Jaws 3D par Romain Néophyte

Vous êtes de plus en plus nombreux à souhaiter comprendre le principe de l’ Electronic Compositing. N’ayant pas les compétences requises pour vous pondre un article complet sur le sujet, je vous invite à lire les propos du chef de PSE parus dans les pages du magazine Fantastic Films (déjà chroniqué ici). Une interview où Chuck Comisky en profite pour donner son avis sur le résultat final… De quoi relancer la polémique!

« Basicaly it works this way: you film the foregrounds, film the backgrounds, and transfer these to videotape, then use what we call the Ultimatte for the actual compositing, then transfer the resultant product back to film. But I think there’s only one Electronic composite left in the final film. We knew there was going to be virtually no post production time on the film and that the shots were going to require 4 different levels of compositing, consisting of an extreme foreground, a close midground, a midground, and then a background. On top of that we had to contend focal lengths between both the left and right eyes and also colorblindness. Nothing looks worse than a foreground object that is miscolored, a perfect example is Jaws 3D, where some of the effects look like they were just tacked on to the screen: when they float a bone out into the audience it’s a nice 3-D effect, but it doesn’t look like it’s part of the film. With the video, we were able to look at the 3-d while we were compositing and we could « tweek it » fine tune it, and make all the blends. John Muto our Art Director was able to go down to the lab and make sure all the colors blended and the saturations were matching from element to element. That way we were able to save weeks and bucks by being able to get it done right the first time, and not have to redo it.

Praxis, the other effects house which worked on Jaws 3-D, was handed the problem of taking the electronic stuff and doing it over on film. There was just no way they could get it all done in time. From my viewpoint, it was not a wise decision to go with the film opticals since I don’t think they turned out that good. That may be a terrible thing to say but the people who work for PSE are very talented and I’m very proud of the work they did. They busted their butts and we were all so disappointed. »

Qui aurait pu prédire qu’un petit site français entièrement consacré à Jaws 3D puisse un jour obtenir la participation des principaux responsables de ce classique du cinéma de genre? A part moi, pas grand monde! C’est donc au culot que j’ai contacté le scénariste (et réalisateur du génial Caveman) Carl Gottlieb m’attendant à essuyer un énième refus. Il faut savoir que 70% de mes demandes d’interviews se soldent par un échec… A la surprise générale, l’interprète du légendaire Meadows des Dents de la mer a accepté sans la moindre hésitation, ne s’attendant certainement pas à recevoir des questions aussi…pointues! Autant dire que vous allez apprendre des tonnes de choses! Comme d’habitude, je vous déconseille d’utiliser la traduction automatique (DON’T USE GOOGLE TRANSLATION) et je vous prie d’excuser mon niveau d’anglais faiblard… Bonne lecture et encore merci à Mr Gottlieb!

1/ In the movie, Lou Gossett Jr call Fred (the technician) “nephew” . This word is missing in the Final shooting script (September 20, 1982) . Is it an ad-lib? Is Fred really Calvin’s nephew?  I WASN’T THERE WHEN THE SCENE WAS SHOT, SO I CAN’T SAY FOR SURE IT WAS AN AD LIB, BUT I’M PRETTY CERTAIN IT  WAS. « FRED » ISN’T REALLY A NEPHEW (TO MY KNOWLEGE), BUT THE LINE EXPLAINS ANOTHER BLACK FACE (BESIDES MR. GOSSETT) IN THE ALL-WHITE CONTROL-ROOM STAFF ENVIRONMENT.

2/ Some people argue that Jaws 3D deals with revenge. Do you agree with that? For me, it’s not the baby shark’s death who push the Mother shark to attack the undersea kingdom visitors. It’s Calvin’s fault who have given the order to shut the pump down (where the animal was hidden).  YOU HAVE IT EXACTLY RIGHT. THE SHARK NEEDS A FREE RANGE, AND WHEN THE PUMPS ARE SHUT DOWN, IT GETS ANGRY.

3/  Could you tell me more about the stand-off game? Does this game really exist? ABSOLUTELY. I ADDED THAT TO THE SCRIPT FROM MY OWN EXPERIENCE; IT’S A GAME PLAYED IN COLLEGE AND IN THE ARMY, WHERE YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN ENJOY THE PHYSICAL AND MENTAL CHALLENGES. A GAME OF SKILL, NOT STRENGTH.

4/ The Castellari’s movie Great White (a Italian Jaws rip-off from 1982) have some similarities with Jaws 3D. At the end of this poor movie, a dead man with a bomb on him (like the corpse of FitzRoyce) is used to kill the shark by the hero. Were you aware of that? NO, I WASN’T. I DON’T RECALL THE « GREAT WHITE » MOVIE EVEN PLAYING IN THE U.S. MARKET. IF IT DID, IT  WAS A LOW-BUDGET RELEASE, NOT IN MANY THEATERS.

5/ Some people from the gay community speak a lot about the “relationship” between Jack Tate & Philip FitzRoyce. Tell us the truth! NO GAY SUBTEXT WAS INTENDED. TATE WAS SIMPLY A LOYAL SUBORDINATE, A HELPER. IN THE ORIGINAL « JAWS, » QUINT HAD A MATE NAMED « HERSHEL, » WHO DISAPPEARED IN MY REWRITE (HE CAN BE SEEN IN A FEW SHOTS, WITH A LITTLE DOG). THIS WAS LIKE THAT. FITZROYCE WAS THE ARISTOCRATIC PUBLICITY-SAVVY « ARTISTE, » AND  JACK TATE WAS THE COMMON WORKER WHO DID HIS GRUNT WORK. THEIR COMMON BOND IS THE RELATIONSHIIP OF MEN WHO HAVE FACED CHALLENGES AND HARDSHIPS TOGETHER AND WON.

