Restored Isolated Score/Thematic Breakdown: JAWS

[Holko 9,499]

[Fabulin 3,510]

Quote

The Post?

[Faleel 5,340]

3 hours ago, Albus Percival Wulfric said:

The Post?

Jaws!

[Edmilson 7,395]

Yeah, it appears to be Jaws indeed.

[Holko 9,499]

The game is up!

Yes, it is. I just thought of this silly idea of doing a teaser using none of the recogniseable musical material but instead the poor constant butt of jokes - and it was fun to do!

 

 

Alright then.

Next one!
Here October turned back into summery weather after the end of September trailed off, so my "Jaws would be great to do in summer" comment holds up  . Score first, edit movie to it. Here not only were there microedits and unused cues, but due to the age and analogue nature of the material I even had to take different running speeds into consideration for a few tracks.

While writing the commentary it came to mind that Jaws does not have an official or community thematic catalogue as such, that's not necessarily an oft discussed nature of the score - partially because many of them that come up in the second half only have very loose associations. I did not even try to force them to, I gave them plotwise generic but descriptive names (i.e. not plot or character-relevant ones like Brody's theme or Quint's theme) and observe when they show up.

 

They are:
- Shark A: the famous low two-note ostinato.
- Shark B: often just 3 rising notes to accompany A, but has a fuller form too.
- Calm Sea: perhaps more of a setting for strings, a recurring one nevertheless.
- Determined Crew: Like the name suggests, determined strings for the crew's various efforts to succeed in their mission. At first I named it Determined Quint but it grows to cast its net wider.
- Orca: A sea shanty-like melody appearing in various guises from anticipatory to deflated to optimistic. The one motif beside the Sharks that could be given a clearer association, partly because Mike mentions an Orca theme in the booklet, partly because it's reused in Jaws II in "Finding the Orca".
- Jolly Hornpipe: An optimistic rising melody.
- Heroic Hornpipe: Close enough to the Jolly Hornpipe that you can confuse the two but definitely different enough with descending parts and a less elaborate ending that you can tell them apart once you catch on.
- What makes matters more confusing is that the last 3 are all just the A melody - they all share a Triumph Extension B part between them, any of them can be continued with it. What's even more confusing is in the movie only Orca and HH get it, JH only gets it in the OST version of Out to Sea and the later concert piece "Out to Sea/Shark Cage Fugue", getting further development in both. It's a further thing to unify the crew and tie the thematic catalogue together, but it can also make it harder to tell them apart.

 

Part 1

 

 

1m1 Jaws Main Titles introduces Shark A and Shark B. It fits, of course.

 

 

1m3 The First Victim elaborates more on Shark A. One of the shots of Chrissie hanging onto the buoy was shortened, the quiet ending is unused. Interesting choice on scoring the bell!

 

 

1m5 Remains on the Beach fits nicely. Note how the music seems to be sighing with Brody.

1m6s The Typewriter - best cue of the score.

 

 

2m2 The Empty Raft has a bit more Shark A and Shark B. Its end is unused and was shortened by quite a bit. Again a lot of interesting choices - the pull-zoom shot, or scoring the panic, but not when the screams would drown it out anyway.

 

 

3m1 The Pier Incident starts with Shark B as Brody looks at the images, then changes to Shark A for the action.

 

 

4m1r Father and Son fits.

 

 

5m1 The Alimentary Canal is unused but fits. When Hooper shows Brody his estimate for the jaw size based on the bites on the body, Shark B plays.

 

 

5m2/6m0 Ben Gardner's Boat fits in my opinion, even though it seems it's just barely microedited in the film somewhere. When Hooper finds the tooth, Shark B plays. A pattern seems to be emerging, B for the more indirect looming threat and references, A for the direct presence and threat, fin coming towards you and all that jazz.

 

 

6m1 The Montage fits.

 

 

7m1 Into the Estuary gives us more variations on Shark A and B, but also introduces Calm Sea at the end when Brody looks out on it. Had to be split in one place, and it was obvious where: Spielberg said in the docu the one shot the censors told him to shorten was the leg falling down, bouncing, then settling. Note how JW scores Brody's rising tension, the blood bubbling up, and the "flyby" shot.

