The next piece that gradually builds up tension is when the radio is playing on the beach and everybody is swimming in the sea, because there is no other noise on the beach because everybody is sunbathing. Therefore creates an atmosphere of calm and peaceful. Also as the children are playing you can hear them which lures us in and therefore builds up the tension.
In the 2nd attack some of graduation to the tension is created by the mum’s kid, saying “Your hands will go all wrinkled”.
The boy is insisting that he only wants another 10 minutes in the dark, blue sea. This makes us wonder what is going to happen. Also building up to the attack some teenagers are playing in the water and Mr. Brody, stands up worried, but they are messing around.
There is also a very old man swimming and his black hat looks like a shark’s fin, and then Mr. Brody is terrified again. He is always on the edge of his seat.
The camera zooms in on the man and teenagers, this also creates suspense but generally speaking the camera is wide and you can see everyone having fun. This takes us in to a false sense of security. This is because whilst the camera is at a wide picture and you can see everything, you get worried because you may see something that the teenagers can’t.
When the 2nd attack is going on, the camera switches straight to Brody and zooms particularly on him, which makes him jump up with everyone and shout. This has a huge impact on the audience.
The characters in the film are all joyful and jolly but there is a little boy in it which gets eaten, but we only see him for a couple of shots of him. He has only had a short life and that is all we see of him, a short couple of clips. This suggests he is a defenceless, cheerful boy. Plus this is the boy who died on the yellow lilo with red blood, which indicates that he is innocence and the red usual stands for danger: from the sharks.
The attacks are not sensationalised because it is as if we got a good bond with all of the victims. Also they are not just a piece of meat; they are human beings just like us. This builds out relationship with him, but the lovely boy is defenceless.
At the start of the epic film, a girl named Chrisy plays around with a lad. She then gets naked whilst running into the sea. This shows she is very confident and not shy, which makes us believe nothing terrible is going to occur and it lures you in.
There are many fake alerts in “Jaws” such as; when the old man is swimming in the sea and you can only see the top of his head. Then the camera switches quickly to Brody. Then we are to believe that there could be a shark in the water. However, after a couple of seconds he appears from the water smiling. It builds ours and their expectations to think someone are going to be eaten but in reality there wasn’t. In addition, sharks do not have flat fins.
Just before the second attack, a girl is screaming off the camera which then we believe that something else could be right around the corner waiting for her. However, we find out that it is only teenagers playing around. Brody is very nervous and therefore jumps out of his seat for anything that could be a shark or a shark attack. This is linked to the first attack, where there is two young girls, both having fun. Suggesting nothing will happen to them at this time, but we are very wrong. Because she gets eaten and the other girl does not which altogether, they both are very similar.
The director builds up the tension because once the camera has switched to the shark we only see from the sharks perspective, and the music has a spooky feel to it. Furthermore, the director builds up the suspense by playing the spooky music and not seeing the shark, but knowing its there.
At the beginning of the film, the unknown danger comes from the shark, because all you can see and hear is the dirty seaweed and the point of view from the shark. Hooper the oceanographer believes that the shark that the other people caught is not the real shark that he believes to be the one that ate all those teenagers. He believes that it is a huge great white. He wonders how he can catch him if the shark is bigger than an average size shark.
When Brody flicks through the encyclopaedia and finds the pictures of teeth, death and blood for a average shark, Brody gets nervous and now terrified.
The story is edited to build up fear and tension by always flicking back to the sharks point of view and constantly zooming in on characters for their reactions. Also the first two attacks are close together, which makes us think every couple of minutes that someone is going to die.
The build up to the first attack is that, everyone is having fun and is a false sense of security. The girl is a bit drunk and tipsy, and she gets naked running into the sea enjoying herself. In addition, by shouting “come on! Come on!”
The second attack is built up by everyone on the beach sunbathing and all the kids are playing in the sea. Also, the little boy asks for ten more minutes which in that time he dies, which just before that he is a defenceless small child.
My conclusion to this film is about the high point of tension within the opening sequence and how successful the film has been.
It always kept us on the very edge of out seats and always feeling sorry for the victims who died by the shark. The high point in the opening sequence is where right at the beginning some young adults are having fun around a bonfire, then two teenagers, Chrisy and another lad get unclothed because it makes us feel like nothing is going to happen. But it is bringing us into a false sense of security because she dies later on when he is knocked out. This now makes us feel sorry and give her sympathy and makes her defenceless girl… Having a great time.
I think Spielberg was successful in using devices such as, the bumpy music, camera views from the shark and false senses. These all came together very well to create a great film.
