Jaws “Get out of the water” Scene Analysis
The scene begins with a medium close up shot of chief Brody
(the main protagonist) and you can clearly tell he is on a busy beach due to
the amount of people in the background. The focus of the shot is on Brody as he
is clearly positioned in the foreground taking up most the frame. A man
eventually comes over to Chief Brody and positions himself in front of him.
Then the camera eventually cuts to an over the shoulder shot. The relevance of
this is that now Brody is now struggling to see over the man’s shoulder. This
is also shown in the shot due to the Brody’s facial expression. It then cuts to
point of view shot capturing Brody’s vision. There is an emphasis on two things
in this shot. On the left side in the background there is a girl located in the
water whom is screaming. The other focus is the man in the foreground on the
right side of the shot. The man is shown to be an annoyance to Chief Brody who
is trying to focus on the water. The audience is meant to believe this due to
the way they are juxtaposed in the frame. Also the man in the foreground seems
to be less in focus than the people in the water. This draws the audience to
mainly focus on what is happening in the water.
The Chief then stands up in panic as he believes that the girl is in some kind of danger. This leads to an eyeline match and a long shot of the girl in the water. However, she is only playing around with her boyfriend. The man talking to Brody eventually walks off and then Brody’s wife approaches him. Whilst she begins to speak with Brody multiple children decide to get up and go into the water. This is shown in the background of the shot. The makes the audience fear for the worst as you can tell that Brody cannot possibly keep track of all the children in the water. This point is then greater emphasised by a cutaway of the children swimming outwards to sea. Soon after this an old man approaches Brody. The old man is initially revealed in a mid shot. There is short amount of dialogue and a shot reverse shot of the two speaking to each other. The dialogue is only short as Brody quickly dismisses the elderly man. The shot reverse shot shows that Brody is seemingly up tight and stressed as he is acting relatively rash dismissing a friendly elderly man in that manner. There is then a quick shot of Brody’s two children running towards the water increasing the intensity of the scene. Brody’s wife then approaches him and begins to massage him. Whilst this happens there is a cutaway to the children slashing and playing in the water. During this there are multiple close up shots of the young children. At this point the scene is at its climax due to the fast paced editing which increases the intensity of the scene. There is another shot of Brody’s youngest innocent looking son sitting on the beach playing with the sand. This is a slight sense of relief for the audience which are likely to be on the edge of their seats at this point in the scene. However, in the background of the frame a man is yelling for his dog – which is somewhere out at sea. There is then a mid shot of the yelling man who seems to be small in comparison to the ocean which takes up half the shot. The camera then cut to a stick floating on top of the water – the dog is still nowhere to be found. This induces a sense of fear into the audience. The fact that Spielberg has juxtaposed these two shots back to back makes the viewer believe that the shark has killed the dog and that is why he/she is nowhere to be found. This adds extra suspense as this foreshadows later events which will occur in this scene.
The next shot is a point of view perspective from the shark. The shark appears to be getting closer and closer to its prey. At this point the non diegetic soundtrack is at its peak as well as the tension. The music becomes louder as the shark becomes closer. There is then a match on action as the shark attacks the boy. The use of a long shot shows the distance the boy is from shore and how the situation is completely out of everyone’s hands – the shot creates a sense of helplessness. There is then a cutaway back to the POV of the shark. All you can hear are distorted screams from the child as the shark drags him underwater. The camera soon cuts back to Brody where the dolly zoom is used which captures the horrified Chief Brody as he comes to the realisation of what is happening. After this there are multiple wide shot as the people on the beach run to get their children out of the water and the scene erupts into chaos. The use of the fast paced editing increases the intensity as families drag their loved ones out of the water. There is a shot of the young boy’s mother sitting on the beach looking bewildered by the situation as she doesn’t seem to know what’s going on. Later in the scene there is a mid shot of the mother as she calls for her child. The audience feel sympathetic towards the mother of the diseased boy as she hopelessly calls his name. There is then a shot of the bloodied deflated Lillo as it washes to shore. The juxtaposition of both these shots back to back shows the audience one more time that the boy is dead.
The Chief then stands up in panic as he believes that the girl is in some kind of danger. This leads to an eyeline match and a long shot of the girl in the water. However, she is only playing around with her boyfriend. The man talking to Brody eventually walks off and then Brody’s wife approaches him. Whilst she begins to speak with Brody multiple children decide to get up and go into the water. This is shown in the background of the shot. The makes the audience fear for the worst as you can tell that Brody cannot possibly keep track of all the children in the water. This point is then greater emphasised by a cutaway of the children swimming outwards to sea. Soon after this an old man approaches Brody. The old man is initially revealed in a mid shot. There is short amount of dialogue and a shot reverse shot of the two speaking to each other. The dialogue is only short as Brody quickly dismisses the elderly man. The shot reverse shot shows that Brody is seemingly up tight and stressed as he is acting relatively rash dismissing a friendly elderly man in that manner. There is then a quick shot of Brody’s two children running towards the water increasing the intensity of the scene. Brody’s wife then approaches him and begins to massage him. Whilst this happens there is a cutaway to the children slashing and playing in the water. During this there are multiple close up shots of the young children. At this point the scene is at its climax due to the fast paced editing which increases the intensity of the scene. There is another shot of Brody’s youngest innocent looking son sitting on the beach playing with the sand. This is a slight sense of relief for the audience which are likely to be on the edge of their seats at this point in the scene. However, in the background of the frame a man is yelling for his dog – which is somewhere out at sea. There is then a mid shot of the yelling man who seems to be small in comparison to the ocean which takes up half the shot. The camera then cut to a stick floating on top of the water – the dog is still nowhere to be found. This induces a sense of fear into the audience. The fact that Spielberg has juxtaposed these two shots back to back makes the viewer believe that the shark has killed the dog and that is why he/she is nowhere to be found. This adds extra suspense as this foreshadows later events which will occur in this scene.
The next shot is a point of view perspective from the shark. The shark appears to be getting closer and closer to its prey. At this point the non diegetic soundtrack is at its peak as well as the tension. The music becomes louder as the shark becomes closer. There is then a match on action as the shark attacks the boy. The use of a long shot shows the distance the boy is from shore and how the situation is completely out of everyone’s hands – the shot creates a sense of helplessness. There is then a cutaway back to the POV of the shark. All you can hear are distorted screams from the child as the shark drags him underwater. The camera soon cuts back to Brody where the dolly zoom is used which captures the horrified Chief Brody as he comes to the realisation of what is happening. After this there are multiple wide shot as the people on the beach run to get their children out of the water and the scene erupts into chaos. The use of the fast paced editing increases the intensity as families drag their loved ones out of the water. There is a shot of the young boy’s mother sitting on the beach looking bewildered by the situation as she doesn’t seem to know what’s going on. Later in the scene there is a mid shot of the mother as she calls for her child. The audience feel sympathetic towards the mother of the diseased boy as she hopelessly calls his name. There is then a shot of the bloodied deflated Lillo as it washes to shore. The juxtaposition of both these shots back to back shows the audience one more time that the boy is dead.
