After Chrissy’s attack there is a sudden silence, this creates peace and the sense that no one is around to witness the attack. It was like nothing ever happened. At the end of the scene all that can be heard is the sound of the sea. Again no one knows what has happened, not even the man on the beach as he has passed out. The woman was clinging onto a buoy which has a bell on it, which rung at the end on the same beat. The ringing sound can be associated with death or a funeral, this is ironic and suggests someone has died.
Before the second attack we see people enjoying a beautiful day at the seaside. The camera focuses in on Alex Kitner in his red coloured trunks. This is a track and zoom shot and introduces the character. His mother is wearing the alarming yellow hat. When his mother tells him that he can swim for another 10 minutes dramatic irony is created as she unknowingly is effectively sending him to his death. This is a midshot of the two characters talking to each other. The effect of the focusing on Alex indirectly suggests to the audience that he is to be the next victim. The audience suspect something will happen as “10 minutes” is such a short amount of time, but anything could happen.
We see a midshot with a close up of Brody watching the ocean pensively; this compels us to do the same. He is isolated because he is not part of the happy scene around him. Lots of hints are made as everything we look at could be a possible victim at this point. The dog owners shirt and Alex’s lilo is yellow showing us that danger is about to prevail. The camera picks out many situations and we are on edge knowing that something is imminent. There is silence apart from the gentle splashing of water.
Brody stares out at the water and the camera zooms in on him dramatically creating anxiety. His vision is blocked by people walking past, predominantly a person with yellow shorts. Brody is certain there is a shark out there and he is really paranoid as he doesn’t want anyone in the water. Jump cuts represent Brody desperately searching the water, but as there are so many people in the water he is unable to watch them all at once. The jump cuts help to build tension and the audience feel they are involved helping to look for the shark.
The first false alarm is in this scene, there is a man swimming in a black cap and Brody mistakes him for a shark. Stephen Spielberg makes the viewer feel on edge and his audience is now constantly looking for the shark.
We hear a girl screaming and Brody is immediately alerted and peering over a man’s shoulder, only to find it’s a game. This is another false alarm, which creates more panic for Brody and the tension continues to rise, because Brody panics the audience feel involved as they know something is going to happen soon. We relate this back to the first attack with Chrissy screaming and begin to panic for the safety of the girl. The camera now switches from child to child in a scrambled camera angle at a very low height making the viewer feel they are there. In this scene the editing picks up a notch, which starts to create panic. The camera cuts to the shark’s perspective, a low angle shot and the menacing music starts to play. The shark moves closer and the music gets faster and louder. The shark attacks and because it is daylight we can see the boy spurting out, this makes the attack look much worse. We are then taken underwater with the boy; the music is now at its loudest point. The camera jumps in on Brody’s panicked face and chaos erupts as the parents run into the water.
The impression that this camera effect creates tenses the viewer because when a camera zooms in it doesn’t usually move backwards. This forces the viewer into an awkward position, and at the same time emphasizing the pandemonium around Brody.
The director closes the camera on Alex’s mother and cleverly shows her shock, she is the last to look for her child isolating her and her situation. With all the different camera angles on the mother her desperation and anxiety is intensified. When we concentrate on the lilo, which is torn up there is a deadly silence, this punctuates the end of the attack.
The first attack is set in the dead of the night in an isolated environment with only two characters; in contrast to the second attack, which takes place in daylight on a crowded beach with a bustling atmosphere. The two attacks are at opposite ends of the spectrum. The first can be easily dismissed as an accident because of the lack of witnesses, whereas the second is seen in all its glory and has to be acted upon. The shark has become the powerful dictator, he is in control of the people’s fate, which unsettles the audience and makes them feel vulnerable.
Editing is used to help set the mood for Jaws. There are many types of camera techniques used throughout the film. In particular the straight cut, which is used to give a realistic view, it quickly moves from one scene to the next. Jump cuts are used during the second attack to build up tension and engage the viewer, the audiences attention are brought into focus as the object appears suddenly. Also, the track and zoom is brilliant to help build up the most fear and tension.
The use of false alerts in the film Jaws has a big impact on the audience, as the tension and panic rises as the viewers are worried. This technique helps the director achieve the affects he was aiming to achieve by building on the audience’s expectations and then confounding what we expect with the reality.
There is another false alert when the fisherman is on the jetty trying to get the shark. The man’s plan does not work and the shark destroys the jetty. The music is tense as the audience are unaware if the man is going to be eaten or not. The viewer is unable to see clearly as this is a night attack, because of the timing no one is around to help. Fear is created because it is dark and again we haven’t seen the shark.
The principal character in Jaws is Roy Scheider who plays the slightly unheroic sheriff battling between his instinct to shut the beach for safety reasons and the cost to the local tourist economy is he does.
