It’s a skill most students possess: the ability to write a
decent paper right before deadline. And more than a few of these
students have taken that talent with them to Hollywood.
“I started to write 10 days before principal photography.
We were writing the movie as it was being shot. I wrote through the
first two-and-a-half months of filming,” Carl Gottlieb said.
“It’s not the best way to make a movie.”
And this was no ordinary movie ““ these last minute
rewrites were shaping “Jaws,” the 1975 summer
blockbuster that is, adjusting for inflation, one of the top-10
grossing films in U.S. history. Gottlieb was first hired as an
actor for the role of Ben Meadows and then became a co-screenwriter
after sharing some of his script ideas with his friend Steven
Spielberg.
After the first preview screenings of “Jaws” in
February and March of 1975 indicated that the film might become
popular, Gottlieb was again asked to be a writer, this time for a
behind-the-scenes book to be released shortly after the film opened
in June.
Gottlieb wrote the book in the appropriated time, and “The
Jaws Log” is, to date, the bestselling book about the
movie.
“This book is a classic textbook for filmmakers, in
addition to being an entertaining look at how a movie was made. The
lessons are still important,” he said.
Gottlieb will be signing the 30th anniversary edition of
“The Jaws Log” at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 28 at the
Borders in Westwood.
“Jaws” is widely credited as the first film to fit
the modern definition of the mass-marketed blockbuster. It was
released all across the nation at the same time and played in
theaters through summer and into the fall. Prior to
“Jaws,” most films opened in major cities and then
gradually spread throughout the country.
“If you lived in North Dakota it would be eight months
before you got to see (a new movie),” Gottlieb said.
“”˜Jaws’ was released pretty much everywhere (at
the same time).”
Gottlieb cites two reasons why audiences were so enamored with
the film, the first being the believable, human characters, and the
second being a factor outside anyone’s control: humans are
naturally afraid of sharks.
“We were tapping into a universal fear ““ something
primal, almost like the fear of the dark. For some reason, sharks
are everybody’s fear. That terror, it’s like spiders
and rats and snakes.” Gottlieb said.
“The Jaws Log” gives the reader an idea of the
different people and skills that need to collaborate to make a
film. Gottlieb had the opportunity to write and act for the movie,
but he explained that being able to do one does not necessarily
make you better at the other. It can, however, give you a better
understanding of the form in which you are working.
“When you’re talking about art, its very hard to
figure out what makes anybody good. If you are a painter, and you
know about chemistry and light, you are probably able to paint more
skillfully. But in terms of your art, if you’re Picasso, it
doesn’t matter,” he said. “Knowledge is never
wasted. Anything you know can be used in anything you
do.”
Gottlieb explained that the blockbuster filmmaking process has
not changed a whole lot since he chronicled the experience in
“The Jaws Log,” but has just become more prevalent in
Hollywood.
“Apparently there is more money to be spent because there
is more money to be made,” he said. “So they spend it
all.”
He has also noticed a similar expansion in the book industry
since his chronicle was published.
“It used to be books were different. They were more
literary. They didn’t change what you wrote. Now publishing a
book is just like making a movie. It’s a huge investment.
There are big marketing expenses and a lot of market analysis and
focus groups,” he said. “Book publishing, with the
exception of a few publishers, is drifting into the show business
arena that used to be occupied by movies and television.”
Gottlieb also described the emergence of mega-stores such as
Borders and Barnes and Noble, as well as online retailers such as
Amazon.com, as contributors to the mass marketing of books ““
though he says this isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
“(Mass marketing) is good for authors if they happened to
have a bestseller, but it’s harder for midrange authors, just
as it’s harder for midrange filmmakers to get a movie
made,” he said.