STEVEN SPIELBERG ON JAWS
on 18 November 1975, Steven Spielberg – single, beardless, unafraid to speak his mind – sat down in Los Angeles to discuss his latest movie project, Jaws. The groundbreaking thriller adapted from Peter Benchley’s novel had already shocked audiences in the USA with a box-office take of $131 million and birthed the descriptive, ‘blockbuster’; but the global phenomenon was still in its infancy, with many international cinema fans still waiting for the opportunity to be scared in their seats.
Though the film’s troubled production has been well documented through the ensuing 40-plus years, this was all news when one of Hollywood’s hottest young directors met with the press to discuss working with real Great Whites, wanting to quit, the inevitability of sequels, and tick bites…
What were some of the challenges you faced during the filming of Jaws?
The first challenge involved getting up in the morning and the second one was working on the ocean with mechanical effects that really should’ve been done on dry land. Had we shot this movie on dry land it would’ve still been difficult, but we were taking all this apparatus and we were putting it out in the ocean; not in a tank, but in the real ocean. We were trying to control the elements, but four weeks into production we discovered we could not control the elements. It was like working in an earthquake. For eight hours a day, the ship was being tossed around. You’re slipping and sliding, and the effects aren’t working. The tides are pulling the boats apart and the anchors are ripping up the sand 30 feet below. It
