Film production role

1.      Where did the idea for Jaws originate? How did it become a film? Who contributed to the screenplay?The idea for Jaw was originated from a novel called ‘Jaws’ which was produced in the 1974 by Peter Benchley.

Benchley was inspired by the several real-life incidents, such as Jersey Shore shark attacks of that occurred in the 1916 which has resulted to four deaths in 12 days. Jaws came out on February 1974; it became a success and maintained its spot in the bestsellers list.

After Richard D. Zanuck and David brown browsed through the novel, they had a discussion with Steven Spielberg and from there they decided to take the opportunity to turn it into a movie.

2.       Why were particular scenes removed from the film?
Some scenes were removed from Jaw due to the fact that it were either too hard to work with, or problems with the mechanical shark, some are to violent to display for the audience.

3.       During the pre-production stage what sort of footage did the producers commission in preparation for the film? How was the script changed as a result of this footage?The script was changed due to some occurrences, one of it was in one of the scene that they had to use a smaller cage to make the shark look bigger, giving it a more realistic look and more accepting.

4.      What was involved during the casting process?

The main character chief Brody was ears dropping a conversation that took place at a party and over heard about the role of the chief and he approached the person to ask for the role. The other cast were found through interactions.

5.      What is location scouting? Why did Steven Spielberg choose the locations for the film?

“Location scouting is a process in the pre-production stage of filmmaking and commercial photography. Once scriptwriters, producers or directors have decided what general king of scenery they require for the various parts of their work that is shot outside of the studio, the search for a suitable place or “location outside the studio begins. Location scouts also look for generally spectacular or interesting location beforehand, to have a database of locations in case of requests.” In other words, location scouting is looking for the appropriate location to shoot a certain scene.

Steven Spielberg has choose the location due to its quaint environment, and shoot from an angle where it’s a small surrounding but make it out to be a huge setting.

6.       Describe how actors contributed to the production of Jaws.
The involvement that actors contributed in were to play their parts to the best of their ability and making the movie as realistic as possible with the uniqueness personality in each and every one of them, and just assist here and there helping people that’s in need of assistance.

7.       What does a composer do? What considerations were taken into account when writing the music for Jaws?

A composer is someone that writes music for TV, film, game, radio, and computer. The composer’s role is to write an original composition for a specific project

Writing the music for Jaws the composer had to maintain the time from for certain scenes, wether it’ll be right timing and just draw suspense throughout the movie.   

8.      What did Spielberg do as a result of test screenings?

Steven Spielberg’s first screening happened in Dallas shopping centre where he wanted see what the audience’s reaction was towards the movie. He was really anxious about it, nervous what the audience’s would react to it.

9.       What is a director of photography? How was the director of photography involved in the production of Jaws?

A director of photography is someone who supervises the filming of movies. Essentially, the director of photography is responsible for the look and feel of a piece on film.

The director of photography’s involvement was to make sure everything runs smoothly.

10.   What does an editor do? Who was the editor on Jaws and what was her responsibility?

As editor role is to help make a manuscript the best it can be. The editor of Jaws was Verna fields. Her responsibility was to put everything together, developing the film to its final release. In general, just making everything look better.

11.  Based on the documentary, what are the responsibilities of a producer?

From watching the documentary, the responsibilities of a producer was to help Steven Spielberg out and making sure everything’s on the right track.

12.  What does the producer do once the principal photography has finished?

Once the principal photography has finished, the producer is to go over the film to see if there’s any changes that needs to be made, and make sure it’s completed.

13.  What did the production designer do on the film?

The production designer major is to keep an eye out for perfect setting, the right costumes, realistic make-up and props.