Jaws 3D par Romain Néophyte

Le nom de Graham Walker est loin d’ être inconnu des fans de la bande originale de Jaws 3D! Et pour cause, une biographie de ce producteur réputé (Dark Crystal, Sid & Nancy, The Talented Mr Ripley) est imprimée au verso de chacune des éditions vinyles de l’ OST… Ca en dit long sur l’ importance de son rôle dans la réussite d’ un tel projet musical. Contacté par mail, Graham a gentiment accepté de participer à votre site préféré sous la forme d’ une petite interview. Sachez que les réponses ont été approuvées par le compositeur Alan Parker avec qui Graham a eu une réunion de travail fin septembre. L’ occasion pour eux de me signer un exemplaire du LP…

1/ Before Jaws 3D, you have collaborated with the producer Alan Landsburg on shows like « that’s incredible ». What kind of character was Landsburg. To work with a TV producer was something easy?

We did this via the UK television company Yorkshire Television. The Head of Music Keith Morgan was the person that got us involved in this which caused Alan Landsburg to contact us. He obviously liked Alan Parker’s music he composed for ‘That’s Incredible’ which led us to being asked by Alan Landsburg to do the original score for Jaws 3. Alan Lansdburg was a nice person and good to work with.

2/When, exactly, were you engaged on the project Jaws 3D?

June 1982

3/Parker wrote a demo for two sequences of the film. These demos still exist? No. These were titles that we find in the movie? Yes but all rerecorded to fit the picture with the orchestra.

4/ What budget have you received for the recording?

I do not have any notes of this; it was too long ago. What I do recall was that whilst we had enough money to engage a large orchestra for 6 x 3hr sessions, with the amount of music needed, we would have like more so that we didn’t have to rush the recording process. After we had delivered the master score Alan Landsburg re-edited the film quite extensively. He thought we would be able to mainly edit the music cues to fit the new edited film scenes. Alan Parker and I flew to Los Angeles and reviewed the edited film and it was changed so much that editing the music would not work. The contractual delivery date of the film to Universal was very close so we had to rush back to London, Alan Parker had the re-arrange 30 minutes of the score and has one week to do it. Whilst Alan was doing this I had to schedule 3 sessions with the orchestra and then remix the rerecords. This was all done and delivered in 10 days. How many musicians made up the orchestra? 78 plus the organist

5/The songs on the LP are different from the film. Is this a recording made specially for the disc or is it the recording made for the first cut?

We were not involved in this. This was pushed onto Alan Lansburg by MCA/Universal. Alan refused to go with this as he rightly took the view that the music should be firstly correct for the film and not undermine the music to just sell more records.

6/Jaws 3D uses very little of the famous theme of John Williams. Is a willingness on your part or a desire of the studio?

The brief Alan Parker got from the Producer and Director was that they wanted new music and not the same music as used in Jaws 1 and 2. Alan Parker’s response to this was whilst agreeing with this approach, he would create the same feeling for the shark motive whilst not copying it which would then be the reference throughout the film so that it was in a complimentary style whilst creating an original music score.

7/ Universal wanted a more commercial soundtrack. Did you know that tests with the song « Jaws 3-D End Titles » had been made by the composer Steve Thompson?

Yes, This was not used in the final dubbed version as released. See my comments in point 6 above.

Merci à Graham, Alan et Liz Schrek pour leur aide. Nous aurons tout le temps de commenter ces propos lors de nos prochains articles. En bonus, je vous offre les Music Notes de Jaws 3D issues des archives de Mr Walker.

Jaws 3-D notes

« For Jaws 3-D we built several different scale models of the shark. The shark that gets blown up at the end is ours, but in the final cut several film opticals were composited over it so that only the model and « blowing up » remained as ours. » Bien que ces affirmations du fondateur de la firme PSE Chuck Comisky (tirées du magazine Fantastic films) soient légèrement erronées (les requins Stop motion et 1/7ème sont clairement visibles à travers la seconde partie du film), on ne peut que compatir à la tristesse de cette jeune équipe chargée de la majeure partie des effets spéciaux de Jaws 3D dont près de 90% du travail réalisé aura été expurgé du long-métrage de Joe Alves… Vous l’ aurez compris, ce nouvel article (divisé en deux parties faute de temps) est entièrement dédié à la gloire du requin bourré d’ explosifs qui conclue définitivement les aventures de ce Bruce III.

