Spielberg Page #2

---

It was one nightmare,

worst-case scenario

after the other.

I didn't think

we'd ever finish.

I had just assumed

I'd be fired off the picture.

We were isolated

in the middle of the ocean,

12 miles offshore,

and it was technology

over art every single day.

We'd get a shot,

art was there,

but you couldn't recognize

the art from the effort.

Just trying to hold

a whole movie story

in my head

is a very lonely thing,

because nobody can really

help me with that.

I have to see it

before I film it.

And that's why

it was so scary on "Jaws"--

when I couldn't see it

until I finally did.

Just before I went off

to make "Jaws," I got to meet

Henry Hathaway.

He was kind of

a tough-guy director,

and he said,

"There's gonna be moments

where you're gonna

get to the set

and you're not gonna know

what the hell you're doing.

It happens to all of us.

You've gotta

guard that secret

with your life.

Let no one see

when you're unsure

of yourself.

Hide that

from everybody,

or you'll lose

the respect of everyone."

Man:

Marker.

- Man #2:
Good blood.

- Spielberg:
And... ready?

- And action, Roy.

- Slow ahead.

I can go slow ahead.

You ought to come down

and ladle some of this sh*t.

Spielberg:

And down.

Absolutely everything

was falling apart.

The first time

we tested the shark,

it sunk.

It would come up

out of the water and go...

( vocalizing )

Like that.

Spielberg:

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.

Bring it around

after him!

Spielberg:

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,

and the script was filled

with "shark."

Shark here, shark there,

shark everywhere.

The movie doesn't have

very much shark in it.

( boat engine starting )

John Williams:

If the shark had been

available visually,

it might have changed

the whole psychology

of the experience.

( music playing )

Williams:

When you hear,

"boom-boom, boom-boom,"

you've already been

conditioned to think that's

when the shark is present.

When the shark is far away,

it's very faint.

When the shark is just about

to attack, it's very close

and it's very loud.

Williams:
We can advertise

the shark's presence

or his attitude

by how we manage

these notes,

just very few notes.

Dreyfuss:

You are in a state of anxiety

without seeing a shark.

It just scares the crap

out of you.

Charlie,

take my word for it!

Don't look back!

Swim, Charlie!

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes