaws” music begins to increase in tempo and volume.
At this point the writer uses the woman’s emotions to build up suspense. The woman is relaxed, calm and relieved that she has not come to any harm but in actual fact this is totally the opposite to what she should be feeling. Because the reader knows that the fish is nearby and has every intention of killing her the reader is left guessing at whether the woman will notice and escape. Peter Benchley uses the woman’s hope to create the same feeling in the reader. He points out a number of facts that make the reader believe that the woman will survive. For instance he has written ‘She was only 50 yards from shore’ and ‘She could see the line of white foam where the waves broke on the beach’. Both these points show that the woman is within a short distance of the shore and that she could still make it out of the water safely, thus giving the reader hope and creating suspense. The author also uses the fish’s feelings to build suspense. From the fish’s point of view the girl is referred to only as ‘prey’. This shows that the fish will not treat the woman any different from anything else it would eat so the reader knows that the fish is going to hunt the woman down at all costs. The vibrations that the fish is receiving from the woman get stronger and stronger which makes the fish more and more eager to get to her. The author has shown this by the way he has written ‘The fish smelled her now, and the vibrations – erratic and sharp – signalled distress’ and ‘a series of tremors shook its body’. These two lines show that the fish is clearly getting pleasure from smelling his ‘prey’ so is not likely to give up.
The director switches between a variety of camera shots to increase the suspense. Steven Spielberg uses the shark’s eye view to show the shark getting closer and focusing on Chrissie’s legs. This creates a feeling of panic, as the audience knows the shark is about to strike at any second. He also uses close-ups and long shots to show how at ease Chrissie is, but similarly to the novel the audience knows that she should feel totally the opposite. The director finally re-introduces the “Jaws” music to create the climax of the suspense.
In the film the shark attack is shorter than in the novel but just as horrific. A reaction shot is used to show the beginning of the first attack. The panic and shock on Chrissie's face instantly show her fear. Her screaming and splashing that is caused by the panic is backed up by the intense “Jaws” music with screeching violins. She is jerked downwards under the water but the camera remains on the surface of the water, to make the audience feel like they are there and fully involved. The director switches from long shots to close-ups to show confusion and hysteria. Chrissie splashes the camera as she is dragged from side to side. The water on the camera again enhances the feeling of being there with her. The camera then switches to the drunken boy who is led peacefully on the beach. This is in complete contrast to the frenzy that is going on in the water. The boy cannot hear or see what is happening to Chrissie. This makes the audience feel frustrated and angry that the boy cannot help. It also creates a feeling of helplessness in the audience, as they can’t do anything to stop the attack. Whilst the boy is led on the beach a high-pitched whistle can be heard alongside the “Jaws” music which is now much quieter and in the distance. This has the effect of reminding the audience that Chrissie is still being killed but still creates the peaceful atmosphere that the boy is in. The camera returns to Chrissie who grabs onto the buoy whilst erratically screaming only to get dragged off under the water. There is then a final shot of the boy creating a very calm and gentle atmosphere. This is in stark contrast to the frenzy that has just happened.
The novel is far more detailed in its approach because it has to get across the full intensity of the attack. The author describes the fish’s every move and builds up the tension by writing how the shark swims past the woman on one occasion. For a second the reader believes that she may survive until ‘the fish’ ‘turned suddenly to the left, dropped entirely below the surface, and with two quick thrusts of its tail, was upon her’. The author also writes a lot about the woman’s emotions and confusion. For example ‘For the first time the woman felt fear, though she did not know why’. Her fear is gradually built up until she realises that the fish has bitten off her right leg. When the fish bites off her leg she doesn’t realise at first thinking that ‘she had snagged her leg on a rock or a piece of floating wood but when she felt her ‘nub of bone’ her fear comes to a climax and she ‘screamed a guttural of terror’.
The woman feels comforted when ‘she thought she saw someone pass by one of the windows’ because she thinks she is not alone. When people get into a difficult or frightening situation then naturally they feel much safer if someone is not to far away. When the woman sees someone in the window it is a great reassurance to her.
The wound is described in a very gory way to get across how severe the attack is. The first thing the reader finds out about the wound is all that remains of her leg is ‘a nub of bone and tattered flesh’. The wound is described in such detail that a picture immediately forms in the reader’s mind allowing the reader to ‘see’ it visually and also read about it. The reader later learns that there is a ‘stream of blood flushing from the woman’s femoral artery’ signifying that the fish has bitten through her main artery. This shows the precise accuracy that the fish has when attacking its prey and reminds the reader how powerful the fish is.
