High-Concept Goes Swimming-The Importance of JAWS

Rating: 10/10 (26 September 2000)

Attending film school for four years I had the opportunity to view several different kinds of films. There was always one film however that I always retreated to when it came to writing papers and class discussions, and that, is JAWS. JAWS has been my favorite film since I was a youngster, and it wasn't until NYU Film School that I learned the true significance of the film. JAWS may very well be considered the originator of what we know today as the "high-concept" film. In director Steven Spielberg's words, a high-concept film is one in which you can describe the whole plot and theme in less than 25 words. If you can do that, then you have a hit film. While up to this time, films generally opened in the major venues first (New York and Los Angeles), and gradually opened in more and more locations, the premiere of JAWS led to what is known as saturation opening. JAWS opened in approximately 400 theaters the weekend of July 4th, 1975. This strategy worked very well for JAWS, which grossed $7 million in its opening weekend. What also helped in the success in JAWS was the media, in TV and print form. One image dominated posters, newspapers and magazines at the time of JAWS' release, and that image featured a naked woman swimming along the surface as a huge phallic shark rises up towards her. The image was accompanied by various different tag lines, but realistically, it didn't matter what the it said-the complete image of a shark, teeth agape, rising up towards a beautiful young woman had a lasting effect on whomever saw the ad. As powerful as the print images were, music played a huge role in the promotion of JAWS. On the radio and television, composer John Williams' now-legendary "JAWS theme" was heard for the first time. The film ran throughout the summer of '75, breaking every box-office record and becoming the number one moneymaker of all time, only to be eventually ousted from that coveted spot by another Spielberg picture, E.T. In an age of overly-inflated movie ticket prices and multiple viewings, JAWS, the first high concept film that redefined and resurged a lagging Hollywood film industry back in the '70s, remains in the top twenty profit-making films of all time, and also this writer's favorite film. Thank you for the time.