Representation in the opening scene
Jaws shows a negative representation of teenagers as they are being careless and wild which is presented through the way they act and the setting their in which was night time suggesting it was late considering they where the only ones on the beach at that time which suggests they should not be there at that possible time at the bomb fire they where drinking alcohol and smoking. Which is negative representation of them as it looks like they are not supposed to be doing that at there age. Also when the girl goes skinny dipping in the sea no thinking it would be dangerous. Shows teenagers as having a carefree nature. It looks like they've sneaked out. Its not in their favour especially because she ends up dying. The setting seems to be an American beach town. You can tell this from the opening sequence because of the accents of the characters. The opening sequence tells us that the film will most likely be set on the beach most of the time because it is to do with a shark. It is also shot in the ocean as the opening credits spent a majority of the time underwater.
Titles of each opening look like
Jaws opens with a black screen then it is followed by the production company which gives a sense of institution then there is typography of the credit's. The colour red used connotes danger and blood which foreshadows what is going to happen later on in the film. The opening sequence of Jaws is a Linear Narrative which means their is a clear sequence of events. This narrative is driven through the communication of characters and the events that unfold.
Camera, sound, editing, and mise-en-scene
The shot types used at the beginning the camera pans along the characters. This creates a great establishing scene amongst the teenagers. The director is trying to create an atmosphere one of a predator picking it's prey. The shots consists of various close-ups, great for the audience to analyse and establish the surroundings and characters. The opening contains a shot reverse shot, which engages the audience into the film as they feel that they are involved through the use of psychological camera positioning. With the camera positioning the most effective shot that is the point of view shot from the shark. The female character is positioned as vulnerable object therefore the audience knows that something is going to happen beteewn the binary oppositions. The opening sequence all has some long shots to help create the setting for the audience. 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. With the sound 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. The sound non-digetic music used at the beginning is icongraphic. Which makes the audience be introduced into a sound motif which is alarming to the audience as it is played the shark is in the scene or nearby creating the suspense to make it a thriller. We see that the director thought about the conventions of a thriller when deciding the setting and background and props and what effect it would have on the audience as we see that the setting is dark therefore we cannot see everything which makes it tense for the audience. Causes suspension and leaves the audience thinking what is going to happen next.
Narrative in the opening scene match the conventions of the thriller genre
I think one of the reasons we can categorise Jaws as thriller movie is because of the suspense it makes the audience feel. This is present in the . 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 boy 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.
What may happen in the rest of the movie...
I think later on that more people will end up dying and near to the end people will try to get rid of the shark. But before they know what is causing the deaths they will put restrictions in for the teenagers and they will start to see the seriousness of the situation. Also as the movie goes on the audience will grow tense we will start to figure out the pattern and be more drawn into the movie as will wont be able to stop the characters. (Its strats to get the audience involved)
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