Title: The Jaws Story: How Spielberg made the 70s swim.

Written by Shivansh Sharda

The 50s and 60s of cinema are recorded as one of the most influential periods of film. A time
period where we slowly saw a change in how films were made and how the viewers perceived
it. Emerging as a response to the dominance of studio system filmmaking, New Hollywood
filmmakers sought to challenge conventions and push boundaries. This new Hollywood aimed
at tackling taboo topics of the time including political problems of the time. Films like “Bonnie
and Clyde'', “Easy Rider” and “The Graduate” became iconic symbols of this rebellious spirit.
This was soon about to witness a change as cinema approached the 70s and 80s. This is how
Spielberg changed our cinema.

Part I : The upcoming Talent

A boy, 12, running around with a 8mm inexpensive camera and recording day to day life. This
kid was to become the most well known director known to the world, often associated with
cinema more than any other director till date. This was Steven Spielberg. He started his career
officially with his first film when he was just 16 years old with a film he wrote and directed
himself, called “Firelight”. This film’s budget was a total sum of 500 USD only. He would go on to
direct films which had budgets of up to 185 million USD.

Steven had always been fascinated by the Sci-fi genre as a whole. His first film was also based
on an alien invasion on earth. He regards it as a poorly made film but believes it was an
important stepping stone in his career. Steven soon applied for an internship at Universal
Studios but the studio just saw him as another excited boy with a camera, hence he was
rejected but Universal kept their eyes on him. Soon, Steven’s parents got separated forcing him
to move to LA. He started discovering new professions that he could potentially learn and earn
money. It wasn’t until Universal came back to him with the idea of making a short film that he
started rediscovering his love for cinema.

The new short film was to be financed by Universal and directed by Steven Spielberg. This was
‘Amblin’, his first shot into hollywood. The romantic short was about two hitchhikers and how
they fall in love and was only 26 minutes long. Due to the success of Amblin, Executives at
Universal were extremely impressed by Steven’s talent. He became the youngest director, at 22,
years to sign a major contract with a Hollywood studio. He went on to co-direct and direct many
episodes of different television series. Under a new contract, he went on to direct 3 feature
length films in 3 years, “Duel”, “Something Evil” and “Savage”. They all had great public
reception but it wasn’t until “Sugarland Express” that he started to gain his fame.

The crime drama “Sugarland Express” delighted the executives at Universal and The Hollywood
Reporter called Steven, “A major new and upcoming director”. These were all big statements
and led Universal to believe that it was time they tested their new talent.
 Part II : The book called Jaws

Luckily, Universal had recently bought rights to a book which was flying off the shelves. It was
about a huge shark preying on the visitors of a seaside town. This book was called “Jaws”. It
was a huge challenge but it could earn Steven his shot into mainstream hollywood. But was he
really capable? And how did this film almost destroy his career to shreds?

Peter Benchley’s “Jaws” was the new youth icon in 1974 and had an avid, pre-existing fan base.
Steven Spielberg, just 26 years of age, had beaten famous directors such as John Sturges for
his place as director in the film. The studio was eager to release the film as soon as possible to
target the existing hype already around the book. Fans of the book would see the film as soon
as possible and they were the film’s target audience as well. Spielberg was very ambitious with
this project but problems began as soon as the film started.

Three drafts of the Jaws script were produced by Benchley before playwright Howard Sackler
was brought in to do uncredited rewrites. Benchley’s scripts had the problem of providing too
many subplots and character exposition which is why they weren’t accepted for the final film.
The addition of Howard Sackler, however, led to the scripting stage taking too much time,
making the scripting overlap with production. This means that some scenes were written and
shot on the same day. This seemed to be a big problem near the seas where they had to
arrange resources for sets days before for them to arrive. Yet, this was soon to be the least of
their concerns as a mammoth problem was about to be noticed.

Part III: The film called Flaws

Steven refused to shoot the film in an artificial water set and brought out his crew to the ocean
to shoot. Yet, the tides and waves refused to obey the director. The sea was really unforgiving
and destroyed their camera equipment, costumes and set. One day, the costumes of the actors
were drenched in cold water. The costumes had to be changed which took enough time to alter
the appropriate lighting and weather conditions the crew needed. This seemed to be a problem
for the crew but an even bigger problem was yet to come.

The biggest hurdle for the crew, that everyone feared from the day they started production
was… The Shark itself. According to Peter Benchley, the writer of Jaws, he believed they could
never make Jaws as the technology was nowhere near enough to make a great white shark and
it wasn’t possible to catch and train one in a short period of time. “Had we read [the book] twice,
in my opinion, we would’ve never made Jaws”, says producer David Brown. It was an
undertaking. This was uncharted territory and a feat most people would’ve called impossible at
the time. The entire concept of Jaws was based on the point of instilling the fear of a shark
which is a lot harder to show when you have no shark. Yet, Steven Spielberg refused to give up.

