Jaws (Dir. Spielberg , 1975)
In one of the scenes, we see an over the shoulder shot. The protagonist (lifeguard) looks over another characters shoulder instead of listening to him. This shows that he is quite keen to see what is going on in the direction of the see. He is also the only character in focus at that time reinforcing his importance. The shot cuts to another over the shoulder shot of the character talking to him. This implies that they were having a conversation. However in the distance we can see a girl starting to scream loudly. Firstly it suggests that she is in danger; however after we find out that she is only playing around with her friend. To causes the narrative to seem tenser and it causes the audience to feel on the edge as they are waiting for something to happen. Another effective shot is the panning shot as the male protagonist runs across to the sea, shouting at people to get out. Secondly, the shot is quite slow showing the older characters looking from a distance. Moreover, when the protagonist runs through the screen the shot becomes fast. This causes most of the characters to react and help their children to get out of the water. This gives us an insight to the narrative as it shows of the beginnings of the first attack we witness in the movie.
Throughout the beginning of the
scene in the background we can hear the stereotypical sounds we hear at the
seaside. Including, children laughing, seagulls, the waves crashing on to the
shore and adults having conversations. This causes the scene to be more
realistic, resulting in the audience being able to relate to it more. It also
implies the causality of the situation, as no one expects anything bad to
happen at all. This causes the narrative to be more relevant to a wider
audience. During the end of the scene a lot of the characters are screaming and
shouting, especially as they are running towards their children. This implies
that the situation is quite alarming due to the characters acting in a chaotic
manner. This was done to connote their fear. This causes the narrative to
become more interesting and it interests the audience with action from the
start of the movie. It also links to the movies genre of horror due to the
suspense and uncertainty of what will happen next.
In the shots throughout the whole
clip we see a lot of things that help us to recognise the setting and time of
year. We clearly know the setting is the seaside which this also helps in
carrying on the narrative. This is due to the mise en scene. We see many
stereotypical objects including towels, floats, balls and umbrellas. Also most
of the characters are dressed in bathing suits. This connotes that the time of
year is most likely summer due to the hot weather. Most women's bathing suits
are quite bright which may link to the fashion in that period of time.
Furthermore, it may connote that the personality of the characters is quite
bold and joyful. This is reinforced in their behaviour at the beginning of the
clip, as they are all really social and loud.
