re: #56 lawhawk

Jaws worked on the same principle. Spielberg desperately tried to get his mechanical shark to work, and just kept failing b/c the mechanicals failed in salt water (something his engineers had not considered or testing).

This forced him to make necessary cuts to limit on-screen time for the shark. That’s why most of the shots of the shark attacks are implied in the action. This made it all the more scary, and is why so many refuse to go into the water even to this day.

It seems a lot of movie makers have forgotten that the best special effects generator is the human imagination.

It is a major reason reading is still such a wonderful thing.