"Were gonna need a bigger boat!" The Making of Jaws!

Where did the idea of Jaws originate? How did it become a film? Who contributed to the screenplay? The idea of Jaws came from the Author Peter Benchley, who wrote the novel based on a story he read about a fisherman being attacked by a shark. Director Steven Spielberg showed interest in adapting the successful novel into a film. Peter Benchley, Carl Gottieb and Steven Spielberg all contributed to making the screenplay.

Why are 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. Other reasons included shooting difficulties and scenes displayed too much violence.

During the production stage, what sort of footage did the producers commission in preparations for the film? How was the script changed? The producers commissioned to have real footage of sharks shot in Australia for the film. However, the script had to be slightly changed because they were unable to film a shark attacking the cage with a person inside it.

What was involved during the casting process? 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 talent for the movie. Lorraine Gary was the first to be casted as Ellen Brody, Spielberg decided to cast her because he liked her previous performances in other films. Richard Dreyfuss was recommended to Spielberg by director George Lucas, and he was offered the role of 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.

What is location scouting? Why did Spielberg choose these locations? 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 and so you were unable to see land when filming ocean shot scenes.
Describe how actors contributed to the production of jaws? The actors contributed to the production of Jaws by representing and interpreting the characters in the film. Roy Shielder also contributed to the production by improvising his own lines, for example "were gonna need a bigger boat!". Also the actors made suggestions to the film makers about filming.

What does a composer do? What considerations were taken into account when writing the music for jaws. 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 just lower key and high key notes that made the da da da da sound whenever the shark appeared, it is now a classic.

What is a D.O.P? How was the D.O.P involved in the production of Jaws? The director of photography supervises the filming of movie. For jaws, the D.O.P made special hand held cameras to shoot the film, which majority of the film was shot with.
What did Spielberg do as a result of test screenings? Steven Spielberg's first screening was held in a Dellas Shopping centre, and the test screening was a success, but Spielberg wanted to add another scare to the film. He needed to perfect the timing in the scene where a head pops up on screen so it was precise.
What does the editor do? Who was the editor on Jaws and what was her responsibility? An editor assembles raw film material into a finished product. The editor on jaws was Burn fields, her responsibility was to cut and edit the film given to her by Spielberg and turn it into a sequenced film.
Based on the documentary, what were 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.
What does the producer do once principle photography had finished? Once filming is complete, it is the producers responsibility to arrange the distribution of the film.
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.
What role do you think you have the skills to fulfill? I believe I have the skills and the interest to fulfill the role of the camera operator or the director of photography, I think that I will be able to operate the camera and take direction from the director.