GCSE Student Analysis of Jaws Opening Sequence

The opening of Jaws is linear and chronological, the events in order one after another in the order. The scene has a beginning, middle and end. The beginning and ending of the opening are both back to an equilibrium; everything is calm and peaceful.


Jaws features alot of stereotypical thriller conventions: this being the tension filled music, the female character being the victim, having the other character – who could possibly save her- being unaware that anything is wrong. The girl, thinking she is safe when she swims to the buoy but is infact going to be eaten!. enigma codes feature strongly is this scene, this is from the sharks perspective closeing in on the firl, automatically ask, 'what is watching the girl?', 'Is it dangerous?' Also never seeing what is attacking her is an example of partial vision this fear of the unknown a typical convention of a thriller.


In the opening to the film the majority of the scene is shot from the sharks perspective giving the audience the idea that she is not safe and also gives some indictation in which direction the danger is coming from, this creates even more tension as the attack seems inevitable. The editing of the sequence when the two teenagers are running to the sea and when the girl is being attacked is shown in quick fast paced, frantic cuts of shots from different angles. In contrast to the calm, static, lingering shots of the boy who has fallen asleep on the beach. The opening sequence is set at night time/early morning. the scene starts off with a bunch of young students having a beach party, as you can imagion this usually includes (Sex, Drugs, Rock and Roll).


The beginning starts quietly, then the middle part where the tension becomes gradually louder and louder until the climactic ending becomes silent again. The silence at the end is a good representation of death. The screaming ans splashing about when the attack is happening is a great contrast to the boy lying peacefully on the sand near her. You kind of expect the boy to hear her struggle and the audience get a glimpse of hope that the boy will come and rescue the girl, but when that doesn't happen, the shark successfully kills the girl and the scene becomes silent once more.

Continuity editing is used throughout to help with the flowing of one scene to another. Match shots and shot reverse shot are used between the girl and the boy to show the sexual attraction between the two. Cross-cutting is used during the attack scene when it cuts back to the boy laying peacefully on the sand. This gives the audience a slight glimpse of hope that the boy might actually rescue the girl. Also, at the very end of the sequence two shots are dissolved into one. An early night shot is dissolved to a late shot to show the passing of time.Graphics:The title is in block capital for emphasis. They credits are on screen as the film is playing and are centered in the middle of the screen