Jaws is one of the most iconic and influential films of all time. Directed by Steven Spielberg and released in 1975, it was a landmark blockbuster that helped kick off the era of summer event movies. A key reason for its massive success was its terrifying and suspenseful water scenes with the killer great white shark. But where exactly were those memorable scenes filmed?
Martha’s Vineyard
The primary filming location for Jaws was Martha’s Vineyard, an island located south of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Spielberg chose it because it had the New England coastal town look they wanted for the fictional town of Amity Island. Scenes set on the island itself, including the beaches, harbors, and homes, were shot on Martha’s Vineyard locations such as Menemsha and Edgartown.
In the film, Amity Island faces devastation to its summer tourist season after shark attacks. The tension and panic felt by the town residents was actually mirrored by some of the real Martha’s Vineyard locals during filming. The production was disruptive to island life and traffic. But ultimately the picturesque island made for an excellent onscreen substitute for a fictional New England town.
Oak Bluffs and Edgartown
Within Martha’s Vineyard, the specific towns of Oak Bluffs and Edgartown served as locations for much of the filming. Oak Bluffs was used for scenes set in the fictional Amity town center. Locations used included the Oak Bluffs Harbor, Ocean Park, and the Flying Horses Carousel.
Edgartown stood in for waterfront areas of Amity Island. Much of the harbor area seen in the film is Edgartown Harbor. Other Edgartown locations seen onscreen are South Beach, the Waldo Point Sanctuary, and the Chappaquiddick Reservation area.
Menemsha Harbor and Beach
One of the most important and memorable locations seen in Jaws is Menemsha Harbor and Beach. It’s where scenes of the shark attacking and killing the character of Alex Kintner were filmed. Spielberg used the sparsely populated Menemsha Beach for the location as he wanted to limit crowds in the shots.
The scenes of police chief Brody watching helplessly as the boy is attacked while people slowly gather on the beach are chilling and visceral. Later in the film, Menemsha Beach also appears as the location where the shark is first spotted onshore, causing widespread panic.
The Open Ocean
In addition to filming around Martha’s Vineyard, significant scenes in Jaws were also shot far out in the Atlantic Ocean. This was necessary for complex sequences involving multiple boats and underwater footage of real sharks. Shooting on the open ocean allowed the shark’s point of view shots as it swims and stalks its prey.
The film crew spent approximately six weeks on a boat anchored out on the ocean shooting many of the movie’s tensest scenes. The boat functioned almost like a floating movie studio, serving as a base out in the water. Shooting on the actual open sea gave the water scenes a sense of scale and realism that would have been difficult to achieve otherwise.
Shooting on the Orca
An especially complex part of the ocean filming was the sequences set on the Orca boat. The Orca was commanded in the film by Captain Quint and carried Brody and Hooper on their perilous quest to kill the shark. Scenes onboard the Orca were logistically challenging as cameras and equipment had to be mounted on boats near the Orca while also capturing the ocean setting.
Cameras were placed on floating rigs near the Orca to allow for shots of the actors together and separately at different angles. Cranes were also mounted on nearby boats to get sweeping camera moves around the Orca. The rough waters added to the difficulty, but gave the Orca scenes a visceral, you-are-there feel. The sequences required extremely intricate choreography of boats and cameras on the water.
Shooting Live Sharks
An obvious necessity for Jaws was footage of live, dangerous sharks in their element. The film crew spent a great amount of time shooting real sharks, including great whites, around the waters near Martha’s Vineyard and in other coastal locations. Extensive underwater photography captured different shark behaviors and movement.
Real sharks were filmed using underwater cameras both from underwater cages and from free divers who got amazingly close to the animals. The live shark footage was integrated seamlessly into the movie’s action through editing. The combination of real shark footage and scenes with swimmers and boats made the presence of the shark in the film seem authentic and terrifying.
Chappaquiddick Island
While the fictitious Amity Island doesn’t really exist, one other important filming location for Jaws does. Parts of the underwater wreck scene between Hooper and the shark were filmed at Chappaquiddick Island, a small island located at the eastern end of Martha’s Vineyard.
In the film, the shipwreck site was where the shark unexpectedly attacks Hooper in a diving cage. The underwater wreck set was constructed off Chappaquiddick Island and provided an evocative visual backdrop for Hooper’s harrowing face-to-face encounter with the shark.
Catalina Island
While Martha’s Vineyard and the waters around Cape Cod were the primary filming sites, a few shots were captured elsewhere. Some of the long shots of the Orca traveling on the ocean were filmed off Catalina Island near Los Angeles. Using a so-called process shot, Spielberg was able to composite that footage with shots of the actual actors on a boat closer to shore.
A few underwater scenes with real sharks were also filmed at locations like Dangerous Reef off the coast of South Australia. Additional above-water shark footage came from Australia and Florida.
The Challenges of Shooting on Water
Shooting on the water presented huge challenges for the Jaws filmmakers. There were the expected complexities of transporting people, boats, cameras, and equipment out to sea locations. But the water also didn’t provide stable shooting platforms, so cameras had to be mounted in ingenious ways to minimize the pitching and rolling of boats.
Underwater filming was also extremely difficult and time-consuming. The shark cage scenes alone took weeks and ran up huge costs. And the shark itself proved problematic – the mechanical sharks built for the movie frequently malfunctioned, causing delays. This led Spielberg to limit how much they were shown, creating more suspense.
Weather also became a major factor, especially on the open ocean. Fog, rough water, and storms forced schedule changes and created physical dangers. Despite the challenges, the scenes shot on real water truly gave Jaws its memorable sense of mood and menace.
Legacy of the Filming Locations
While Martha’s Vineyard residents were initially wary of the production’s presence, the enormous success of Jaws transformed the island into a tourist destination. Even 46 years later, locations seen in the movie have become landmarks and must-see sights for fans of the film visiting Martha’s Vineyard.
Specialized Jaws tours take groups around the island and out on the water. You can see Menemsha Harbor where the boy was killed, the lighthouse warning of a shark sighting, and sit on the famous fictional Amity beach. Locals have come to appreciate the tourism dollars brought in by Jaws’ popularity.
So while Martha’s Vineyard represents the idyllic, tranquil island town seen on screen, its real-life identity has been forever altered by its role in the most significant shark movie of all time. It’s now an iconic filming location as inextricably linked to Jaws as Amity Island itself.
Conclusion
Jaws stands as one of the greatest blockbuster hits and a pioneering summer popcorn movie. Its enormous success was built on its terrifying and unforgettable water sequences with the marauding shark. Filming those scenes in real open water settings was incredibly complex but pivotal in establishing the movie’s sense of suspense and terror.
The locations around Martha’s Vineyard, especially Menemsha Harbor and Beach, provided the quintessential New England island town backdrop. Footage shot far out on the Atlantic Ocean and underwater enabled the visual integration of live shark footage. Despite huge challenges, the filming on the water made Jaws viscerally immediate and real.
Those iconic filming sites are still embraced today as part of the lasting Jaws legacy. Nearly half a century later, the locations remain indelibly linked to one of cinema’s most important blockbusters. Jaws fundamentally changed the film industry and launched the summer event movie trend. And it was the brilliant use of key filming sites, especially the waters off Martha’s Vineyard and the Atlantic Ocean, that contributed enormously to its massive, enduring impact.