Maggie Gondeck
Comm 130-01
Jaws: Scene Analysis of Jaws
The movie Jaws made its debut on the silver screen in the year 1975 and was directed by
Steven Spielberg but was written Peter Benchley and Carl Gottlieb. Jaws is based off the novel
written by Peter Benchley who writes most of his work with the plots centered on the world’s
oceans as the backdrop. Jaws is set on Amity Island, MA and the surrounding waters. Amity
Island is small community who rely heavily on the beaches for it is their main source of income.
But when the newly appointed Sheriff Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) finds the remains of a
victim of a shark attack victim, his first instinct is to shut the beaches down in order to protect
the safety of possible swimmers. Mayor Larry Vaughn (Murray Hamilton) and several business
owners do not like this idea and they tell Brody that he has no right to shut the beaches down that
all will be well. Regretfully, Brody listens to the mayor and to his dismay another victim is
found. No longer willing to listen to the mayor Brody enlists the help of Sam Quint (Robert
Shaw) who is a shark hunting expert. Soon Brody, Quint, and Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss),
from the Oceanographic Institute, are out on the sea in search of this Great White shark that has
been imposing much fear in the people of Amity Island. The scene from this movie that I will be
analyzing is the scene in which Quint and Hooper are comparing their scars while they are out at
sea sitting in the cabin of the boat. Brody is there as well but he is not comparing his scars that he
has.
The scene I chose to analyze happens about 75 percent into the film and it is crucial to the
rest of the film because it gives insight into the three characters that are shown, Quint, Hooper,
and Brody. Just before this scene takes place Quint and Hooper are trying to capitalize on the
sighting of the Great White they are hunting. And Brody is reluctantly trying to do what he is
being told. In all the commotion Brody is hit in the head with a fishing pole and gets an abrasion
on his forehead. This then leads into the scene that I chose. During this scene Quint and Hooper
are comparing the scars that they have gotten but they are also trying to outdo each other. It’s
like they are trying to prove that one is manlier than the other. Brody who hasn’t been too
excited about being on this boat is keeping to himself. He does lift up his shirt to look at his scar
from when he had his appendix removed but after hearing about the Thresher attack on Quint’s
leg he decides that he probably shouldn’t try to compete with Quint and Hooper. Immediately
following the scene I chose to analyze is the scene in which Quint shares his awful experience of
being on the USS Indianapolis when it was sunk and then he and his crewmates were left to die
because no one knew that they were out there. In that scene it gives just a little more information
about Quint and helps to explain his fascination with sharks.
In this scene there is very little camera movement. The only movement the camera makes
is a slight pan to the right and then back to the left when Quint leans over and tells Hooper to feel
his head. There is so little camera movement because the scene takes place in the cabin of
Quint’s boat, The Orca. In the cabin there isn’t much room to move the camera anyway so why
do it? Well Steven Spielberg doesn’t and that’s what makes his movies so realistic. The space
allowed in the cabin of the boat also accounts for the type of shots used. All the shots used in this
scene are medium close ups with a slight down angle when the shots include Quint and Hooper
and a slight up angle when the shot is of Brody. The overall effect of the camera work in this
scene provides you with the sense that it is a little cramped in the cabin and there is that sense of
suspense that something is about to happen.
There was no non-diegetic sound used in the scene that I chose to analyze which added to
the suspense that was being built throughout the entire scene. The sound that could be heard was
diegetic and those sounds included the creaking of the wood in the boat’s cabin and the voices of
the actors when they were speaking. As far as the editing of the film went, the shots were
combined with a normal cut. The shots went from one to another with no transitions such as
fading or dissolving.
This film was directed by Steven Spielberg and he is a very well-known and established
director in Hollywood. Some would go as far to argue that Spielberg is Hollywood’s best known
director. With films such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T the
Extra Terrestrial, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Schindler’s List and Jurassic Park it
is not hard to see why he is one of the most influential film personalities in the history of film.
Spielberg has countless critically acclaimed credits to his name as a producer, director, and
writer.
Steven Spielberg uses the work of John Williams in many of his films. John Williams is
one of the best known, awarded, and financially successful composers in U.S history. It’s only
fitting that one of the best composers in the U.S should work with one of the best directors in the
U.S. John Williams is most well-known for his musical compositions in the movies Star Wars
Episode I, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Star Wars Episode III and Harry Potter and
the Prisoner of Azkaban.
This film was produced by David Brown and Richard D. Zanuck. David launched a very
successful production company with Richard in the 1970s with two of Steven’s early films which
were Jaws and Sugarland Express. And as a child Richard would accompany his father to the
studio and help his father review cuts for studio executives so the business of film was nothing
new for Richard.
Verna Fields was affectionately known to the crew as “Mother Cutter” because of the
way she could cut film and took care of the crew. Verna Fields won an Oscar for best film
editing in 1976 for the movie Jaws and it was no secret that she was talented at what she did. Her
editing style was seamless and the scenes flowed together in a very natural way1.
