How Does The Director, Steven Spielberg, Create Suspense, And Scare The Audience In The 1970'S Film, Jaws?

Steven Spielberg, the creator of Jaws, uses many different techniques to draw in the suspense of viewers and to capture their imagination. These techniques include special effects - to create tension, different camera angles - to show facial expressions and group shots. The classic Jaws music, known by millions of people, also helps build up tension, to let us know when the shark is approaching. He uses colours, so that we can associate signs and symbols to forthcoming events, e.g. the colour red is associated with danger. We will be using all of the above devices to help analyse different parts of the film.

As soon as the film starts, from the title sequence, these techniques are being used. The music begins very quietly and slowly. In my opinion, I get the impression that danger is on its way, and, also, it is dark, which builds up the suspense. The opening credits are written a sharp pointy writing, which is perhaps suggesting the teeth of the shark, and its capabilities.

As the scene changes, the suspense and anxiety increases, because we are now watching the film from the sharks point of view but, as the shark is swimming through the water, there is a lot of weeds in his way, which makes the audience very agitated, and the speed of the shark may suggest that he is anxious to get somewhere.

The music then starts to build up, by getting louder and faster. This starts to get the audience thinking, and wondering what will happen next. It builds up a lot of tension and suspense, and you seem, to know that danger is getting closer.

After this event, the atmosphere changes dramatically. It becomes livelier, and there is an old-fashioned feeling, as there is a mouth organ being played in the background. Everybody seems to be having fun, which does make them seem quite a lot more vulnerable, as they are unaware of the danger.

There is also a large bonfire on the beach, which gives the audience a sense of safety, but also, fire means danger, so it makes you unsure. The large amount of people also gives you a sense of safety, but again this is dampened by the fact that they are in the dark, making them seem vulnerable, also this makes their vision very scarce, as it is the dark, and they can't see very far.

The third shot reminds us of the danger, as you have pushed the shark to the back of your mind. The camera pans round, so that you can see the sea, and remind you of the shark, but you can also see the calmness of the bonfire. The waves give off a really eerie effect, the whole scene just seems to bee too calm.

The next scene is off the girl swimming, but there is no music playing at all, and makes the atmosphere feel eerie. You wonder what is going to happen next. Also the girl is totally naked at this time, which makes her seem very vulnerable, as there is nothing between her and the shark, except water. She is also away from the party, which makes her seem unsafe.

The camera then starts to switch from the girls point of view, to the sharks point of view. The girl is totally defenceless to the shark's capabilities, but using this effect allows you to relate to both characters.

Next, you see a shot of the girl kicking her legs, and the camera slowly zooms in. This shows the view from the shark's point of view, and shows the audience that the danger is getting closer, which is certainly building the tension up.

The fact that we do not see the shark makes the audience feel quite uneasy, as in a way we are uncertain of what the danger is. It also builds up a lot of fear, from our point of view.

There are a lot pauses in the attack, which allows you to see the unconscious boy, slumped on the beach. To me this shows us that the girl's only chance of survival is totally oblivious to the current events, and is unaware of her screams. Also when the camera switches onto the boy, it gives a chance to reflect on what has just happened in the attack.

After the attack there is a sudden silence. I think that in a way we can associate this with a minute of silence, as they do when someone has died, as it is obvious that the girl has been killed. Again it also gives us chance to reflect on what has happened.

At the end of the scene, all we can see and hear is the sea. There is also a calm silence, which makes everything seem dead.

The second attack also uses these devices to build up the tension and suspense of the viewers.

The scene starts off with a boy walking up the beach to his mother, but the camera changes its view. A red car can be seen, and also the young boy is wearing red shorts. Does this mean danger is going to occur? We also see an old lady, swimming on her own, and no one else can be seen swimming in the shot. The camera does focus a lot on the one boy, so, immediately, we think that something will happen to him, but we are unsure what. There is also a bit of contrast in the beginning, as there are several effects, which may symbolise happiness. There is very lively music and also there is a very playful dog. A woman is wearing a yellow hat as well, and this is the colour we associate with happiness.

The next event used in this scene, uses several different camera shots to capture the moment. Again, there is contrast in this scene, we noticed that there was no lifeguard in the station, which appears to make the tourists seem quite vulnerable, but there is also a lot of happy, laughing people, who are very unaware of the missing lifeguard. The following scene is also like this one, as there are many unaware tourists, but for the first time, in the second attack, we see Brody, whose expression is very serious, and he looks very uneasy.

In this next shot, we see a man throw a stick to the dog we saw earlier, and in the background you can see the same old, vulnerable woman, swimming alone again. I got the impression that something bad was going to happen to her, because, although it is stereotypical, older woman seem to be a lot more vulnerable and especially as she is on her own. The camera also focuses a lot on this woman.

A close-up shot and a track shot are the main camera angles used in this event. Both the boy and the dog run into the water, which causes a lot of splashing and, ultimately, this will attract the shark.

The next event does not shoe any signs of danger, as there is only the dog swimming, but maybe this does show vulnerability. The camera angle used is a mid-shot.

There are two things in this vent that contradict themselves, if what we say about the different colours is true. The first thing is the boys red shorts, which we associate with danger, but also he is swimming on a red lilo, which as I said before, is the colour we associate with happiness.

As Brody continues to watch the water,