JAWS

1.       Where did the idea for Jaws originate? How did it become a film? Who contributed to the screenplay? 

The movie was inspired by the novel Jaws which was written by Peter Benchley. Peter himself was inspired by a true event of a shark attack which took place in Portland, Steven Spielberg also made the connection to Duel one of the movies he had directed perversely.  

2.       Why were particular scenes removed from the film? 

The scenes were a man is being dragged meanwhile trying to save a young boy, he is torn from the torso as the shark pulls him into the water. This scene was removed because it was deemed to brutal and would be seen to be too violent.  

3.       During the pre-production stage what sort of footage did the producers commission in preparation for the film? How was the script changed as a result of this footage? 

An idea which was originated was to have live footage of a shark attack; therefore filming of a Great white shark was shot in the sea of South Australia. The idea was to use a smaller cage and actor to make the shark look bigger, during filming a Great white got its head caught in the cage and began to twist and turn in a moment of panic.

But in the script there was to be a man in the cage during the attack, but in the footage which was taken the cage was empty. Therefore the script was changed in order to have live footage in the final product.      

4.       What was involved during the casting process?

Jaws the shark was seen as the main star of the film, therefore there was no need to cast any big acting stars. Meanwhile at a party Spielberg met Roy Scheider and introduced him to the role of the chief. Other people were suggested the actor which was seen to fit the character the best were asked to join the cast.

5.       What is location scouting? Why did Steven Spielberg choose the locations for the film? 

Location scouting is the process of researching, travelling and looking for different locations in which to film, many times for film productions.   

When the crew and Steven Spielberg were location scouting they decided to shot in a small resort in Massachusetts the reason behind this decision was that Steven Spielberg did not want to see land. He wanted them to feel “cut off”. By pointing the camera in a particular direction it created the illusion that the characters had nowhere to go and were forced to face the shark. By the coast not being visible it gave the audience the sense of entrapment. 

6.       Describe how actors contributed to the production of Jaws. 

 Simply actors try to make the characters feel realistic and believable, actors sometimes relate to the characters this can be of great help. Actors in the filming of Jaws were allowed to improvise on the script and add something of their own. For example the famous quote “we’re gonna need a bigger boat” was not in the script it was improvised on the spot by Roy Scheider.    

7.       What does a composer do? What considerations were taken into account when writing the music for Jaws? 

A composer is someone who writes and composes music pieces for television, theatre, radio, film ECT.  The composer’s job is to create pieces of music suitable for the project; for the movie Jaws the sound and music become a trade mark of the film. The music for a film must be carefully selected, the music must move with the story without overpowering a scene, it must create mood, feeling in the case of Jaws a sense of suspense and danger. It must draw the attention of the audience; in the film the music when the shark was attacking was made to sound alike with the heartbeat of the shark as he approaches its prey. The music ‘’bombom  bombom’’ which would start off slow and then speed up created the sense of danger as the shark closed into its prey.

John William created the soundtrack which becomes the representation of the shark, take note that for the movie Jaws the shark is not shown until the end of the film. The soundtrack is the reason why we know the shark is approaching. 

8.       What did Spielberg do as a result of test screenings? 

In a test screening of a scene the audience had little reason; Bed Gardner didn’t get the reaction he was looking for so he spent $3,000 of his own money in filming the scene again in order to create a more frightening scene. 

9.       What is a director of photography? How was the director of photography involved in the production of Jaws? 

A D.O.P also known as a cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera. Responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image, the cinematographer is the person who supervises the recording of a film.

The D.O.P for the movie Jaws suggested the idea to use the camera at water level, at the human’s point of view, he also suggested the use of handheld shots, which became used for the majority of the film, a technique which was extremely effective.

10.   What does an editor do? Who was the editor on Jaws and what was her responsibility? 

The editor is involved in the post-production process of filmmaking. It involves the selection and assembling of shots into sequences, and ultimately creating a finished motion picture. The editor may be part of a team and they will usually work closely with the director, as well as sound/musical directors to achieve the desired end result. Verna Fields was the editor for the movie Jaws, her responsibility was to work closely with Spielberg and edit “cut the film down”. Making sure that the final product was of quality.

11.   Based on the documentary, what are the responsibilities of a producer? 

The producer role is to oversee the filmmaking process, which involves coordinating, supervising and controlling major aspects of the project. The producer oversees the film project and tries to preserve the integrity, voice and vision of the film. The making of the film Jaws was extremely tense and frustrating at times it seemed to be a waste of effort, and at times Spielberg thought that his career of a producer would receive a blow because it seemed likely that the film would fail.     

12.   What does the producer do once principal photography has finished? 

Spielberg and his cast watched the final version of the film, this is where editors step in and finalised the film looking in case anything needed to be to added or cut from the film. During post production they arranged for distribution.   

13.   What did the production designer do on the film?

Joe Alves the production designer for the film Jaws, would collaborate with the director throughout the film, together they were responsible for the overall look of the film.

14.   What role do you think you would have the skills to fulfil?

I personally feel that I would have the skills to fulfil the role of an Editor, I would have worked extremely hard on the selection and assembling of shots into sequences. I would have loved the chance of selecting scenes and working alongside with the sound and music composers.