Preview

Jaws - 'How Does Spielberg Create Tension?' Essay Example

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1749 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Jaws - 'How Does Spielberg Create Tension?' Essay Example
How does the director Stephen Spielberg use filmic techniques to build suspense and build tension for the audience in the film Jaws?

Stephen Spielberg is a very famous director and well known for his high budget action films. The film that will scare anyone and live on for generations is the terrific Jaws, the first ever block bluster in 1975. His tagline was very catchy and ment something to people as in when people went to see Jaws, to then go on holiday they did exactly what it said “Don’t go into the water”. The view on Jaws was very different and certificates for example: U.K rated it a PG, France rated it 12, Germany rated it 16 and Argentina rated it an 18 but that might be because they do suffer from shark invested waters. At the very beginning of the film you only see a black screen but in the background you hear the sound of the sea, which immediately links to what the film could be about, but then as soon as you seethe actual sea, you go straight underwater with something swimming through seaweed which makes the audience curious and nervous to see what is lurking in the water and the penetrating music in the background. To then have a complete different scene with teenagers having a good time on the beach but the audience knows there us something out there and anyone who goes into the sea is a victim for the unknown beast. When the camera pulls back to show a wide shot of the sea it reminds you of what is out there and the danger but the teenagers don’t know or suspect anything. Also there is a titled frame with a high angled shot this shows the teenagers are weak and defenseless if they go into the water. The camera tracks a girl called Chrisy, so you connect to her and feel for her as soon as you see her running towards the water, with the boy following her the audience already suspect the danger, and to see which one it is. As she dives into the sea you hear a bell-tolling that symbolizes death and funerals, but the audience knows that

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    ‘Jaws' is a Blockbuster hit and is still going strong, even though it was released in 1975. It was directed by Steven Spielberg. It was his first blockbuster hit and a brilliant way to start off his career. The genre of the film is a Thriller. It is a very clever Thriller a mix of suspense and ‘goryness'.…

    • 1419 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Shots are an important part of any movie or show. Shots, in addition to lighting and angles, can provoke powerful reactions in the audience. Steven Spielberg is well known for his cinematographic style. One of the movies he is best known for is Jaws. Three of the many interesting shots were the shark’s point of view, the zolly, and the shots of Captain Quint preparing for the shark. All three instigate suspense and keep the audience on the edge of their seats.…

    • 375 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    4) Spielberg uses well established dialogue and ques to alert readers the shark is present, thus creating tension and suspense.…

    • 339 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Breathless Film Essay

    • 555 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Michael Poiccard is a petty criminal who steals a car and when a cop catches up to him,…

    • 555 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the scene “Barrels” Jaws (1975), of the three categories music was more prominent than any other. There were several conversations as well. When anyone thinks of Jaws, they think of the music. It creates a sense of danger, suspense, and apprehension. The music in this scene works well with the dialogue, lighting, and continuity of editing. Goddykoontz and Jacobs (2011) describe music as being “a crucial part of the movie-going experience” (Sec. 6.4; papa. 18).…

    • 452 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    True Grit Analysis

    • 874 Words
    • 4 Pages

    this film is able to be completely submersed in the perspective of it’s characters and…

    • 874 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Suspense In Jaws

    • 363 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The film opens with a chilling black screen and the non-digetic sound of little bubbles popping in the distance. This automatically gives the impression that the audience is underwater. The black screen also makes the audience feel nervous about what is happening around us as the darkness plays with humans’ worse fear, the unknown. As the first title appears on the jet black screen with a contrasting white font the infamous theme tune begins with a slow, deep, ominous non-digetic sound. As the different titles appear…

    • 363 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout the film, the ship has an explosion and causes the people to fall into the water. Due to the explosion on the ship, most of the people did not know how to swim and a quantity of them drowned. As the film continues, a shark attack takes place. It causes the audience fear and raises the level of excitement towards the public. Rainsford, being the only survivor, leaves the audience wondering. Questioning how Rainsford is the only one who made it out alive out of all of the people. The author also shows a lot of different perspectives of expressing emotions throughout the film. The love interest between the characters begin…

    • 521 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Tim Burton Film Techniques

    • 1111 Words
    • 5 Pages

    To begin, Burton uses shots and framing to create a feeling of mystery and suspense. One way he obtains this feeling of suspense and allusion is when in Edward Scissorhands,…

    • 1111 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Blackfish

    • 364 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Throughout the film Blackfish the filmmaker’s objective was to appeal to the audience’s senses and side with the killer whales. Incorporating ethos, logos, and pathos in the film through interviews and statistics helped spread this film and leave an impact on everybody who watched it. The film took an interesting approach to displaying how SeaWorld was trying to hide from the audience and the visitors to the parks around the world.…

    • 364 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Jaws

    • 428 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Steven Spielberg created a film based off the thriller novel, Jaws, by Peter Benchley. Both the movie and the book tell the story of a giant man-eating great white shark and focus on the terror brought to the people of Amity Island. The movie does follow the novel’s main story line closely, however, when a producer turns a book into a film, it’s practical for one to thicken its plot line, and for two, tell the original story. The horror brought by the shark’s attacks are illustrated vividly throughout the text, as the film on the other hand , does not express the genre as the way the text does.…

    • 428 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Is Jaws a Horror Movie?

    • 1239 Words
    • 5 Pages

    First, I will intend to take you on a brief journey through the horror genre and the conventions that have been associated with this type of film. Second, I will show you how these conventions are used in Spielberg’s Jaws (1975). To get started, we are going to investigate the first era or as it was called, the silent era. This era was based on monsters such as Frankenstein (1910), Dracula (1912) and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923). These black and white horror films were all about the make-up and the clever use of lighting, to add their thrills and chills. The first conventions that we see are the ‘revealing of the monsters’ and the use of ‘isolated houses’ where the monsters are based, this shows the isolated aspects. This left audiences feeling panicky and unnerved. These films had to rely on the music, yet they still lack the big horror genre fear factor. Through the talkies (1930s-1940s) little changed, they still had the monsters, the same monsters, the same storylines, but the Atomic Phase of the 1950s soon made its impact. Sci-fi and hammer movies took centre stage, Godzilla (1954) and The Blob (1958) were hug box office hits because the films grabbed the audience attention as they were based at nuclear war as science was really important then.…

    • 1239 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    A Single Man mise-en-scene

    • 1561 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The shot behind the opening credits could give the audience the impression that the character, George, is having an out-of-body experience (OOBE). In the shot you can see George slowly sinking under water, whilst he is naked. George is alone within the shot, showing that he is feeling lonely and isolated, which is a factor of an OOBE. Being depressed can make you feel like you’re drowning, which can come as a result of sinking and being unable to resurface. Which is why the water is an important element in this shot, as it would start to give the audience thoughts of how George is feeling and what genre it might be.…

    • 1561 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    First of all, it is evident that the very detailed description cannot translate to cinematic form. To replicate this, the suspense is portrayed through the faces of the young actors who are, in my view, simply not talented enough to be able to properly bring out our emotions with the poorly performed dialog.…

    • 518 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    I remember watching Jaws as a kid, as you can imagine I was pretty scared. I think I was about ten when I first saw Jaws. At this time I would go to the beach and always be in the water. But after watching the movie I was afraid every time I went to the beach that something was going to sneak up behind me or come up from the dark water below to attack me. I am not sure where this fear came from since a shark before never bit me.…

    • 618 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays