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Jaws

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Jaws The Rewatchables

An extraordinarily troubled shoot shaped the finished film

In the discussion (22)
Approx. transcript time · 00:31:53Read transcript
  • Spielberg reportedly paid for the Ben Gardner head reshoot in a swimming pool
  • Powdered milk and a tarp simulated murky water
  • Spielberg reportedly tried to leave for Lucky Lady before Universal blocked him
  • The shallow ocean floor at Martha’s Vineyard supported mechanical-shark retrieval
  • The crew continuously dried, repainted and repaired the shark
  • Weather, intruding boats and equipment problems repeatedly delayed shooting
  • The Orca sank with actors aboard on one occasion
  • The shoot reportedly expanded from roughly fifty days to 155
  • Spielberg reportedly left before the final shot to avoid a crew prank
  • Camera movement compensated for the horizon’s rocking
  • Shaw’s drinking, tax-related trips and hostility toward Dreyfuss are recounted
  • The mechanical shark was nicknamed Bruce after Spielberg’s lawyer
  • MythBusters reportedly challenged the exploding scuba-tank ending
  • Real shark footage used a smaller cage to alter apparent scale
  • Unexpected cage-attack footage prompted Hooper’s survival in the rewrite
  • Lee Fierro reportedly struck Scheider repeatedly because she could not fake the slap
  • Benchley reportedly objected to the ending and was removed from the set
  • A discarded Quint introduction had him mocking Moby Dick in a theater
  • Gregory Peck reportedly refused use of that film
  • Adding the head scare reduced the later shark reveal’s surprise
  • The Indianapolis speech’s authorship is unresolved among Sackler, Milius, Shaw and Gottlieb contributions
  • Shaw reportedly failed an intoxicated monologue take and returned to deliver it successfully the next day