6/ I really love the dialogues of Jaws 3D. My favorite one is the “Just Throw it in my eyes, it’ll work faster” of John Putch.  I think about it every morning! The dialogue in Jaws 3D are funny, all the characters are believable… how do you judge the quality of these dialogues? Who is your favorite character in the movie? I REALLY LIKED JOHN PUTCH & LEA, SO THEY GOT A LOT OF GOOD LINES. AND I LOVED LOU GOSSETT, AND TRIED TO MAKE HIM A GOOD MAN AT HEART, BUT COMMITTED TO BUSINESS SUCCESS AT ALL COSTS. I ALWAYS TRY TO CREATE CHARACTERS WHO HAVE PURPOSE AND COMMITTMENBT TO SOME IDEAL: BESS ARMSTRONG IS AN ENVIRONMENTALIST, DENNIS QUAID IS A TECHNOCRAT, PUTCH AND THOMPSON ARE FUN-LOVING YOUTHS WHO ENJOY THEIR PHYSICALITY AND SEXUALITY, GOSSETT IS THE SOUL OF MODERN COMMERCIALISM, EMPLOYING TECHNOLOGY AND CROWD PSYCHOLOGY TO MAXIMIZE PROFITS.

7/ Your script contains a scene (the bumper boat scene) where a man is eaten by the shark. This death no more exists in the movie. Universal has asked you to alleviate some violence in the movie for the PG rated or Sea World did not want that any fictional Sea World visitor could be deadly hurt in Jaws 3D? I THINK THE DECISION WAS THE STUDIO’S– SEA WORLD DIDN’T HAVE MUCH INPUT ONCE THEY REVIEWED SOME VERSION OF THE SCRIPT (NOT MINE), AND APPROVED, OR « SIGNED OFF » ON THE PROJECT. THE RATINGS ARE HUGELY IMPORTANT, BECAUSE ANYTHING MORE  RESTRICTIVE THAN « PG 13 » PUTS LIMITS ON THE FILM’S POTENTIAL AUDIENCE, THEREBY AFFECTING ITS COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL IN EXHIBITION.

8/ How many years between the events of Jaws 2 and Jaws 3D? More than the five years between the releases of Jaws 2 (1978) and Jaws 3D (1983) I guess… Is this small inconsistency has hampered you in the writing of the script (the characters who grown faster that the audience). I TRIED TO  BE CORRECT IN MY CHRONOLOGY… IN « JAWS 2, » THE BRODY BOYS ARE TEENAGERS, THEN 5 OR 6 YEARS LATER, THE OLDER ONE HAS FINISHED ENGINEERING SCHOOL AND HAS  BEEN WORKING IN  THE FIELD, WHILE MIKEY,THE YOUNGER BROTHER, IS NOW IN COLLEGE. DENNIS QUAID DOES SEEM TO  HAVE AGED FASTER, I AGREE. BUT THAT’S CASTING, NOT WRITING.

9/ Do you feel as Jaws 3D is a bit of a science fiction movie, a futuristic movie (submarine where you can speak underwater, complex room) ?  WE EXTRAPOLATED FROM WHAT WAS ALREADY THE REALITY OF THE SEA WORLD AMUSEMENT PARK IN ORLANDO, FLORIDA, WHERE THE FILM WAS SHOT. IN THAT REGARD, IT WAS A LITTLE LIKE SCIENCE FICTION. ESSENTIALLY, WE FIGURED OUT WHAT ELEMENTS COULD BE BELIEVABLY ADDED TO MAKE IT A SPECIAL PLACE.

10/  A last thing… Let us dream… Jaws the revenge is a bad movie. Back in the 80’s If you had the opportunity to write or make Jaws IV. What kind of story for the sequel? Do you reused the characters of the third? IF I WAS TO DO A JAWS SEQUEL, I’D STAY WITH THE SHARK AND THE NORTHEAST COAST OF NORTH AMERICA. I WOULD ABANDON THE BRODY FAMILY, AND  DEVISE A NEW SET OF CHARACTERS WHO WOULD HAVE TO COPE WITH THE ELEMENTAL FORCE OF THE GREAT WHITE.

THE CONCEPT OF A DANGEROUS PREDATOR WHO CAN OVERCOME INEFFECTUAL HUMAN BEINGS IS THE BASIS OF ALL HORROR FILMS, AND THE HUMAN’S INTELLIGENCE AND COOPERATION IS ESSENTIAL TO THEIR VICTORY. IT IS THE MIRACLE (AND CURSE) OF EVOLUTION THAT PUNY PRIMATES CAN CHALLENGE A MONSTER AND WIN. AS THEY SAID IN THE 19TH CENTURY, « GOD CREATED MEN, BUT IT WAS SAMUEL COLT WHO MADE THEM EQUAL. » (COLT WAS THE INVENTOR OF THE FIRST SUCCESSFUL COMMERCIAL REPEATING PISTOL, A FIREARM THAT « EQUALIZED » THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A SKILLED SWORDSMAN OR ARISTOCRAT WITH A FINE WEAPON, AND A COMMONER WITH A GUN THAT COULD FIRE MULTIPLE SHOTS WITHOUT RELOADING.)IT’S NOT BRUTE STRENGTH THAT PUT HUMANS AT THE TOP OF THE FOOD CHAIN, IT’S OUR ABILITY TO DEVISE CLEVER MECHANICAL »FORCE MULTIPLIERS » TO OUTWIT, OUTFIGHT, AND OUTRUN OUR PREY, AND DEFEAT LARGER, BETTER-EVOLVED PREDATORS.

