Editing Jaws (film) (section)

===Writing===
[[File:Jaws (1974) back cover featuring a portrait photograph of Peter Benchley by Alex Gotfryd, first edition.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.8|alt=A portrait photograph of Peter Benchley, 1974|The first three drafts of the screenplay for ''Jaws'' were written by [[Peter Benchley]] (pictured in 1974), the author of the [[Jaws (novel)|original novel]].]]
For the screen adaptation, Spielberg wanted to stay with the novel's basic plot, but discarded many of Benchley's [[subplot]]s.<ref name="Brode 50"/> He declared that his favorite part of the book was the shark hunt on the last 120&nbsp;pages, and told Zanuck when he accepted the job, "I'd like to do the picture if I could change the first two acts and base the first two acts on original screenplay material, and then be very true to the book for the last third."{{sfn|Friedman|Notbohm|2000|p=8}} When the producers purchased the rights to his novel, they promised Benchley that he could write the first draft of the [[screenplay]].<ref name="Brode 50"/> The intent was to make sure a script could be done despite an impending threat of a [[Writers Guild of America, West|Writer's Guild]] strike, given Benchley was not unionized.<ref name=empire>{{cite web|url=https://www.empireonline.com/interviews/interview.asp?IID=1516|title=Jaws: The Oral History|work=Empire|author1=Mark Salisbury|author2=Ian Nathan|access-date=March 23, 2015|archive-date=May 25, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150525034309/http://www.empireonline.com/interviews/interview.asp?IID=1516|url-status=live}}</ref> Overall, he wrote three drafts before the script was turned over to other writers;<ref name="Brode 50"/> delivering his final version to Spielberg, he declared, "I'm written out on this, and that's the best I can do."<ref name=inside_story/> Benchley later described his contribution to the finished film as "the storyline and the ocean stuff—basically, the mechanics", given he "didn't know how to put the character texture into a screenplay."<ref name=empire/> One of his changes was to remove the novel's adulterous affair between Ellen Brody and Matt Hooper, at the suggestion of Spielberg, who feared it would compromise the camaraderie between the men on the ''Orca''.<ref name=int11/> During the film's production, Benchley agreed to return and play a small onscreen role as a reporter.<ref name="jawschap3"/>

Spielberg, who felt that the characters in Benchley's script were still unlikable, invited the young screenwriter [[John Byrum]] to do a rewrite, but he declined the offer.<ref name=biskind264>{{harvnb|Biskind|1998|p=264}}</ref> ''[[Columbo]]'' creators [[William Link]] and [[Richard Levinson]] also declined Spielberg's invitation.<ref name="McBride238">{{harvnb|McBride|1999|p=238}}</ref> [[Tony Award|Tony]] and [[Pulitzer Prize]]-winning playwright [[Howard Sackler]] was in Los Angeles when the filmmakers began looking for another writer and offered to do an uncredited rewrite; since the producers and Spielberg were unhappy with Benchley's drafts, they quickly agreed.<ref name=jawschap1/> At the suggestion of Spielberg, Brody's characterization made him afraid of water, "coming from an urban jungle to find something more terrifying off this placid island near Massachusetts."<ref name=empire/>

Spielberg wanted "some levity" in ''Jaws'', humor that would avoid making it "a dark sea hunt", so he turned to his friend [[Carl Gottlieb]], a comedy writer-actor then working on the sitcom ''[[The Odd Couple (1970 TV series)|The Odd Couple]]''.<ref name=inside_story/> Spielberg sent Gottlieb a script, asking what the writer would change and if there was a role he would be interested in performing.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.omaha.com/article/20100520/ENTERTAINMENT/705209910|title=Bob's Take: 'Jaws' script doctor ruthless to character played by him|first=Bob|last=Fischbach|work=[[Omaha World-Herald]]|date=May 20, 2010|access-date=March 6, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130523064031/http://www.omaha.com/article/20100520/ENTERTAINMENT/705209910|archive-date=May 23, 2013}}</ref> Gottlieb sent Spielberg three pages of notes, and picked the part of Meadows, the politically connected editor of the local paper. He passed the audition one week before Spielberg took him to meet the producers regarding a writing job.<ref name=Baer198/>

While the deal was initially for a "one-week dialogue polish", Gottlieb eventually became the primary screenwriter, rewriting nearly the entire script during a nine-week period of principal photography.<ref name=Baer198>{{harvnb|Baer|2008|p=198}}</ref> The script for each scene was typically finished the night before it was shot, after Gottlieb had dinner with Spielberg and members of the cast and crew to decide what would go into the film. Many pieces of dialogue originated from the actors' improvisations during these meals; a few were created on set just prior to filming. [[John Milius]] contributed other dialogue polishes,<ref name=Friedman167/> and ''Sugarland Express'' writers [[Matthew Robbins (screenwriter)|Matthew Robbins]] and [[Hal Barwood]] also made uncredited contributions.<ref name=biskind265>{{harvnb|Biskind|1998|p=265}}</ref> Spielberg has claimed that he prepared his own draft, although it is unclear to what degree the other screenwriters drew on his material.<ref name=Friedman167/> One specific alteration he called for in the story was to change the cause of the shark's death from extensive wounds to a scuba tank explosion, as he felt audiences would respond better to a "big rousing ending".<ref name=jawschap11>{{cite video|first=Laurent|last=Bouzereau|title=A Look Inside Jaws|type=''Jaws'': 30th Anniversary Edition DVD (2005)|year=1995|publisher=Universal Home Video|trans-title="Climax"}}</ref> The director estimated the final script had a total of 27 scenes that were not in the book.<ref name=int11>{{harvnb|Friedman|Notbohm|2000|pages=11–12}}</ref>

Benchley had written ''Jaws'' after reading about sport fisherman [[Frank Mundus]]'s capture of an enormous shark in 1964. According to Gottlieb, Quint was loosely based on Mundus, whose book ''Sportfishing for Sharks'' he read for research.<ref name=baer209/> Sackler came up with the backstory of Quint as a survivor of the World War II {{USS|Indianapolis|CA-35|6}} disaster.<ref name=aicn/> The question of who deserves the most credit for writing Quint's monologue about the ''Indianapolis'' has caused substantial controversy. Spielberg described it as a collaboration between Sackler, Milius, and actor [[Robert Shaw (actor)|Robert Shaw]], who was also a playwright.<ref name="Friedman167">{{harvnb|Friedman|2006|p=167}}</ref> According to the director, Milius turned Sackler's "three-quarters of a page" speech into a monologue, and that was then partially rewritten by Shaw.<ref name=aicn/> Gottlieb gives primary credit to Shaw, downplaying Milius's contribution.<ref name="Gottlieb208">{{harvnb|Gottlieb|2005|p=208}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Jankiewicz |first1=Patrick |title=Just When You Thought It Was Safe: A Jaws Companion |publisher=BearManor Media |location=Duncan, OK |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eqY-DwAAQBAJ&q=Indianapolis |access-date=June 29, 2018|year=2009 }}</ref>