Making a mechanical great white is hard. Let’s talk about how difficult it was to make Steven Spielberg’s masterpiece, Jaws, from the never ending problems with the film’s shark, to the chaos of filming on the open ocean.

Animation by Paul Crewe (@WieverOfPassion)

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Chapters:

00:00 - Intro

00:52 - Peter Benchley’s Jaws

03:48 - Real Sharks Won’t Work

08:42 - Carl Gottlieb’s Improv-ments

10:49 - The Monkey Paw of Martha’s Vineyard

13:02 - Shooting at Sea (without a Shark)

15:28 - Endless Shark Troubles

18:20 - Boredom & Feuds

21:26 - Tempers Flare & Ships Sink

23:18 - Shutting Down Spielberg

25:13 - The Shark Works: Finishing Filming

28:58 - Verna Fields & John Williams

30:51 - Jaws releases Jun 20, 1975

34:22 - The Legacy of Behind the Scenes

Sources:

Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: https://bit.ly/4mKFuRE

Empire: https://bit.ly/47zMM6p

The Films of Steven Spielberg: https://bit.ly/45Uuv2w

Hollywood Reporter: http://bit.ly/3V8QwUY

The Jaws Log: https://bit.ly/4mmIy6V

Jaws: Memories from Martha’s Vineyard: https://bit.ly/4fB24K8

Reel Terror: https://bit.ly/4mLM9vw

Steven Spielberg: A Biography: https://bit.ly/46U6vh0

Vanity Fair: https://bit.ly/45JVe1S

Variety: https://bit.ly/46gjp7b

In The Teeth of Jaws (1997)

Jaws: The Inside Story (2010)

Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story (2025)

The Making of Jaws (1995)

The Shark Is Still Working (2007)

Spielberg (2017)

Spotlight on Location: The Making of Jaws (2000)

Featured Footage:

Finding Nemo (2003)

Jaws (1975) and special features

The Simpsons (1989- )

CBS Sunday Morning

Corridor Crew

Directors Guild of America

The Late Show

The Movie Rabbit Hole

Television Academy Foundation

Music:

Daniel Pemberton - Into the Spider-Verse OST

John Williams - Jaws OST

Ryan Hudson - Sh*t Show Theme

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