1. JAWS
The opening sceneof Jaws is chronological. In Order to the film as such. The
director can useall types of sound and shotediting at his disposalto establish
genre or character, involvethe audience or set a mood. This scene fromJaws is
a particularly effective example.
The opening titles begin with a waterproof camera lurking underneath the
water, almost trying to take on the personality of a shark itself. This is
complemented by the eerie and famous ‘Jaws’ theme tune, suggesting to the
audience the deceptiveness and danger of what is beneath the surfaceand
how we do not actually know what is below us when we step into water of
open streams and the sea. The famous sound is played at the beginning of the
scene and the audience are introduced to a sound which is alarming, ominous
(quite sinter and dark) and full of tension.
The scene opens on a lot of young people around a bonfirewho are engaging
in explicit, (and someillegal) activities such as drinking and drugs, and such
behaviour gives early clues that the characters may meet an unfortunateend
under the influence. Two of the characters run off together, and their
exclusion fromthe restof the group suggests to the viewer that they are of
relevance to the story line, that they may go missing together a lot more than
justthis once. Traditionally, teenagers have throughouthorror cinema been
the victims of running away together, grisly mishaps and something going
terribly wrong within the relationship, so already, as a viewer I can gain a
feeling of what will happen in the movie as the film's plot is (to an extent)
suggested.
As the boy and girl run drunkenly, the camera pans in a long shotfromleft to
right and so gives a senseof setting and time for the viewer to understand an
analysethe relationship between the characters. Match shots and shot-
reverse-shothavebeen used to show an attraction and the close, intimate
relationship between the male and female character.
The scene is set at dusk so there is a dim lighting, which makes the tone darker
and therefore moremysterious, as well meaning the characters are
silhouetted; faceless figures, dark figures at the opening of the film allow the

2. viewer imagine that they too might be personified by that character, and in
that position, and so the film’s danger seems moreimmediate and frightening.
As the girls swim in the sea, the camera shows her captured with an extreme
long shot, as sheappears small, isolated and vulnerablein the vastexpanse of
water. However she isn’tshown in the centre of the screen, and so the off-
balance is unsettling, as it could suggestsheis not alone in the water, yet with
something quite unhuman
Much of the action is shot fromthe shark’s perspectivein a widelong shot,
and so builds up tension by tracking the movement of the girl, thus reinforcing
the idea of the evil beneath. At this point the viewer is not entirely surewhat
the predator is, but is definitely awareof its presenceas a threat, and the
tension grows as the we wait for the known and quite attack. There is barely
any diegetic sound apartfromthe dialogue of characters. The non-diegetic
music builds up to the attack, and it is filmed in a mid-shotof the girl – still
without the shark revealing itself – thrashing around on the surfaceof the
water, and the viewer experiences up close her terror, (whereweare now in
our seats waiting to see what happens) and the scene becomes altogether
more frightening. At this point, the style of camera becomes increasingly
handheld, to show urgency in the attack and shatter the idea of any peace or
safety. After the attack there is only silence, and this stillness represents death.
Cross-cutediting suggests thatboy asleep on the beach might be able to save
the girl. This is unknown to the viewers In this way the pace is also contrasted
by frantic, shortand sharp shots of the girl as sheis being attacked, while in
contrastthe sleeping boy is shown in calm, lingering and static shots.
To conclude, the director is able to establish Jaws in the
thriller/mystery/horror genre, and depict the danger and fear the characters
feel, whilst involving the audience through an increased build-up of tension.
By: Cleo Ann Coogan