Jaws Ost -1975- John Williams - Steven Spielberg Guide

When Williams first played the two-note motif for Spielberg on a piano, the director laughed. "That’s a joke, right?" Spielberg asked. Williams explained: "The motif represents the shark—primitive, instinctual, unstoppable. It starts slow, like a distant threat, and speeds up as the shark attacks."

Williams supported this by . During the famous "Chrissie’s death" scene, we hear the bass playing the motif as she is dragged underwater—but once she’s gone? Silence. During the pier scene with little Alex Kintner, the motif plays aggressively... then cuts to dead air. Jaws OST -1975- John Williams - Steven Spielberg

The "Jaws Effect" (using a rising tempo to signal an approaching threat) has been copied in everything from Jurassic Park (the T-Rex footsteps) to Dunkirk (the ticking clock). Even video games use dynamic music that speeds up as enemies get closer—a direct descendant of Williams’ innovation. When Williams first played the two-note motif for

Jaws the film gives you the fear of what you can’t see. Jaws the score gives you the sound of inevitability. It starts slow, like a distant threat, and

When you hear the title Jaws , what comes to mind first? Is it the dorsal fin slicing through the water? Roy Scheider’s weary eyes? Or is it that sound: Dun-dun. Dun-dun. Dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun.