Jaws

The long and short of it is this: Steven Spielberg knows how to thrill us. When we discuss a director's ability to control mise en scene there are any number of things that this could mean. There are no rules about how it is supposed to work, so long as the movie achieves the desired effect. The incomparable mise en scene of the movie Jaws achieves a rather groundbreaking effect - one which is particularly appropriate to our class's discussion of the blockbuster. Few films manage to temper such absurdity in order to generate so much fear. Through camera direction, production design, sound, and music every beat of this movie toys with our sense of security - and if it occasionally takes its foot off the gas, the audience is advised to adjust their grips and hold on tighter. Could I get any cheesier?? Nevertheless, we are being manipulated with every second.

My favorite scene might be the Kintner attack. On the surface and out of context the scene might seem rather pleasant, but because we share in Chief Brody's knowledge of the first shark attack the scene's glossy exterior only amplifies the creep factor. For the majority of the scene Spielberg strips away artifices like music and plays up diegetic sounds, giving us a sense of Brody's heightened awareness. Then the whole scene climaxes with a masterfully employed "Vertigo" shot (the oft abused simultaneous dolly in and zoom out that Hitchcock made famous). This scene may well be the key to the whole film. It primes us for the rather unique experience of terror in broad daylight and plants the seed for Chief Brody's journey as a dynamic, heroic character.