Des explosifs visibles dans la gueule du monstre sur cette magnifique photographie noir et blanc publiée dans ce même numéro de Fantastic Films et très récemment dans le magazine Filmfax… Comme vous l’ avez bien évidemment remarqué, le modèle s’ arrête juste après la nageoire dorsale (de la même façon que le squale à l’ échelle 1/3 et la version agressive de Baby Bruce)… Les deux plans- de face et sur la droite- ne nécessitant pas la présence d’ une queue. Contrairement à d’ autres modèles , « the Sploding shark » est esthétiquement assez proche de  la version de 9 mètres de Roy Arbogast. Peu nombreux sont ceux ayant deviné la présence d’ une miniature à l’ écran tant que le plan ressemble à celui où le monstre sort de l’ obscurité pour attaquer Philip & Jake.

Donner la parole à la plupart des artistes ayant contribué à la magie de Jaws 3D! Voilà l’ un des objectifs de ce modeste site depuis plus de deux ans. Malgré son emploi du temps chargé, Jordan klein a donc accepté de jouer le jeu en répondant brièvement à quatre petites questions concernant son expérience sur le tournage du troisième volet des Dents de la mer.

1/ Quel était votre rôle sur Jaws 3D ?

I designed and built the 3d housings….I shot all the open ocean, Bahamas,Grand Cayman

2/Vous avez tourné les plans d’ ouverture du film dont le relief est particulièrement immersif. Avez vous des souvenirs précis de ce tournage?

I don’t remember much about the specific scenes, mostly the housings.

3/ Jaws 3D contient plusieurs séquences mettant en scène de vrais requins (l’ attaque de Mike & Kate à proximité du galion espagnol, la capture nocturne) . Qu’ en est-il de la nature de ces images?

stock shots…

4/ Que pensez-vous du film 28 ans plus tard ?

Much the same as it was when we shot it….bad pix but interesting that it was done
in 3D. The work I did on Thunderball and Never say never was much more rewarding and the
Pix were much better pix…I was credited with the major reason for the Academy for
the award in special effects because of the U/W hardware, sleds ,sub etc. John Stears received the award for Eon productions….

Merci à Jordan Klein pour sa précieuse aide et sa photographie inédite de l’ Arri-3D camera housing lors du tournage de Jaws 3D à Grand Cayman !  Je vous invite dès à présent à visiter son site internet afin d’ en connaitre un peu plus sur sa contribution au septième art. Pour information, le screenshot que l’ on retrouve un peu plus haut est extrait du making-of Sharks don’ t die.

« Romain, je pratique la plongée depuis ma plus tendre enfance et je souhaiterai réaliser prochainement un remake 3-D de Shark rosso nell’oceano (lamberto bava/1984). Pourrais-tu multiplier les articles techniques sur la prise de vue sous-marine ? » Bien sûr! Mais faute de temps, je vous laisserai avec cette reproduction d’ un article paru dans le numéro de juillet 1983 de l’ American Cinematographer cosigné par Jordan Klein et Peter Romano qui démontre une fois de plus à quel point Jaws 3D a été produit dans l’ urgence. Pour information, Jordan Klein a participé en tant que directeur de la photographie et opérateur sur bon nombre de classiques tels Never Say never, Splash, les deux Cocoon et le quatrième volet de Jaws… Sur le film qui nous intéresse, il tiendra le rôle de réalisateur (et accessoirement la caméra) pour les séquences se déroulant dans l’ océan (les plans inquiétants lors du générique par exemple) en partie grâce à son immense connaissance du monde des requins (plus d’ une dizaine de long-métrages mettant en scène de vrais squales…). Peter Romano s’ est quant lui principalement consacré à la conception et à la fabrication de la housse de protection de la caméra 3D d’ Arrivision. Son CV (en tant que directeur de la photographie sous-marine) comprend entre autre Star Trek IV, les 7ème et 8ème Friday the 13th, Abyss et la plupart des blockbusters de ces 20 dernières années… Une preuve de plus que seuls les meilleurs des meilleurs figurent au générique de Jaws 3D!

