Jaws Film Essay

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Jaws - English Coursework.

By Leena Patel 10BW

The film is called ‘Jaws’; this is significant as it represents what the plot of the movie is, as the theme of the movie is about a shark killing people using his jaws (teeth). As well as this, the title shows the genre of the film is horror. Steven Spielberg directed this film, in 1975. The film was the first summer blockbuster and broke all box office records, it also made Steven Spielberg extremely famous and due to “Jaws”, he then later began to direct and produce further blockbusters. The movie is set in the small town of Amity (friendship), an island in New England. This is effective because when the shark attacks, it brings more tension to the audience, as the citizens of the town cannot escape, as the sea only surrounds the island. The location, Amity Island, where the movie is set is not real. It was actually filmed in Martha's Vineyard, on the East Coast of America.

     Music and silence is often used to build tension, to scare the audience. Non-diegetic sound helps by creating extra tension or by setting a mood. For example, the dramatic, non-diegetic sound put over the top of the title sequence scene, helps to build tension, for the audience. This is because that music represents the shark, therefore, when the music comes on again during the movie, the audience would know the shark is coming. Diegetic sound helps, as it makes the film sound more realistic and it creates a less obvious tension. For instance: in the first attack, after Chrissie got pulled under the water, there was silence. Only the sound of the sea could be heard. This is effective because it makes the audience feel anxious, as they know Chrissie is dead and no one heard the attack. Parallel sound is another example of when tension is created. This occurs when; the radio is playing on the beach, before the second attack. This is efficient because is makes the audience feel safe, as the mood is jolly. It stops playing when the shark is about to attack. This then changes the mood of the audience and makes them suddenly frightened instead.

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     Camera techniques are very useful as well. In the second attack at the beginning, there is a panning shot. It starts at a point and follows a fat woman to the sea and then the camera swings back like an arc, to the beach when a boy comes out of the sea. This quickly shows where the scene is set. It makes the audience feel safe as there are lots of people and it is a happy place. Afterwards, there are many false alarms. For instance, when Brody thinks the shark’s fin is getting closer towards the fat ...

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The writer demonstrates a thorough familiarity with the film and an excellent understanding of the effects used to create and maintain tension in the audience, and, in places, this is effectively reproduced in the writing style. However, the title does not indicate that the subject is limited to this aspect only and the essay is not a complete review. There is no character or plot analysis, for instance. Also, the essay has a good introduction but there is no proper conclusion. Poor grammatical construction is in evidence and there is frequent unnecessary repetition. Punctuation marks are scattered haphazardly. These patches of weak control detract from some otherwise very good writing and lower the overall grade that can be awarded. 3 stars.