Shot Choice and reasoning - Jaws

When looking at the choices that have been made towards shot and camera angles, there is often more that is told to the audience than any use of dialogue or directions. When looking at the opening scene in Jaws, Spielberg has used a range of shots to emphasize points in the story or things to build or add tension. The opening scene in Jaws shows a group of people (teenagers) sitting around a fire on the beach. The focus is brought on two characters - a male and a female. The man goes over to the woman and the woman gets up to go for a swim. The camera follows the girl who is running to the water and shows the man following her. We are shown the woman swimming a number of times before getting a POV shot of the shark looking at the girl in the water. As the POV angle (the shark) approaches the girl we see her struggle in the water. Many shots have been used for different reasons.

Wide shot

A wide shot is used to capture the sea to show a large area of it. This can represent how small the girl is and how large the ocean is and that what it holds is unknown. It is also used as the colouring makes it difficult to decipher where the sea ends and where the sky begins. Once again emphasises how large and open the sea is.

POV Shot

POV shots are used to emphasize the view of certain characters. For example, in this scene, we see a POV shot to show the audience what the shark is seeing. This builds tension as the shark sees the girl but the girl has not seen the shark yet.

Wide shot

A wide shot is used to capture the sea to show a large area of it. This can represent how small the girl is and how large the ocean is and that what it holds is unknown. It is also used as the colouring makes it difficult to decipher where the sea ends and where the sky begins. Once again emphasises how large and open the sea is.

Medium shot

The medium shot is used to show a closer view of what is showed. This differs from a wide shot as it shows less but could show more (seeing whats actually going on)

Wide shot

This wide shot is used to show where the boy is. This can emphasize the distance between the two characters.

Close up

Close ups are used to show emotion and raw feeling. In this scene in jaws they are used to show the struggle the character endures.