How The 3D Re-Release Of Jaws Puts The Audience In The Water
There is little that can be said about Steven Spielberg's 1975 classic "Jaws" that hasn't been said already. It essentially invented the summer blockbuster as we know it, ranks as one of the greatest movies ever made, and has undoubtedly stood the test of time. But after all these years, Universal Pictures has found a new way to bring the film to life by converting it to 3D and re-releasing it in premium format theaters.
Indeed, the film has resurfaced in theaters all across the country, and with the box office really slowing down, this may be just what the doctor ordered. And let's be clear, this isn't lousy, gimmicky 3D like when "Jaws 3-D" came out back in 1983: this is the real deal. In a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, stereographer Jeremy Carroll explained what went into crafting this new version of the film. Carroll led the conversion to 3D, with direction by Spielberg. For him, it was all about making the audience feel like they were actually in those dangerous waters:
"We're enhancing the 3D by kind of bringing the water out into the audience, at the beginning of the film with Chrissy, where she's swimming. That's an intentional choice that we made to really kind of bring the audience into those shots to make you feel like you're in the water with her to up that tension."
"Jaws" is many things, and tense is one of them. So much so that it made a whole generation of people think twice before going swimming. Now imagine that in a RealD 3D theater.
Making Jaws feel bigger
Despite being one of the biggest box office hits ever, this is actually the first time that the film has been released in 3D. It's certainly not the first time one of Spielberg's classics has been presented in the format, with "Jurassic Park" getting that treatment for its 20th anniversary back in 2013. But the fact that Universal hadn't done this until now is kind of amazing.
Speaking further, Carroll explained that his intent was to make everything feel bigger. At the top of the list was the movie's baddie, Bruce the shark. It's all about making the audience feel his presence:
"It was just kind of watching the shots and playing the stereo according to the way they were shot. It was always about making the shark feel big and giving you that sense of scale and depth of the shark in the water. There's a lot of really wonderful scenes in the film where you can kind of really feel the shark underneath the water plane, but you can see all the details on top of the water and you get a really nice sense of volume and scale... We can play out the stereo to make you feel like you're really in the water with the characters and the kids that are playing. The point of view of the shark is he's swimming around, getting very close to their feet, but not quite touching."
With little else new in theaters right now to get moviegoers off the couch, experiencing an all-time classic in a fresh way might be the way to go.
The "Jaws" re-release is in theaters now.