After watching the Spielberg-directed summer blockbuster Jaws (1975), we got the chance to read The Conversations: Jaws article, in which Jason Bellamy and Ed Howard discuss and analyse the film. I found the things they pointed out about the film intriguing, but what I found most interesting was when Bellamy mentioned that Spielberg intensifies situations such as the beach scene prior to Alex's death where "humor is just a few beats away: the gray hump headed toward the woman floating on her back turns out to be an old man in a gray swim cap; a screaming woman turns out to be wrestling with her boyfriend; and so on." By including these false alarms, it drives up the suspense for Brody as well as the audience as they don't know when or if the shark is going to show up.
Furthermore, Spielberg also plays with the underlying theme of fear of the unknown. As Howard said, "Sometimes the tension builds only to be released, generating fear from the unseen shark and then refusing to resolve the tension, letting the fear of the unknown linger." The shark, in the first half of the film, is barely fully shown, which evokes anxiety and uncertainty about whether or not the shark is going to appear and do more harm or not.
Overall, I really enjoyed watching the film and analysing scenes using film techniques and elements. This article was also eye-opening in a delightfully engaging way.
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