howthesausageismade

Jaws

by Steven Spielberg · film · 1975

unverified

jaws is a 1975 american thriller film directed by steven spielberg, based on the 1974 novel by peter benchley, produced by richard d. zanuck and david brown. it was the first major motion picture set at sea to be shot on the ocean, filmed at martha's vineyard standing in for long island. bruce's catastrophic mechanical failures were the result of shooting in saltwater. the shark had only been tested in freshwater tanks in los angeles and could not handle the briny waves off the coast of martha's vineyard, forcing spielberg to keep the shark mostly offscreen.

butler, fields, martha's vineyard

bill butler shot jaws, bringing the wyeth approach he'd used on the conversation. verna fields cut the film, winning the oscar for editing and later being promoted to vice president at universal. camera operator michael chapman worked under butler and later became a cinematographer himself.[01][04]

producers richard zanuck and david brown hired spielberg after seeing his work on the sugarland express, their first feature with him. they bought the film rights to benchley's novel before it was published, then brought in carl gottlieb to rewrite during production when the script needed lightening.[01][06]

sheinberg blocked the firing

sid sheinberg, universal's president, repeatedly stopped attempts to fire spielberg as the shoot ballooned from 55 days to 159 and the budget doubled. sheinberg had signed spielberg to his first seven-year contract at universal after seeing the short film amblin, and his wife lorraine gary was cast in jaws.[03][01]

verna fields had edited spielberg's previous film the sugarland express and became known as his mother cutter. she cut jaws on location at martha's vineyard as footage came in, editing around the malfunctioning shark and adding the ben gardner head scene shot in her own pool after principal photography wrapped.[05]

spielberg shot duel on highways four years earlier

spielberg's 1971 tv movie duel, shot on california highways for universal, proved he could handle location suspense material with mechanical antagonists before zanuck and brown hired him for jaws.[02]

what shaped this

the makers, scenes, and predecessors this work came out of, grouped by how the influence reached it

the makers behind the maker

  • The Sugarland Express · Steven Spielberg

    producer lineage · cinematographer Bill Butler, editor Verna Fields, production designer Joe Alves, composer John Williams

    The entire core creative team from Spielberg's 1974 theatrical debut returned for Jaws. Butler operated the camera, Fields cut the film, Alves designed the production including the mechanical sharks, and Williams composed the score that became the film's signature element.

    “Jaws cinematographer Bill Butler shot Spielberg's 1973 television movie Savage. Producers David Brown and Richard Zanuck, production designer Joe Alves, editor Verna Fields, and casting director Shari Rhodes had previously worked on The Sugarland Express”
    source ↗

lineage

  • Duel · Steven Spielberg

    referenced

    Spielberg saw Jaws as a direct successor to his 1971 TV movie about an unseen threat. Both center an ordinary person terrorized by an invisible or mostly unseen force that controls the narrative through menace rather than visibility.

    “He was instantly hooked, seeing Jaws as the perfect companion piece to his TV movie Duel, in which a man (Dennis Weaver) is terrorized by a truck, whose driver is never seen.”
    source ↗
  • The Birds · Alfred Hitchcock

    referenced

    Spielberg approached Jaws through the lens of Hitchcock's 1963 film, seeing parallels in how everyday settings become sites of inexplicable terror when nature turns hostile against a community.

    “Spielberg highlights in the documentary that the simple nightmare premise of each story showed great possibilities for suspense filmmaking in the lineage of one of his favorite filmmakers, Alfred Hitchcock. It's easy to see parallels in both films with Hitchcock's classic, The Birds (1963), in which the titular creatures attack the everyday people of a coastal town for seemingly no reason.”
    source ↗
  • Psycho · Alfred Hitchcock

    visual reference

    The opening attack scene borrows the grammar of Hitchcock's shower sequence, using sudden violence to breach the safety of a moment of vulnerability and exposure.

    “Actress Susan Backlinie, who plays the shark's first victim, points out that the opening skinny dipping scene also shares the DNA of Hitchcock's Psycho (1960) shower scene.”
    source ↗

citations

every source this entry is built on

  1. [01]

    Jaws (film) - Wikipediasingle-source· article

    “Jaws is a 1975 American thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg, based on the 1974…”
  2. [02]

    How ‘Duel’ Announced Steven Spielberg to the World | No Film Schoolsingle-source· article

    “This terrifying road movie preceded Jaws.”
  3. [03]

    Good friend rescued Steven Spielberg getting fired from JAWS — The Daily Jawssingle-source· article

    “However, Sheinberg's backing of "Jaws" went beyond mere professional obligation. It signaled a profound vote…”
  4. [04]

    The Man Who Redefined the Theater Experience: MPA America250 Award Winner Steven Spielberg - The Creditssingle-source· article

    “Martha’s Vineyard, MA – 1975: (L-R) [unidentified], Director Steven Spielberg, camera operator Michael Chapman and…”
  5. [05]

    ‘Jaws Became a Living Nightmare’: Steven Spielberg's Ultimate Tell-All Interview | Vanity Fairsingle-source· article

    “She brought realism to Jaws and to that family, which is something I really wanted…”
  6. [06]

    MONEY INTO LIGHT: CARL GOTTLIEB ON 'JAWS'single-source· article

    “I'd come from a tradition of improvisational theatre where collaboration was instinctive and necessary. We…”