The author has been careful to convey the fish in an extremely big and powerful way. Peter Benchley uses the simile ‘The great conical head struck like a locomotive, knocking her up out of the water’. This is an extremely effective simile as it compares the fish’s strength to a locomotive (a railway engine) which when moving at top speed is deadly should anyone get in the way. ‘The great conical head’ shows the reader that the fish must be of a considerable size. ‘The jaws snapped shut around her torso, crushing bones and flesh and organs into a jelly’ is another description of how powerful the fish is. In this phrase words such as ‘snapped’ and ‘crushed’ get across the force that this fish can apply. This is also a very effective metaphor because the fish will not have turned the flesh and organs into jelly but into a substance that is quite similar. It is used very well because to turn flesh and organs into jelly shows that it is very strong and mighty. The fact that the fish can swallow the girl’s torso whole backs up the evidence that it is very large. The reader can tell that the fish moves at great speed because the author has used words such as ‘hurtled’ and ‘turned suddenly’. The phrase ‘thrusting the giant body forward with a speed that agitated the tiny phosphorant animals’ shows clearly the fish’s speed and size.
The simile ‘a beacon as clear and as true as a lighthouse on a cloudless night’ is very powerful. A beacon is used as a guide usually lit by fire, but in this case the girls blood takes the place of the fire. It is something that you follow, so the simile is describing how the girl’s blood gives the fish a good guide to attack very accurately. The use of the words ‘on a cloudless night’ shows how clear the smell of blood must be to the shark and how easily it can pinpoint the body’s whereabouts using it.
Peter Benchley uses the word ‘corpse’ to replace the word woman, which has the effect of no longer making her seem human. The fish has ripped the woman apart and like any of its other prey she is now only referred to as a corpse. This makes the reader realise the damage the fish has done and how much it has destroyed her. It shows the power that the fish has over all of its prey and encourages the reader to red on to see what else the fish will attack.
In the final paragraph the author makes the fish sound greedy because the fish still registers ‘the signals of nearby prey’ but cannot ‘sort signal from substance’ so it just bits randomly through the clouds of blood. The fish is described as ‘seining for a random morsel’ which makes the reader mad because now, although the shark has had its feed it wants more. This is the first sign to the reader that the fish will strike again.
The final sentence of the novel creates the calm after the storm effect. ‘A few (pieces of corpse) drifted away just below the surface floating in the surge that ended in the surf’ are the words that Peter Benchley uses to bring an end to the gruesome attack. The sentence is alliterative and the words used such as ‘drifted’ and ‘floating’ are peaceful and gentle. This sentence is in total contrast to the panic and frenzy, which has just happened and is used to relieve the tension the fish, has just caused
In both the novel and the film the audience and the reader are led to believe that the woman may survive. In the novel the author does this by writing that the fish swims past the woman. In the film Steven Spielberg creates this effect when Chrissie grabs onto the buoy. This technique is used so that for a brief second the audience’s fear is replaced by hope that the woman will survive.
The shot that is shown after Chrissie has been killed is of the calm, undisturbed sea. From the picture nobody would know that any attack had happened because there is not a trace of evidence. The sea is clear, only the buoy bobs up and down slowly on the top of the water. In the background the distant ringing of a bell can be heard alongside the gentle waves washing on the beach. The atmosphere is tranquil and serene which is similar to the last sentence of the novel. This peacefulness is in total contrast to what has just happened and like in the novel it helps to relieve the tension caused by the attack.
Both the novel and the film show an attack using different methods to create tension and suspense. The film and the novel both manage to do this whilst fully involving the viewer and reader. I think that the novel and the film are very effective at creating the right amount of tension at the right time. However after reading the novel and watching the film my preference is with the film. This is mainly because the film immediately gives you a visual image whereas in the novel it takes a couple of lines of description to build up a similar picture. In a thriller where panic and frantic actions play a major part I think that the film can show everything much quicker so it appears more dramatic. Also, I think that sounds are very influential to the build up of tension and in the film you can just hear these instead of having to read a description of them. For instance, when you hear Chrissie’s screaming you immediately feel tense because you instinctively know that the sound is associated with pain and panic. In the novel the screaming is only described. The “Jaws” music also plays a major role in the build up of tension as it raises the heartbeat, which naturally makes the viewer much more scared. Nothing in the novel can create such a powerful effect. In the film the lighting is also used to create the eerie atmosphere that builds tension. In the novel the lighting is not described much and cannot be shown in the way it can in the film. Overall the film can take advantage of the audience’s sight and hearing and how they react to these two senses to create a much more dramatic atmosphere than in the novel.
In the film the inclusion of the drunken boy also adds to its effectiveness because when he has passed out the contrast between him and Chrissie really creates atmosphere. Every time the camera switches to the boy the audience is reminded of how frantic the atmosphere around Chrissie is. The contrast of these two opposite atmospheres makes the attack seem far worse in the film than in the novel.
I think that the film involves the audience more than the novel because the use of camera shots can bring the audience close to the action. The shark’s eye view is a very good shot and ultimately brings the audience into the middle of all the panic and confusion. It also build suspense as the audience can see exactly what the shark can see and when the shark is advancing towards Chrissie’s legs they know exactly what the shark is aiming for. When the attack is going on the close-ups at water level make the audience feel like they’re in the water.