The mayor is also an important character he is an average, no good dealing, money hungry, and popularity contest winning politician. At several junctures in the film it is very clearly explained to the Mayor of the dangers and issues involved with not closing down the beaches leading up to and during the Fourth of July celebrations. The Mayor however would rather produce profit than protect the citizens and continually sends innocent swimmers to their doom with his greed.
The first victim was a young woman named Chrissy Watkins. She went skinny dipping and while in the water was suddenly jerked around by an unseen force and then pulled under. Her mangled remains are found washed up on the shore. Chrissy is made human because we learn her name; we also see her running and enjoying herself making her a real person. The audience do not find out much about Chrissy, but they can tell she was innocent and naïve.
Alex Kintner was the second victim, he was a young boy eaten by a shark while swimming off a crowded beach. As Alex walks up the beach you can see a radio and hear it playing, this is an example of a diegetic sound as you can see a source for the sound on screen. Alex’s mum later slaps Brody as she is in mourning and finds out a young woman was killed by a shark just days earlier and Brody could of prevented Alex’s death. Alex is made human by tracking him along the beach, meeting his family and then learning his name. He is made a real person when his mum says “Alex your fingers are beginning to prune”, the audience then relate back to this.
There are many similarities and differences between Alex’s attack and the 4th of July attack. The similarities include the same setting with large crowds of people and witnesses to the attacks. The use of false alerts in both attacks used to build tension for the watching audience. At the end of each attack the sea is calm like nothing has happened. The differences included the way the shark attacked; Alex’s attack was a surprise whereas the 4th of July attack was more prepared with the use of boats, guns and helicopters. These were used to give the crowds of people a sense of control over the shark and reducing threat from attack. In Alex’s attack we only saw the shark’s fin, however in the 4th of July attack we got to see the sharks body, face and teeth. The amount of time for each attack was different, the audience got to witness more of the 4th of July attack this may be because Brody’s son was involved. He was linked to the main character and so creating more of an impact on the audience if Brody’s family are at risk and this keeps the audience watching. The audience develop a connection with Brody’s family as sympathy is build up as they fear for his safety and his family. The audience are emotionally involved and have developed a bond with the sheriff.
Hooper was the oceanographer in the film. He gave a detailed scientific analysis of Chrissy Watkins attack, the use of scientific words shows it is a serious situation. Hooper confirms that the woman was involved in a shark attack and not merely a boat accident. While examining Chrissy, Hooper looked frightened, panicked and very worried as he feared for everyone’s safety. From Hooper’s reactions the audience can tell that the remains of Chrissy were sickening, he used the words “severed arm” which shows how bad the attack really was. The audience were not shown Chrissy’s remains and their imaginations were left to wander and decide for themselves how bad the shark incident was. Hooper showed his anger at the attitude of Amity police while carrying out the autopsy on the first victim.
The director builds up the fear of the shark by associating the music with it which gives the audience a sense of unease. The music builds up tension and creates suspense for the audience by starting quiet and then getting louder; it gives the audience a fear of danger. The music has a deep pitch which is serious and threatening, also you can sometimes hear sound effects that build up to a crescendo. Another way the director builds up fear of the shark is the rippling water. The calm, gentle, relaxing waves show no harm could be done and you wouldn’t suspect a violent attack was about to happen. Furthermore, there are sudden pauses in the shark attack to make the audience think the victims are okay and then tension is built up when the victim is continuously attacked. The audience do not see the shark and this creates a sense of fear and the audience begin questioning themselves.
A large tiger shark is caught by a group of novice fishermen, leading the town to believe the problem is solved, but an unconvinced Hooped asks to examine the contents of the Shark’s stomach. Hooper is unconvinced as he believes the shark is a lot larger than the one they’ve caught and he faced disbelief. Mayor Vaughn refuses to make a public spectacle by allowing Hooper to cut open the shark, so Brody and Hooper return after dark and learn the captured shark does not have human remains inside.
Brody flicks through an encyclopaedia including images of death, teeth, blood and sharks. The book reflects on how dangerous sharks are and is more evidence on how frightening sharks are. Brody’s wife shouts at her son to get out of his new boat when she see’s an image of a shark eating a boat. The images were in chronological order, beginning with picture of sharks, then attacking sharks, next the victims and results of the shark attacks.
Brody and Hooper along with Quint set out to track down the shark. At sea, Brody was given the tasks of laying a chum line and ladling fish guts over the stern to tempt the shark. Brody’s physical reactions showed he hated ladling the fish guts because they smelt foul. Brody wasn’t enjoying the sun or the sea and his attitude and facial expressions showed he didn’t want to be there. As Brody continues to chum, the enormous shark suddenly looms up behind the boat. A horrified Brody announces its presence and says “you’re gonna need a bigger boat”. When the shark’s head roars up out of the water the audience are frightened as they now know how big the shark really is. The director has built up tension and made the audience have to imagine the size of the shark until now.