L’ une des particularités du making-of Sharks don’t die est de nous offrir, de temps en temps, de courtes séquences tirées du montage provisoire du film de Joe Alves. Quelques secondes de bonheur supplémentaires pour les Jaws-addict que nous sommes! Pour cet énième article, j’ ai donc décidé de mettre en lumière les subtiles différences qui opposent ces deux extraits du Making-of  au Theatrical cut que l’ on connait par coeur… Des détails qui passent généralement inaperçus et ce, même chez les plus observateurs d’ entre nous. La première scène est bien évidemment l’ arrivée de Philip Fitz Royce et Jack Tate en Cadillac fleetwood stretched devant l’ entrée principale du parc. Dans le Rough Cut, on peut donc voir Calvin s’adresser à la foule pendant qu’ un des nombreux journalistes présents se précipite sur la portière afin d’ accueillir comme il se doit la star de la petite lucarne. Dans la version cinéma, ces quelques secondes sont absentes et les lignes de dialogues de Louis Gossett Jr sont post-synchonisées.

Encore plus difficile à remarquer: ce plan d’ un vrai bébé requin nageant dans le bassin de Baby Bruce peu de temps après son réveil (la chose qui semble émerger de l’ eau n’est autre que son aileron…). Dans la version cinéma, ces deux secondes sont remplacées par des images de la progeniture barbottant paisiblement à proximité de nos héros. Inutile de vous dire qu’ entre les mouvements d’ un authentique squale et ceux du modèle « planche à pain », il n’ y a pas photo! N’ hésitez pas à comparer si vous avez deux-trois minutes devant vous…

Et si Cathy Cervenka (Sherrie), Jane Horner (Suzie) et Kathy Jenkins (Sheila) étaient les principales victimes de la « purge » orchestrée par les gens d’ Alan Landsburg (abandon de l’ electronic compositing à 10 semaines de la sortie du film) Voilà donc un énième plan coupé au montage de nos trois adolescentes qui, selon moi, pourrait se situer dans les toutes premières secondes de la visite (en tout cas, bien avant l’ apparition de la baleine géante de l’ attraction Jonah & The Whale). Tournées à proximité du célèbre parc d’ Orlando dans un hangar aménagé en studio, ces images nous prouve une fois de plus l’ importance du Green Screen (encore loin de faire l’ unanimité chez les professionnels en 1982…) dans la production de Jaws 3D.

Beaucoup de plans réalisés par la firme Private Stock Effects comportent 3 à 4 éléments à composer: l’ arrière-plan (des rochers, du corail…), les images Live-action et le cocktail poissons, végétation  et  bulles au premier plan… J’ essaierai donc de vous rédiger prochainement un article basé sur une note de Jim Muto (visual consultant) adressée à Robert Blalack de Praxis expliquant la démarche à suivre pour mettre au point un plan composé en 3D (à défaut de vous offrir une interview inédite de Lea Thompson).

En attendant, profitez de ces merveilleuses photographies tirées d’ anciens numéros de  American Cinematographer et Filmfax qui ne manqueront pas d’ engendrer de la frustration parmi les plus fans d’ entre vous! Quoi qu’ il en soit, les documents concernant le vaste débat Electronic Compositing VS optical risquent d’ inonder les pages de votre site préféré dans les prochaines semaines… C’ est toujours mieux que rien.

Avant de nous lancer dans une analyse complète du « money-shot » de Jaws 3D (à savoir le monstre se dirigeant tel un missile vers la salle de contrôle) , accordons toute la place nécessaire à un des nombreux plans concoctés par la firme PSE qui n’ aura pas survécu à la table de montage. Celui-ci était censé nous montrer une vue aérienne d’ un des tunnels de l’ Undersea Kingdom le jour de l’ inauguration. Bien qu’ une des sections de cette attraction ait été fabriquée à l’ échelle 1, la décision fut prise de profiter de l’ Electronic Compositing et de privilégier l’ usage de maquettes… Dans un premier temps, PSE réalisa, à l’ aide d’ une caméra 3D Mitchells, un plan du tunnel dans la célèbre Smoke Room. Cette miniature fut modifiée pour permettre à un puissant spot, dissimulé sous un sol en plastique transparent et légèrement teinté, d’ éclairer toute la section (créant en quelque sorte un green screen géant).

