Analyzing the Ways the Director Builds Suspense and Scares the Audience in the Film Jaws

Analyzing the Ways the Director Builds Suspense and Scares the Audience in the Film Jaws

‘Jaws’ is the thrilling film directed Stephen Spielberg. It is about

one mans quest to rid an island town of a killer shark. It is set on

the public holiday of July fourth, in Amity, around the 1970’s. The

island is fuelled by tourist money so this holiday is one of their

busiest. The fourth of July marks Independence Day in the U.S.A yet

the irony is, the people on the island are not independent due to the

indiscriminate killing machine trapping them on the island. It is not

only shear terror for the characters but for the audience too.

Spielberg creates this suspense by using both camera and music very

effectively.

The film starts with no visual just darkness. In the background we can

hear aquatic sounds; waves, bubbles and sonar. We know sonar is used

by sharks to detect their prey. This suggests that there is something

suspicious going on, possibly with a shark. These sounds disappear and

the theme tune, well-known sound of ‘Duh dum’start to build tempo and

volume. If you think about it the ‘Duh dum’ sound mimics that of the

one our heart makes and as the music picks up-tempo so does our

heartbeat. As this tune starts so does the visual, it being the point

of view of a shark swimming through seaweed.

The audience is led to assume that the shark is looking for something

because the music gets louder every second until it reaches its

crescendo. This is what makes the audience sit at the edge of their

seats. The fast beat combined with the percussion and volume creates

an atmosphere of suspense that something is coming to attack someone.

The final three ‘shrieks’ is put in to scare us and mark the end.

These ‘shrieks’ suggest what is to come.

Another example of where music is used to build tension is when the

man falls into the sea, after the jetty he was standing on, gets

pulled out to sea by the shark.