Is Jaws a Horror Movie? Essay

The characteristics of different monsters from various places and eras, can easily be compared to cultural boundaries among humans being broken, established, accepted, and rejected. The article goes on to discuss the relationship between monsters and cultural lines that in the eyes of many cannot be traversed. Monsters can be considered beings with two purposes, their story, and their function or impact in historical culture (21). Difference, in the world, is often viewed as unacceptable, even at times a form of contamination. Monsters seems to fall right into that topic category when discussing cultural differences and similarities that are often found established. Boundaries such a sexual purity, gender norms, and other lifestyle implications often are crossed by monsters and their roles they take on in media, literature and other forms of entertainment. They are hiding in personal identities, cultural norms, and hidden desires from within. With that being said, perhaps it is necessary to take into account whether monsters not only symbolize differences and boundary crossing in old and existing cultures across the world, but if they also represent the desire behind those differences that influence

Monsters and the Moral Imagination by Stephen T. Asma is an exploration into why, as of recent, society has become so fascinated with monsters. Asma considers a vast amount of reasons why this surge in interest could have come along, such as; “social anxiety in the post-9/11 decade, or the conflict in Iraq” (Asma). Another possibility is even the fall of the economy that occured around December 2007.

The idea of what a monster is and how it pertains to modern day society has fascinated readers and writers for decades. Before taking this class, I was aware of what a monster is and the function it served in today’s society. Furthermore, after taking this class, I am now aware of what a monster truly is, and what really separates a monster from a regular person. The piece of text that I mainly chose to focus on and elaborate closely to demonstrate the aspects of a monster is appropriately named, Monster, by Walter Dean Myers. The reason I chose this piece of literature is because, Monster thoroughly elaborates what a monster is in todays society and how it functions in the modern day world. In this essay I will elaborate on

He gives more explanation of the pop culture refe rences, however, than he does of his more esoteric and academic precursors. This means that he expects that his audience is more familiar with the theory surrounding monsters than with m any of the pop icon monsters that have appeared throughout history. Cohen builds a strongly logica l argument that monsters are symbolic of the marginalized groups at the outer edges of c ulture, and in doing so he makes it clear that he feels his audience is well-rounded, academic , well educated and as interested in the theory of monsters as he is himself. Logos is not the only rhetorical device Cohen uses in this article, however. He also uses ethos to connect with his audience, and to differentiate bet

Monsters are challenges that the human race must overcome. In Jeffrey Cohen’s essay “Monster Culture,” Cohen reasserts the presence of the monstrous within society, and its relation to different cultures in a specific time period. All of Cohen’s seven thesis makes sensible arguments that gives the audience a glimpse on what his purpose is. Each thesis are presented differently, but Cohen correlates his ideas to explain the monster’s true existence. The convergence of intellectualism makes a strong connection between Cohen’s appeal to pathos. Cohen utilizes emotion in his writing to mainly appeal to his audience, and give them an idea on what goes on behind the monster’s identity. The final thesis “The Monster Stands at the Threshold of Becoming”

Swimming in the ocean on a beautiful beach, the sun shining, the water is the perfect temperature, you have zero worries in the world. Until you feel a bump on your leg and notice someone on shore screaming and pointing in your direction, duh dum. You bring yourself out of your reverie and notice a very large fin protruding from the water moving towards you, duhh dumm. Your heart starts racing as you frantically think of your chances of being able to swim away from this monster coming your direction with increasing speed, duh dum dum dum dum. With simple notes of a tuba, John Williams could amplify the fear portrayed in Steven Spielberg’s movie Jaws (1975). These simple notes would carry on to be a standard to symbolize something terrifying

does not know when. When the music comes to a climax a horn joins in

In both the excerpts "Jams" and "Swimming with Nightmares" by Peter Benchley, the author creates suspense in many ways. The author utilizes descriptive words, character's choices, and dangerous situations for creating suspense.

The opening scenes of the film Jaws (Steven Spielberg 1975), one of the main characters chief Martin Brody is introduced. Chief Brody is new to the town and main concern is keeping the people and the water safe. The mayor main concern at first is to keep the revenue coming in, which is keeping the beaches open for visitors. The small town Amity Island, a fictional New England town, busy season is the summer. The films primary conflict, which is a series of shark attacks in a small time frame, is what drives the film to the main turning point. However, by the end of the film we see Chief Brody’s character change drastically to achieve the town’s main goal, which is to have the beaches safe for visitors.

Suspense is a crucial ingredient in the making of horror and thriller films. The significance of suspense in horror films is to bring out the “twist or unexpected moment of realization that makes someone scream and one's heart race. In the film industry, there are various types of genre, but as different as films may seem, they all have one element that links them all together. That element is known as Mise-en-scene. Mise-en-scene is a French phrase that means “putting into the scene.” Mise-en-scene includes elements such as setting, lighting, costume, and figure movement and expression (acting).

The music represents the shark, especially its movements and its presence. In the title sequence the camera is moving along the seabed like a shark. Spielberg makes the audience believe that the camera is viewing things through the shark’s eyes, he uses a camera shot called point of view shot. The music makes the shark seem a mystery because you haven’t yet seen the shark but you can feel its presence. The music clouds your vision and makes you imagine and believe something that actually isn’t even there. It builds tension

The good thing about films is that we not only have the opportunity to choose from a wide selection of different genres, but also compare them and understand their purpose in the world. The Horror genre has used the basic principles throughout time, and as a result, films of this type have not proven to be as timeless as another genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy. At first, these two genres might at times seem similar as they have at several occasions been blended together, but their basic, common theme serves different meanings about humans. I shall compare and contrast these two genres and focus on both classic films and modern films. From the Horror genre perspective I shall discuss Psycho (1960) and The Mist (2007), while in the Science Fiction/Fantasy genre I will examine 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), and Serenity (2005). Although the Science Fiction/Fantasy genre and the Horror Genre share some similarities, the differences lie in their focus on human progress.

For centuries, stories of monsters, demons and other unholy abominations have brought fear to the hearts of audiences in commercially convenient doses. Noel Carroll, Ph.D., in his article “The Nature of Horror”, argues that the existence of monsters and supernatural entities alone do not define a horror novel or film “for monsters inhabit all sorts of stories, such as fairy tales, myths, and odysseys, that we are not wont to identify as horror” (Carroll). One can therefore infer that the absence of such creatures in either media can absolutely still yield a work in the Horror fiction genre.

Steven Spielberg, the creator of Jaws, uses many different techniques to draw in the suspense of viewers and to capture their imagination. These techniques include special effects – to create tension, different camera angles – to show facial expressions and group shots. The classic Jaws music, known by millions of people, also helps build up tension, to let us know when the shark is approaching. He uses colours, so that we can associate signs and symbols to forthcoming events, e.g. the colour red is associated with danger. We will be using all of the above devices to help analyse different parts of the film.

Jaws is a suspenseful film directed by Steven Spielberg, a well known film auteur. Within this film the director and his colleagues collaborate to introduce a variety of cinematography techniques that help portray thrill and excitement. With a combination of successful and clever editing, lighting, sound, camera positioning, and dialogue, the scenes are transformed to be very realistic and influence the viewer’s perspective as if they are there. In order to properly analyze this film, an evaluation of the narrative structure, time, space, and sound must be done. Each of these areas assist to reveal the underlying meaning to the cinematography techniques used throughout the film.