Analysing Thriller scenes- Jaws

As I am making my own Thriller film trailer, I think it will be of some use to look closely at other existing thriller scenes and try to see how the conventions have been used in it. The film I will be analysing is the 1975 American thriller-Jaws. In this scene the shark has returned and claimed its second victim and I will be looking at why and how tension has been built up to that moment.

Throughout the scene, the audience are put in a position where they are made to think that a big event will soon take place. This is because as the film progresses tension is built up through different techniques used by the director. Firstly, during this scene you can see the look of concern and discomfort that Chief Brody has on his face, he also continues to look at the water as a precaution to the shark attacking the people in the sea. This is also the case when the girl in the sea starts screaming and the chief lifts out of his chair as if really worried.

The director foreshadows the sharks re-appearance when we see the man looking for his dog and shouting "Pipet"- the dog's name. Furthermore, the close-up of the dogs toy floating on the surface of the water further shows that the dog is gone. Our instincts suggest the shark is the cause for the dog's absence and suddenly we know the shark is present and in search of a new victim.  

The director's use of camera angles in this scene shows the characters reactions and emotions as well as the mood of the scene. Firstly, just after the boys gets attacked by the shark, a zoomed shot of Chief Brody's face is used to show the character's horror of what he has just seen. His facial expression and body positioning is completely static as if to maybe show how the situation is completely out of his hands and he may as well be still because there is nothing he can do to help. This makes the audience realise the danger of the situation because even the chief of the town can't do anything to stop the shark attack. Another effective camera angle is the shark eye view which is used to give the illusion to the audience that we are with the shark when it attacks which makes it seem more real and shows the danger once again.

One way the director builds up tension is through the change in lighting over the course of the scene, at the start, on the beach, the natural lighting from the sun is bright. However, when the camera switches into the sea the lighting changes; it is now a dark, dull and gloomy which could symbolise a sudden change in mood. The mood at the start of the scene is quite calm and relaxed which is from the natural bright lighting which gives this effect, when the camera turns to under the water the mood changes to almost a state of panic and danger because the dark water almost gives a gloomy and sinister effect.

Sound is used in the scene to create a similar sort of effect to the lighting- to build tension up to a big moment. The use of digetic and non-digetic sounds are very useful to build up tension. Firstly, the non-digetic sound of the jaws theme song builds up tension because the deep based tune starts off slow and gets louder as the shark approaches the victim. When the audience hears this specific tune they immediately know that the shark will make an appearance and attack another victim which makes the tune so effective. Secondly, the mood becomes more panicked after the attack on the boy which is understood by the audience from the digetic sound of people screaming and yelling on the beach front trying to get everyone out of the water.