Jaws
« Jaws », one of the most successful film ever produced, features a
great white shark - one of the nature’s most effective killing
machines.
« Jaws» is also an efficient entertainment machine and a great financial
success. In the film a shark terrorizes a small town by attacking swimmers.
Three men , including a police chief and a professional shark killer, try
to kill the shark.
Steven Spielberg was twenty-six when he was selected to direct the
film. For 4 years he had managed television productions and progressed to
directing films. His chiller was a great success and got him the job of
directing « Jaws » .
Although the film was successful , its filming took twice long as
originally scheduled. The delay was due to a lot of managerial problems
that Spielberg had to solve.
One of the first problem was the location for shooting the film.
Martha’s Vineyard , a small island, was chosen because it looked very much
like the fictional town. However the choice was made in the winter . What
Spielberg did nit know then was that in summer , when the film was actually
to take place, Martha’s Vineyard is one of the most popular places on the
Atlantic Coast.
Hundreds of boats enter and leave the harbour each day. The filming had
to be frequently interrupted. How do you maintain suspense if a family of
four is picknicking only fifty feet away from a « dramatic struggle»?’
Another managerial problem was Bruce, The machanical shark. Actually
there were three sharks. Each weighed 1,5 tons and coast about $
150,000 and each was used for different movements (right-to-left,
left-to-right ) and different scenes. Thirteen technicians controlled the
shark by means of long cable from a special platform. The first time out
Bruce sank , the second time, the hydraulic system exploded. Only constant
repairs kept Bruce in action.
Planning and coordination were major managerial problems. Each day ,
several ships started out to sea . One ship was for Bruce. Another for the
technicians. Still others were for the camera crews and actors. The travel
was made six days a week from May to October. Some days they came back with
no film at all. The failures were caused by Bruce, the weather and a
variety of the other problems.
Real sharks were hard to find; a dead one , needed for on the finale ,
was finally brought by plane from Florida . It hung on the dock for four
days creating a powerful stench. Local people in return left dead fish at
the doors of the house where the members of the cast were living.
Almost everything that could go wrong did. Nevertheless , the daily
trips continued until the last scenes were filmed.
Spielberg never left the island. He was afraid that if he did leave ,
he would never come back. Finally , the job was done he left island staying
firmly that he would never return.
He has since directed several more films.
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