Born on December 18, 1946, Steven Allan Spielberg is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, studio executive, video game designer, and one of the founders of the DreamWorks movie studio. His first films were influenced by Alfred Hitchcock’s mechanics of suspense, including the film that I will be analysing in this paper, Jaws (1975). Regarded by many to be one of the most monumental films in history, Jaws terrified viewers about the horrors lurking in the ocean, breaking all box office records and launching the age of the Hollywood blockbuster. Even though Spielberg proved that he wasn’t interested in becoming the next Hitchcock by going on to create great critically-acclaimed films that covered a spectrum of genres and themes, …show more content…
In Jaws, Steven Spielberg uses reaction shots throughout the movie to raise the tension and emotional impact of the shark attacks, most notably during the beach scene early on in the film where there is a dolly zoom shot of Chief Martin Brody’s expression as he hears the alarming screams of children and quickly realises that there is a shark in the water. Spielberg uses this type of reaction shot in many of his other films, including in Jurassic Park (1993) when the shot focuses on the park rangers’ expressions as they react to seeing an escaped T-Rex, or in War of the Worlds (2005), when Ray freezes in horror as he is blinded by the light of a gigantic alien vehicle towering over him. This expressive use of close-ups of characters reacting to situations off-screen manipulates the audience into feeling the revelatory sensations experienced by the film’s characters, and provides a reflection of the characters’ emotions that cannot be simply explained in …show more content…
The most famous example of this would be in the multiple shark attack sequences in Jaws, where the main “shark theme”—now regarded as a classic piece of suspense music—is used to increase the rhythm and pacing of the scenes, dramatically increasing the tension until the shark finally attacks the victim. In Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Spielberg uses similarly high-tempo music during the film’s opening sequence as Indiana Jones attempts to retrieve the golden idol without setting off any of the booby-traps in the ancient temple. In the scene, the music starts off slow but quickly intensifies as Indiana Jones gets closer and closer to getting his hands on the golden idol. Spielberg’s striking use of music in such scenes builds up suspense and expresses the increasing threat of the approaching
Analysis of the Ways the Director Builds Suspense in the Opening to the Film Jaws
‘Jaws’ a thriller based on the novel by Peter Benchley, the film was directed by Steven Spielberg. In a beach resort of Amity Island, a young girl named Chrissie is the first victim of the shark’s vicious attack, when it strikes for the second time, the police refuse to put out warning about the shark. It then returns and kills again, the mayor orders the local fishermen to catch the great white shark before it kills even more victims. The fishermen are satisfied when they catch a Tiger shark the mayor reopens the beaches despite the warning from the ichthyologist when he suspects it was from a formidable great white shark. Brody and Hooper and the only fisherman willing to join them to catch the great white set out in the fisherman’s boat only coming face to teeth with the enemy. This film is rated as a 15, and has a running-time of 124 minutes. It was made in the USA, the soundtrack to ‘Jaws’ was a famous two-note piece composed by Czech composer Antonín Dvořák.
next is a point of view shot from the shark and then the theme music
Who would have thought that a brilliant career in filmmaking could have originated with a modest jar of Skippy Peanut Butter smeared on a neighbor’s window in a tiny Cincinnati suburb? One might not think that such an average boyhood prank could evolve a boy into a man who would become the most financially successful film director in history. Well, that is exactly where Leah Spielberg, Steven Spielberg’s mother, would trace her son’s initial entry into becoming one of our nation’s most creative storytellers. “His badness was so original,” she recalls (Stein 3).
they get out of this island as it is surrounded by sea nor can they
The films musical score alerts the viewer to an approaching attack of the shark and they automatically build this association with the music in their mind. Horror films often make use of high string instrument notes that irritate viewers and increase tension. Music plays an important role in film editing and the editor must choose its placement wisely to ensure its intended effect on the viewer’s mind and
A Film Review on Jaws [IMAGE]"Jaws (Style A)" Movie PosterBased on the novel by Peter Benchley, the film sees New York cop, Martin Brody (played by Schneider is investigating a series of deaths that bear all the blame. evidence of a shark attack. This was originally rated as a PG but when? re-released in a 12. A great opening scene showing Chrissy ‘the stereotypical blonde’. being devoured by the unknown killer, puzzles most reviewers in the question.
Jaws is a really movie about a lot of suspense. The reason I think that Jaws is a really good movie about building suspense is because of three main things. One of the things that has a lot of suspense is Sound. When Jaws, well the shark is under water and is about to attack something or someone the music starts getting loud. Another thing that is really good about building suspense is the Camera Angle. The reason I think the camera angle is good about building suspense is when the camera is on the boat and it's going with the waves it feels like you're really there. The last thing that really draws my attention in the movie that builds suspense is the picture. The reason that the this really draws my attention is because in the film when something bad or a big part of the movie is about to happen the lighting in the movie also makes it feel like you are really there are have a part of what's actually going on.
