The Shark is Still Working: The Impact and Legacy of Jaws

The Shark is Still Working (TSISW) is a three-hour long retrospective on the impact and legacy of the 1975 Steven Spielberg blockbuster Jaws.
It features interviews with a range of cast and crew from the film. It is narrated by Roy Scheider and dedicated to Peter Benchley.

Trailer

The original cast is reunited for Jaws: in 30 Seconds.

M. Night Shyamalan explains what he 'stole' from Jaws and used in Signs

Steve and Bruce (the fake shark who never worked.) This picture makes me really, really happy.

Name three ways in which the publishers of the book and the producers of the film worked together to promote Jaws. How did they know that their logo for Jaws was successful? [Include names/companies in your answer.]

Doubleday books and the Zanuck/Brown team combined forces to promote Jaws in three ways:
1. Universal built up interest in the film as hardcover sales grew with casting releases, announcement of rights purchases, and interviews with the cast of Jaws.
2. Jaws was to be premiered in theatres six months after the Bantam paperback came out, in anticipation of the beach season.
3. Zanuck and Brown sent copies of the paperback all over the country to spread interest in the film adaptation.

Bantam Books, Universal and Zanuck/Brown knew their logo (an open mouthed shark rising from the depths, threatening a female swimmer) for the paperback of Jaws was a success when the desired audience saw both the violent and sexual elements in the design. This was confirmed when 2,ooo people stood in line for a sneak preview of the film that had been advertised only with the logo.

What is “blind bidding”? Why did exhibitors object to the proposed blind bidding for Jaws? Why was the blind bidding for Jaws called off?

Blind bidding is similar to block booking, in that a studio will sell their films as a lump group, with the most desirable films clustered with those that are untested. If a film was purchased sight unseen, it was a product of blind bidding.

Exhibitors objected to the proposed blind bidding because it was an escalation in Paramount's regular distribution terms. The exhibitors would be charged to run Jaws, had to contributed money to a national televised advertising campaign, and 

Paramount had the choice of getting a 90/10 split of the box office recipts or seventy percent of the box office gross for the first four weeks.

The blind bidding was called off after the preview screening  in Dallas. The Justice Dept (which only allows each distributor to blind-bid three films a year) decided that the exhibitors who had attended the private screening now had an unfair advantage over those who had not attended. Under the stipulation that no exhibitor could view a film if it was to be blind bid later, the Justice Department collapsed the blind bidding and voided all previous bids.

How was the saturation booking and marketing of Jaws different than other Universal films (or earlier blockbusters such as The Godfather)?

Jaws was given a large advertising campaign; print ads and a three-day television blitzkrieg leading up to the premiere. Paramount also forced exhibitors into a bidding deal that was unfairly stacked against them, Paramount was so confident in the success of the film that they were willing to step all over their theatres to ensure a hit. Finally, Jaws followed the Godfather model; a wide-release opening (400 theatres!!) that differed from previous New York-LA releases. 

Week Six Q&A

Roy Sawhill

Which of Altman's stylistic techniques does Sawhill associate with 'inclusiveness?'

Altman's technique of combining fiction with fact invites the audience to believe what they choose; including them in the lie. Altman's screenwriter encouraged improvisation and the cast of Nashville also combined elements of their personal lives with their character histories. Altman skillfully blends what we know to be true with what the narrative tells us; allowing his audience active participation (inclusion) in the fact-is-fiction charade of cinema.

What does Sawhill suggest are the functions of the recurring “wires, phones, intercoms, cameras, mikes, speakers” throughout the film? 

The functions of the recording and communication devices are to comment on the ideas of fame that the characters in Nashville are pursuing. Altman shoots in studios, stages and sound booths; he casts amateur actors, and he layers the soundtrack and audio all as a metacritical commentary on the dichotomy between Nashville's gaudy exterior and gritty interior.

Noel Carroll

Carroll writes, “The number of recent films in the style-as-symbol category that revive film noir as a means of commenting on their dramatic material is legion: Night Moves ('75), Elephant Man ('80), All the President's Men (76), Taxi Driver, Hardcore, and Body Heat.” How might this also relate to stylistic choices in The Godfather, Part II? 

Certain stylistic choices in The Godfather, Part II that echo noir are; the hyper saturated brown-and-black palate (echoing the chiaroscuro of classic noir), the 'death opera' in the third act (a revenge plot that echos both the original Godfather and gangster films of the 20's and 30's), and the loss of innocence (of the Corleone family) portrayed by cross-cutting between Vito's warm, sun-drenched experiences in turn of the century New York and Michael's cold, sterile Nevada homestead. Michael is also often framed alone and aloof, a classic trope of noir films. This choice also echos the contrast between Vito's experience and Michael's-Vito has lieutenants who he is close to, while Michael has only the aging infrastructure his father left him.

Week Five Q&A

Auteur Cinema, the Film Generation, Godfather II

Martin Scorsese as a fish. Yay.

