What's the significance of the shooting star in Jaws?

What's the significance of the shooting star in Jaws? - Free stock photo of blue, cloud, clouds

In the movie Jaws, during the night/early morning scene where Hooper, Quint and Chief Brody encounter the great white shark (when the shark begins pounding on the boat), just after the shark goes away there's a shooting star in the corner of the scene, and it's shown twice.

What was the significance of this "shooting star"?



Best Answer

There was actually no significance to the shooting star in the movie. It was just a happy accident that was captured on film according to the 1995 documentary The Making of Steven Spielberg's Jaws. This site explains it in more detail:

Ironically, Spielberg’s first cinematic shooting star occurred accidentally rather than by design. In the final act of Jaws, a shooting star can be seen during one of the night sequences, when Brody is loading his gun. However, this wasn’t a special effect. According to the 1995 documentary ‘The Making of Steven Spielberg’s 'Jaws’’, the shooting star occurred naturally, and Spielberg and his crew just happened to be in the right place at the right time to capture it.

Apparently, this happy accident turned into somewhat of a theme in future Spielberg movies involving shooting stars:

A happy accident it may have been, but it sparked off a reoccurring theme. Along with Close Encounters and Jaws, shooting stars can also be seen in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn. Some have also suggested they’re visible in Hook and Saving Private Ryan, but so far I haven’t been able to find any clear-cut evidence for either.




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What was the thing in the sky in Jaws?

In summary, contrary to what the mythology might be, there is no way those two shooting stars you see in "Jaws" were real-life shooting stars photographed in-camera during filming. Those shots contain animated effects work to simulate shooting stars.

Did they film a shooting star in Jaws?

The shooting stars in Jaws aren't the only streaking lights to cameo in a Spielberg film. Spielberg's dad, Arnold Spielberg, woke the future film director when he was a child and took him to a hill that was packed with people looking skyward, where they witnessed a spectacular meteor shower.

Who was supposed to star in Jaws?

Nine days before the start of production, neither Quint nor Hooper had been cast. The role of Quint was originally offered to actors Lee Marvin and Sterling Hayden, both of whom passed. Zanuck and Brown had just finished working with Robert Shaw on The Sting, and suggested him to Spielberg.

Who was the girl who died at the beginning of Jaws?

Chrissie Watkins was the first reported shark victim of many that were attacked by a rogue Great White Shark during the infamous Amity Incident. Her death is the most famous and well-known scene in the Jaws franchise.



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Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

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