"Jaws" (1975)

Fig.1 "Jaws" Poster

“Jaws” is an American horror/thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg in 1975. This film was one of successful blockbusters. “Jaws” tells a story about Amity Island being terrorized by a giant Great White shark. And how Martin Brody, the town police officer goes on a hunt to stop this great shark from killing people.

The director himself, wanted to show the horror of losing human power, the limbs. As the human becomes powerless without limbs and can’t get out of the water. The ocean itself is terrifying as it isolates human’s feet from speed and makes him slower. Making human more vulnerable from the human waste, as anything can come from the depths of the ocean.

Fig. 2 Underwater (Shark) Camera Angle

The film has simple, easy to read the plot. Everything seems happy and joyful in the island until the great white shark invades it and devastates human life’s. “Jaws” film has other hidden meanings in it. For example: the water is known as the life source for humans and this predator shark takes that away by killing people and taking over the waters around the island. As "There are no doubt supposed to be all sorts of levels of meanings... but Spielberg wisely decides not to underline any of them."(Ebert, 1975).

Fig. 3 The Shark

Moreover, this film has great camera shows when the audience is put to perspective of a shark coming from below.As Nesbit explains: ''(…) we see the legs of Chrissie slowly treading water from below. We know the danger, but she doesn't, and she is violently devoured" (Nesbit, n/a).(Fig.2) The sense of knowing what can happen to the person in the film shocks audience as they have fewer second to look away before that happens. As Almar Haflidason states in his review:“What is perhaps the most surprising about “Jaws” is the lack of screen time given to the ferocious shark. Rather than fill the modestly budgeted film with gratuitous effects, Spielberg relies on other tools to build tension and atmosphere. This includes a fearless use of long shots (not popular in Hollywood) which helps convey both isolation for the victims and endows the shark with seemingly god-like hunting powers.” (Haflidason, 2001). The capability to communicate to the audience, though the camera shots are astonishing direct and stable. Also, more than that, the music score slowly becoming louder as the camera is moving closer to the Chrissie, gives goose bumps to the viewer. The music becomes cutting and glitch alike when Chrissie is attacked by the great shark, without any use of  terrifying gore, she is pulled around like a toy. The shorts between her getting pulled and the music score makes horrifying sense of fear.

In conclusion, “Jaws” film is widely known by everyone and considered as one of the greatest blockbusters made in Hollywood. Even up to this day people get scared by the mechanically made shark, which lurks in the depths of the ocean.

Bibliography:

Ebert, R. (1975) Jaws At: http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/jaws-1975 (Accessed on 01/05/2017)

Haflidason, A. (2001) BBC Films  http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2000/07/14/jaws_review.shtml
(Accessed on 01/05/2017)

Nesbit. (n/a) Jaws Film Review https://movieweb.com/movie/jaws/reviews/stars4/?page=3 (Accessed on 01/05/2017)

Illustration List: 

Fig. 1 "Jaws" Poseter At:https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/0b/a3/a1/0ba3a1339636f306fcb47e9d4ff7c891.jpg (Accessed on 01/05/2017)

Fig. 2 Underwater (Shark) Camera Angle [Film still] At: http://i0.wp.com/www.horrorhomeroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Jaws-4.jpg (Accessed on 01/05/2017)

Fig. 3 The Shark  At: http://screenprism.com/assets/img/article/Jaws_Bruce.jpg (Accessed on 01/05/2017)