When ‘Jaws’ was released in 1975, it shattered box office records, becoming the first film to gross over $100 million. The film’s total worldwide gross, including re-releases, is estimated at $477.9 million, which, when adjusted for inflation, would be over $1 billion, well above the gross of today’s blockbusters. ‘Jaws’ changed the game when it came to films, and one of the things that made it such an iconic film was the very famous film score, which was the product of John Williams.
A Legendary Score From A Legendary Composer
By the time John Williams began working on ‘Jaws’, he had already been scoring films and television shows for two decades. After ‘Jaws’, he became one of the most sought-after composers in the film industry, working on such landmark films as ‘Star Wars,’ ‘Superman,’ ‘Indiana Jones,’ ‘E.T. The Extra Terrestrial,’ ‘Jurassic Park,’ ‘Harry Potter,’ and many others. He became the go-to for epic blockbuster films throughout the rest of his career. He is still composing film themes even into his 90s. He worked on big projects prior to ‘Jaws’, but that was really the film that launched his career into superstardom.
As we approach the 50th anniversary of ‘Jaws’, it makes sense to take a look back at one of the most iconic film scores of all time and examine why it still resonates with film audiences watching the film for the first time, even 50 years later. John Williams has proven himself to be an absolute genius when it comes to composing film scores that support and boost the mood and feelings that the film itself is trying to convey. With the film ‘Jaws’, he did this with two notes, offering a masterclass in how one can build tension through the use of rhythm, tempo, and repetition.
The ‘Jaws’ motif became somewhat bigger than the film itself. The two-note phrase has transcended the movie to become what many musicologists describe as a “sonic shorthand” for impending danger and suspense.
Letting The Music Do The Work
The two-note refrain is actually more definitive of the film than the Great White Shark that serves as the film’s antagonist. The shark actually appears for only four minutes of the film’s 124-minute runtime. Meanwhile, the music that accompanies the shark is present for somewhere around 10-15 minutes or so. It was used sparingly in the film, but when it was used, it was incredibly effective. The director, Steven Spielberg, had a similar thought when it came to the colors used in the film. You’ll notice that there is a subtle lack of red hues in the film, which was done to enhance the effect of red appearing in the film as blood.
The theme was also sometimes played when the shark was not in the frame, suggesting that even when you don’t see the shark, the danger is always there, lurking beneath the waves. This menacing thought was bolstered by the usage of the motif is possibly the reason that many people are afraid to swim in the ocean even today. This actually served a practical purpose of maintaining the feeling of danger and suspense while the shark didn’t have to be on screen. It was practical because the three pneumatic sharks that were built for the film were constantly breaking down and malfunctioning. The film’s editors have stated that they used pretty much every frame of film where the shark was on film, just because they had to. This is also why they opted to show the floating barrels for a large portion of the end of the film instead of the shark itself. Audiences felt the suspense while watching yellow floating barrels being dragged across the surface of the water – something that isn’t inherently scary, what made it suspenseful was the film’s score.
Why It Works
His minimalistic motif of two notes repeating through certain scenes, with the tempo and volume increasing, was expertly designed as a narrative device to trigger a psychological response that something was approaching, becoming more aggressive as it nears. The two notes fail to resolve themselves, adding to the feeling of unease and anxiety of the film.
Regarding instrumentation, Williams used a somewhat unusual ensemble of six basses, eight cellos, four trombones, and a tuba. The prominence of these lower-register instruments effectively created a dark and ominous timbre that suggested the danger of a powerful ocean-dwelling predator, one that attacks from beneath without a single sound of warning before it crests the surface.
The cellos employ staccato and marcato bowing styles to produce sharp, menacing attacks, perhaps evoking imagery of the swift and immediate strike of a shark. There is something menacing about this style of string bowing. It was used to great effect in the 1960 horror classic Psycho as well (specifically in the shower scene).
The steady, relentless use of the two notes also echoed something deeper, the indifferent nature of the beast that menaced the humans in the film. The repetition of the simplistic phrase seems to mimic the primal instincts of an ancient predator; a predator that has been hunting the same way for 6.5 million years. While there are many compositions that can evoke strong emotions, there may be none more powerful than the soundtrack for ‘Jaws’, and Williams did it with two notes. How cool is that?
