'Bruce' reveals his insides
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HOW A MALFUNCTIONING ROBOTIC SHARK MADE "JAWS" A HORROR CLASSIC
“Bruce”, the animatronic shark, as he was affectionately known during filming, had a profound effect on the final outcome of the fabled movie. The story of Jaws, about a shark that wreaks havoc, more or less mirrors the same story behind the movie’s troubled production. The mechanical sharks, of which there were three, were a menace that almost killed the production because they malfunctioned for the majority of the shoot. Steven Spielberg, the 26-year-old director, may have left you wondering why the shark remains unseen for the majority of the film. Without a working shark, Spielberg was forced to find a new way of creating suspense and terror by turning the camera into the shark’s POV. Often described as Hitchcockian, this suspenseful horror technique meant Bruce still appeared in the film, however Spielberg’s dramatic approach owes much to cables, editing, and the musical talents of composer John Williams.  The floating camera boxes.
A HYBRID SHARK
The crew shot real-life shark footage off the coast of Australia which was mixed with the monster-sized 25-foot great white sharks seen on film. To give the illusion of the shark’s monster size, a real 15-foot great white was filmed swimming around a miniature shark cage that housed a 4′ 11′′ actor. The animatronic sharks were built to full 25-foot scale. Bruce, named jokingly by Spielberg after his lawyer, Bruce Ramer, was designed by production designer, Joe Alves, and constructed by Bob Mattey, who previously built the giant squid in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. The idea of using miniatures was rejected by Spielberg as he wanted the sharks to be full-size with fully–operational animatronics that looked and moved like the real thing. The open sea helped with realism, but it meant nothing without a realistic-looking shark. No precedent existed for a mechanical creature that came close, Spielberg just needed one that worked. Alves first drew large sketches based on the description of the shark in Peter Benchley’s novel to show the various actions the shark would perform. He then drew a sectional diagram of the shark. This illustrated the shark from nose to tail, showing Bruce’s artificial rib cage and the placement of Chromoly tubes housing and protecting pneumatic hoses that operated the shark. 
The "Shark" sled.
“THIS ISN’T GOING TO WORK. A FULL-SIZE, MECHANICAL SHARK HAS NEVER BEEN CREATED BEFORE.”
Each ‘Bruce’ had a steel skeleton, hydraulics to open and close their mouths, and air-powered pneumatic mechanisms that moved various parts of their bodies. Convincing others of the shark’s viability proved difficult, Alves interviewed a number of effects people, and got the same sort of reaction: ‘This isn’t going to work. A full–size, mechanical shark has never been created before.’ However, Bob Mattey convinced Alves he could build it. Comprising a combination of three animatronic models: one that moved from left-to-right; another which moved from right-to-left, and a shark sled. The shark sled was an animatronic shark attached to a large arm that went back and forth along an underwater rail mounted to the seafloor. The crew moved this rig to various locations off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard to film the different scenes in the script.  Steven Spielberg with 'Bruce.'
SHARKS THAT DIDN’T LIKE SALTWATER
Bruce performed well in freshwater tests, but no one checked to see if saltwater would be a problem. Unfortunately, it was. Saltwater corroded the inside and outside of the shark and leaked into the pneumatic hoses. These animatronics cost $500,000 to produce, which added to the $7 million budget. At best, the animatronic sharks were difficult to work with, and at worst, completely unresponsive for the majority of the shoot. Nicknamed the “Great White turds” by Spielberg, the unproven director helmed an already troubled production, with the script undergoing daily rewrites. Spielberg was forced to be creative. “I knew that it’s gonna take three or four weeks to rebuild the shark, and so we’d have to make up something else that didn’t exactly show the shark, but gave the sense the shark was near... the script was filled with “shark.” Shark here, shark there, shark everywhere.”  Steven Spielberg with the crew (and 'Bruce')
FROM THE SHARK'S POV
We all remember the opening sequence in which the shark’s first victim, Chrissie Watkins (Susan Backlinie), is dragged back and forth before disappearing beneath the waves. We never see the shark, but the scene remains the most memorable one in Jaws. Spielberg, with the help of composer John Williams’ superb score, begins with the camera moving up towards the swimmer’s feet. Spielberg uses the camera to simulate the POV of the shark, and in the process, creates one of the most terrifying movie openings. We see no shark, not even a fin or tail, but we do get to see Chrissie thrashed back and forth by this invisible terror. Adding to the horror, is the stillness of the ocean after she is pulled beneath the waves, just as if nothing had happened. Human imagination fills the gaps – the most terrifying shark is never Bruce, or footage of real-life sharks, but the one we never see. It’s the one crafted from the camera acting as the shark’s POV.  Actress Susan Backlinie has a
specifically-designed rig.
