The 'Hooper In The Cage' scene from the 1975 hit film
'Jaws,' is one of the most popular scenes in the movie. It depicts one of the
main characters 'Hooper' who is trying to hunt the killer shark by going into
the water in a steel cage, armed with only a harpoon or stun stick of some
kind. Unfortunately things don't go to plan and he ends up being devoured by
Jaws instead. While this scene may not contain all the elements used within a
soundtrack, it is a perfect example of some of them.
The first sound technique used is the change in
amplitude. At roughly the 0.19 mark of the clip we can hear that the Jaws theme
is slowly getting louder and louder, increasing the tension of the scene. This
tells the audience not only that danger is right around the corner but also
that Jaws is getting closer to Hooper. The theme gets louder and louder
until we see the shark coming towards Hooper through the murky sea water. Instead
of straight away attacking, Jaws instead goes around the cage and swims out of
sight while the amplitude of the theme decreases along with the tension. The
Leitmotif decreases to a silence once again at around the 0.50 mark, leaving the
audience on the edge of their seat waiting for what happens next.
Another element used within this time frame is the Jaws
theme itself. This is called a leitmotif and is used to tell the audience about
a character when they appear without having to say a word. In this case the
leitmotif tells us that Jaws is a danger and should be feared whenever it is
around, once again building tension whenever the short musical score is played.
The next element used is an L cut. This is when the
sound from one shot carries onto the next, such as dialogue or music. The L cut
in this scene takes place around 0.25 when we cut to the scene above the water to the
other characters on the boat while the Jaws theme continues. This tells the
audience that while Hooper, who is underwater at this point, is about to
encounter the shark, the other people on the boat are completely unaware of the
danger. This three second shot can be a really simple yet powerful way of
telling the audience about how hopeless the situation is for Hooper as the other
characters won’t be able to do anything until it is too late.
The third element is the use of high and low pitch sounds
during the initial attack. While Jaws is trying to break through the cage,
almost all of the music is raised to a much higher pitch. This not only helps
shock and surprise the audience with the sudden change in pitch and volume, but
also activates a subconscious instinct deep within all humans. This is known as
the 'Fight or Flight' instinct, which back thousands of years ago, would
allow us to make split second decisions about whether we should fight the
danger or run away from it. While we may no longer use this instinct as often as we used to, it is
still part of our subconscious that can be activated with certain cues in
sound. These techniques are often used within horror movies in order to shock
the viewer further when something bad happens.
The use of low pitch is used throughout the scene but is
first used around the 0.19 mark when the leitmotif begins to play. This is used in order to tell the audience that danger is approaching. However not all leitmotifs warn of danger as they are meant to tell us about a character, and not all characters in a film are considered evil or bad.
Finally the last main element used is dissonance. This is used at 2.06 when Jaws finally breaks through the cage and attacks Hooper directly. This type of scene would normally contain screams of pain and cries for help. However considering almost this entire scene is set underwater, we are unable to hear these sounds. This is why the sudden loud dissonant sound is so effective here as it tells the audience to be scared for the character as he is in great danger and fighting for his life. The sudden shock also once again activates the fight or flight instinct.
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