The film I will be analysing is called jaws. Jaw's was made in 1975 and it was directed by Steven Spielberg. The synopsis of the film is about a hungry shark that comes to feast on the quiet island of Amity. The film is mostly set in Amity Island on the beach. The three main characters are Chief Brodie, Hooper (Marine Biologist) and Sam Quint. Jaws was set on 4th of July because it is the independence day so people come to have a break and what possibly could go wrong on 4th of July.
Music
The film jaws, is known for its breathtaking soundtrack, which plays the main part in building up the tension and fear. The music fills the audience with anxiety about what is going to happen. As the movie builds up, the audience realize that when the music comes on quietly and slowly, the shark is coming and when the music gets a bit louder and faster, the shark is here and ready to slay a victim. This type of music builds up suspense and tension making the film more exciting to view. The film starts of an underwater view of the ocean. The non-diegetic sound starts slowly and quietly. As the music builds up, the glimpse of the shark is seen swimming in the coral reef. After the quick glimpse of the shark, the music suddenly stops and heads to the scene where teenagers are having a fun time at the beach playing some music on a harmonica. This shows that they are safe and nothing is going to harm them in anyway, it also shows that the build up of tension has gone away and that the shark is not present. Then two teenagers decide to run off, and the sound of happiness starts to fade away and the theme music of the film starts to fade in. Only the girl enters the water and the music is very quiet it slowly and gradually increases in pace. This suggests the shark is getting closer. All of a sudden the audience find themselves underwater from the shark's point of view to show that the shark is swimming closer and closer. As the shark gets the girl, the girl starts to panic and you can see the way she is struggling because at this point the music is really loud and dramatic. But as she disappears underwater the music stops and this first scene creates a lot of fear in the audience.
Camera Techniques
The second attack in the film starts when chief brodie is keeping a look out for any trouble. The camera techniques in this particular attack are used perfectly. As brodie is sitting on his chair people walk past him, as they do the camera zooms into brodie's face each time. A man that knows Brodie walks up to Brodie to talk to him, as he is talking to him the cameras prospective is shown from the chief's eyes looking out at the sea. As the man is talking to brodie a girl in the water starts to scream deliberately. Chief Brodie springs out of his chair and realises that it was nothing. After this, a little boy with the name of Alex Hitner comes into the scene. He is filmed asking his mother if he can go to have another swim. His mother gives him permission to go for a swim, so he gets his lilo and jumps into the water. Another person with a yellow shirt is added to the scene. He is playing with his dog. When the dog goes into the water he doesn't return. His owner is shouting his name but the dog is nowhere to be seen. Then the scene of the children playing in the sea is shown. After this scene the camera switches from being on the top of the water to being on the bottom of the water. This camera view is shown from the sharks prospective. The music starts playing slowly and it builds up in pace. The sharks fin and part of the body are shown as it bites Alex's leg. He screams in agony and the water turns into a dark red colour. Then when the chief looks at the water turning red the camera zooms into his eyes. He suddenly gets of his chair and shouts for everyone to get out. All the children's parents take their children away from danger and then Alex Hitner's mum is shouting for his name but he is nowhere to be seen. The last view of this scene shows Alex's lilo all ripped and covered in blood. This second scene follows on from the first scene. Both scenes put together create great fear in the audience leaving them on edge.
The Shark
The shark plays a very violent character in the film Jaws. The damage the shark can do is horrendous. The fear of the shark is in everybody, but for the audience, the music connected to the shark makes it more alarming. When the characters in jaws witness the shark, the only word they can think of is "RUN". The fear of the shark builds up from the beginning an
