Filmic Techniques Used in Jaws
How does the director Steven Spielberg use filmic techniques to build suspense and tension for the audience in the film Jaws?
Steven Speilberg directed the epic blockbuster film,Jaws, alongside producers David Brown and Richard D. Zanuck. He is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and undoubtedly one of the most influential personalities in the history of filmmaking. Additionally, Spielberg is the highest grossing filmmaker of all time and his movies have earned in the region of four billion dollars internationally! He is also eminent for the direction of numerous other films after the release of Jaws, such as: E.T The Extra-Terrestrial, Jurassic Park, Schindlers List and Saving Private Ryan. Over the span of his career, Spielberg’s films have approached a diverse array of themes and genres. Throughout his earlier years, his adventure and sci-fi films were often renowned as typical of modern Hollywood blockbuster filmmaking; though in his later years as a director, he incorporated aspects of historical concern: war, slavery, terrorism and the Holocaust. The plot and events occurring throughout the course of Jaws were based upon the best-selling novel written by Peter Benchley. His previous works included the books: Island, Creature and The Beast-though none of these matched the success of Jaws. Benchley was inspired by the Jersey Shore shark attacks which took place during the summer of 1916- in New Jersey. Unlike the film, which is a taut and cerebral thriller, the novel is an entertaining account of the genuine outcome of having a giant killer shark sucking the economy dry. Whilst the film is suggestive and direct, the novel is explicit and somewhat convoluted, including subplots of mafia relations in the community, marital infidelity and an implication of supernatural influence. The novel was then directed by Spielberg and adapted by Universal Studios for motion pictures. If there was ever any justification for being petrified of
Steven Speilberg directed the epic blockbuster film,Jaws, alongside producers David Brown and Richard D. Zanuck. He is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and undoubtedly one of the most influential personalities in the history of filmmaking. Additionally, Spielberg is the highest grossing filmmaker of all time and his movies have earned in the region of four billion dollars internationally! He is also eminent for the direction of numerous other films after the release of Jaws, such as: E.T The Extra-Terrestrial, Jurassic Park, Schindlers List and Saving Private Ryan. Over the span of his career, Spielberg’s films have approached a diverse array of themes and genres. Throughout his earlier years, his adventure and sci-fi films were often renowned as typical of modern Hollywood blockbuster filmmaking; though in his later years as a director, he incorporated aspects of historical concern: war, slavery, terrorism and the Holocaust. The plot and events occurring throughout the course of Jaws were based upon the best-selling novel written by Peter Benchley. His previous works included the books: Island, Creature and The Beast-though none of these matched the success of Jaws. Benchley was inspired by the Jersey Shore shark attacks which took place during the summer of 1916- in New Jersey. Unlike the film, which is a taut and cerebral thriller, the novel is an entertaining account of the genuine outcome of having a giant killer shark sucking the economy dry. Whilst the film is suggestive and direct, the novel is explicit and somewhat convoluted, including subplots of mafia relations in the community, marital infidelity and an implication of supernatural influence. The novel was then directed by Spielberg and adapted by Universal Studios for motion pictures. If there was ever any justification for being petrified of