A la même période, le trio d’ adolescentes Sherrie, Suzie et Sheila et de nombreux figurants furent immortalisés, par une des équipes d’ Orlando, déambulant le long d’ un corridor imaginaire et s’ extasiant sur les nombreuses merveilles composant le royaume sous-marin. La difficulté pour PSE était bien évidemment de réussir à faire coïncider les images Live avec celles tournées par leur équipe comme l’ a récemment expliqué Robert Skotak dans un des derniers numéros de Filmfax. Malheureusement, le résultat à l’ écran de ces plans bénéficiant de la technologie encore expérimentale de l’ Electronic Compositing ne conviendra pas à Alan Landsburg et ses associés qui décidèrent immédiatement de purger le film de la présence néfaste de vidéo. Pourtant les deux photographies suivantes prouvent que la qualité était largement au rendez-vous… Surtout lorsqu’ on garde en tête que Jaws 3D, en raison du procédé 3-D over-under, est un film plus proche de la résolution du 16mm que du glorieux 35mm.

Nous tenterons de revenir sur ces nombreuses scènes supprimées au montage et sur les soucis liés à l’ Electronic Compositing dans les prochaines semaines… Mais depuis que Skotak a admit avoir en sa possession une bobine des FX finalisés de Jaws 3D (financée par Chuck Comisky), on se plait à rêver de découvrir ces scènes autrement qu’ à travers de simples photographies!

Il est primordiale pour un site comme le notre d’ aborder le moindre aspect de la production de Jaws 3D. Ne soyez donc pas étonné de voir à la une de Jaws-3d.com un article entièrement consacré à la caméra 16mm du couple Fitz Royce/ Tate (visible dans deux scènes importantes du film) et à son créateur: le sympathique Jim Bailey d’ Orlando. C’ est donc très gentiment que Jim a accepté de nous raconter son parcours et sa participation au troisième volet de la saga:

« In 1956 at age 28 I left England as a Machinist/mechanic for Canada. . Having a great interest in photography and always looking for new subjects to film. I became a certified SCUBA diver.
Back then there were very few ways to take a camera underwater. So, I had to make a housing.
With a friend/partner we designed an aluminum one for his 120 roll film camera, and I pushed to make one for my Bolex H16.
Like most under funded partnerships, we parted amicably. And I went forward with the 16 MM.

This turned out to be my entry into most things oceanographic, and put me in touch with the top people in that field. (More later.) In 1967 the Canadian Government sponsored a country wide exhibition of new products designed in Canada. And my prototype was sent to all these shows, and eventually given a ‘Design 67’ award.
Of course I had a full time job. I had a small lathe and drill press in my basement which was OK for the small parts, but I had to borrow a much larger lathe for the main castings. Getting into any real production, was just not in my budget. But I finally managed to find the money for 5 sets of castings. This was such a radical design that when I advertised it in Skin Diver Magazine they called it the ‘Bowling Ball’
The later units were motor driven and a 200 watt light and adjustable arm added. A time lapse unit was also offered. All from a rechargeable 30 volt 4 a/h battery.

I was almost on my way! In order to get some real experience and tests with the (Then named ‘JubaMarine 16’) I signed up for an Underwater Photo Course in Florida. The people that had organized it, after seeing my ’bowling ball’ were so impressed, instead of a mere student I was treated almost as faculty. Here I met those people that were to be a great influence in my life. To cut to the chase the housing was seen by a man that wanted to create jobs in central Florida, manufacturing underwater housings.
After meeting him I was offered a job to set up his plant as design and production manager. His company was ‘Sea Research & Development, Inc. The Research side was being phased out, and all effort was on manufacturing. There were problems with his existing products and after two years decided to close up, but was kind enough to make it easy for me to buy the company. ‘Thanks Bill.’. We never looked back…

Here my wife Inez and I was in sunny Florida, with a real machine shop, and a house that went with the job. She had her garden, and each weekend we would dive Florida’s fabulous springs and sinks, and with the eventual purchase of a boat got to the Bahamas almost every long weekend. Easily the best fifteen years of our lives.
I mostly made custom Underwater Housings in Plexiglas and had an order to make one for a photographer working on production of the movie Jaws3 D. The producer had seen my orange aluminum 16 MM housing and wanted to use it (It would have been a much more colorful prop, being orange, and matching the -in film actors costume).