[Fabulin 3,510]

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[Holko 9,499]

Part 2

 

 

 

8m2 Out to Sea fits nicely. So far, even if memorable, the score was very single-minded, if not exactly monothematic - but now it opens right up, here premiering an unsure half-Orca and the Jolly Hornpipe.

 

 

8m3/9m0 Tug on the Line - Shark A is back in a very subdued form, but we're also introduced to light forms of Determined Crew and Heroic Hornpipe, then we finish with Calm Sea again. Middle part unused, had to add more silences to the end.

 

 

9m1/10m0 Man Against Beast is the showstopper centerpiece and is appropriately thematically rich. Shark A and B pop up often or provide the spine of the whole thing, but the latter also appears in a unique evolved form at when the shark is properly revealed as it swims by. Early on we get a deflated Jolly Hornpipe, then a Determined Crew after the initial shock leaves, with Jolly Hornpipe laid over its first reprise, brass and woodwinds taking DC over from the strings later. A quick dialogue between Jolly Hornpipe, Orca and Heroic Hornpipe follows soon, until Quint gives the cue a big jolt of determined drive with Heroic Hornpipe and Orca, soon transforming into a Shark A-like part that gives way to Determined Crew and ultimately Shark A and B. The next thematic moment comes as the tied barrel successfully floats off, with Heroic Hornpipe transforming into the unique Korngoldian Fanfare, then leading it down into an intentionally unsatisfactory ending and echoing some more times when the shark submerges. The film ran faster than the Intrada, had to slow it down a tad to bring it back up to sync.

 

 

11m1 Quint's Tale fits nicely, only the occasional Shark B being thematic here.

 

 

11m3 Brody Panics showcases some more action Shark A/B.

 

 

11m4 Barrel Off Starboard again has more Shark A, a Calm Sea interlude and more Shark A with a single Shark B. The ending is looped in the movie and extended by Wild Shark Theme.

 

 

11m5/12m0 Great Chase starts with an introduction of Shark A+Determined Crew and an uncharacteristic Shark B variant, but quickly moves away into unique material that dominates it all the way through, with interjections from Heroic Hornpipe with the Triumph Extension and a violent Shark A/B pair.

 

 

12mX Shark Tows Orca uses a slow inverted Shark A. Unused, fits I assume.

 

 

12m1 Three Barrels Under features a not so jolly Jolly Hornpipe aside from Shark A and B. It's partly unused but almost fits, had to stretch it a bit.

 

 

14m4Rev Quint Thinks It Over starts with Determined Crew and transitions to Spanish Ladies. Shortened in the film but fits.

 

 

13m1 Work Montage is an extended showcase of Determined Crew, with Heroic Hornpipe opening it and coming in to support a couple times, Orca helping transition it to the less active second half.

13m2 The Shark Approaches is a pure Shark A.

13m3 Shark Hits the Cage features nothing thematic aside from a Shark A. This is another cue where the film was running faster just enough to noticeably go out of sync so I had to slow it back down.

 

 

14m1 Quint Meets His End features unique material over Shark A. It's unused, had to stretch the middle twice.

14m2 Blown to Bits leads to quiet Orca statements after a unique start and Shark A, then A comes back and Determined Crew takes over for Brody's shooting attempts. Opening unused. Had to remove the shots of Brody hitting the shark with the tank before throwing it in its mouth and trim one of him aiming.

 

 

14m3 End Titles stats with the Triumph Extension, then an Orca with the TE, finishes with a satisfying Calm Sea. It fits, though looped in the film.

 

[Holko 9,499]

Bonus

 

 

Main Title alternate - no comment

 

 

Man Against Beast alternate - no comment

 

 

Great Chase alternate - no comment

 

 

From Bad to Worse - Instead of Determined Crew and Spanish Ladies, this earlier alternate includes Shark B and Jolly Hornpipe.

