That sound of fear and ever lurking danger has been immortalized thanks to the big nasty shark from the film known as Jaws. The 1975 film, directed by Steven Spielberg, is the tale of a beach terrorized by a menacing shark with an affinity for human flesh. A newcomer named Chief Brody comes to Amity Island only to start a summer season of beach frolicking islanders being picked off by shark attacks. Chief Brody along with a shark expert named Hooper ask to join a fisherman named Quint in the hunt to find the killer shark after being unable to pinpoint the culprit fish. The men go on their hunt to find the shark. However, the shark finds them.
The film is extremely reliant on camera work. The use of the camera being the gaze of the shark was partly due to the mechanical shark not operating properly. Spielberg uses the camera to essentially "become" the shark as we travel in the gaze of the shark towards victims from underneath them. Also, when victims sweep under the water line without the bottom half of them, or the shark being seen also implies the sudden realization that the shark is there and in action. The score by John Williams creating the "dun dun dun" is essentially the other main accompaniment to the improvisational camerawork from Spielberg.
While the film can be showcased as Hollywood's true first blockbuster, it can be said that it is also a modern masterpiece in regard to the sheer terror that permeates throughout it's scenes. The audience becomes extremely invested in the hunt for the shark, as we want the terror to end, because, well... the way the score and camerawork convey the shark's actions is extremely terrifying. The characters are cool and we root for them as they hunt the shark. Also, inevitably the audience can't wait to actually SEE the shark. The buildup to the battle between our heroes and the shark allows for great pacing and suspense. It's a suspense that is conveyed to creatively that we almost have to sift past our terror and insecurities while watching it to make it to the end.
I also can't help but feel as though every singe film after it has learned a thing or two. Might I say "Tremors"?
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