There are different uses of sound throughout the film. Diegetic is when you can see a source for the sound on the screen. For example when Alex walks up the beach you can see and hear the radio. Or you can see and hear a conversation. Nondiegetic is when there is no source for the sound, it is added in by the director. Parallel sound compliments what we see on the screen, for example we expect children on the beach to have happy voices and light hearted music. Contrapuntal sound is when the sound goes against your expectations, for example when the shot shows the children playing yet the menacing sound of the shark “Dah-dum” theme starts.
The most surprising thing about Jaws is the lack of screen time given to the shark. Rather than filling the modestly budgeted film with gratuitous effects, the director relies on other tools to build tension and atmosphere. This includes a fearless use of long shots, which helps to convey both isolation for the victims and endows the shark with seemingly god-like hunting powers. Jaws is calm and steady building to a climax, which combined with the music, is very much reminiscent of Hitchcock. This confident direction combined with clever editing, lulls you into relaxing at precisely the wrong moments to great effect. Being able to calm the viewer only to wrench into their most primeval fears when least expected is the essence that lies behind the ability of Jaws to shock and entertain.
The first two attacks were close together to keep the audience watching the film. The audience are more likely to continue watching the film if it is exciting and has a lot of action packed into it.
The last section of the film is out at sea on a small boat. Quint and Hooper watch the great white circle the Orca, and estimate the shark weighs 3 tons and is 25 feet long. Quint harpoons the shark with a line attached to a flotation barrel, designed to weigh the shark down and track it on the surface, but the shark pulls the barrel under and disappears. Night falls without another sighting and the men retire to the boat’s cabin, where they compare scars and Quint tells of his experience with sharks as a survivor of the World War 2 sinking of the USS Indianapolis. After the shark attacks again, Quint destroys the radio to keep Brody from calling the Coast Guard for help. Quint manages to over rev his engine and it exploded. Hooper goes down under the water; he intends to spear the shark in the mouth with a hypodermic spear filled with strychnine nitrate. The shark instead destroys the cage causing Hooper to lose the spear and flee to the seabed. The shark later throws itself on the boat and it begins sinking. Quint slides into the shark’s mouth, slashing it in vain with his machete. Brody throws a pressurized air tank into the sharks mouth and starts firing the rifle at the tank. The shark circles around Brody who snarls and says “Smile, you son of a… bitch!” He scores a hit, rupturing the tank and blows the sharks head to pieces which sends the rest of its body to the bottom of the ocean in a cloud of blood. Hooper surfaces and reunites with Brody, and the two survivors use the leftover barrels to construct a makeshift raft and paddle back to Amity Island. When the film has finished there is a sense of relief for the viewer who has been on edge throughout the film. Your heartbeat stops racing and returns to normal as the shark has gone and the town of Amity is now safe.
The highest point of tension in the film were the first two attacks, they were close to keep the viewer involved. In the opening scene there are a lot of people crowded around a bonfire, having a camp party. There is the sound of a mouth organ being player as everyone is happy and having a good time socialising with others. The mouth organ is calming and there is no hint of danger, it also creates an upbeat as no one suspects anything is going to happen. The bonfire is a sign of safety, the light and the warmth, if you move away from it you become vulnerable. The camera pulls back to show a wide shot of the sea, and you can hear the noise of the sea in the background. This shot sets the scene; the rippling water is relaxing, calm and gentle. Whilst the girl is swimming there is no music, she shows no fear of what’s in the water and continues talking to the man. She swims with her leg up which emphasises a shark’s fin and creates a false sense of security for the audience. The camera shows the shark’s point of view and the music starts, this hints that danger is present. Looking from below upwards suggests she doesn’t know what is going to happen. The camera switches between the top and bottom of the water creating suspense and that the creature is getting closer. There is a shot of her legs kicking and the camera slowly zooms in. This shows there is something in the water as the camera is from “something’s” point of view. By not allowing the audience to see the shark suspense if created and the audience begin questioning themselves about what is about to happen. Therefore this makes the viewer want to continue watching and gets you hooked on the film. After the attack there is a sudden silence which creates peace and the sense no one is around to witness the attack. The first attack has the highest point of tension as it starts the film, the director needs to keep the viewer watching and on edge to make the film interesting and exciting.
The director Stephen Spielberg has successfully used filmic devices to entertain and to build suspense. He manages to create tension and engage the viewer throughout the film Jaws by using camera shots, music and sound, false alarms and many other theatrical devices and techniques to keep the viewer tense and on edge. It is a film that literally defined the modern approach to presenting movies as we know it, literally the first true “blockbuster” feature.