 

 

Quint Meets His End alternate interestingly not only features an extended opening and more of the piercing winds, but also plays Shark B in multiple forms. Not sure about *all* of the opening but the rest fits to the same cut as the main program version.

 

Still confused about the themes a bit, struggling to lock onto one or differentiate some of them? Here's my breakdown I did for myself to help enumerate and name them and the commentary. Since most cues are simple thematically, I didn't collect timestamps everywhere, just in bigger cues like Man Against Beast. Only included those OST statements that are not a rerecording of the already mentioned film version statements.

Spoiler

Shark A
------------------------------
* Jaws Main Title
* First Victim
* The Empty Raft
* The Pier Incident
* Into the Estuary
* Tug on the Line
* Man Against Beast
* Brody Panics
* Barrel Off Starboard
* Great Chase
* Shark Tows Orca slow inverted climbing down
* Three Barrels Under
* The Shark Approaches
* Shark Hits the Cage
* Quint Meets His End
* Blown to Bits
------------------------------
Shark B
------------------------------
* Jaws Main Title (tuba, woodwind)
* The Empty Raft (harp, clarinet)
* The Pier Incident (woodwinds)
* The Alimentary Canal (brass)
* Ben Gardner's Boat (brass)
* Into the Estuary
* Tug on the Line
* Man Against Beast
* evolved form in Man Against Beast 0:57
* Quint's Tale
* Brody Panics
* Barrel Off Starboard
* Great Chase (including 0:32 uncharacteristic)
* Three Barrels Under
* From Bad to Worse
* Blown to Bits
- Quint Meets His End alternate
------------------------------
Orca
------------------------------
* Out to Sea opening
* Man Against Beast 2:05
* Man Against Beast 2:37
* Shark Cage Fugue 1:09
* Blown to Bits 0:21, 0:53
* End Title 0:35
* OST Main Title
------------------------------
Jolly Hornpipe
------------------------------
* Out to Sea middle
* Man Against Beast 0:21
* Man Against Beast 1:28
* Man Against Beast 1:59
* Three Barrels Under 1:37 not as jolly
* From Bad to Worse
------------------------------
Heroic Hornpipe
------------------------------
* Tug on the Line 1:35
* Man Against Beast 2:09
* Man Against Beast 2:34
* Man Against Beast 3:52
* Great Chase 1:02
* Shark Cage Fugue 0:00 and supporting
------------------------------
Triumph Extension
------------------------------
* Great Chase 1:09 (Heroic Hornpipe)
* End Title 0:08 (on its own)
* End Title 1:11 (Orca)
* OST Out to Sea (Jolly Hornpipe)
* OST Sea Attack Number One ending (Heroic Hornpipe)
------------------------------
Determined Crew
------------------------------
* Tug on the Line middle
* Man Against Beast 1:11
* Man Against Beast 2:55
* Great Chase 0:02
* Quint Thinks It Over
* Shark Cage Fugue 0:04
* Blown to Bits 1:42
------------------------------
Calm Sea
------------------------------
* Into the Estuary
* Tug on the Line
* Barrel Off Starboard
* End Title underlying, finale
------------------------------

 

 

[Jay 37,319]

Wow looks great, can't wait to find time to watch this

[Romão 2,274]

Fantastic job, really brings home how accomplished this score is.

 

Am I the only one that is constantly reminded of the opening of Vaughan Williams' Symphony 2: A London Symphony, when listening to the Calm Sea theme?

[JohnnyD 1,221]

Cool!

[JohnnyD 1,221]

I love revisiting this, especially after seeing the film in 4k with DTS 7.1 surround sound. Then again, I love revisiting the film with just the Maestro's music after seeing all the films in which he has done the music. Granted, only a selection of films have had isolated score video series here so far, but you know what I mean.

[JohnnyD 1,221]

I wanted to revisit these videos; very well done.

[Bespin 8,480]

I'm currently downloading the videos to listen to them on my TV. It's a bit annoying to download them one by one, but it's worth it. Thanks!