The man holding the megaphone is a member of the production team putting togetherJaws.
For the then 26-year-old Steven Spielberg,Jawsis a decisive moment in his career.
It would also prove to be the most gruelling shoot of Spielbergs career.
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Jawsdefined the high-concept Hollywood picture.
It prompted a generation of moviegoers to stare out at the sea with fear and distrust.
Incredibly, it was the movies troubled production that would make it such a classic.
Spielberg wanted to pare the story back to its man versus shark foundations.
Several screenwriters took over the rewriting of theJawsscript after Benchley bowed out after finishing the third draft.
From this broiling soup of screenwriters and improvisation emerged a supremely well-written film.
Neither Lee Marvin nor Sterling Hayden wanted to play Quint, and Jon Voight didnt want to play Hooper.
Nine days before filming began, Spielberg still hadnt found actors to play Quint or Hooper.
Robert Shaw was offered the role of Quint, but he hated Benchleys novel, and said no.
Fortunately, both actors later changed their minds.
Shaw was persuaded to join the movie after both his secretary and his wife enthused about it.
If you still want to offer me that job, Dreyfuss said, Ill take it.
In essence, I came crawling to Marthas Vineyard for that part.
Unfortunately for the director, his problems were only just beginning.
We thought our careers in motion pictures had gone with it.
Everything that could go wrong with the shark went wrong.
Unfortunately, they had no idea of how to make a giant shark.
Spielberg named the shark Bruce, which was the name of his lawyer.
Years later, he would also refer to it as the great white turd.
Its not difficult to understand his hatred for his mechanical nemesis.
Before filming even began, Bruce tried to kill George Lucas.
Now jammed shut, the beasts mouth had to be prised back open to get Lucas head back out.
A portent, perhaps, of the arduous shoot ahead.
Bruce worked reasonably well on dry land, but the seawater played havoc with his complex innards.
His waterproof skin proved to be anything but, and the salt regularly corroded it.
As David Brown pointed out, Bruce also had the habit of sinking to the bottom of the sea.
Bruces misbehaviour ultimately had a positive effect on the movie, which Spielberg freely admits.
What could have been just another B-movie instead became a terrifying exercise in suspense.
Reflecting their characters on-screen enmity, Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss were frequently at loggerheads.
Shaw would say, Look at you, Dreyfuss.
You eat and you drink and youre fat and youre sloppy.
At your age, its criminal.
Why, you couldnt even do ten good push-ups.
[Shaw] was a perfect gentleman whenever he was sober.
Robert would basically humiliate Richard into taking a chance, Spielberg said.
It got ugly, Spielberg admitted.
But it was also Quint and Hooper living out that relationship as Shaw and Dreyfuss.
The malfunctioning shark and feuding actors all took their toll on the production schedule.
Principal photography was supposed to take place over 55 days, but instead, it took 159 days.
Spielberg was forced to admit that he didnt know.
With the Orca rapidly sinking, Spielberg called out, Get the actors off the boat!
Disgruntled sound engineer John Carter yelled back, Fuck the actors.
Save the sound department!
But yet again, what could have been a drawback became a benefit.
The protracted shoot also gave Spielberg time to hone the movie as he went along.
On the 6thOctober 1974,Jaws gigantic shoot finally ended.
I shall not return, Spielberg called out, as the vessel speeded him away from his 159-day nightmare.
Hes been killing people, legs have been bitten off, and theres blood all over the place!
the man yelled into his megaphone.
Right on cue, the extras rushed for the shore, screaming as they went.
From the jaws of defeat, Spielberg would pull an all-time classic.
Jaws is available to download on iTunes now.
It is also available on Blu-ray.
