Jaws Scene Soundtrack Analysis

Jaws Scene Soundtrack Analysis

I will be discussing soundtrack and effectiveness thereof of the ‘Hooper In the Cage’ scene from the film Jaws (1975). The scene involves the film’s character Hooper trying to put a tracking device on Jaws while inside a protective underwater cage.

            

            The leitmotif in the scene (beginning from 00:17 onwards, as Hooper Is being attacked by Jaws) is the theme song and leitmotif of the titular Jaws and acts accordingly, only being heard when Jaws himself is actually onscreen. The leitmotif in the scene works well to manipulate the audience’s feelings as, from the theme alone, you can tell that Jaws is a dark, ominous and (in certain situations) universally scary force of nature, much like the ocean itself. The audience recognises Jaws’ presence within the scene and immediately knows that bad things are in store when the leitmotif plays. The leitmotif works hand in hand with the amplitude and the dissonance that occur within the soundtrack also. 

            

            The amplitude in the scene (beginning at same time as the leitmotif) is the varying volume of the soundtrack and it works to make the audience empathise with Hooper and his experience. We only hear the leitmotif when Hooper sees Jaws and the amplitude affects the leitmotif and the other music surrounding Jaws is totally dependent on when Hooper can see Jaws and how he feels. When Jaws far away from Hooper, the music is very quiet and only gets louder as Jaws gets closer to Hooper. When Hooper can’t see Jaws, the music is not audible, only becoming so when Hooper knows that Jaws is present. This helps the audience experience what Hooper is experiencing, manipulating their feelings and feeling scared, initiating the audiences ‘fight-or-flight’ responses.

            

            The dissonance in the scene (beginning at the same time as the leitmotif and variations in amplitude) would be the clash of high and low pitches and notes that make up the melody of the soundtrack. This works in the scene to make the audience feel uneasy and add an element of horror to the scene, incorporating the aforementioned ‘fight-or-flight’ response (The fight or flight response being the instinctual reaction to certain 'dangerous' situations, these reactions either being fight - to attack and try to defeat the danger, or flight - to run away and try to escape the danger). Dissonance, by its very nature, is unpleasant to the ear and even if it’s on a subconscious level, makes the person listening to the dissonant melody feel uncomfortable. This works into the soundtrack’s favour as the way it [dissonance] works its way into the soundtrack of the scene, helps the audience feel scared for both Hooper and themselves.

            

            The use of melody in the scene (starting at 01:31 onwards) is how the notes and pitches in the music work together as a cohesive whole. In the scene, the melody works into forming a dissonant melody (see dissonance). This melody, in turn, works to make the scene even scarier for the audience as it keeps them on edge, waiting for Jaws to come in and be scary. The melody is the base for the rest of the soundtrack’s effectiveness to help the film be a scary film.

            

            The ‘L Cut’ in the scene (starting and ending at 01:54 to 01:57 respectively) is when the audio from the previous cut is continued into the next one. It is used to make cuts less jarring to the audience and help them ease into the next cut as it were and it is also useful for seeing different characters’ reactions to what’s being focused on the scene. In this context, the ‘L Cut’ is used to see both Hooper’s facial expression while screaming and to see why Hooper is screaming in the first place (this reason being Jaws ramming the cage). This helps the audience identify with Hooper as we can not only see why he is screaming, but we can also see that he is screaming for a suitable reason and we may scream also.