Essay on Jaws - 1080 Words

Is Jaws a Horror Movie? First I will highlight the brief journey through the horror genre and the conventions that have developed. Second, I will then show how these conventions are used in the film Jaws. Let’s start with the silent era, an era based on monsters, Frakingstien 1910, Dracula 1912, The Phantom Of The Opera 1925. Without sound, there was a heavy emphasis on make – up, adding to the horror and preparing the first convention, which is the reveal of the monster. Facial expressions and body language played big part in early horror movies as it provided the tension. A second convention was the ‘dark property in the middle of nowhere,’ using isolation as a way to build up tension. Through the talkies in the 30’s little†¦show more content†¦The opening of the film is from the shark point of view, underwater, the scene is errie. John Williams distinctive music playing leaves the audience tense, especially because they can’t see the creature. We cut to the camp fire scene which introduces our first convention, the weak female teenager. A young girl, Chrissie Watkins and Tom Cassidy leave the safety of a camp fire to go swimming in the middle of the night. We are moved from a warm, safe elemental scene to the cold, dangerous and open ocean. The final view of the camp fire is a high shot this gives the audience a feeling that something is watching them. We are left feeling unsettled but excited. The teenagers run the broken fence and now ‘out of bounds’ are they safe? Chrissie runs into the water and the camera angle pans back to show the dark ocean with a buoy floating in the distance. A sultry bell sound ringing out, building up an eerie feeling. In the water Chrissie is presented as a lady even underwater Chrissie appears stunning while swimming. This same shot is Spielberg shows the point of view of the shark. At this point the audience knows something is going to happen and Spielberg builds the tension using John Williams score. Spielberg uses diegetic sounds of splashing and non-diegetic sounds to great effective. The music starts very quietly and slowly. As the shark moves through the water, the beat and theShow MoreRelatedJaws: Shark and Water1699 Words   |  7 PagesJaws (1975) Media Coursework Peter Benchley wrote Jaws the novel before it was made into a film directed by Steven Spielberg. Jaws is a thriller/horror with the main aim being to build up suspense and tension. When making the film Jaws Steven Spielberg had to face the challenging task of translating Benchley’s popular novel into a hit movie whilst still maintaining the suspense created through the many textual devices used by Benchley, such as language techniques and sentence structure. SpielbergRead MoreEssay Suspense in the Film Jaws1592 Words   |  7 PagesSuspense 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. TheRead MoreJaws and Jurassic Park Films1667 Words   |  7 PagesSteven Spielberg’s Jaws (1975) and his other film Jurassic Park (1993) both contain a major theme of what makes a successful hero in society. In Jaws, police chief Martin Brody must successfully eliminate the threat of a Great White Shark from attacking Amity Island. 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