Jaws. Spielberg uses many devices to build fear of the shark; the most obvious one is music. In the opening scene when the shark arrives the music starts. It starts really quietly and slowly but then gets faster and louder.

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Jaws

Jaws is one of the most famous films ever made. It was described as “the nation’s no.1 best-selling book now the screen’s super thriller”. Some critics even said it “changed the nature of cinema”. Jaws was directed by Steven Spielberg. It is set on the Island of Amity – a tourist destination in the summer of 1975. It was released on 1st January 1976 in the U.K. It’s about a gigantic great white shark beginning to menace the small island community of Amity during the holiday season. Then a police chief – Brody, a marine scientist – Hooper, and a grizzled fisherman – Quint set out to stop it.

Spielberg uses many devices to build fear of the shark; the most obvious one is music. In the opening scene when the shark arrives the music starts. It starts really quietly and slowly but then gets faster and louder. It has a harsh tempo and the music is shorter, sharper, bursts as the shark gets closer. This obviously shows that the shark is connected to the music. In addition to this when the shark leaves the music stops. Moreover there are two attacks on the 4th of July; one fake, one real. The first one is a fake shark attack. The viewer suspects it is real but to prove the viewer wrong there is no music. However when the real shark arrives so does the music. Gradually getting more rapid, thunderous and energetic as the shark nears. Another thing to notice was that there is silence after the attacks like the silence after all disasters. This builds up tension because after so much bewilderment and mayhem, the viewer thinks about what has just happened which terrifies the viewer dreadfully.

The music is the most obvious indicator that the shark is in the water but Spielberg also uses camera angles to frighten the viewer and signal what is happening. Point of view shots help the viewer to feel the character. This helps build up tension. There is a shot from the shark’s point of view when the shark is about to attack the boy with the lilo on the 4th of July. This makes the viewer tense and wanting to tell the character in the story to get away from the shark but the viewer cannot. This supplies nervousness and anxiety. When the shark is attacking the viewer sees a sudden close-up of Brody so that the viewer can feel how he feels. Therefore trying to read from his eyes what has happened to the boy. Brody feels responsible for the death of the boy because he knew the shark was out there somewhere. The effects of a point of a view shot show the viewer what the character sees and unknowingly the viewer can understand and feel the fear created by the director. The viewer gets to see the movie from a different perspective – the characters’. Also long shots have been used when the shark attacks to show that no-one is around to help the character from the shark.

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Quint’s death scene has been filmed by using close-up’s at the beginning and then the camera gradually zooming out; ending up with a long shot. Spielberg does this so that the viewer can feel the fear and tension created by the characters emotions and expressions. As a result the viewer can emphasise with the character. Therefore the blood and gore has the biggest effect when creating terror. An extreme – close-up and close up shot will show how the characters feel leading to sympathy while a long-shot would be showing how far away the shark is or how a ...

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