AT THE SAME TIME, THE BY-PRODUCTS OF  THAT TECHNOLOGICAL EVOLUTION (C02, TOXIC AIR AND WATER DEPLETION, ETC.) THREATEN US WITH OUR OWN EXTINCTI0N, IN  WHICH CASE… THE LAST SHARK IN THE WATER WINS!

Merci à Carl Gottlieb! J’espère avoir un jour l’occasion de lui poser une autre série de questions!!! Soyons optimistes!

« Romain, je suis tombé sur ton site tout à fait par hasard… En effet, je suis un grand fan du Staying Alive de Sylvester Stallone. Ma question est simple: penses-tu nous parler d’un énième magazine avec Travolta en couverture?  » Malheureusement oui, mon bon ami. Voici donc un exemplaire de Z datant du mois de juillet 1984. Un exemplaire qui m’a coûté une fortune! Forcément, je vois Jaws 3 sur une couverture et je sors ma carte bleue! Une vache à lait, je vous dis… Et bien, comme d’habitude, c’est la déception à la lecture de ce torchon vintage. Z c’est un vulgaire programme télé. Une vingtaine de pages couleurs pour annoncer aux ricains la liste des merveilles qu’ils pourront visionner sur le câble: Krull, Octopussy, Smokey and the bandit 3… et l’incontournable Jaws 3 de Joe Alves. L’article sur cette première diffusion 2D mondiale aurait mérité un peu plus de place que cette misérable demi-page pauvrement illustrée.

Photo pas très excitante, fiche technique succincte et critique peu informative (on y parle vaguement de Jaws 3 people 0) sont donc au programme. Seul truc vaguement sympathique: le logo du film coloré en bleu. Non, mais franchement, j’ai dépensé 30 euros pour ça? Pour un logo bleuté? D’un côté, ce Z aurait pu cacher une photo inédite du tournage ou l’interview d’Alan Landsburg… On sait jamais. Mais bon, là, franchement… Je commence à saturer. Si ça continue comme ça, je laisse www.jaws-3d.com en jachère et je me lance sur un blog consacré entièrement à Staying Alive…

Comme vous vous en doutiez, je n’ai pas eu la chance d’assister à la projection du DCP de Jaws 3D en compagnie de trois des principaux responsables: Joe Alves, Carl Gottlieb et Rupert Hitzig. Déjà, le vol Metz-Hollywood coûte un oeil! Et puis, quand il s’agit d’avion, je rentre en mode Barracuda from the A-Team! Seule solution pour vous tenir au courant de l’actualité Jaws 3D: piller les articles parus sur internet à gauche, à droite (en particulier celui du journaliste Ben Kenber)! C’est peut-être pas très glorieux mais c’est toujours mieux qu’un coup de pied aux fesses! Alors, est-ce que nos trois intervenants se sont montrés bavards? Une chose est sûre, la question de la très mauvaise réception critique de ce troisième volet il y a 30 ans n’a pas été abordée pendant ce Q&A. Mauvais point.

Impossible de parler de ce Jaws 3D sans faire référence au National Lampoon’s JAWS 3 PEOPLE O et Jaws’81… Et c’est Joe Alves qui s’y colle avec un discours parfaitement rodé: « They really didn’t want to make Jaws and we fought to get that made. They tried to stop it four times. Jaws 2, after they fired the first director, they closed it down and Verna Fields and I had to convince Ned Tanen (then President of Universal Studios) that we should go ahead and make it. And then here comes the third one, and they think so much of their biggest movie that they title it Jaws 3, People 0 which means they are making fun of their most successful film. Fields, who later became Vice President of Universal Studios, contacted me and told me that, since Brown and Zanuck left, the rights to Jaws were sold to Alan Landsburg, a television producer best known for the show That’s Incredible and that he was making a mess of everything. Fields asked me to talk with Landsburg which I did, and Landsburg offered me the chance to produce the sequel. But having worked 100 days as a Second Unit Director on Jaws 2 I was far more interested in directing it. But the conversation became very interesting when Landsburg told me of what his plans were for this sequel.
« I said you have to think about making a big shark, » I told Landsburg. « And he said, ‘oh no, no, no, no, no. I just want to use real sharks from what I have from That’s Incredible and mechanical people. So that’s how great the thinking was when this production started. »

« Then, I went to visit various aquatic parks for research and I came across an underwater exhibit that was in 3D (the movie SeaDreams). I thought it was great and loved the depth of the technology that was being used. After exiting the exhibit, I started to think about the possibilities of filming Jaws 3« in 3D.
With Jaws 3-D you accomplish two things. You take the onus off the third because there were very few thirds back then… I think Rocky III was the only one at the time (et Halloween III?). And then you introduce a fresh look at it (the franchise). I went home and did a shark drawing in 3D and I took it to Landsburg and to Sid Sheinberg, and he looked at it and said, ‘can I have this?’ I said ‘Sid, you’re President. You can have whatever you want! I just got to show it to Lew Wasserman first. I got the directing job and that’s how it started. »