In the movie as a whole there are quite a few characters that make an appearance but the
three main guys that really make this film go are Police Chief Martin Brody, seasoned shark
hunter Sam Quint, and the obnoxious oceanographer Matt Hooper.
Martin Brody was born and raised in New York and he joined the police force at the age
of 18. One night he pulled over a car for speeding and it happened to be a woman and her date.
This woman would later become Brody’s wife and together they have two kids. They would later
move to Amity Beach in Massachusetts where Brody is elected as the police chief. Brody doesn’t
like the idea of being on a boat in the open water so the fact that he has to go out and get the
shark that is responsible for the deaths of a couple townspeople and some tourists, scares him. I
believe many people can relate to Martin Brody and his fear of being in the water because they
too share in that fear. Martin is also the most relatable of the three characters because he is the
most ‘normal’. I use that term loosely because even he has his flaws, but then again so does
everyone. Martin’s role in the scene I analyzed is to act as a sort of mediator and keep things
calm between Quint and Hooper who are trying to prove their manliness to each other2.
1
2
All the information on the crew was researched on IMDb.
Information found on IMDb.
Sam Quint, who is known as just Quint throughout the whole movie, is a veteran shark
hunter. He can also add survivor of the USS Indianapolis, captain of the Orca, and owner of a
bootleg distillery to his resume. The name of Quint’s boat is ironic because the orca is the only
natural predator of the great white shark and yet at the end of the movie both Quint and his boat
are destroyed by the great white that they are hunting. In the scene I analyzed Quint is talking
about his scars and outdoing Hooper, who doesn’t like it at all, but the stories he’s telling aren’t
the same. Each scar has a different story behind it and this emphasizes that Quint has been a lot
of places and he has seen a lot of things and I think that many men or women who were veterans,
at the time this movie was made, would find it easy to identify with some of the things he was
talking about3.
Matt Hooper is an oceanographer who is very enthusiastic and fascinated with sharks. At
the end of the movie when he and Brody swim back to safety after Brody blows the shark up he
returns to shore as a hero. So much so he is put on the cover of a 1975 National Geographic.
However he is quite the annoying character and this is made very clear when he tries to outdo
Quint with his stories of how he got his scars. Hooper is the antagonist of the scene in the sense
that he is goading on Quint and almost ignoring Brody4.
INT. PILOT HOUSE - NIGHT
Brody and Hooper at the table, Quint at the wheel, keeping
his eye on the light.
QUINT
He's up again.
He corrects course slightly to keep the barrel buoy in sight.
Hooper is sitting at the table, morose. Brody is staring at
a couple of open cans of beans or beef stew, or some other
crappy rations Quint has on board. Dirty spoons stuck in the
3
4
Information found on IMDb.
Information found on jaws wiki.
open cans show us this has not been a formal dinner. Quint
fumbles on the chart shelf and produces some of his home
brew.
He takes a pull, and hands it to Hooper, who takes a double.
Brody touches the fresh abrasion on his forehead, where the
fishing rod caught him.
Quint bends forward and pulls his hair aside to show something
near the crown.
QUINT
That's not so bad. Look at this:
...St. Paddy's Day in Knocko Nolans,
in Boston, where some sunovabitch
winged me upside the head with a
spittoon.
Brody looks politely. Hooper stirs himself.
HOOPER
Look here.
(extends a forearm)
Steve Kaplan bit me during recess.
Quint is amused. He presents his own formidable forearm.
QUINT
Wire burn. Trying to stop a backstay
from taking my head off.
HOOPER
(rolling up a sleeve)
Moray Eel. Bit right through a wet
suit.
Brody is fascinated. Quint and Hooper take a long pull from
the bottle.
QUINT
Face and head scars come from amateur
amusements in the bar room. This
love line here...
(he bends an ear
forward)
...that's from some crazy Frenchie
come after me with a knife. I caught
him with a good right hand right in
the snot locker and laid him amongst
the sweetpeas.
HOOPER
Ever see one like this?
He hauls up his pants leg, revealing a wicked white scar.
HOOPER
Bull shark scraped me while I was
taking samples...
QUINT
Nothing! A pleasure scar. Look here -He starts rolling up his own dirty pants leg.
QUINT
Slammed with a thresher's tail. Look
just like somebody caressed me with
a nutmeg grater...
Brody is drawn into their boasting comparisons. He secretly
checks his own appendix scar, decides not to enter the
contest.
HOOPER
I'll drink to your leg.
QUINT
And I'll drink to yours.
They toast each other. Brody looks around, sees the strobe
blink once through the darkened window.
QUINT
Wait a minute, young fella. Look.
Just look. Don't touch...
He starts lowering his pants to reveal a place on one hip
where the tissue is scarred and irregular.
