Ah, this meme makes me laugh…
But if you haven’t seen the 1975 classic film Jaws, you might wonder why.
If you’ve never seen Jaws, I highly recommend watching it now, as much of the action takes place leading up to the busy July 4th holiday weekend in the US.
I hadn’t seen Jaws for years, but got curious about it last year when I saw memes that compared the communication from the Mayor in Jaws to certain politicians who were ignoring the severity of coronavirus.
That got me digging into the history of the film, the problems that occurred, and the role creativity played in making the film such a success.
Even if you haven’t seen Jaws, you probably know it catapulted the career of a young director named Steven Spielberg — and its haunting score by John Williams.
But there’s another person whose skills contributed greatly to the success of Jaws. And her name and work is not as well known…
Allow me to introduce you to Verna Fields…
When Jaws was being filmed in 1974, it was plagued with problems.
Actors were showing up drunk to set.
They were fighting with each other.
Weather problems delayed shooting.
The shoot was so troubled by mishaps that some crew members referred to the film as ‘Flaws.’
Spielberg blew the budget when he purchased three life-size mechanical sharks.
And none of them worked properly.
The shark was meant to elicit feelings of terror, but onscreen appeared more comical than menacing.
Spielberg was behind schedule and thought his film career might be over.
But then film editor Verna Fields stepped in with a creative solution.
Instead of cutting together footage of the shark, she opted for footage without it. This created tension – and let the audience’s imagination fill in the blanks.
[Ed: You can see how the tension was created in this great scene on the beach - notice how you barely see the shark in this 4-minute clip.]
At age 56, Fields was a veteran film and sound editor when she joined Jaws, with 37 films already under her belt.
She was affectionately called ‘Mother Cutter’ – known for her editing skills as well as the maternal disposition she brought to the much younger directors she worked with (including Spielberg, Peter Bogdanovich, and George Lucas).
Editors were originally called ‘cutters’ as the job was to literally cut film with scissors, and then glue the pieces together.
Before digital editing was available, filmmakers often hired women because their smaller fingers were seen as ideal for the job.
But Verna was different from other editors at the time.
She took the ‘somewhat unusual approach’ of working on location and in close collaboration with her directors.
That allowed her to understand more of the story as well as the director's vision.
“Verna had been there with us all the way, sharing meals with Steven, discovering the intent of the footage he was shooting, contributing to the very construction of the story, in cinematic terms,” said Jaws screenwriter, Carl Gottlieb.
When the filming finished, Fields and Spielberg worked together in Fields’ editing suite at her San Fernando Valley home – and used their creativity to film additional footage of one of the scariest scenes in the movie.
The scene where Ben Gardner’s head is discovered was actually filmed in the pool at Fields’ house. The murky feeling of the Atlantic Ocean was created by adding milk to the pool.
Fields’ work on Jaws shows the powerful role of editing – and creative thinking.
Jaws went on to break box office records in 1975, and Fields won an Academy Award for her work on the film.
Both Spielberg and the film industry recognized how much Fields had contributed to the film’s success.
Within a year after Jaws was released, she was offered an executive creative consultancy role at Universal Pictures, and became one of the most powerful women in Hollywood.
Verna Fields was highly and widely respected in a tough industry, and demonstrated that women could succeed in the industry as both artists and executives.
She held her job at Universal for six years — until cancer took her life in 1982.
Universal named a building after Verna Fields on their California lot. You’ll find it across the street from the Alfred Hitchcock Building.
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Shout-out to Working Moms: Verna stopped working as a sound editor after she got married in 1946. She may have stayed home raising her two sons, but had to return to work when her 38-year-old husband died of a heart attack in 1954.
Verna felt the struggles of being a single mom, and made special arrangements to come home from work in the afternoon to make dinner for her boys.
“When they went to bed, I’d keep on,” she said. “I built a cutting room in the back of the house and I’d stay there until 2:00 am.”
FUN FACT: Even if you’ve never seen Jaws, you may know this famous line:
Here’s the interesting backstory on it.
Recent Work and Writing
Will This System Really Change Your Life? — Is the secret to success a magical system — or a magical wife?
Bradley Cooper Doesn’t Deserve That — The multi-talented star did a podcast and some journalists have missed the real story.
One Word That Describes a Harry Styles Concert — Ever wonder what it’s like to be surrounded by 90,000 screaming fans? I have one word.
Rebel Wilson Doesn’t Owe You Anything —A journalist is upset with Rebel Wilson for telling her story. He needs to get over it.
What Do I Do? — My work might be much easier to explain if I’d chosen a different profession, so I decided to try another approach to answer this question.
How Can I Help?
I’ll keep saying it: Communication matters.
And good news, friends… If you want to improve your communication (and get all the good things that come with that), I’m your gal.
So many companies could reap so benefits – from performance and culture to retention and engagement – by improving their communication.
I help clients with communication strategy, planning, and thinking.
And I do the ‘doing’, too.
I also teach people the skills to help them become better communicators and leaders through 1:1 coaching and team workshops (that are effective – and fun!).
So, if you know someone who could benefit from some help (as even the most seasoned leaders do), please get in touch and check out my website for more information.
And if you see any communication examples (the good, the bad, and the ugly) that you think are worth analyzing or sharing, please send them my way!
Stay Curious!
-Beth