Pour les questions de scénario, c’est bien évidemment Carl Gottlieb qui s’y est collé. Revenant dans un premier temps sur le script problématique de Richard Matheson, le sympathique Carl (appelé en renfort) s’est surtout attardé sur le tournage en Floride: « When Joe and Rupert came on, they all agreed on me. I had done the other two under difficult circumstances, and they said ‘can you do it again?’ So off I went to Florida and looked at Sea world, surveyed the situation and thought ‘yes I can do the script.' »
Once everything was ready to go, the cast and crew proceeded to Orlando, Florida to film Jaws 3-D… The only food down there was « deep fried, refried or just fried! Making the movie proved to be challenging not only because they were filming in 3D, but also due to the fact that the filmmakers were dealing with water and a big shark ».

Impossible donc de parler du film sans rappeler les difficultés inhérentes à la troisième dimension… Joe Alves précise: « We worked with one film and not two cameras. You take and split 35 mm film one way that you have a proportion that is really difficult to compose. A shark is very difficult to get out into the audience because it has a dorsal fin. If you cut the dorsal fin off, you could float it right into the audience. You could take a snake through it, but as soon as something hits that frame it jumps back. So the shark could come out as far as the dorsal fin and that was it. » Des soucis techniques déjà mentionnés par Joe dans la presse de l’époque (fangoria, Starlog)…

Il est toujours question de technique quand le jusqu’à présent très discret Rupert Hitzig prend enfin la parole: « This film was so different because we were so awed by the concept of 3D, but you only see in 3D those frames that work. You don’t see the ones that don’t work. Now there is a point of convergence, and the two lenses of the camera have to be put into convergence. So if I’m focusing on you and you’re in vertical in the back, then I’m focused on you but you’re gonna be two images in the back. Joe had to watch out that there were no verticals in the back because they were going to be too strong. So we go to the motel room in Orlando and we would be watching the movie and going ‘that shot is beautiful’ and ‘oh no!’ Our eyes would go cross eyed or walleyed and we ducked to the floor. Nobody was looking at the performances. So after the third week, I put a sign in the motel room that said « just when you thought it was safe to open your eyes – Jaws 3-D!« 

Pas particulièrement fan de 3D, Carl Gottlieb se confie: »I haven’t seen it  in 30 years and I’m looking forward to it. Every 3D movie is an experience, and sometimes I like to see them twice: once in 3D to have the stuff whizzing by, and a second time flat so that I can enjoy the story and the performances and everything else without the distractions of shooting for effects. » Notre ami Rupert Hitzig préfère, quant à lui, anticiper la possible déception du public en faisant preuve d’un peu de mauvaise foi quand même (rien sur la politique de Landsburg sur l’ Electronic compositing par exemple): « Remember that its 30 years ago. We didn’t have CGI, we didn’t have video editing and everything was cut on film which was a problem with 3D. I remember in the very beginning, Sid Sheinberg said ‘if you can get the shark to come through the screen and land in the audience’s lap, we’ll all be rich. So try and get that shark (which was so huge) through that little screen. Instead of CGI, we had to composite on videotape and then go back to 3D which was almost an impossible technical stunt. It’s not an apology, it’s just a realization of what you’re going to see. »

Alves rebondit en partageant une anecdote assez peu connue concernant le journaliste Gene Shalit: « I had talked to him on Jaws 2 and he wanted to know what we were doing on the third one. I was showing him the 3D stuff and was saying if it was a snake I could get it into the audience. A couple of years later I happened to be working on another movie and I saw Gene and he yelled over ‘it should of been a snake! » On sent pointer une légère déception dans les propos du réalisateur… Le mot de la fin appartiendra à Carl Gottlieb: « This script was typed on a typewriter. Fingers on keys, an IBM electric, clickety-clack, clickety-clack. » C’était il y a plus de 30 ans!

Aucune vidéo de cet échange n’est apparue sur la toile… C’est bien évidemment dommage de passer à côté d’un tel document. La prochaine projection/Q&A de Jaws 3D aura lieu dans quelques jours. Le tout sera filmé dans un but historique. Le président de ce festival 3D m’a assuré qu’il ferait le maximum pour m’obtenir des photographies de l’évènement… Pour la vidéo, c’est mort. Inutile de me demander!

Vivement en tout cas que ce DCP soit disponible sur le territoire français afin que les fans de l’hexagone puissent enfin en profiter! Si vous possédez d’autres photos du 13 aout, n’hésitez pas à me les envoyer à neophyte.punk@gmail.com

« My beloved father passed away yesterday at home surrounded by the people and things he loved…he was funny, brilliant, loving, generous, kind, creative, and the most wonderful father ever…I miss you and love you forever Pop and I know you are now happy and healthy in a beautiful place full of love and joy you always knew was there… » Voici les quelques mots d’ Ali Marie Matheson (scénariste d’un bon paquet de séries TV destinées aux plus jeunes) à propos de son père mort à l’age de 87 ans le 23 juin. Une bien triste nouvelle qui affectera, j’en suis sûr, tous les fans de Jaws 3D (le script d’aout 1982 sera signé de sa plume) et de l’incontournable série TV The Twilight Zone… En tout cas, c’est les yeux humides que je vous abandonne pour me mettre le DVD de l’épisode Nick of Time (et sa machine démoniaque diseuse de bonne aventure) … Repose-toi bien Richard…