 But it meant a lot of work to get it into working order and they were not prepared to pay my rental rate. The Housing you see in the film was the Plexi one. Some time after the production was completed, the customer brought it back for some changes, but never came back for it, and I have it still.
My website www.waterhousings.com says it all. 50 years non stop… At 83, I now make only Water housings. Much less hassle. »

Merci à Jim pour sa générosité et sa disponibilité. N’ oubliez pas de visiter son site et gardez bien en tête le contenu de cet article la prochaine fois que vous aurez l’ occasion de revoir Jaws 3D!

C’ est avec un plaisir non dissimulé que je vous invite à lire cette interview exclusive d’ Ed Horwitz qui a très gentiment accepté de participer à votre site préféré. Désormais solide producteur hollywoodien (en ce moment la série TV Seriously funny kid) , Ed Horwitz a débuté sa carrière aux côtés de Robert Altman avant de rejoindre la famille Alan Landsburg à partir de 1980. Pour le compte de l’ ALP, il exercera en 1982 le rôle de Line Producer sur le troisième volet de Jaws. Il nous raconte:

Interview in English

1/ Alan Landsburg launched the Jaws 3 project in October 1980 from an idea of ​​guerdon Trueblood. The concept of a third Jaws in 3D is envisaged a year later when Joe Alves is approached. When did you join the production and have you contributed to the artistic aspects of the film (casting, locations …)

I was a staff member of Alan Landsburg productions at the time we did Jaws 3D. My role was a line producer on the second unit production. However, I was producing a documentary on missing children in Orlando at the same time they were shooting Jaws 3D so I was on the set a few times duting initial production, but then I oversaw production on the second unit and pick ups in Los Angeles.

2/ Jaws 3D had great difficulties with the choice of 3D cameras (optimax III, stereovision and Arrivision3D). The first week of shooting was not used in the film because of the quality of the Stereovision system. Do you remember that period? Do you feel the anxiety as a member of the production?

I definitely do remember when there was the problem with the first week of shooting. The movie was very inexpensive for a movie like this so having a wasted week of production was not good news at all. No one was very happy about it.

3/ Can you comment on the case PSE / Praxis (electronic compositing VS. FX optical printer)? Do you think (as many observers) that the special effects of the firm PSE (deleted in editing) were higher in quality than the FX of Praxis (from the theatrical cut)?

Unfortunately I don’t really know anything about this. Sorry

4/ Alan Landsburg has considerably shortened Jaws 3D to realize more screenings per day (Joe Alves speaks about 20 minutes) . Do you think this choice has greatly affected the quality of the final film?

Alan was a great producer and he and his partner Howard Lipstone were even better businessmen. Being as the film was not a true work of art, I actually think it probably made the film more watchable.

5/ Do you feel the embarrassment when you talk about Jaws 3D or do you think the movie is not as bad as the critics may say.

I’m not embarrassed at all about the film. There are plenty of not so great movies that have become more popular in later years and live on that way. As a matter of fact, all these years layer we’re still writing and talking about it. There are thousands of films everyone forgets, but because of good people like you, this film will live on.

THANKS FOR LETTING ME HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO TALK ABOUT THIS. I AM STILL IN TOUCH WITH ALAN LANDSBURG. DOES HE KNOW ABOUT ALL OF THIS AND YOUR COLLECTION? I’M SURE HE’D LOVE TO IF HE DOESN’T.

THANKS AGAIN….Ed Horwitz

This interview is in English. Do not use translation software... Toujours aussi sympathique, John Putch a accepté de s’ étendre quelques instants sur sa carrière d’ acteur et réalisateur. Je vous laisse en profiter:

1/ You had 14 years to the release of the first Jaws. Were you a fan of the franchise when you were hired on Jaws 3D? Have you seen the two films before the shooting to help you interpret the character of Sean Brody?

I was a total Jaws fan and I re-watched the prior two on VHS before going in to audition. I was blinded at the possibility of being in a Jaws movie, so I did not care about the script. And what would i know about quality, I was only 20. The only thing I really had to go on from the first 2 movies were that Sean Brody was afraid of the water. The rest was brother stuff which was in the script.

2/ Do you remember your audition? Did you know that you would have to perform some stunts and spend much time in the water (and into the arms of Lea Thompson)?

