What is often the most entertaining moment in a movie? It’s when a plant pays off. What does that mean? It means the writer has set something up in the story, or “planted” it, and then later in the narrative, there’s a payoff (or a reveal) – a twist, a character development or even a joke. The best films utilize tools like this – techniques, devices and tricks of the trade to accomplish these exciting moments. In our ongoing series — Screenwriting Plants and Payoffs — we’ll highlight a film and break down how the filmmakers use plants and payoffs effectively. Let’s take a look at the classic movie Jaws to see how they plant and payoff story beats throughout the film.
Read More: Aha! The Power Of Plant And Payoff
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The Screenwriting Plants and Payoffs of Jaws
Note: Beware of Spoilers.
Based on the Peter Benchley novel of the same name, the film tells the story of a killer shark that unleashes chaos on the vacation beach community of Amity Island. Chief of Police Martin Brody enlists the help of Hooper, a marine biologist, and Quint, an old Captain Ahab-like seafarer. Together the trio of unlikely allies set out to the deeper depths of the ocean to lure, hunt, and kill the shark.
Throughout the script, the tone of the story works as a four-way genre hybrid as it shifts from:
- Creature feature horror based on the fear of a relentless and unseen monster from the depths
- Political thriller as Brody deals with the town’s Mayor and board that want to keep the island open for tourist season
- Lighthearted family drama with Brody coming home to his wife and boys
- Thrilling seafaring adventure
Throughout the story, the script maintains a light comic undertone to keep the horror from becoming too intense and the anxiety from making it a pure thriller. This opens up the film to a broader audience.
Brody’s Fear of Water
Brody’s fear of the water is established early on in the screenplay. He’s actually not an islander. He’s an East Coast city cop that took the job to get his family away from the city.
Because we know that he has a fear of the very substance that the killer shark hides within, each moment he’s on or near the water intensifies the scene. That knowledge of his fear lends more suspense and empathy as he deals with this unseen threat. Every time that he is on or near the water grabs our attention more.
And as the story progresses, more and more is asked of Brody. He’s forced to go with Hooper on Hooper’s high-tech boat — at night, nonetheless. He then agrees to go on Quint’s Orca boat to hunt down the shark. So the plant of him being afraid of the water pays off through his character arc as well.
As the third act progresses, Brody is forced closer and closer to the water.
- He is assigned to drop the fish chum into the wake of the boat. It is here where he comes closer to the killer shark than any surviving character has thus far.
- As the Orca sinks, he’s forced to maneuver through the water within the boat.
- When Hooper disappears, and Quint is killed, Brody climbs to the top of the boat tower as the boat sinks. As the tension of the impending shark attack builds, Brody comes closer and closer to the water until he finally kills the shark. Only then does he actually get into the water to float back to shore with Hooper.
The payoff of Brody’s fear is spread throughout the whole screenplay, giving the story — and his character arc — more and more depth (pun intended).
Shark Books
One of the more brilliant — but subtle — examples of plants and payoffs in Jaws is revealed early on when Brody has gone to the library to check out books about sharks. He knows nothing about them, so he’s doing his due diligence to learn what he can.
During his research, we see images that foreshadow events to come. And plants and payoffs are cinematic examples of foreshadowing in film and television.
We see a shark using its nose to bust through the hull of a boat.
In the film, the shark uses this tactic to bust a hole in the hull of the Orca.
We also see a picture of a shark biting down on a metal rod used to measure the strength of its bite. The rod resembles an air tank.
This information tells Brody that sharks will instinctively bite down on objects placed within their jaws. As we know, this tactic is utilized in the climax of the film as Brody throws a scuba diving air tank into the jaws of the shark. More on what that leads to below.
As you can see, these subtle but informative plants pay off so well in the film’s climax.
Quint’s Past and Fate
The characterization of Quint offers some subtle and deep plants that eventually lead to payoffs in the climax of the story. Yes, this above screenshot of when he first appears in the story isn’t that subtle. If anything, this is a bit on-the-nose, as far as foreshadowing his doomed fate.
But we have two more subtle moments that offer great plants.
The Song Quint Sings
Throughout their adventure at sea, Quint repeatedly sings an old British naval song called Spanish Ladies. We mentioned above that Quint was a Captain Ahab-like seafarer, which references Herman Melville’s classic novel, Moby Dick. Quint is very similar to that novel’s iconic character, Captain Ahab.
Quint is obsessed with killing sharks. Ahab is obsessed with killing the whale. They are both motivated by revenge (see below). And, yes, both are killed by their adversaries of the deep sea.
The Story Quint Tells
During a drunken conversation, Quint reveals that he was on the crew of the U.S.S. Indianapolis. The 900 men who survived the sinking were afloat in the ocean for four days. Only 316 men survived. The rest having been victims of shark attacks and dehydration.
This is a haunting monologue that reveals why Quint is obsessed with hunting down and killing this shark. It’s his revenge for the brothers-in-arms that he lost that fateful day.
As Quint was a survivor of those shark attacks, it’s almost as if the past wasn’t through with him yet. He would suffer the same fate as his fallen Navy brothers — killed from the waist-down bite of a shark.
Air Tanks
As Brody, Quint, and Hooper set off to sea, ready to hunt down the great white shark that has been terrorizing a vacation island, Quint watches with a smile as Hooper loads his high-tech equipment — which includes scuba diving air tanks.
During their voyage, Brody pulls a wrong knot, sending the air tanks tumbling. Hooper scolds him. He then warns them of how dangerous those tanks really are — they could explode if not handled with caution.
When you pair this with the knowledge that Brody acquired in the shark books (sharks will instinctively bite down on objects placed within their jaws), we’re presented with one of the greatest cinematic payoffs we’ve seen on the big screen.
In that above climactic scene, we see three screenwriting plants collide for the ultimate payoff.
- Brody’s fear of water creates tension as he sinks closer and closer to what he had previously feared the most.
- The knowledge of sharks biting down on objects placed within their jaws.
- The danger of the air tanks and the knowledge that they will explode if not handled with caution.
The result is a now-iconic climax to an equally iconic film.
Screenwriting Lesson Learned
Pepper your screenplays with plants and payoffs. Why?
- They enhance the read.
- They elevate your screenwriting.
- They prove to script readers (interns, assistants, readers, producers, development executives, managers, agents, and talent) that you have attention to detail in your writing.
Ken Miyamoto has worked in the film industry for nearly two decades, most notably as a studio liaison for Sony Studios and then as a script reader and story analyst for Sony Pictures.
He has many studio meetings under his belt as a produced screenwriter, meeting with the likes of Sony, Dreamworks, Universal, Disney, and Warner Brothers, as well as many production and management companies. He has had a previous development deal with Lionsgate, as well as multiple writing assignments, including the produced miniseries BLACKOUT, starring Anne Heche, Sean Patrick Flanery, Billy Zane, James Brolin, Haylie Duff, Brian Bloom, Eric La Salle, and Bruce Boxleitner, the feature thriller HUNTER’S CREED, and many produced Lifetime thrillers. Follow Ken on Twitter @KenMovies and Instagram @KenMovies76.
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Author: Ken Miyamoto
