Suspense in the Film Jaws

Suspense in the Film Jaws

In this essay I will be analysing the film Jaws. The film was directed

by Steven Spielberg whose other works include Indiana Jones and E.T.

Jaws is a fascinating and entertaining film mainly because of its

interesting and diverse plot. The people of Amity Island used to live

a peaceful and quiet life in the small summer resort town in America.

Now however, the people of the small town have become victim to a

man-eating Great White Shark. The town officials hesitate to warn

people about the shark for fear of losing business during their

busiest time of year, Fourth of July weekend. Therefore the shark is

kept quiet from the town until a child is attacked in broad daylight

and killed. After many failed attempts, Martin Brody, the chief of

police in Amity, takes it upon himself to kill the shark, with help

from Matt Hooper, a marine biologist, and Quint, a shark expert. It is

set on the fourth of July because that is the date of the main holiday

season in Amity and therefore emphasises the amount of business that

the shark is losing the town and the number of potential victims.

The music in Jaws begins slowly and speeds up until it is at a fast

pace. This is connected to feeding theories about the Great White

Shark and is very effective at scaring the audience. Great Whites

typically stalk their 'prey' by swimming along the bottom and strike

by launching a lightning-fast, vertical attack. Also, many films use a

technique whereby a particular piece of music is used to identify a

specific character. This technique is known as a leitmotif. In Jaws,

when the music begins the audience knows that the shark is somewh...

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... boat!"

The suspense now truly begins because they and the audience knows that

the shark is out to hunt them. .

Spielberg purposely made sure that the boat was small to create all of

the fear, tension and suspense described above. Right until the end

the tension is maintained by Brody shooting the shark at the very last

moment and blowing it up so that the audience remains on the edge of

their seats throughout.

The film Jaws was made at a time when special effects and computer

imaging were almost non-existent. Spielberg though, still manages to

scare the audience using incredible and inventive techniques which

have made him world renowned and respected. Many regard Jaws as one of

the greatest films ever made and regard Spielberg as one of the

greatest ever directors, and in evaluating it I can understand why.