10 Fascinating Behind The Scenes Facts About Jaws
6. How Technical Difficulties Made The Movie Better
Due to the uncooperative mechanical shark, a lot of the footage with Bruce had to be cut, leaving a lot of gaps where a shark should have been. To get around the problem, Spielberg opted for the first person, or rather the 'first shark', perspective and filmed from the viewpoint you would expect a shark to have. This put viewers in the position of the shark and added to the suspense.
The filmmaker would often play with your emotions and make you believe that the shark was in pursuit of his next victim, when ultimately, it was just a new angle for the scene. So, as a result of the unfortunate technical error, Spielberg created one of the most suspenseful films of its time, which is ultimately what saw it succeed.
If the mechanical shark wasn't acting up, it was the actors on set. For the scene with Police Chief Brody and scientist Matt Hooper around the dinner table, prop master Bill Patronna decided to have a little fun and replaced the grape juice with real wine, resulting in two very drunk actors and an amused filmmaker.