Example Of Essay On Jaws Film Analysis Report #4

In the 1975horror movie Jaws, sound and music are just as much characters in the film as the titular shark; always in the background, present to convey the tension and sense of horror that the human characters feel as they defend the beaches of Amity Island from a giant killer shark. Because of the director's artistic choice to deliberately obscure the shark from view for most of the movie, much of the work is done by the sound and music (the score composed by John Williams).
Many sound effects in particular contribute to a sense of reality, and a feeling of being there. The constant sound of the crashing waves and the din of beach activity in the sound design is incredible and subtle. While Brody, Hooper and Quint are hunting the shark on the Orca, the creaking and clanging of the boat's planks and machinery are extra bits of authenticity placed in the background to provide extra immersion to the audience.
The sound design of Jaws is also used to accentuate the visual image as well, regardless of the reality of the scene. For example, in the climax of the film, when the shark is finally killed by Brody, there is a faint sound of an animalistic roar as the carcass sinks down into the ocean. This lends a much more mythical and mysterious element to the shark, despite that sound not being able to come from anywhere natural in the scene.
There are many instances of unusual emphasis being placed on sound within the movie to great purpose. For example, when Brody starts to become more and more aware of the dangers of the shark, despite the dismissals of his concerns by the greedy mayor of Amity Island, he starts to overreact in his duties. In one scene, a screaming group of children instills in Brody the same fear as the audience; however, this tension is then diffused by discovering that the shark is in fact a child's prank. This helps to place Brody in a desperate position, showing the stresses the job is taking on him as he attempts to safeguard the citizens despite the mayor's lack of concern.
In the film, images and sounds complement one another quite nicely; the cinematography and the sound design work together well to create moments of calm and tension in equal measure. Often, one of the most important elements of the sound design in a film is how it uses silence; Jaws does this to great effect. Because the film is often so silent, with merely calm ocean sounds and the creaking of the Orca, or the sounds of frolicing children, the sudden crash of the shark bumping into something, or grabbing someone, is incredibly shocking and effective. This also goes along with the visual image, as the shark itself will often wait to pop into frame just in time for the sound or the score to come in. It cannot be said that one element dominates over another, as both work together to create these effects.
The treatment of dialogue in Jaws is incredibly interesting, as it furthers the director's philosophy of keeping things low-key and quiet, for the sake of keeping the audience off-guard for the scare. Most of the dialogue is mumbled or delivered in very naturalistic ways, with very little theatricality (with the exception of Robert Shaw's Quint or Dreyfuss' neurotic Hooper). This helps to ground the film in a reality, and also lull the audience into a false sense of security with their low voices. One particular example of its effectiveness is when Brody is chumming the water, not looking, and complaining in a low voice about Quint's orders. Because we are so focused on trying to hear what Brody is saying, the shark jumping out of the water catches us off guard. The low volume, workmanlike dialogue also helps to convey the themes of ordinary, working-class men fighting against this unknowable force of nature.
Besides the sound design, however, one of the biggest stars of Jaws is its musical score, which provides nearly as much character and nuance to the shark as the puppet itself. The inimitable Jaws theme, with its threatening two-note motif, uses time and rhythm in an interesting way to personify the unstoppable and ever-encroaching nature of the shark itself. Its frequency of use in the movie does merit discussion, but it is neither overused nor underused - in fact, it is used just as many times as it is required to serve Spielberg's mission statement that the film scare you through deliberate alleviation of tension and unpredictability. For example, the theme is used in the beginning of the film, synced with the first shark attack and the credits, to establish the audience and make them familiar with it. Then, the theme is constantly used whenever the shark actually appears, to inextricably link the audience's expectations of seeing the shark while hearing the theme. However, this motif is then subverted in the aforementioned chumming scene, where the shark pops out of the water. This is the first (and only) time the theme is not played along with the shark's appearance; because the audience has been trained to expect the theme with the shark, the shark showing up without the theme is unexpected, and therefore extremely startling.
The musical score is far from overdone; it is incredibly utilitarian, but purposefully so. The simple two-note motif is used as the backbone for the theme, to provide just that small amount of dissonance in the sound of the film to keep the audience just slightly on-guard when it is heard. The amount of music used (though it is sometimes sparing) works perfectly with the film itself, as those integral moments of silence allow the presence of music to be more meaningful, and allows Spielberg to do more with those moments of silence, building tension for the inevitable strike of the shark. During Quint's speech about his time on the Indianapolis, there is no musical score at first; this allows Shaw's flawless and searing performance to shine through. Near the end of the story, Williams allows merely small string sections to creep in at the end of the speech, with the occasional French horn note. Williams and Spielberg knew exactly when (and when not) to use the musical score in the film, creating the kind of chilling tension that only comes from nearly total silence.