Movie Analysis of Jaws

Movie Analysis of Jaws

Martin Brody is the new police chief trying to rid Amity Island of a

savage shark terrorising the islanders and tourists alike in the 1976

thriller, Jaws. Jaws was directed by Steven Spielberg and starred Roy

Scheider, Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss. Amity Island relies almost

fully on the income gained by tourists visiting the island in the

summer vacation. It is up to Martin Brody to protect the beach goers

by finding the shark and killing it. This brings up issues of fighting

fears as well as fighting the constant battle between humans and

nature. It is set around July 4th because this would be the height of

the tourist season for the island and the threat of the shark could

severely damage the enthusiasm of people to visit the island.

The music is connected to the way the shark moves and builds up the

tension for the first attack. The music is low and quiet at the start

to create the tense of something far away, it makes us think that the

something is approaching. The music is not jumpy and gives the sense

of calmness, like when a shark swims it is graceful and makes little

movement. But then the music increases in volume and speed, this gives

the image that the creature is approaching more quickly and builds up

suspense and raises questions about the identity of the creature and

what its intentions are. At the start of the film a group of teenagers

are having a party on the beach. There is a calm atmosphere aided by

the radio playing in the background which lulls you into a falls sense

of security. When the shark does eventually attack we expect it less

which makes it scarier. There is also a period of...

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character let us sea the reactions on there faces but does not show us

exactly what is happening. The wide shots show us how big the sea is

and how venerable the boat is in it. This creates tension as we know

the attack is definitely going to happen and we know that it is going

to cause a lot of damage but we do not know when it is going to

happen.

I think the scariest moment of the film is the part where the shark

jumps out at the boat at the end of the film. There has jus previously

been an attack on the boat and the characters are still in shock so we

really do not expect it. There is a wide shot of the sea which looks

calm, suddenly the shark jumps out. We are given a false sense of

security by the attack before which makes the impact of the attack

much more. It literally shocks us when it happens.