One of my favorite scenes in Jaws is ONE SHOT.
During the scene where Brody and Hooper are trying to convince the mayor to close the beaches...the shot starts on the three men walking toward camera from a long shot and stopping in a medium three shot, with the mayor placed in between the two men, implying the squeeze he's feeling as the mayor over the recent events...
They explain how dangerous the shark is. As Hooper starts to explain how big the tooth is he pulled from the boat, he steps camera right of the mayor and alongside Brody, being placed in an over the shoulder shot with the mayor and Brody off to the side...
As the mayor asks for the tooth and starts talking about profits, Brody circles around him, much like a shark wanting to devour prey...Brody wanting to possibly bite some sense into the Mayor...
Then the mayor starts to move away from the men, who follow him, and the camera continues to track with them...the mayor getting fed up and wanting to escape....
Brody gets fed up and steps away out of frame, visually implying he's given up
but Hooper and the mayor remain in a tracking two shot, and as Hooper pleads with the mayor about the shark, the billboard advertising Amity island beach is revealed in the background, with a graffiti'd shark fin stalking a pretty girl.
The camera stops as it reaches Brody, again placing him back into the frame, as if Spielberg is saying "you can't get away, you have to deal with this, you're responsible for these people". But more interestingly, Brody is also placed against the billboard, against the water and against the shark... foreshadowing his inevitable confrontation with the creature and reinforcing his fear of water, the camera picking him back up and placing him smack dab in the middle of his fears in what is now a medium three shot, as the mayor points out the vandalism. Not only that, but Brody is placed directly on the word "welcome" in the phrase "Amity welcomes you", suggesting he is being welcomed into the ocean to face his fear...
Hooper, now fed up steps away from the men and into the background of the shot as the mayor gets closer, the camera tilting up to accommodate him, placing him in a low angle making him bigger than the other men trapped now in the lower end of the frame, very small...their positions essentially weakened by their places in the frame...Brody has stepped back with Hooper to convince him to not give up...this distance between the two men and the mayor creates tension in the frame and makes a statement about the mayor being the bigger fish and calling the shots, and also the mayor has now turned away from the billboard, implying he doesnt care about the shark, or the girl its about to devour, and in effect, the entire problem....while Brody and Hooper have gotten closer to the billboard, suggesting they do care...
Now they approach the mayor again...being also placed in the low angle with him, becoming big in the frame as well, suggesting they're stepping up to the challenge...
Hooper explains the shark being an eating machine, but now the mayor thinks he just wants to be in national geographic, so he leaves the frame, breaking the tension finally and visually implying the matter is finished...
Brody goes after the mayor, leaving the frame and leaving Hooper all alone as he steps back closer to the billboard, showing he's the only one committed to stopping this problem because the mayor doesnt want to do it, and Brody is afraid of water...
Like a master, Spielberg has told story, advanced character, and foreshadowed future events...in one single shot. He was 27 when he shot that movie. God damn. It just doesn't happen much like that anymore.
