Jaws Production Questions



1. Where did the idea for Jaws originate? How did it become a film? Who contributed to the screenplay?

The originial idea of Jaws came from the Author Peter Benchley, who wrote the novel, titled Jaws, based on a story he read about a fisherman being attacked by a shark. The soon-to-be director of the movie, Steven Spielberg showed interest in the book. Peter Benchley, Carl Gottieb who are writers and Spielberg himself all contributed to making the screenplay.

2. Why were particular scenes removed from the film?

Particular scenes are removed from the film because the novel contained to much information and detail for a film to be exciting and interesting. The main reason was because some of the scenes shot were too gruesome. Especially a scene invloving a young boy, a dying man & the shark being carried out to sea. Spielberg felt that they were in 'bad taste'.

3. During the pre-production stage what sort of footage did the producers commission in preparation for the film? How was the script changed as a result of this footage?

The producers commissioned to have real footage of live sharks which were shot in oceans of Australia for the film. However, the script had to be slightly changed because they caught a moment in which that the shark had accidently caught itself in the machinery & it seemed to be destroying the cage that was in the water but no one was inside the cage. So they were unable to film a shark attacking the cage with a person inside it & therefore had to adjust the script because the shot was impacting.

4. What was involved during the casting process? How did they decide on the cast?

 It was found that the shark was the 'number 1 star of the film', so the film makers decided against expensive movie stars and wanted to find new and fresh talent for the movie. Lorraine Gary was the first to be casted as Ellen Brody & so Spielberg decided to cast her because he took interest in her previous performances in other films. Richard Dreyfuss was recommended to Spielberg by director George Lucas, and he was offered the role of the shark expert Matt Hooper. Spielberg met Roy Scheider at a party who displayed interest in the film and casted him as chief of police, Martin Brody. Many were considered to play the character of Quint but all the ideal actors had turned down the role for other commitments until someone suggested actor Robert Shaw for then successfully embodied Quint.

5. What is location scouting? Why did Steven Spielberg choose the locations for the film?

Location scouting is when a group of people look for possible locations to shoot a film. Jaws was filmed at Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts because Spielberg wanted a location near the ocean, close to towns but when they filmed on the ocean  you were unable to see land when filming scenes.
He took special interest in the ocean there because it was the only place that the shark could fuction due to the sea level.

6. Describe how actors contributed to the production of Jaws.

The film actors contributed to the production of Jaws by representing and especially interpreting the characters in the film. Roy Shielder also contributed to the production by improvising his own lines such as "were gonna need a bigger boat". Also the actors made suggestions to the film makers about filming. The actors included their own emotions to the film to give it a sense of reality, like the family scene between Chief Brody & his son.

7. What does an editor do? Who was the editor on Jaws and what was her responsibility?

Editing is in the final stages of post-production process of filmmaking. It involves the selection and combining of shots into sequences, and thus creating a finished motion picture. The editor of Jaws was Verna Fields. Her responsibility in the film was to put the shots together so that the film would be classified as a motion picture instead a collective of shots.

8. What does a composer do? What considerations were taken into account when writing the music for Jaws? What did the music represent?

The composer writes pieces of music for films and other productions.The considerations that were taken into account when John Williams wrote the music for Jaws was that they wanted a specific tune to add suspense so that the audience would know when the shark was coming, an anthem of some sort. The simple tune has now become well known around the world for the film.

9. What are test screening and why are they important? What did Spielberg do as a result of them?

A test screening is a preview of the movie about to be released in cinemas.It is improtant because the makers of the film will be able to view what the movie will look like completed. In a test screening of a scene the audience had little reason; Bed Gardner didn’t get the reaction he was looking for so he spent $3,000 of his own money in filming the scene again in order to create a more frightening scene. 

10. What is a director of photography? How was the director of photography involved in the production of Jaws?

The director of photography is someone who supervises & overlooks the filming of movie. For Jaws, the director of photography made hand held cameras to shoot the film with. Majority of the film was shot with this idea because it gave a sense of realism & made the audience believe that they were with the characters.

11. Based on the documentary, what are the responsibilities of a producer?

The producer is responsible for turning creative story ideas into a marketable film and is the person who gets studios to finance to project. The producer is actively involved with the film through out all the production stages.

12. What does the producer do once principal photography has finished?

Once filming is complete, it is the producers responsibility to arrange the distribution of the film to the audience and continually promote the film.

13. What did the production designer do on the film?

The production designer is responsible for creating the overall visual look for the film/set to help tell the story to the audience.