Wednesday 16 January 2013
Duh-duh, Duh-Duh, DUH-DUH!
A simple E-F-E-F bass line progression is all it took to make a
generation of moviegoers scared spitless to swim in the ocean. With
Steven Spielberg's classic 1975 beach emptier Jaws was released on
Blu-ray, composer John Williams talks about the
simple-but-oh-so-effective theme he created for the film's voracious
Great White shark in an interview with John Burlingame from Movie line.
According to the interview, the first and only music Williams played for Spielberg prior to the recording sessions was what would eventually become known as the Jaws theme that Williams says was "so simple, insistent and driving, that it seems unstoppable, like the attack of the shark."
Spielberg was not sold at first. "I played him the simple little E-F-E-F bass line that we all know on the piano," and Spielberg laughed at first. But, Williams explains: "I just began playing around with simple motifs that could be distributed in the orchestra, and settled on what I thought was the most powerful thing, which is to say the simplest. Like most ideas, they're often the most compelling."
Spielberg's response, according to the composer who is also known for his indelible scores for the Star Wars films, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, among other landmark films was: "Let's try it."
Burlingame writes that Williams spent two months writing more than 50 minutes of music for Jaws. They recorded in early March 1975 with a 73-piece orchestra. "It was a lot of fun, like a great big playground," Williams says. "We had a really good time, and Steven loved it."
Spielberg even lent his less-than-masterful clarinet playing — shades of Woody Allen worship, perhaps? — to the soundtrack for a scene early in Jaws when a high-school band plays Sousa during a parade. Burlingame notes that "Williams needed to record a terrible-sounding rendition with his orchestra, which included many of the finest musicians in Hollywood." Or as Williams puts it: "It's very difficult to ask these great musicians to play badly." So, Spielberg, who'd played clarinet in a high-school band, joined the orchestra on that number.
"He added just the right amateur quality to the piece. A few measures still survive in the movie," says Williams, who is probably one of the few people in the movie industry who could say Spielberg sucks at the clarinet and still manage to work in the business.
According to the interview, the first and only music Williams played for Spielberg prior to the recording sessions was what would eventually become known as the Jaws theme that Williams says was "so simple, insistent and driving, that it seems unstoppable, like the attack of the shark."
Spielberg was not sold at first. "I played him the simple little E-F-E-F bass line that we all know on the piano," and Spielberg laughed at first. But, Williams explains: "I just began playing around with simple motifs that could be distributed in the orchestra, and settled on what I thought was the most powerful thing, which is to say the simplest. Like most ideas, they're often the most compelling."
Spielberg's response, according to the composer who is also known for his indelible scores for the Star Wars films, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, among other landmark films was: "Let's try it."
Burlingame writes that Williams spent two months writing more than 50 minutes of music for Jaws. They recorded in early March 1975 with a 73-piece orchestra. "It was a lot of fun, like a great big playground," Williams says. "We had a really good time, and Steven loved it."
Spielberg even lent his less-than-masterful clarinet playing — shades of Woody Allen worship, perhaps? — to the soundtrack for a scene early in Jaws when a high-school band plays Sousa during a parade. Burlingame notes that "Williams needed to record a terrible-sounding rendition with his orchestra, which included many of the finest musicians in Hollywood." Or as Williams puts it: "It's very difficult to ask these great musicians to play badly." So, Spielberg, who'd played clarinet in a high-school band, joined the orchestra on that number.
"He added just the right amateur quality to the piece. A few measures still survive in the movie," says Williams, who is probably one of the few people in the movie industry who could say Spielberg sucks at the clarinet and still manage to work in the business.
INSPRATION
Given their narrative similarity and use of genre conventions, it is
hardly surprising that Jaws and Creature from the Black
Lagoon have a
similar look and feel. However, closer examination reveals a more direct
link between the films. Jaws explicitly borrows specific shots
from Creature.
This replication allows Spielberg to capitalize directly (by re-using
shots) and indirectly (via audience familiarity) on frightening tactics
used by Arnold twenty years earlier.
One replication appears just as the film opens, with Chrissie Watkins swimming in the ocean. In general, Jaws uses many of the same techniques Creature used to make the audience afraid for the swimmer: the music (and the film’s pre-promotion) tells us something lurks under the water, we know the “something” watches the swimmer because we see its point of view, and we are frightened for her because we see her react to being touched. In shooting this sequence, Arnold used two shots which Spielberg borrowed for Jaws. The first depicts the monster’s point of view, an underwater shot of the woman swimming directly overhead.
The second shows the woman treading water. In both cases,
the camera hovers overhead, filming no other objects in the frame
(below); these
shots make Chrissie and Kay look small and alone—they
accentuate the frightening nature of deep or murky water. In both
cases, the audience empathizes with, and fears for, the swimmer.
The attack
commences.
Jaws’ scene in which the shark gets tangled with Hooper’s shark cage also replicates some shots in Creature from the Black Lagoon. This sequence echoes two scenes in Creature: the first in which the gill man tangles himself in the fishing net, the second in which the creature attacks the log-lifting device rigged by David. Several elements from these two scenes in Creature have been borrowed for Jaws. Among them are the winch, the hook arm, and the thrashing line in the water. Both films also depict the monster caught in the underwater equipment. The confrontation between monster and equipment underscores the characters’ impotence in dealing with the monster—its raw power overwhelms their mechanical devices. These scenes also confront the characters with a moment of doom; our heroes realize they are at the monster’s mercy.
Finally, both filmmakers include a sequence in which their monster
leaves behind a part of its body. In Jaws, the tooth left behind
by the shark frightens Hooper because he recognizes that the tooth comes
from the
jaws of a great white shark. In Creature, a similar sequence
develops foreboding because the character does not recognize the body
part in
question (the claw). In both cases, the body part left behind brings
the characters to the point of suspense the audience has been at for
some time.
One replication appears just as the film opens, with Chrissie Watkins swimming in the ocean. In general, Jaws uses many of the same techniques Creature used to make the audience afraid for the swimmer: the music (and the film’s pre-promotion) tells us something lurks under the water, we know the “something” watches the swimmer because we see its point of view, and we are frightened for her because we see her react to being touched. In shooting this sequence, Arnold used two shots which Spielberg borrowed for Jaws. The first depicts the monster’s point of view, an underwater shot of the woman swimming directly overhead.
The second shows the woman treading water. In both cases,
the camera hovers overhead, filming no other objects in the frame
(below); these
shots make Chrissie and Kay look small and alone—they
accentuate the frightening nature of deep or murky water. In both
cases, the audience empathizes with, and fears for, the swimmer.
The attack
commences. Jaws’ scene in which the shark gets tangled with Hooper’s shark cage also replicates some shots in Creature from the Black Lagoon. This sequence echoes two scenes in Creature: the first in which the gill man tangles himself in the fishing net, the second in which the creature attacks the log-lifting device rigged by David. Several elements from these two scenes in Creature have been borrowed for Jaws. Among them are the winch, the hook arm, and the thrashing line in the water. Both films also depict the monster caught in the underwater equipment. The confrontation between monster and equipment underscores the characters’ impotence in dealing with the monster—its raw power overwhelms their mechanical devices. These scenes also confront the characters with a moment of doom; our heroes realize they are at the monster’s mercy.
Finally, both filmmakers include a sequence in which their monster
leaves behind a part of its body. In Jaws, the tooth left behind
by the shark frightens Hooper because he recognizes that the tooth comes
from the
jaws of a great white shark. In Creature, a similar sequence
develops foreboding because the character does not recognize the body
part in
question (the claw). In both cases, the body part left behind brings
the characters to the point of suspense the audience has been at for
some time.
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