My auditions were intense. I went several times. I was paired up with different girls. I remember going to one of the auditions and seeing Jennifer Jason Lee studying her lines to audition. I was completely intimidated by her beauty and talent. She was also just off the success of ‘Fast Times At Ridgemont High’ co-staring with a buddy of mine Robert Romanus. (bob has been in a lot of the films I direct)

I was paired up with Lea in the final auditions. We read the scenes many times and acted them out in the production office at Alan Landsburg’s building in west LA. I remember being very relaxed and comfortable with the role, so I had a good time riffing on the material and coming off realistic. Lea was so sweet and new. I think it was her first feature film. She was fresh out of Pittsburgh or PHilidelphia. She hooked up with Dennis Quaid pretty quick. Next thing we knew they were engaged. A funny Lea story: I remember how they kept hinting that for the international version they wanted Lea to do a topless scene. She was rightfully mortified and declined. She mentioned that if they forced her to do it, she would draw giant black X’s on her boobs so they couldn’t use the shots, or clean it off. I thought wow, this girl is right and she’s got a good game plan to avoid being nude in the movie. Less than a year later she is completely nude opposite Tom Cruise in ‘All the Right Moves’.

Over the years I’ve run into Lea here and there. She also did some directing at a TV movie house I was working at were I directed Poseidon Adventure. Everytime I see her I wait to see if she recognizes me before saying hello. Once I stood next to her talking for 5 minutes before she figured out it was me. She’s a talented director, I hope she keeps it up.

3/ Can you say something about the strange game of STAND-OFF? Is this a pure invention of the production or a popular game in the early 80’s?

It must have been one of the big bar games of the times. It was in the script. I remember i had to defeat my buddy Carl Mazzocone (location manager) in the scene before Lea came up and took me on. Mazz is the bearded dude who I beat. He happens to be producing the new ‘Leatherface 3D’ franchise in Shreveport, LA right now. I think I put you in touch with him a few years ago. He is a great behind the scenes anecdote resource for you. Let me know if you need his email again.

4/ History tells you became intimate with the water skier Jackie Kuntarich during filming. Can you confirm?

Where did you hear that obscure bit of trivia? That’s a good one. And yes, I flipped my lid for Jackie and we had a wonderful love affair over the course of that shooting. Then spent Christmas together in ’83. What a gorgeous and delightful person. All of the skiers were fun and nice folks. There was a boat driver/manager named Sharkey Schwartz who we hung out with a lot. He was fun and worked the movie boats for us in the lagoon.

5/ I have most of your movies on DVD (Fugitive Mind, Tycus, spoiler, American Pie 7, the wave, the Poseidon …). Are you proud of all of your work as well as an actor and director? How to locate Jaws 3D in your career (high or low?)
I love all the B movies that I’ve acted in and now directed. I was so serious as a young director on movies like Tycus and Intrepid (Deep Water) that I had no time to laugh and enjoy how outrageous they were. But now I can reflect on them with great humor and I love remembering all the crazy shit we did as low budget film makers back then. If i ever write a book, I’ve got a whole chapter just for the great Dennis Hopper. My good director friend Jeff Burr put me in Spoiler after we directed together at Saban. (Big Bad Beetleborgs).
Jeff is just finishing Alien Tornado. Jeff is sort of a legend in the horror fantasy world. Step Father 2 put him on the map.

When Bess Armstrong and I sat through a screening of Jaws 3D at universal one day before its release, we both looked at each other when it was over and said…. »let’s get drunk » cause we knew our careers might be over. So I was very defensive about it when it came out. Although it was a box office hit, I was not too proud of it. But now! I’m so glad to have been apart of cinematic history no matter the quality of the film. I love that it is so B like. I am proud of it. Fun. Nothing but fun.

The best films I’ve made are my own Indie movies. . Like Mojave PHone Booth and Route 30 . The latter being so sucessful in the state of Pennsylvania, that I have decided to make it a trilogy. The 2nd film is due out next fall (2012). Its called Route 30, Too! and will have many B elements in it. Spaceships and ghosts duke it out in south central, PA. Route 30 Too. Those are my best work as a writer and in many ways a director. And the total budget combined of all three mentioned above is under 200K. So you could definitely put them in the non A category.

Thank you for everything, John.

Thanks, Romain. Remember if you come to California ever, let us know. I’ll assemble the Jaws 3D alumni for a visit with you.