Research into Examples of Comparable Media Products Cont.

Research into examples of comparable products

'Jaws'

Narrative Structure

First the film begins under the sea, as if we are swimming under the sea in a fish's point of view. Then it’s cut and we see a gathering of young people around a campfire on a beach, the atmosphere is quite chilled. Two people have their eye on each other and decide to go for a swim together. This is call concealment and protraction as the man and woman are leaving their territory behind and becoming vulnerable. The woman gets into the empty waters, and then all of a sudden she is dragged under and hurled around by an underwater creature. The shark delays her death for quite a long time considering what it would do in reality, the sharks is playing with her and prolonging her pain, perhaps to mirror her stupidity. And then we see the guy on the beach has passed out, leaving the beach silent with no trace of the girl.

Thriller Codes and Conventions

Camera Work

At the start there are a few shots of the bottom of the sea, moving around as if we were a fish, Then there is a huge cut off to the camp. Lots of panning over people on the beach, birds eye view shots to solidly get the idea of being on a beach. The camera then stops on a man looking at something to show he has some importance to the story, then a shot of a girl also staring, which we now is staring at the man, the reverse shots confirm this and there is a connection established between them Shots from underneath of the woman from the sharks point of view. Wide shots of woman swimming in a huge ocean, she looks tiny, out of depth and very insignificant.


Mise-En-Scene

(fig. 1)Shark bite like shape in the fence

Beginning - Sea bed, lots of underwater creatures, plants. Lots of blue and vibrant see colours. Then at the camp fire there's lots of orange, red and black. The costumes and hair styles here signify the 80's decade. Also there is a lot of people smoking which was very common back then. There is a recurring shape which crops up in different points of the film (fig. 1). This may be considered as symbolism of how the girl may die. Then the woman begins to undress herself while running. The woman enters the sea naked with a dive and reappears 2 seconds later. There are then shots of her swimming across the screen in extreme long shots, shots from under the water, then all of a sudden she is jolted underwater by a shark. The shark then drags her around the water with her head bobbing in and out of the water, she is then released by the shark and she searches for refuge by ringing the bell on a buoy. Eventually she is pulled under again, and then there is nothing but silence. She is screaming for the whole time the shark had hold of her. The next shot is of the man laying on the beach passed out in a sunbathing position, meaning the shot is very peaceful with the sun in the background, this shot provides a contrast from the recent shots we have just witnessed which were very loud and very dramatic.


Sound
The music at the start sounds very sonar, so we straight away get the hint that we are underwater. The classic Jaws music begins and it starts to build up, gaining tempo. Then when the music comes to a climax, there is a cut off to the camp fire and the music stops completely. Then we hear people chatting, a harmonica and there is the sound of a burning fire. All these noises contribute to the calming atmosphere which builds a false sense of security with the audience. During the boy and girls journey to a different part of the beach, the girl gives a very obvious but devilish giggle. This gives the 'doing something they shouldn't' impression because what they're about to do is dangerous. Another sound to consider is the splash she makes as she enters the water, this could symbolise her non return to land, or that she could already be considered dead due to her inevitability of living or that she isn't heard or seen by anyone after this point. Also when she is being  the girl is screaming very loud, but nobody hears her, not even the guy on the beach due to excessive alcohol consumption.


Editing
At the start the shot fades in from black


Graphics
Titles - They are big, bold and white and unmissable.