A shark scientist reflects on Jaws at 50

A shark strikes

There were three large mechanical sharks with pneumatic food built for filming, nicknamed “Bruce”, and they continued to work badly. The pneumatic pipes continued to take sea water; The skin was made of neoprene foam, which absorbed water and became swollen; And one of the models kept getting tangled in the seaweed. In the end, Spielberg chose to shoot most of the first scenes without ever showing the real shark, which in fact strengthened tension and suspense, especially when combined with the disturbing theme music of John Williams (“Duh-Duh-Duh-Duh-Duh …”).

In the end, the shooting lasted 159 days and the budget increased to $ 9 million. All delays have given Spielberg and his writers (in particular Gottlieb) for more time to refine the scenario, often just before filming the scenes. A large part of the dialogue was improvised by the actors. And all worth it at the end, because Jaws I became a major success at the summer box office. All in all, he reported $ 476 million worldwide in all his theatrical outings and won three Oscars, although he lost the best film for We flew over the nes of cuckoot.

Jaws Inspired a lot, many following films, including Ridley Scott Stranger In 1979, described in pitch meetings like “Jaws in space. Public reactions were often extreme, many people becoming afraid of swimming in the ocean for fear of sharks. And while the consequences were, we will say, disappointing, the original Jaws resisted the time test. Ars met with the marine biologist and conservationist of sharks David Shiffman, author of Why do sharks countTo discuss the representation of the film of sharks and its lasting place in popular culture.

ARS Technica: Let’s start by talking about the huge impact of the film, both good and bad, on the conscience of the general public of sharks.

David Shiffman: Many people in the world of marine sciences and the communities of conservation of the ocean reported that Jaws In many ways, we have changed our world. It is not that people thought that the sharks were cute, cuddly, adorable animals, then after JawsThey thought they were blood threading machines. They just weren’t in people’s minds. The fishermen knew them, the surfers thought about it, but it was on this subject. Most people who went to the beach did not pay attention to what could be there. Jaws Absolutely broken. My parents both reported that summer Jaws Released, they were afraid to go swimming in their community pools.