How does the director build suspense and scare the audience in the film jaws

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How does the director build suspense and scare the audience in the film jaws

The film is called “Jaws”, which is about a very large shark, that’s attacking people in the town of Amity. The film is set in 1975 and is building up to the 4th of July, Independence Day in America. With Amity being a seaside town with a large beach and it coming up to Independence Day, it is going to be more heavily populated for the holidays, which is good news for a hungry shark.

      I think Spielberg uses music very well to build suspense in this film, the theme music is very good because the pace can be sped up or slowed down to give the desired effect . In the opening sequence music is used to build suspense the theme music starts off slowly and you don’t even see the shark, but the music immediately makes you think the shark is there and about to attack. Then the music gets faster and faster and it makes you almost certain you are going to see something like an attack or even a glimpse of the shark. It really builds tension, but, then there is a jump shot to a party on the beach where you can hear a mouth organ being played, this makes the audience feel more relaxed after expecting to see a shark attack. There is also a bonfire on the beach which together with the mouth organ creates a scene where people are really happy and enjoying themselves.

     The next scene is a girl swimming in the sea and with it just being after the relaxed beach scene, we don’t expect much to happen. The next is a point of view shot from the shark and then the theme music begins. The music is now associated with the shark attacking its victim. As the shark attacks the girl, her body is suddenly pulled under, and then dragged helplessly pulled this way and then that way on the surface by the unseen shark underneath. The audience are transfixed and horrified.

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    Camera shots and angles are also very good at building suspense in jaws. The very first shot in the film is a point of view shot, and such shots are crucial in the opening sequence. There’s the scene where everyone’s running out of the water Spielberg uses camera angles, which present a feeling of chaos with all the different angles, jump scenes are used here also, which shows the publics reaction which is one of horror and fear they think they might have been attacked by a 25 foot shark. The scene appears to quieten, but then the ...

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