Even though it is most commonly known as of the first modern horror films that has made its way on the top ten highest grossing films of all time, Steven Spielberg’s classic 1975 film, Jaws, illustrates the unquenchable human desire for purpose and wholeness which advocates that adopting the belief of “anatta” or “no-self” is the way to be liberated from this “fragmented state of unelightenment” (Sluyter 97-98). In the bigger picture, the main antagonist of the film, the shark itself, reflects us as individuals according to Sluyter. To be more specific, the shark is meant to symbolize our “fragmented point of view” we have of our lives and our constant search to remedy our emptiness by “trying to concretize ourselves” with impermanent items
In the title sequence the music starts of very quiet and slow and as the music speeds up it builds anxiety within the audience because they want to know what going to happen. It also builds a horrific tension within the audience; also it shows the camera from the shark’s point of view in the sea which is an effective way to build tension because the audience...
Music can decipher a narrative event by indicating a perspective. To unify a set of diverse images and provide rhythmic and formal continuity and momentum, a film’s structure is more often than not, directly articulated by a musical structure. Music can assist the dialogue and visuals of film and often is inaudible (e.g. music is meant to be heard unconsciously, not consciously). Music has been used by directors to reinforce or strengthen certain weak scenes in film and then on the other hand when music is not needed to reinforce a scene
Think about your favorite movie. When watching that movie, was there anything about the style of the movie that makes it your favorite? Have you ever thought about why that movie is just so darn good? The answer is because of the the Auteur. An Auteur is the artists behind the movie. They have and individual style and control over all elements of production, which make their movies exclusively unique. If you could put a finger on who the director of a movie is without even seeing the whole film, then the person that made the movie is most likely an auteur director. They have a unique stamp on each of their movies. This essay will be covering Martin Scorsese, you will soon find out that he is one of the best auteur directors in the film industry. This paper will include, but is not limited to two of his movies, Good Fellas, and The Wolf of Wall Street. We will also cover the details on what makes Martin Scorsese's movies unique, such as the common themes, recurring motifs, and filming practices found in their work. Then on
In the film, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, every time there was a close up of Augustus Gloop in the candy room, sinister music would play. This foreshadowed that something bad was going to happen to him in that room. It puts the viewer on edge and creates a mood of suspense because they don’t know what is going to happen. He also uses music to foreshadow events in the movie Edward Scissorhands. Every time Edward saw Kim happy, angelic music would play which foreshadowed that something would happen between them and also gave you a hint about his feelings towards her. Burton used music to show foreshadowing in the movie Dark Shadows as well. When Josette was walking toward the edge of the cliff suspenseful music played create a mood of suspense and fear that Barnabas wouldn’t make it in time and she would fall to her death. One of the many other cinematic techniques Burton often uses in his films is using lighting and color to show
“Entertainment has to come hand in hand with a little bit of medicine, some people go to the movies to be reminded that everything’s okay. I don’t make those kinds of movies. That, to me, is a lie. Everything’s not okay.” - David Fincher. David Fincher is the director that I am choosing to homage for a number of reasons. I personally find his movies to be some of the deepest, most well made, and beautiful films in recent memory. However it is Fincher’s take on story telling and filmmaking in general that causes me to admire his films so much. This quote exemplifies that, and is something that I whole-heartedly agree with. I am and have always been extremely opinionated and open about my views on the world and I believe that artists have a responsibility to do what they can with their art to help improve the culture that they are helping to create. In this paper I will try to outline exactly how Fincher creates the masterpieces that he does and what I can take from that and apply to my films.
There are thousands of movie composers in the music industry, a few who triumph and whose work is well known to almost half of the world. One example of that can be the famous Maestro John Williams. John Williams is the musician for Jaws, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Jurassic Park, E.T and lots more. But there is a piece which everyone recognizes, and that is the theme from the movie Jaws. Imagine Jaws without the music. People would not feel scared; they would laugh at the plastic shark. And that is why music is one of the most important elements in cinema. John Williams in a late interview said this: “The music is part of a whole, which if I try as a composer to take that part of the whole, like in a concerto. I would not succeed, because the attention would go only for the music and not for the picture” (John Williams Interview). In Jaws, the music blends with the picture and acting; there are no imbalances. The picture and the music need to be in perfect harmony. Therefore, in Jaws, every time the daring melody comes out; the audience knows something bad is going to happen, and the music may anticipate a particular situation, but without the music overpowering the actors and sound effects.