QUINT
...Mako. Fell out of the tail rope
and onto the deck. You don't get
bitten by one of those bastards but
twice -- your first and your last.
HOOPER
(considerably drunker)
I think I can top that, Mister...
Hooper is pulling at his shirt, trying to get it off, but
it's tangling its sleeves, and won't come undone.
HOOPER
Gimme a hand, here. I got something
to show you -Brody lends a hand. The shirt slips part way off.
HOOPER
(indicating his chest)
There. Right there. Mary Ellen Moffit
broke my heart. Let's drink to Mary
Ellen.
The two men raise their mugs in a toast.
QUINT
And here's to the ladies. And here's
to their sisters; I'd rather one
Miss than a shipload of Misters.
He drinks, Hooper follows.
QUINT
(shows belly)
Look a' that -- Bayonet Iwo Jima.
BRODY
(aside)
C'mon. Middle appendix -QUINT
(aside)
I almost had 'im.
Brody is looking at a small white patch on Quint's other
forearm.
BRODY
(pointing)
What's that one, there?
QUINT
(changing)
Tattoo. Had it taken off.
HOOPER
Don't tell me -- 'Death Before
Dishonor.' 'Mother.' 'Semper Fi.'
Uhhh... 'Don't Tread on Me.' C'mon -what?
QUINT
'U.S.S Indianapolis.' 1944.
BRODY
What's that, a ship?
HOOPER
(incredulous)
You were on the Indianapolis? In
'45? Jesus...
Quint remembering.5
5
Screenplay was copy and pasted from http://www.weeklyscript.com/Jaws.txt.
Film: Jaws
Scene: Scars
Length of scene in minutes and seconds: 2 minutes 50 seconds
Cut Number
Duration in Seconds
Shot Type, Angle,
Camera Movement
1
3 seconds
Medium close up of
Quint
2
3 seconds
Medium close up
reverse angle of
Brody
3
2 seconds
Medium close up
Brody
4
1 minute 25 seconds
Medium close of up
of Quint pan to right.
Medium close up of
Quint and Hooper and
then pan back to the
left
Mise en Scene,
Transition,
Description of Action,
Summary of Dialogue
It’s not very bright,
the only light is
coming from the
single lamp hanging
over the table that
Quint and Hooper are
sitting at. You can see
the lamp swaying
back and forth and it
reinforces the fact
they are on the water.
Quint swishes his
drink in his mouth,
“Hey.”-Quint
You can see the water
in the background
through the window
of the cabin, the
hammock behind
Brody is swaying with
the movement of the
boat.
Brody is standing
there rubbing his
head.
Same as shot 2.
Brody turns around
“Chief.”-Quint
Same as shot 1.
“That won’t be
permanent. You want
to see something
permanent..”-Quint
Quint and Hooper are
comparing their scars,
showing each other
different scars they’ve
gotten.
5
3 seconds
Medium close up
6
10 seconds
Medium close up
7
6 seconds
Medium close up
8
15 seconds
Medium close up
9
3 seconds
Medium close up
10
4 seconds
Medium close up
11
6 seconds
Medium close up
Same as shot 2.
Brody is standing
there looking horrified
at the stories being
told by Quint and
Hooper.
“Thresher?”-Brody
Same as shot 1.
Quint and Hooper
both have their legs
on the table. “You
wanna drink? We’ll
drink to your leg...?”Quint
Same as shot 2.
Brody lifts up his shirt
and looks at his scar
from getting his
appendix removed.
He decides not to say
anything about it.
Same as shot 1.
Hooper unbuttons his
shirt. “I’ve got the
crème de la
crème…”-Hooper
Same as shot 2.
Brody is laughing at
what Hoper just said
about Mary Ellen
Moffet.
Same as shot 1.
Hooper hits the table
while he is laughing
and Quint is laughing
next to him. It is clear
that these two men
have been drinking.
Same as shot 2.
Brody is twirling a
piece of rope in his
hand while still
chuckling to himself.
He tosses the rope
12
10 seconds
Medium close up
13
3 seconds
Medium close up
14
17 seconds
Medium close up
aside and gesturing to
Quint’s arm asking
“What’s that one?”
Same as shot 1.
Quint rolls up his
sleeve. “Oh it’s a
tattoo. Got that one
removed.”-Quint
“Let me guess,
Mother?”-Hooper
Same as shot 2.
Brody is laughing at
Hooper’s joke.
Same as shot 1.
“What is it?”-Brody
“It was the USS
Indianapolis.”-Quint
"Jaws." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. Nov.-Dec. 2012.
N.p., n.d. Web. Dec. 2012. <http://www.weeklyscript.com/Jaws.txt>.
N.p., n.d. Web. Nov.-Dec. 2012. <http://jaws.wikia.com/wiki/Matt_Hooper>.