Jaws

Daaaa Dun...
             Jaws was one of the films that nowadays define the Thriller genre. Probably the finest example of building suspense and tension that I personally have ever seen. This film had a huge impact on me personally. I first saw the film when I was 12, far too young, and to this day has caused an irrational fear of sharks. It was directed by Steven Spielberg in 1975.
 It is the tale of a small seaside community being terrorized by a killer shark. Police Deputy Martin Brody discovers the mutilated remains of a young woman torn apart by the murderous shark. When Brody informs the mayor he refuses to close the beaches due to the booming summer tourist trade which is generating a large amount of income for the town. After a few more deaths a bounty is put on the shark, attracting amateur shark hunters. One such shark hunter, Quint, takes Brody and a marine biologist, Hooper, to kill the beast.

Spielberg's most iconic way of creating tension was the use of music, composed by John Williams. The world famous piece of music that still puts people on edge whenever it is heard. This piece of music is synonymous with suspense and tension. The way that it begins slowly and speeds up is a metaphor for how the tension in the audience builds. The reason it is so important is because of how it has such a profound effect on the audience. If I was going to take anything from this film, it would be the use of music to create atmosphere.

Another technique that this film uses was that we only ever caught glimpses of the shark, not seeing the entire monster until the very end of the film. Nowadays this is a rather common technique both in films and other media, such as video games. However at the time it was an innovative method of making a monster scary without having to spend money on visual effects or props. Since we are a making a Thriller, not a Horror, there should be no need to have to find ways to not show a monster. However, I will also use the idea that the audiences imagination will create the tension by themselves. Meaning we don't have to show any particularly expensive or technically difficult things, such as fights or fancy Special FX.

In conclusion, Jaws was a terrifying film that chills me to this day, not because it was bad, but rather it scared me to such a large degree. I will take the techniques used by Spielberg to create tension, such as not showing the shark/baddie and having the main character an average guy against horrific odds. I will also keep in mind the effectiveness of music to create suspense and tension.