10 Surprising Facts About Jaws
10 Surprising Facts About Jaws
Welcome to WatchMojo, and today were looking at ten fun facts about the making and release of Jaws.
Steven Spielberg Was Just 28 When It Came Out
For a movie of such scope, and with filmmaking of such maturity, its easy to imagine the man behind the camera being a fabled veteran. But that was certainly not the case, as Spielberg was only 28! He had already done some TV and a couple of small films, attracting the attention of Universal, who offered him their new shark movie. Spielberg was a competent director, but woefully inexperienced for a film of this breadth and scale. This was sink or swim for the young director. His first real leap into the deep end. Water puns aside, Jaws was a real trial by fire and was a nightmare to shoot, but the kid finished it, and, well, the results speak for themselves.
Youre Gonna Need a Bigger Boat Was Improvised
Everyone knows the famous line, even people who have never seen a single second of Jaws. And to think, neither Spielberg nor writers Peter Benchley and Carl Gottlieb came up with it. It was actually a piece of improvisation from Roy Scheider! Well, sort of. You see, youre gonna need a bigger boat was a running joke on the set, as the crew was frequently frustrated with the tight budget and limited resources they had to work with. As such, they kept jokingly saying Youre gonna need a bigger boat whenever an issue arose. Scheider picked up on the joke and started using it in various scenes, including the famous chum sequence. Spielberg loved it, and the rest is movie history.
The Crew Called It Flaws
As we mentioned earlier, Jaws was a nightmare to film. This wasnt Spielbergs fault, but the result of a notoriously tight budget, crappy props that never worked, and a dreadful filming location. Spielberg insisted on filming on-location on the open water, which caused major logistical nightmares as things like poor weather, salt water, nearby boats, and seasickness constantly interfered with shooting. Both the budget and production schedule quickly ballooned out of control, and cast members - particularly Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw - were constantly at each others throats. As such, the production was cleverly, if sardonically, nicknamed Flaws by the crew. In fact, it was so bad that Spielberg thought he would never work again. Well, he was wrong
The Mechanical Shark Never Worked Properly
But perhaps the biggest tick off for the production crew was that that dang shark never worked properly. The special effects team built three 25-foot-long pneumatic monsters to be used throughout production, and presumably at great cost. Unfortunately, the sharks were not properly tested in salt water, which caused the mechanical parts to corrode, short-circuit, and repeatedly seize up. It also suffered frequent buoyancy issues and hydraulic failures, and the internal machinery was often visible, making what footage they did manage to get unusable. As such, Spielberg was forced to innovate, resulting in clever techniques like POV shots and the floating barrels to build dread and suggestion rather than showing the shark outright. Talk about a happy accident.
The Shark Has Four Minutes of Screen Time
Its amazing how much of Jaws is spent building tension rather than showing action. And what action there is almost never involves the shark on screen. In fact, it only appears for about four minutes in total, and those are often in very quick bursts. So, in a movie that runs 124 minutes, the shark only appears in about 3% of it. The production originally intended to show the villain much more than they did, but the aforementioned problems caused them to ditch that idea and resort to suggestion. It quickly became one of the most iconic movie monsters of all time, its presence dominating the entire film despite its significant lack of screen time. Thats movie magic right there.
The Famous Head Scene Was Added Later
One of the famous scenes in the movie sees Brody and Hooper coming across Ben Gardners boat and finding the grisly remains of the fisherman. Its perhaps one of the most famous jump scares in the history of cinema. And to think, it wasnt included in the original cut of the film! Spielberg reportedly loved the reaction that the chum scene received from test audiences, so he wanted to include one more jump scare in the movie. So he personally financed the reshoot and filmed the new version in editor Verna Fields backyard swimming pool. They filled the pool with milk to make the water look murky, and bam - youve got the ocean.
Spielberg Wasnt There for the Sharks Death
Youd think the director would be there for the big climactic moment of his blockbuster film, but youd be wrong. The ending of Jaws is iconic, with Brody issuing his famous line and shooting the tank in the sharks mouth, causing it to explode in a massive plume of blood. And Spielberg didnt see a second of it. It was the final day of shooting, and he supposedly feared that the crew would play a prank on him - likely by throwing him into the ocean. To avoid that, Spielberg played hooky and didnt show up to work on the day of the explosion. The crew, after what must have been some confusion and a few desperate phone calls, simply got on with it.
The Color Red Is Largely Avoided
Spielberg has always been a very visual storyteller, and that comes through in both obvious and subtle ways. For example, have you ever noticed that Jaws has a significant lack of red hues? Yep, Spielberg reportedly asked the art department to avoid the color red in both the set design and the costumes. And going through the movie, this becomes quite apparent. Amity is very white, characters wear a lot of beige, green, and blue, and the beaches are, well, beaches. The only major source of red in the movie is the blood - an intentional design choice from Spielberg meant to elevate the horror of the shark attack sequences.
The Indianapolis Speech Was Reshot
If theres one man who upstages the shark, its Robert Shaw, who gives an all-time performance as Quint. His Indianapolis speech is movie legend, but what we see in the film wasnt the first time that Shaw performed it. Shaw had a problem with alcohol and was frequently drinking on set, and when it came to his Indianapolis speech, he convinced Spielberg to do it when he was actually drunk. But according to the director, the results were an absolute mess and he cut before the speech was finished. When the effects of the alcohol wore off, he personally called Spielberg to apologize. Spielberg said they would do it again, so Shaw came in early the next morning, completely sober, and nailed the speech in four takes.
Spielberg Thought John Williamss Score Was a Joke
You all know it - daaaa da. Daaaa da. Its so simple, but so, so effective. When John Williams first presented this piece of music to Spielberg, he reportedly laughed in Williamss face, believing that it was a prank. He understandably expected something more elaborate or traditionally dramatic, not two repeating notes on a piano. But Williams explained that the repetitive and primal simplicity of the theme was completely intentional, meant to represent the relentless nature of a hungry shark. Spielberg quickly came around, and the score was recorded by tuba player Tommy Johnson. It won Williams the Oscar, and it quickly became synonymous with approaching danger. Its still being parodied and referenced decades later. Pfft, Spielberg. What does he know?
What other fun facts about the movie can you share? Tell us about them in the comments below!
