Steven Spielberg's Jaws: Hollywood High-Concept Film

High concept films are generally known to be characterized by succinct storylines and mass audience appeal. Steven Spielberg’s 1975 thriller Jaws was historically pivotal in establishing the elements that constitute the framework of Hollywood high-concept cinema. With high box-office returns and heavy advertising, Toy Story 3 by Lee Unkrich (2008) also constitutes the same elements and worked along some of the same premises that constitute high-concept cinema. This essay will explore the notions and theories surrounding high-concept cinema in relation to these films.

High-concept on its most basic level is the result of tension between economics and aesthetics in commercial studio filmmaking. These films have a large relation to market box-office

The marketing, aesthetics and title of the film are the fundamental characteristics that make it High-Concept. Jaws portray this evidently, particularly in its visual merchandising and market concepts. On the cover of Jaws, the title reads in red bold capital letters. Its use of these characteristics is not accidental, but is purposefully deployed to be symbolic to the universal connotations of fear and horror that we associate with the colour red and blood. Tapping into one of humanity’s primal fears, the shark is seen strategically placed in juxtaposition to an unaware individual. The size comparison of the human in relation to its hungry counterpart is vastly different and displays the notion of small target, big predator. Similarly, the Toy Story marketing poster is a clear representation of character archetypes. In it Buzz can be seen with a look of determination while Woody holds on in fear. The abstracted images act as the basis for the extensive marketing campaigns that are derived at least partially from the unique style of the high concept style film. For commercial benefits, the manipulation and exaggeration of this image extends the ‘shelf life’ of the motion picture. A classic example of this is the extensive way in which Frozen merchandise has been dragged out in

One of the key foundations of any successful film sequel is an audience that are familiar with the style and have preconceived ideas of the themes that intersect the movies. Whilst the genre and themes of the film are mostly classified as being targeted at a children’s audience, Toy Story tactfully and subtly deploys themes that can reach a broad audience demographic. The incorporation of adult humour throughout Toy Story 3 is one of the most applauded aspects of the film and as a children’s film in general. Scenes that are broadly emotional in its content also contribute to an overall way of uniting the broad age of audience. This is of particular importance due to the fact that the audience is not just the children, but also the parents that have to take them. An example of such is in one particular scene in which Mr. Potato Head uses a cucumber for a body. The combination of the cucumber, hat and shoes appear to make a phallic shape. Another is when Buzz see’s Barbie and gets a ‘wing boner’, which subtly uses comedic timing and adult themes to create humour for both young and old age