Jaws (1975) – A Broken Prop Turned Masterpiece
The Shark That Refused to Swim When Steven Spielberg began filming Jaws in 1975, he expected the film’s mechanical shark which they nicknamed “Bruce” to be the centerpiece of his sea monster thriller. But there was one big problem: Bruce barely worked due to a lot of constant mechanical breakdowns that plagued production. The salt water corroded gears, ruined circuits, and made filming a nightmare so the crew spent hours waiting for the shark to move, only for it to fail again. Turning Limitations Into Legend Instead of letting the setbacks sink the movie, Spielberg decided to hide the shark for most of the film.He relied on the following: • POV shots to make audiences feel like the shark was lurking nearby • John Williams’ haunting two-note score to signal its presence • Clever editing and shadows to build unbearable tension All of these yielded a fantastic result. By not showing the shark directly, Spielberg tapped into a universal truth of horror which is that “the unseen is often scarier than the seen.” A New Era of Suspense What started as a technical failure became one of the greatest storytelling pivots in film history. Jaws terrified audiences worldwide, grossed over $470 million, and became the first-ever summer blockbuster a model Hollywood still follows today.The film’s iconic score and minimalist suspense techniques are now studied in film schools as examples of how creative restraint can make a story more powerful.