Jaws Movie Comparison

The film, Jaws, was the first of its kind. As we learned this week, around the time Jaws was released in theaters, the film industry was changing into what we know it as today. As the film industry finally began to discover its identity, more commercialized movies started emerging in box offices everywhere.

In the 1960s, there was a crisis in the studio system. Most movies that were being produced were failures and flopping in theaters. For example, Cleopatra, starring Elizabeth Taylor, was a highly anticipated movie of the time. Funded by a production company, it was projected to make a large profit, however, the film was a huge bust. Although, this was not the case for every film. Psycho, the horror/thriller starring Anthony Perkins, fared very well in the box offices. The difference between the two films is that Psycho was funded by the director. He used his own money for the production of his movie because he didn’t want a

large company restricting him. During this time, the film industry wasn’t sure of its identity and still trying to figure out what it was supposed to be.
As the 1970s rolled around, the industry began to change. First, directors began going to film schools in Los Angeles. Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese were just two directors born in this era. Films during this time also began to take a more political and darker view. This change in mood can be accredited to problems across the world including the Vietnam War. American films also became more influenced by the European movie industries.
Released in 1975, Jaws was a movie unlike any other before.

Being the first movie to make more than 100 million in the box office, the thrill of sharks drew audience members from all over to the theaters to see what the excitement was all about. Movies like Jaws can be termed as a high concept film. By definition, high concept is a type of artistic work that can easily be pitched with a concisely stated premise. High concept movies have specific characteristics, all of which can be found in Jaws. First, high concept films can be summed up and sold in a single sentence. Second, the plot of the film is the main focus, instead of character recognition. Lastly, the premise of high concept films are usually original and unique with high key visual images. In the case of Jaws, it mastered all three concepts making it a major success. Jaws can be summed up as a movie about a shark that terrorizes a New England tourist town. While there is character development throughout the movie, the main focus is the plot and the visuals of sharks

attacking.
Today, there are a plethora of high concept films on the market. These are films that are engineered to sell. They often have mass audience appeal creating large fan bases. Marketing of these films is a majority of what makes them sell. Because they are so mass produced, high concept movies often sell more than just the movie itself. For example, Jaws reached as far as the ice cream isle in grocery stores with sharks on popsicle boxes.
In the end, I thoroughly enjoyed Jaws. It was a thrilling movie with great visuals, which is exactly what I wanted and was expecting from this movie.