Et un livre de plus consacré aux Dents de la mer! Mais contrairement à l’immense majorité des ouvrages à la gloire du grand requin blanc, cette publication MPW buch de 124 pages couvre l’intégralité de la saga Jaws! D’origine allemande, ce Top Movies n’apprendra malheureusement rien aux habitués de la franchise. Et pour cause, il ne contient pas la moindre photographie inédite ni interview réalisée spécialement pour l’occasion. Du travail de cochon! En fait, Peter Osteried a utilisé le peu qu’il avait sous la main: des dossiers de presse et des lobby cards d’outre-Rhin, des screenshots tirés des DVD, des scans de magazines américains… C’est peut-être pas très excitant mais c’est toujours mieux qu’un coup de pied aux fesses. Et puis surtout il y a pas moins de 14 pages format A4/couleur consacrées à Der Weisse Hai 3 teil III! Et rien que pour ça, ça mérite les 14 euros 90 imprimés au verso. Chaque film est traité de façon identique: des portraits des principaux responsables (Benchley, Gottlieb, Williams…), le synopsis, des notes de production, quelques anecdotes… Logiquement, Jaws premier du nom occupe la moitié du livre. Jaws 2 s’étale, quant à lui, sur 18 pages. L’épisode IV du brave Joseph fera aussi bien (enfin, façon de parler…Michael Caine gaspille 7 pages quand même). Le reste du bouquin traite des dizaines d’autres films mettant en scène des monstres marins.

Mais attardons-nous plutôt sur le troisième volet. Au niveau des biographies, on retrouvera Dennis Quaid, Louis Gossett Jr, Simon MacCorkindale, Lea Thompson et Richard Matheson (les cas Alves et Gottlieb sont traités un peu plus tôt dans le livre). On notera volontiers  l’absence injustifiée de Bess Armstrong et John Putch. Pour ce qui est des notes de production, aucune mention n’est faite de Guerdon Trueblood. A la place, l’auteur préfère nous parler longuement du projet Jaws 3 People 0 et de l’association Dante/National Lampoon. Inutile de vous préciser que personne de chez MPW Buch ne semble avoir lu le script de 79 qui traine sur la toile…

L’utilisation du relief dans cette production Landsburg est plutôt bien traité au même titre que les problèmes liés à l’ Electronic Compositing et au conflit PSE/PRAXIS. C’est bien simple, c’est de loin la partie la plus interessante de ce dossier. Dommage que ce ne soit qu’un résumé d’un article paru dans le magazine Cinefantastique en juillet 1983… Je peux pas leur en vouloir, je fais exactement la même chose! Même si je semble un peu déçu après lecture (enfin façon de parler… je maitrise aussi bien l’allemand que le chinois) je reste profondemment heureux d’ajouter cette pièce à ma collection. Quelque part, cette tentative un peu ratée me donne furieusement envie de me lancer moi aussi dans l’écriture. Mais gardons les pieds sur terre et attendons d’abord d’accumuler bien d’autres trésors!

Traverser l’océan Atlantique afin de m’assurer de la qualité du premier DCP de Jaws 3D aurait été une belle preuve de professionnalisme de ma part… Faute de pouvoir faire le déplacement, j’ai donc demandé à mes amis Tim Martin et Scupbucket (deux autres Die hard fans du film) d’endosser les costumes d’envoyés spéciaux. Enjoy!

Tim: « Ok, after having a day to soak in the experience of seeing JAWS 3-D in 3-D on the big screen again for the first time since 1983 I am ready to talk about the movie and my over all experience. First a little background on my love for JAWS 3-D. When I was very young my father was in the air force reserves, he would go away for long periods of time and I always looked forward to his return and loved hearing the stories about his trip, after one such trip he came home and told us about a movie he saw while in California call « JAWS » I had seen the ads on TV for JAWS but my father was the first person I know who had seen the move and so my obsession with JAWS began. I first saw JAWS on the ABC Sunday night movie on TV and my world changed forever, years later when the home video market became more main stream I was able to rent JAWS on VHS and for the first ever I was able to watch JAWS uncut also about this time JAWS 2 was playing on HBO so I was in JAWS heaven but little did I know that my JAWS adventure was just beginning…..

In 1983 my whole family went to see JAWS 3-D opening weekend, I was 14 years old and a long time fan of JAWS and JAWS 2 and now I am finally seeing a JAWS movie on the big screen, it was overwhelming. From the opening credits where the title JAWS 3-D came crunching down on me until the final scene where the sharks jaw bones were hanging in mid air I was in pure awe of this movie. When the movie was over all I could remember thinking was how much fun the movie was and how much I enjoyed sharing that experience with my family.

In the months to follow I found the JAWS 3-D hallmark 3-D poster that I displayed in my room for many years and I also found the Topps Jaws 3-D trading cards and the LP of the movie soundtrack. In July of 1984 JAWS 3 (not 3-D) found its way to HBO and I was able to record it onto a VHS tape so I could watch it whenever I wanted but that didn’t stop me from watching it several times that month on HBO. Now we fast forward to the 90’s where I bought JAWS 3 on VHS, Laserdisc and finally DVD. The internet and eBay I started collecting JAWS 3-D memorabilia from all around the world and I realized that I was not the only one on earth that loves JAWS 3-D, like never before I was able to talk with people like Matt (aka Scupbucket) on the 3-D movie Mania forum and of course Romain at JAWS-3D.COM and we could all share our passion for the much overlooked classic JAWS 3-D…….