Coppola's Zoetrope Studios was similar to Roger Corman's AIP only in that Zoetrope was modelled after Corman's example. In creative output, in budget and in ultimate critical success the two studios had little in common. American International Pictures made low budget youth oriented films, as well as exploitation films. Zoetrope studios was also charged (by Warner Bros. ) to make films catering to the youth market, but instead Coppola fostered protege relationships with others of the film school generation within the studio, producing and co-scripting their films. Ultimately Zoetrope became known for expensive critical hits, such as The Godfather, American Graffiti, and Apocalypse Now.

Martin Scorsese, when contrasted with others of his generation, such as George Lucas and Steven Spielburg, certainly seems to get the short end of the stick. Scorsese flip-flopped between narrative commercial films and the world of documentaries while Lucas and Spielburg were building media empires. Despite this, Scorsese has consistently been the author behind his own films; Lucas mostly abandoned directing after the first Star Wars film, and Spielburg has struggled throughout his career to gain critical, rather than commercial praise. Scorsese also has largely been free from compromising 'his art for commercial liability.' Even his commercial studio films share common elements; the immigrant experience, violence, religious guilt. Cook suggests that in the early eighties Scorsese 'was not longer a player in the New Hollywood' because his films  opened against the gigantic blockbusters of his peers; New York, New York opened against Star Wars ( a pattern to be repeated in 1993 with  The Age of Innocence and Jurassic Park); and because the 'sadomasochistic violence' in some of his films alienated audience.

Week Four Q&A

Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway in the 1967 film, Hillary Duff in Allure Magazine, April 2008

Each sexualizing violence for a brand new generation!

Modernism

Kramer "Post Classical Hollywood" p69-75

-The bulk of Hollywood centered film criticism concentrated on the systematic critical reevaluation and close analysis of the work of a small group of Hollywood directors (for example, Hitchcock); most of whom had received training and directed many of their important films during the studio era of the 30's and 40's, working mainly in well-established groups such as westerns. This would be comparable to ignoring the 'Back-lot Amateurs' such as Tarentino and Jonez in the 90's in favor of critiquing the work of Spielberg and Coppola (Francis, not Sophia).

Murray "Hollywood, Nihilism and Youth Culture of the 1960s"

-Murray draws the following parallels between the 1930's underworld (as portrayed by the 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde) and the 1960's youth culture: an alienation of the young from the standard social conventions, the protagonists are ultimately empathetic because they are rebelling against the system, an 'unmistakable affinity between the euphoria of LSD and the kicks Bonnie and Clyde get from robbing  banks', and the image of the duo as 'rebels without a cause.'

Contemporary Hollywood Cinema p32-34

-Some of the causes of the shift from production code to ratings system were: 

      The late 60's over production cycle (too much money spent on production to turn a profit), the halt in television purchase of film (leaving the theatrical market oversupplied), a fall in exhibition profits, Supreme Court rulings declaring the rights of local governments to uphold viewing standards for motion pictures.

-The consequences of the shift from production code to ratings system were:

       Independent distributors briefly gained wider access to the domestic exhibition market (47% in 1970), the stigma of 'X' ratings (in 1960, 47% of exhibitors refused to play them), the redefinition of an 'R' rating as the age was raised from 16 to 17 so more material could be encompassed within the rating, 1970's exploitation films, the film industry moved from a 'one size fits all' audience to specific audiences and demographics based on rating.

Week Three Q&A

Warhol and the Underground

Andy Warhol says it's okay to get your friends high and then film them. 

Why was the Charles Theatre important for the development of underground film?

The Charles offered an eclectic program of mainstream musicals, foreign films, B-movies and classics. The Charles also capitalized on a 'neighborhood' feel by exhibiting local artists, concerts and late-night screenings.

What were some of the characteristics of Baudelarian Cinema?

According to Mekas' manifesto, 'opening up sensibilities and experiences never before recorded in American Arts',  contemporary reflection of the influences of Baudelaire and the Marquis de Sade, a kind of revelry in sordid prettiness. 

Which underground films encountered legal problems in 1964 and why?

Flaming Creatures-rape scenes and orgies

Un Chant d'Amour-screened as a benefit for Flaming Creatures defense fund, homosexual themes.

Scorpio Rising-The film's Halloween party sequence featured male full-frontal nudity.

Warhol's Filmmaking Career

Vinyl-Edie Sedgwick's first performance in a Warhol film

The Chelsea Girls-Warhol's biggest commercial success, played in first-run theatres

Warhol's work on Chelsea Girls;

Warhol v. Bunuel: the explosive elements of Chelsea Girls can be compared to  Bunuel's epic L'Age D'Or.

Warhol v. Hitchcock: Warhol's audience is not being manipulated to a specific conclusion,  the audience is left with an open-ended narrative

Warhol v. Godard: Warhol's direct approach may be a less sophisticated adaptation of Godard's attempts toward improvisation