BOOM-BOOM, BOOM-BOOM
“If the shark had been available visually, it might have changed the whole psychology of the experience,” said composer Williams. “When you hear, ‘boom-boom, boom-boom,’ you’ve already been conditioned to think that’s when the shark is present. When it’s far away, it’s very faint. When it’s just about to attack it’s very close and it’s very loud. We can advertise the shark’s presence or his attitude by how we manage these notes, just very few notes.” By bringing the camera down to the sea surface, Spielberg added to this psychology of terror. “I really wanted this movie to just be at water level,” he said. “The way we are when we’re treading water. We don’t see water at three feet off the water”. The camera crew held the camera at the surface in a box suspended on rafts so it would float. “This has a psychology about it that makes you aware that just below the surface of the water could be that shark.”  The crew filming one of the dramatic close-ups.
WORKING IN SPIELBERG’S FAVOR
The limitation of a malfunctioning shark actually worked in Spielberg’s favor by building up the audience’s anticipation to see the shark. In successive attacks, he recreated the suspense of the opening scene, starting with swimmers’ legs under the surface. In scenes with multiple swimmers, the audience wonder which one the shark will attack, adding to the suspense. With each successive scene, Spielberg revealed more and more of the shark. Initially, we see a distant shot of the shark as Bruce rolls over when attacking the boy on the lilo. Next we see a dorsal fin as the shark enters the lagoon later in the film. That same scene ends with a glimpse of Bruce’s head as he pulls man under the surface culminating with the harrowing shot of the man’s severed leg dropping to the seafloor. WHY THE BARRELS WERE A GODSEND
We finally see Bruce in all his glory in the third act when he thrusts out of the water onto the stern of Quint’s trawler, the Orca. A terrified Quint slides helplessly into the mouth of the monster shark, moments before coughing up blood as the shark bites into his abdomen, signaling his demise. Even in this final act of the film, Spielberg built up to that moment when Bruce launches out of the water, by using barrels to show the speed and strength of this unseen monster. “The barrels were a godsend because I didn’t need to show the shark as long as those barrels were around. What you don’t see is generally scarier than what you do see,” Spielberg explained. In the style of Hitchcock, the music, the flotation barrels, and the POV shots demonstrated Spielberg’s mastery of cinematography and Hitchcock’s film-making tricks. A happy accident thanks to Bruce’s malfunction, maybe? Spielberg knew he could achieve suspense from the suggestion of an unseen shark and also from the reaction of the people in and out of the water. The tunneling effect shot of Chief Brody (Roy Scheider) when he realizes the shark has struck again is no accident, it was influenced by a similar tunneling effect developed by Hitchcock in Vertigo. BUDGET BUSTER TO BLOCK BUSTER
The movie overcame a troubled shoot to springboard Spielberg’s career as a master craftsman of popular entertainments. With the production budget increasing to $9 million, the $472 million taken at the box office due to it’s wide release and aggressive ad campaign helped pioneer the Hollywood model for how big–budget movies are launched into the market.  Robert with his son IanRobert
WRITER'S NOTES
In 2017, I read a drinking diary my father kept, which I found painful and very brave. I had a moustache for another role I was playing. Suddenly I realized I looked like Quint. We were the same age. So I sketched out some ideas for a play. I shoved it in a drawer, thinking it was too crazy to actually do. Many years ago, I read Carl Gottlieb's wonderful book 'The Jaws Log', and it occurred to me that there was an interesting story behind the scenes of one of cinema's most legendary movies. I mentioned it to two of my friends, David Mounfield and Duncan Henderson, who thought the idea was good enough for them to co-produce at the Edinburgh Festival. Then I spoke to a writer friend, Joseph Nixon, who also thought it had legs and could be something a lot of people would find entertaining. I always loved the film, it feels burned into my DNA. And who doesn't like a peek into a private world? So we wrote it together. The play is dedicated to the wonderful David Mounfield and Joseph's father Michael, both of whom sadly died last year. It is a farewell to them, and of course, to my amazing father. Thank you to them for all the love and laughter they gave us. - Ian Shaw (2021) |