The art and production team came up with a shark animatronic which had hydraulic pistons,
able to control the shark model with the help of puppeteers. One big issue that no one noticed
was that the model was made for fresh water and not salt water. This led to the process of
electrolysis in the machines which rusted the internal parts of the model. It was a serious lapse
of judgement and one that would plague the production schedule of Jaws. The original budget
of Jaws was supposed to be a maximum of 5 million dollars but due to these problems, It
increased to 9 million dollars. The studio was soon losing trust in him. If Steven doesn’t give
them a blockbuster now, he probably won’t get another chance at being a director in his life.

3 sharks were built at a cost of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, each. One of them sank
as soon as it was brought in the water and while the others had regular malfunctions. The only
thing the sharks were biting into were the film’s budget. The 56 days shooting schedule soon
turned into 158 days of shooting. The crew was pessimistic and nicknamed the film “Flaws”. Has
Steven destroyed his golden chance? How did he save his film?

Part IV: Where is the shark?

The book starts with showing the shark attacking a girl to the reader. The girl feels a sudden
pain and notices that her leg is missing. In this entire scene, the shark is referred to as the beast
and not the shark, so that readers imagine what could be lingering in the ocean themselves.
Steven identified this and this was the fact that saved the film. In the final film, the shark is
shown for just 4 minutes out of its 124 minutes runtime. The imminent danger of the shark is felt
as we are made to imagine the beast ourselves. This creates a fear of whenever water is shown
in the film.

Another thing that largely helped was the original score by John Williams. Those iconic notes
have become known as the “The Jaws Notes”. The score is truly menacing and terrifying.

Part V: The Box Office and the Oscars

The shooting schedule of Jaws ended on October 6th, 1974 after 159 days of shooting. Jaws
was finally about to be shown to the world. The film was to be released on the 20th of June,
1975. The marketing campaign of the film is still regarded as one of the most influential ones to
date. Jaws already had an existing fanbase as mentioned above, hence, fans flooded the
cinemas. People flocked to the cinemas to witness the first ever Hollywood blockbuster. The
anticipation was unbelievable. Even after the long and tiring production schedule, people loved
the film. It was a sweep at the cinemas. Each show was fully booked, even the late night ones.
People waited in lines to just get a ticket for the film. It took less than a month for the film to
gross 70 million dollars and reach 260 million dollars by the end of the year. The film’s lifetime
box office was 476 million dollars worldwide. The film was loved by the audience, but was it
acclaimed by the critics?

The 48th Annual Academy Awards [The Oscar Awards] took place on March 29th, 1976, at the
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. The film was nominated for four categories, Best
Original score, Best sound mixing, Best editing and the biggest award, Best motion picture.
Steven Spielberg was very disappointed that he didn’t get nominated for Best director but he
was looking forward to these awards. The film ended up winning all oscars except the Best
picture award which was snatched by a film called “One flew over the cuckoo’s nest”. Steven
was devastated that he didn't win Best Picture but he was happy that his film won some awards,
even after its big share of problems during production.

Part VI: The legacy

Steven Spielberg's legacy as one of the most influential filmmakers of all time is undeniable. His
career has spanned decades, marked by countless iconic films that have left an indelible mark
on popular culture. However, it was "Jaws" that truly launched Spielberg into the spotlight and
paved the way for his future success. The suspenseful thriller about a man-eating shark not only
terrified audiences but also showcased Spielberg's exceptional talent for storytelling and
direction, even after dealing with an unmotivated crew, no technology and reducing trust of the
studio. "Jaws" became a cultural phenomenon and established Spielberg as a master of
blockbuster filmmaking.

Following the success of "Jaws," Spielberg went on to create a remarkable array of films that
captivated audiences worldwide, including "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," "Raiders of the
Lost Ark," "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial," "Jurassic Park," "Schindler's List," "Saving Private Ryan,"
"Catch Me If You Can," "The Terminal," "War of the Worlds," "Munich," "Bridge of Spies," "The
Post," "Ready Player One," and "West Side Story."

Each of these films showcases Spielberg's versatility as a director and his ability to evoke
emotion and engage audiences across genres. From heartwarming tales to gripping dramas,
Spielberg's films continue to resonate with viewers of all ages, solidifying his place in cinematic
history and everyone wants a chunk of it, just like the shark.

Bibliography:

1. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-making-of-steven-spielberg-180981184/
2. https://lithub.com/how-a-26-year-old-steven-spielberg-made-jaws-and-nearly-lost-his-car
eer-in-the-process/
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWPdwWUKyZs
4. https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2023/07/jaws-making-of-spielberg-interview
5. https://eu.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/movies/2023/09/20/shark-is-broken-broadw
ay-tells-jaws-movie-true-story/70859398007/#:~:text=The%20mechanical%20sharks%2
0were%20'constantly,Bruce%20%E2%80%93%20frequently%20malfunctioned%20durin
g%20shooting.
6. https://collider.com/jaws-production-history-steven-spielberg/
7. https://screenrant.com/things-didnt-know-about-making-jaws/

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