In October of 2012 I learned the Capitol Theater in Cleveland Ohio was having a onetime showing of JAWS 3-D but this was not your typical screening, it was a brand new 3-D Digital print direct from Universal Studios, you can imagine my devastation to learn that this one time screening was on a weekend that I could not possibly. I didn’t give up however, I continued to email the theater and was happy to learn they would be showing again JAWS 3-D in November. I vowed that nothing would stop me from going and instantly informed Romain and Matt. Matt also swore not to miss this screening, It felt like forever but the day finally arrived along with my friend Barry the two and a half hour drive to Cleveland began and the excitement was mounting with every passing mile.

We met Matt and his lovely girlfriend at a little bar across from the theater and couldn’t stop talking about the movie we were about to see, About 15 minutes until show time we walked across the street to the theater and found the perfect seats for optimal 3-D viewing. It was a large theater of about 400 seats and a small crowd of about 60 people. My heart was racing as the lights went down and the movie began.

THE REVIEW:

Having seen JAWS 3-D in the theater in 1983, on HBO in 1984, on Home Video VHS, Laserdisc and DVD I can honestly say I have never seen this movie look so good, the HD picture was sharp and clean, there were no lines or scratches, Universal actually spent some time cleaning up the negative and it was in a word Beautiful, and the Beauty didn’t stop there. The 3-D was absolutely amazing, the « off the screen » effects were better than its original release. During the opening credits the names POPPED of the screen and into the theater like magic, you could almost reach out and touch them. Among the best « off the screen » effects was the severed arm floating off the screen and into the audience and when the shark blow up at the end and his bloody Jaws exploded off the screen. Not everything was perfect however, a couple times I did see some ghosting or double images when the camera would get to close to an object like the serpent tongue the leads into the Undersea Kingdom, but this did not detract me to much from the amazing 3-D picture.

The audience reception was exactly the same as it was in 1983, people were laughing, jumping, screaming and cheering and in all of the right places. I never understood the critics that hated JAWS 3-D having seen it with a sold out crowd in 1983 and everyone in the theater applauded and cheered when the Dolphin jumped out of the water at the end. My hope is that Universal allows more theaters to show JAWS 3-D in 2013 when the movie will be celebrating its 30th anniversary so that more people can enjoy is rare and exciting event.

Thank you Universal Studios and The Capital Theater for making this possible!! »

Scupbucket: »Amen to that… Seeing Jaws 3-D in the theater was such a different experience than seeing it either in 2-D or at home. Joe Alves’ intent of the stereotypical 80’s « you become part of the action » is definitely apparent on the big screen. The film’s genuinity for the era really shines through… simply a fun and exciting popcorn flick meant to « challenge your senses ». Scenes are more intense and immersive, the shark is more menacing, even the climatic shark thru the control room window scene really WORKS!!!! It was a pleasure to see this again and like Tim had mentioned, the digital print looks GORGEOUS! It may not be a home run for Universal to release this on Blu-Ray financially but I see no reason for them to not release this next year.

And now some technical nitpicking… I hate to do it but I’m praying a few things will be addressed for the Blu-ray if it is released. Keep in mind these nitpicks are based on what I saw in this particular theater and the technical problems may have been due to the theater’s projection system and the fact that the original print had quite a few problems with it to begin with due to simply how it was filmed… there were some vertical misalignments that were on the original 35mm that doesn’t look like they were addressed during the digital screening and like Tim mentioned there was some ghosting. Not severe but apparent and only on slight occasions. It may have had to do with the screen being up at a higher viewing angle and I really only noticed it during high contrast night scenes and real eye strainers… wooo… they really wanted to shove it all in your face! Another thing I noticed is that the picture was cropped during the screening thus chopping out a small amount of some crucial 3-D moments like the Jaws 3-D title, the floating arm, and even the jaws being blown out into the audience at the end. The original stereovision print was presented in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio and I’m sure Universal will try to fit this to a full 6:9 format eliminating letterboxing. I hope if they do that, they pay attention to what and where they’re cropping« .

L’incontournable magazine américain fait très fort avec ce numéro 316 presque entièrement présenté en Fangovision 3D! Soit des tonnes de photos anaglyphes (et un poster géant 3D) des zombies, monstres et mutants qui ont pullulé sur les écrans U.S de cette rentrée 2012. Bien évidemment, c’est la plus belle de ces créatures qui se retrouve en couverture (la sublime Milla Jovovich) et qui occupe la plus grande place en terme de pages… De quoi user la paire de lunettes offerte. En dehors de cette toujours séduisante Alice, on retrouve, entre autres, Richard Brooker (le Jason de Friday the 13th part 3), Paco Plaza et son [Rec] 3 et l’insaisissable Crispin Glover. Mais c’est surtout pour la seconde partie de l’interview de Carl Gottlieb que le fan de Jaws 3D se procurera le magazine soit 4 pages à la gloire des 3 premiers films de la saga. Et pour une fois, le cas JAWS 3D n’est pas traité en quelques lignes! Ainsi, le grand Carl nous parle successivement de sa « collaboration » avec Richard Matheson, de ses conditions de travail à Sea World, du projet Jaws 3 people 0 et de sa non-participation à Jaws The Revenge.On notera tout de même que le réalisateur de Caveman se trompe quand il aborde la cas Guerdon Trueblood (ce dernier était lié au projet bien avant Matheson). Toujours aussi généreux (et limite quant à la question des droits d’auteurs), je vous offre les  2 pages en question (surtout qu’on y voit Baby Bruce en 3D) en vous rappelant la nécessité de soutenir la presse papier. Fangoria est une bible et mérite largement les 9.99$ marqués sur la couverture.

