Behind-the-Scenes: Shark Cage Attack scene in Jaws

As part of my Behind-the-Scenes look at Steven Spielberg’s films, I decided to write up another brief inside look at a scene in Spielberg’s pioneering blockbuster Jaws.

It is widely known that throughout the film a robotic, mechanical shark was used. However, in order to help “legitimize” the film a bit, Spielberg and his crew desired real sharks to be shot in the film as well. As a result, experienced shark photographers Ron and Valerie Taylor were hired to shoot some shark footage off the coast of Australia.

The scene to be shot with the real sharks involved the killer shark in the film attacking the cage Hooper (Richard Dreyfus) was in. However, unsurprisingly, a problem soon presented itself. The sharks that were being filmed off of Australia were only 14 feet in length, compared to the estimated 26 foot long killer shark in the film. To resolve the issue, the shark cage was scaled down in order to make the live action sharks appear larger. Also, a small dummy and later a small person (a midget) was placed in the cage (Making of Jaws).

Soon another problem arose. Even with tempting them via bait, the sharks did not attack the cage. A week went by as Ron and Valerie unsuccessfully tried to film an attack scene. One day, however, a large shark swam over top of the cage and became entangled in the cables. Valerie Taylor quotes, “And when a shark is trapped, it goes crazy…and Ron was filming underwater, and actually that’s how we got that footage and they used it” (Making of Jaws).

The entangled shark that was captured on film by Ron Taylor. Although no one was in the cage at the time, the footage was deemed so good that it was put in the final cut of the film.

After the incredible footage was captured, however, Ron and Valerie realized that no one was in the cage at the time. Spielberg, however, liked what was filmed and (not really having anything else to work with) put the footage in the final film. Due to no one being in the cage at the time of the “attack”, the script for Jaws was re-written so that the character of Hooper (originally killed off) would live by hiding on the ocean floor. 

Written by Anthony Watkins

WORKS CITED
Jaws. Screenplay by Peter Benchley and Carl Gottlieb. Dir. Steven Spielberg. Prod. David Brown and Richard B. Zanuck. 1975. Special Edition Blu-Ray. Universal Pictures, 1975.

Here is the shark attack scene on Hooper in Jaws. Notice that both the robotic shark and the live action shark were used for the scene. The robotic shark was used for the initial hit on the cage and for trying to get at Hooper. The footage at 1:52-1:54 is the footage shot by Ron Valerie. In the later shots, the camera switches between the robotic and live-action sharks. You will probably be able to tell the difference.