Jaws Movie Analysis

1038 Words3 Pages

Film Paper

Sources: Jaws, directed by Steven Spielberg. 1975; United States: Universal Pictures, 2000. DVD.
I chose to write about the very famous movie Jaws, directed by Steven Spielberg in 1975. Beginning with Act I, is what we call the set-up. The very first part of the set-up is the characters. The protagonist in the movie is Martin Brody, who is a police chief. Chief Brody’s wife is Ellen, the Shark hunter is named Quint, and the oceanographer is Matt Hooper. The mayor of Amity Island, Larry Vaughn, is also a significant character in the movie. The antagonist is Jaws, the great white shark. The relationship between the protagonist and the antagonist is not a good one. The protagonist, Martin Brody, is on a hunt for the antagonist, who is a sea monster and has gone on a killing spree, attacking many of the innocent victims on Amity Island. Next, the inciting incident sets up the central conflict in a movie. The story is set into motion with the attack and death of Chrissie Watkins. Chrissie is a young girl who was skinny-dipping with a boy after a party. This results in her getting brutally attacked and eaten. Her remains are found the next morning on the beach, by police chief Martin Brody. The town declares her death a “boating accident.” The film’s tone is frightening and definitely scary. The first turning point in the film is when a young boy, Alex Kitner gets eaten by the shark, while swimming with his friends. This leads to the decision of the police chief closing down the beaches for the safety of the residents on Amity Island. Alex Kitner’s mother issues a three-thousand dollar reward for the person who finds and kills the shark. This attracts many shark hunters from nearby cities to Amity Island.
In Act II of the...

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...are both placed toward the edges of the frame and have little room to move around within the frame. This might have been done purposely to display how there is no escape from the great white shark, and that Brody cannot run away from it. The camera lens during this confrontation is that of a normal lens. The screen image is pretty similar to that seen by the human eye. This is probably done for the viewer to see and feel exactly what Brody is looking at, while shooting and killing the shark. Lastly, the type of editing used in the confrontation is cross-cutting. The transition of the shot keeps going back and forth, from the shark to the Chief. As Brody is shooting his gun, it cuts to the shark for a few seconds to show the bullet penetrating through his skin, then back to Brody holding his gun again. This happens a few times giving the illusion of cause and effect.

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