At the beginning of the second attack, there is a tracking shot showing a boy called Alex walking up to his mother, the camera follows Alex as he is important in the second attack and this builds up tension. This scene shows Alex wearing red shorts, this connotes an emotional response from the audience as red suggests danger, which creates tension as the audience are prepared for what is about to happen to Alex. Meanwhile Brody is shown alert towards the water through a P.O.V (point of view) shot, this engages the audience to show them Brody’s perspective and it builds suspense because they are eager to find out whether the children swimming in the water are away from the shark. When the shark is gradually coming closer to Alex, you see the action from the shark’s P.O.V shot. It builds suspense for the audience because it is dramatic irony that the audience want to warn Alex swimming on the yellow lilo to get out of the water. Then there is a zoom shot showing the expression of shock on Brody’s face. After the attack has occurred and the children return to the sand, the yellow lilo washes up on the shore and everyone is calm except for the mother: this is shown through a mid-shot, to emphasise how scared the mother is and how distressing the situation has become.
When the shark is involved within the scene, slow and threatening instrumental music is played and the pace increases as the shark approaches closer to its prey. This helps to build tension and fear within the audience. During each attack, the amount of blood being spread in the water shows how violent the damage from the shark is. The audience fear from the shark because of the shark’s aggression and violence towards humans. Characters are anxious and frightened whenever the shark is near, such as the public running away from the sea when the shark’s fin is spotted. When Hooper examines the tiger shark, the animal meat and metal he finds consumed by the shark shows what sharks are capable of and increases the fear of sharks attacking human meat and metals on boats.
The use of camera angles and music in the first and second attack creates the tension of the shark targeting the people of Amity Island. The two attacks occurring close together creates the juxtaposition of tension and relief, because the tension of the first attack is then followed by relief or everyone else being safe however then the tension rises again as the second attack begins. In the third attack, Brody’s son is involved which creates more emotion because we see the narrative from Brody’s point of view, so Brody’s son is important to the audience, hence tension is built because we would not want Brody’s son to die. The third attack being on the 4th of July also creates interest and tension as we would expect the citizens of Amity Island to enjoy the American Independence day, however the shark is bringing danger on a day of celebration. This is dramatically ironic as ‘independence’ and ‘Amity’ are related to peace, however the shark brings violence and disruption to the city. “You’re the mayor of shark city” is said by Brody towards the mayor, this emphasises on how much of a risk the shark has become, and that it is affecting everyone in the city. The last part of the film is also tense because we are aware of what the shark is capable of, so the three heroes on a small boat creates more tension, as we may think the crew is vulnerable on a small boat and can be attacked easily.
In my opinion, the scariest part of the film is during the first attack, because the audience expect the film to begin introducing the main characters and storyline, however it jumps straight to the horror. The attack being set in the dark also creates the fear because you are unaware of what is about to happen until the P.O.V shot from the shark is shown. The pace of the music also creates tension because as the pace increases, the more you concentrate, therefore the dark and speedy atmosphere creates the fear. The audience of 1975 would be more fearful and impressed by the film ‘Jaws’ as the special effects include the mechanical shark, which was the cutting edge technology at the time. However the audience of today would not be as affected because the use of CGI (computer-generated imagery) is the main method of creating special effects in films. Due to recent shark attacks on the Florida coast and around British beaches, the fear of the shark in ‘Jaws’ increased within the audience of today. This concludes my opinion that the film ‘Jaws’ appears terrifying to any kind of audience in any time period.
