Tuesday 13 October 2009

How Steven Spielberg Creates Suspense in the First Two Scenes of "Jaws"

The film Jaws, directed by Steven Spielberg in 1975, features various techniques to create suspense and fear throughout the whole film. This is done using different types of camera shots and movement, music, and mis-en-scene. The two scenes I will be using as examples are the first opening sequence and the 5th scene.
In the opening sequence, the music begins very quiet and slow. The camera moves through the water, wading through the weeds- a point of view shot- as the music continues to play. This creates suspense and tension since we cannot see the shark, and the connotation within the point of view camera movement can make the audience feel that they’re in the water; possibly swimming away from the shark themselves.
The music becomes louder and bolder, creating the illusion that something is about to happen next. However, the scene switches to a beach party instead of going straight into the attack immediately. This leaves the audience in suspense as we have to wait and see for when the shark does attack.
The camera slowly moves along the people at the beach; known as a pan camera movement. There is a large fire in the middle, this indicates something dangerous as fire symbolises fear and emergency and panic. However, this symbol contrasts with the general mood of the beach party, as the mouth organ is being played; people are talking, drinking, and looking relaxed. This particular scene does not imply or hint that a shark attack is about to happen (partly because of the fire, as well as being the symbol for danger, it also creates warmth and passion- which is not found in the sea, where of course the attack takes place). So when the attack does happen, it is slightly unexpected. Despite expecting an attack at the start of the film, since it was involving the sea.
During the beach party, the camera pulls back to show a wide shot of the sea. The audience can hear noises in the background, and a tracking camera movement is used as a boy runs after a girl. There is no sound as the girl is swimming. Then the camera shows the point of view movement of the shark through the water and the bold music begins to play. This shot is almost a replica to the opening sequence. Since nothing happened during the beginning, the audience may feel that the attack will occur the second time round.
A low angle is shown of the girl slightly kicking her legs in the water. The camera slowly zooms in, and this shows the audience how close the shark is to getting the girl. The attack takes place; the girl thrashes around in the water screaming which creates a mood of fear and panic. There are also pauses in the attack, and this may be because the audience can savour it since it doesn’t happen all in one go in a matter of seconds. Again, the audience cannot see the shark attacking the girl, so we are left with our imagination to conjure up an image of this blood-thirsty predator.
The scene ends with a still camera shot of the sea. I think this creates a great deal of suspense since the peaceful and calm atmosphere is a contrast to the vicious attack moments before. The audience doesn’t know whether the shark is suddenly going to rise out of the water, or if the boy will swim out into the sea and therefore become killed himself; and this can create tension.
In the 5th scene, which is my second example, the scene takes place on a crowded beach. The camera uses a tracking shot of a young boy as he ambles up to his mother and pleads her to let him have another 10 minutes in the sea. The camera then follows him as he goes to get his lilo and this can create suspense since the audience isn’t sure whether the boy will be the shark’s next victim. In some ways, it seems it, because of the emphasis of “letting him go back in the sea” and the fact that his swim shorts are red (red being the colour that attracts sharks as well as being symbolic for danger, fear, and blood). However, some may argue that a young boy being killed by a shark is quite excessive and unnecessary for a film. So the audience is left in anticipation to see what happens.
A character in the film, named Brody, is also at the beach. He watches the different people and seems agitated.
The audience is introduced to different possibilities of the shark’s next victim. This can create suspense since we don’t know who it will be. First, there is the man throwing sticks in the water for his dog to catch- both the man and his dog are possible victims since they are near the sea and it may be that the man has to go in the water himself just in case his dog needs helping.
There is also the large lady floating in the water. Brody spots a black shiny shape swimming towards the woman; and then we realise that it’s just the top of an old man’s swim hat as he swims through the water. The camera shot is level with the water and large lady, so it may make the audience feel that they’re in the sea too.
Then, Brody sees a young woman screaming and splashing about in the water. He stands up, ready for action, and then realises it was her boyfriend lifting her up from the water. These two false alarms create suspense for the audience since they expect the attack to happen and it doesn’t. So when the build-up to the real attack occurs, some may not believe it will really happen- which may bring a shock for when it actually does.
A tracking shot is used as the boy rushes into the water with his yellow lilo, and the man calls for his dog. This implies that something fearful is about to happen since his dog has gone missing. This creates suspense since the audience does not know why and how the dog is gone; and whether he’ll return or not.
A low angle is used as the boy’s legs kick under the water, as the girl did in the beginning of the film. The attack is seen in the distance and the long shot indicates that the people on the beach are too far away to save the boy. A general panic occurs as people rush out of the water and again, we do not see the shark and are left with our own interpretation. During this, Brody realises what is happening and the camera quickly zooms in on his terrified face. The zooming-in camera shot signifies the attack as powerful and large, coming towards him; which of course reflects back on what the actual shark itself is like.
After the attack is over, a strange sense of calm settles. The yellow lilo washes up on the shore, soaked with diluted blood. A high angle is used, and I find this interesting since it means the audience is looking down on what is left of the boy; and most people would say we look down when we are mourning (looking down at a grave at a funeral, for example).
The colour yellow is used as the symbolic colour for danger and warning throughout the scene. The man who owns the dog is wearing yellow shorts, and his dog (so it seems) has been attacked by the shark. The boy was floating on a yellow lilo, and he became the shark’s second victim. This contrasts with the typical colour for danger (red or black) and it is normally the colour for happiness and sunshine. So already the audience can sense a tone of difference portrayed in this film.

1 comment:

  1. Great article! The best part about POV shots is that they can be used pretty much anywhere and help turn a boring scene into a suspenseful movie moment. Here are some suspense building techniques I came up with http://thevrincent.blogspot.com/2013/09/how-to-build-suspense-in-indie-film.html

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