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« Romain, j’ai adoré l’article consacré aux deux jeunes figurants de Jaws 3D! Et depuis, je rêve d’obtenir des informations sur la belle blonde qu’on voit de dos en tenue de guide au début du film! » Vos prières ont été exaucées! Grâce à l’aide de mon ami Greg May, je vous offre une interview exclusive de Julie Brown qui, en dépit d’un temps de présence à l’écran plutôt court, a de nombreuses anecdotes à partager avec les fans purs et durs de ce troisième volet!

« I was 22 years old and living in Orlando Florida when I saw an ad in the Orlando Sentinel for speaking parts in a movie being filmed at Sea World.  I remember it was the month of October, 1982.  The day I arrived on the set inside the Sea World Park, the weather was perfect.  It was sunny and in the mid 80’s.  There were only a few hundred people visiting the park that day.  It was early morning and I had been told to wear shorts and to dress like a tourist for two scenes, and clubbing clothes for one scene filmed at the Village Bar off Kirkland Road.  They paid me 75.00 for my time, and fed me a lunch from a tent set up to serve food to the extras, cast and crew.When I arrived, I was  informed that all the speaking parts had been filled.  I was wearing shorts with a red and white striped top and am 5″11 with long blonde hair and weighed 115 lbs.« .

« Out of the three scenes that I shot, one made it to the final cut and onto the big screen. It was a scene in where a group of trainees were gathered around a pirate ship and we were being told what to do for opening day. I remember the girl they chose, a local for the speaking part in the scene, was not very good at her lines. I was sure that they would cut the part of her instructing us, and they did. I am standing in my shorts and red/white striped top and can be seen for a few seconds in the movie. »

Il se pourrait que Julie apparaisse dans cette tenue lors d’un autre plan pendant la conférence de presse: « It seems familiar, but I can’t be sure.  A lot of the scenes required a lot of takes and changing people positions, so it is hard to remember.  Lou Gossett might have been there that day.  It was 30 years ago and I was in a lot of scenes, I vaguely remember some of those scenes« . Mais notre jeune figurante laisse volontairement planer le doute: « I think it is the girl in the leaking shark tunnel scene in this shot (P.T Horn), she had blondish hair and had bangs and was not as tall as me and is wearing the same outfit.  It could be me or her, although I don’t see any bangs and she had bangs.  I don’t remember her being in the « welcome to Seaworld » repeat scene« . Un simple visionnage du DVD Pal met à mal la théorie P.T Horn (ici)… Frange,taille et poitrine… Mon oeil expert a parlé: c’est bel et bien Julie Brown.

« I also watched the filming of several other scenes.  The first scene was of two beautiful mermaids set on each side of the sidewalk sitting on fake columns greeting you as you walked into the park.  They were just stunning in their mermaid outfits with hair down to their waists! I remember them fanning themselves to keep from sweating off their makeup.  They sat there all morning!!! » Des sirènes qui feront l’objet (si tout va bien) d’un prochain article. Entre les prises, la jolie blonde d’Orlando a aussi eu la chance d’assister aux préparatifs de la scène Marion Cotillard-style de Baby Bruce: « It was now lunch time and we were fed food catered from a local company from a tent set up for the cast, crew and extras.  I was then asked to hang around in case I was needed for other scenes, so I wondered over to the tank to watch them try to get the baby shark to work for the scene where it died.  The running joke on set was that the baby died a hundred deaths! »

« The second scene that I was in was my favorite. I had never been in a movie before so I did not know that they were shot out of sequence. I had just had a run in with a park employee while walking on the long winding sidewalk to my next scene.  As I walked down a long narrow sidewalk that loops through the park, a four wheeler came careening around the corner going at top speed with a handsome man wearing a park uniform at the wheel. He slammed on the brakes just inches away from running me over and squashing me like bug. He said he was sorry, but in my shock and anger, I told him he was an ass for driving like that in a park full of people, and that I was going to report his careless driving to park management. He just flashed his big baby blues and brilliant smile at me, as he drove off laughing.  When I arrived at the second scene still shaken from my encounter with the park employee, I saw this gorgeous man running in place for about three minutes and being lightly misted in the face and neck with a spray bottle of water; to give him the appearance of having run a great distance.   Imagine my chagrin as I felt myself glow bright red all over when I realized that Dennis Quaid was the employee that I had just told off, and who turned out to be the star of the movie.  I still laugh about telling Dennis Quaid what an ass he was. I am sure that I was not the first, nor would I be the last person to tell him that, but at least most had the advantage of knowing him« .

