One of the greatest opening scenes ever. If I remember correctly Beach towns all across the country took a $$$ hit because of that scene/movie haha. RIP Jaws first victim.
"I didn't want an actor to do it. I wanted a stuntperson because I needed somebody who was great in the water, who knew water ballet and knew how to endure what I imagined was going to be a whole lot of violent shaking," Spielberg revealeds. "So, I went to stunts to find her, and Susan was up to the challenge."
"She had a harness on. There were two eye rings in it and wires that led to two stakes on the beach [about 50 yards away]. Five crew were on one side and five crew on the other, and they basically pulled Susan. There was a ribbon hanging from the wire, and when it got to one of the stakes, they had to stop pulling and the other team took over and pulled the other way.
"What you didn't want to have happen was for both teams to pull at the same time. For extra safety, she had the ability to quickly release the wire if something went wrong. It had to be perfectly choreographed to give the impression the shark was pulling her violently to the right and then immediately violently to the left."
'In 2017, Backlinie shared some insight into Spielberg’s vision for the scene. Speaking to The Post, she recalled the director saying: “When your scene is done, I want everyone under the seats with the popcorn and bubble gum.”
Backlinie added: “I think we did that.”
https://comicbook.com/movies/news/jaws-star-susan-backlinie-dead-at-77/
"I didn't want an actor to do it. I wanted a stuntperson because I needed somebody who was great in the water, who knew water ballet and knew how to endure what I imagined was going to be a whole lot of violent shaking," Spielberg revealeds. "So, I went to stunts to find her, and Susan was up to the challenge."
"She had a harness on. There were two eye rings in it and wires that led to two stakes on the beach [about 50 yards away]. Five crew were on one side and five crew on the other, and they basically pulled Susan. There was a ribbon hanging from the wire, and when it got to one of the stakes, they had to stop pulling and the other team took over and pulled the other way.
"What you didn't want to have happen was for both teams to pull at the same time. For extra safety, she had the ability to quickly release the wire if something went wrong. It had to be perfectly choreographed to give the impression the shark was pulling her violently to the right and then immediately violently to the left."
'In 2017, Backlinie shared some insight into Spielberg’s vision for the scene. Speaking to The Post, she recalled the director saying: “When your scene is done, I want everyone under the seats with the popcorn and bubble gum.”
Backlinie added: “I think we did that.”
https://comicbook.com/movies/news/jaws-star-susan-backlinie-dead-at-77/