  « I  was embarrassed, but also secretly amused.  I kept waiting for Dennis to point me out and have me thrown out of the park, but he just looked at me and smiled.  I became a smitten fan right then and there.  Dennis was quite the professional actor.  He never missed a line and had perfect delivery every time.  Each scene would take one to two hours to film as the director Joe Alves, would stop time and time again, to adjust the lighting and camera angle as well as the position of the actors and extras.  In this scene, I was one of about ten people who’s job was to just walk past Dennis in the background.  It was really cool to watch this scene being filmed, seeing Dennis running in place long enough  that he would be out of breath when speaking his lines, and being sprayed with water to look sweaty from running across the park, when he had only moments before just arrived on a four wheeler. »

« We were asked not to take pictures so I do not have any from those two days. I did see Lea Thompson, who was an unknown and Bess Armstrong.  Lea went on to make many movies and become a big star.  When I saw the movie in the theater,  I was shocked at how toned down Dennis Quaid looked on screen.  The camera could not capture how handsome he really looked in real life, the same went for Lea. The final scene that I was in was at the Village bar off Kirkman Road, in Orlando.  I wore a black satin skirt and purple top with a white collar, and again, Dennis Quaid looked at me from across the parking lot and this time; pointed me out to his co-stars.  We also filmed a scene inside the bar, but I did not see myself in any of these scenes in the movie.  All in all I had a blast, and will always consider it my best, although lowest paying job ever! »

Merci à Julie Brown pour ses confidences, à Greg May pour son aide et à la Jaws 3D community pour rendre tout cela possible!

Nombreux sont les spectateurs a ne pas avoir remarqué l’utilisation de Stop-motion dans Jaws 3D. Le réalisateur Joe Alves, lui même, ne s’en était pas rendu compte lors des premières projections du film! « I wanted to strike a blow for animation » raconte celui qui s’occupera plus tard du serpent animé de Beetlejuice. « Stop-motion can work if it’s integrated into the film, and compared to other techniques,it’s really economical. The total cost in materials for the puppet was about $1,600. The effect won’t be very flashy. Infact, I’d like people to not even know that the shots are animated. But really, the audience doesn’t care how it’s done as long as it looks good. » Pour le besoin de la scène où la star du film détruit la salle de contrôle, l’équipe de PSE plaça sa caméra Mitchell en légère contre-plongée et éclaira la scène à l’aide de petits cartons reproduisant les formes particulières des taches léopard afin de simuler les rayons du soleil qui pénètrent le lagon. Le requin, placé sur un rail coulissant, pouvait effectuer des mouvements d’avant en arrière (ce qui est tout bonnement impossible pour un requin à moins qu’il soit ici question de gravité).

« The thing I had to be careful of was a temptation to anthropomorphize the shark.I didn’t want to make him strut ».  Cette courte séquence pose néanmoins quelques problèmes de raccords puisque Bruce III y apparait sensiblement plus grand que dans le reste du film.Problème d’échelle ou simple volonté artistique? Personne aujourd’hui ne semble en mesure d’y répondre… A la surprise générale, 4 plans supplémentaires du carcharodon carcharias version stop-motion furent réalisés par Ted Rae et son équipe. Pour l’un d’eux, Ted utilisa une dolly pour une scène audacieuse où le requin s’éloignait de la caméra après voir été blessé par une attaque humaine. Un plan d’une durée de 12 secondes assez intriguant puisque la seule séquence correspondant à cette description se déroule dans la pompe à filtration lors du combat FitzRoyce/Bruce. Le requin animé image par image a aussi été immortalisé en train de passer au dessus de la caméra et nager à travers l’ Undersea Kingdom.

Dans ce Rough cut énigmatique, il apparaissait aussi vaguement à travers un rideau de bulles entourant la célèbre Neptune room (le restaurant où l’on voit Bruce III pour la première fois). La dernière séquence n’était nulle autre que la célèbre scène 251 qui nous montre des touristes affolés et menacés par…un écran vert! Bien évidemment, il y a peu de chance pour que ces images soient un jour exhumées des archives d’ Alan Landsburg et Universal et présentées aux fans sous la forme d’un délicieux coffret Blu-ray. La seule trace de ces effets spéciaux réside dans ces quelques photographies issues des magazines American Cinématographer et Cinefantastique. Ce dernier, au détour d’un cliché, se permet même de rajouter une couche de mystère (sans parler des informations contradictoires au sujet de la taille de la marionnette qui passe, dans le même article, de 21 à 14 pouces).

« close-up view of the miniature shark, built-in-house by the PSE model shop » nous dit la légende. Pourtant, il est évident que ce bout de latex ne ressemble en rien à ce qu’on a eu l’occasion de voir lors de ces deux chapitres consacrés à cette version de Bruce III! Serait-ce le premier modèle conçu par Ted Rae pour les test footage? Une version antérieure sculptée en quelques minutes dans un coin de l’atelier? J’ai pris la liberté de demander à Danielle Versé qui a dirigé l’équipe de PSE sur Jaws 3D et sa réponse m’a encore plus surpris: « heu…Ah mais c’est simple…C’est le requin qui rentre dans la vitre! (en français dans le texte puisque Danielle est d’origine belge) ». Autant dire que tout le monde est un peu perdu dans cette histoire. Seul Ted Rae (qui a aussi réalisé un Stop-motion shark pour Jaws the Revenge malheureusement supprimé au montage) pourrait nous éclaircir la dessus. On peut toujours croiser les doigts, ça fait pas de mal… Sachez  que ce Bruce III a été aperçu deux fois sur Ebay et n’a jamais trouvé acquéreur. S’il pouvait refaire surface le jour où mon compte en banque se porte bien…