OldBoy

the scene right after Quint, Brody, and Hooper are drinking and singing, the boat is getting pummeled by the shark, they go atop, try to do some damage and then when it is all calm again before it goes to the next morning, there is a shooting star that goes from right to left in the sky over Brody's head. There is another right after that shot going from left to right.

Now my question is...is this a known occurrence in the movie and are they real or effects?

Catch 21

Taken from Easter Egg Archive:

After Brody fires his pistol at the shark there are a few night shots. In both, a shooting star is plainly visible (optically added in post production - travelling left to right). This was Spielberg's signature forewarning us to 'watch the skies' for his next movie... ("CLOSE ENCOUNTERS" of course).

Jackskeleton

At any given night if the sky is clear and you don't have any extreme amount of light flooding in the sky you can catch a lot of shooting stars.

Or Spielberg was just trying to hint towards Close encounters, E.T and War of the Worlds.

OldBoy

wow! so it was effects, i really thought maybe it was the majesty of nature. oh well, it was a cool find in my second viewing ever!

FinkPish

It was an effect, but the reasoning given isn't necessarily correct. When he was shooting Jaws, I doubt Spielberg was thinking so far ahead to foreshadow Close Encounters. He was already over budget and over schedule, and I don't think he was considering his next film until he finished this one.

Dark_Sithlord

If you watch some of Spielberg's movies, there is often a scene with a shooting star. It's almost a signature, like Schwarzenegger saying, "I'll be back!"

victant

Curses! So that's why my wish didn't come true....

Rammsteinfan

I think most of his films have shooting stars in them. Even Indy had some shooting stars in the film. Didnt see any in WOTW... have to see it again soon.

jaeufraser

Yeah, I remember the shooting star the best in Temple of Doom when he's telling Short Round about fortune and glory.

Shannon Nutt

I think the shooting star in Jaws is REAL. Steven's put shooting stars in every movie since then (I think all of them) because he feels it's a good luck charm to have them in his movies now.

OldBoy

even in "Schindler's List", "Saving Private Ryan" and "Minority Report"? in those i would think the stars would be way out of place.

is there anywhere to get the definitive scenes as to where the stars are in the movies?

FinkPish

I'm pretty sure it isn't real. If you look, you can't make out any other stars in the sky, even just a couple of really bright ones. If he was able to pick up a shooting star on film, then he should have gotten at least a few of the brighter stars too.

MrKen

I thought I read in an interview that it was real. However, I cannot recall the source or even guess at its authenticity.

Bilbo Baggins

I was always under the impression that the shooting star was a portent of bad things to come. From what I understand old sailers and whalers considered them to be bad omens and meant something ominous was going to happen to the ship. That was my interpretation anyway. I could be wrong.

Gerry P.

For stars to register on a film frame, a camera's shutter has to be open for multiple seconds or minutes, not for a small fraction of a second. If you ever see stars in the sky during a movie they are undoubtedly a special effect.

dick_grayson

I've always noticed them (and they always looked fake).

Giantrobo

WARNING: War of the Worlds minor plot point under "spoiler tag"

Dumb asses. Obvioulsy those "shooting stars" were aliens on Earth prepping for invasion.

Tyler_Durden

Don't do that. How is anybody supposed to know that's specifically a War of the Worlds spoiler? (And yes, you just spoiled that part of the film for me - before reading the above, I didn't know what shown in the film's trailers signified.)

Giantrobo

Actually, it's not a spoiler. It's not a critical plot point and you won't miss anything from the film knowing this. I put the "spolier tag" on it as part of the joke. They even show this in the trailers so how anyone wouldn't know is a mystery to me.

Either way, I'm sorry if it caused a problem for you and I went back the put a warning....

Tyler_Durden

I know, it's just a matter of principle.I hadn't seen all the trailers so I didn't know . Anyway, it wasn't a big deal, having now seen the film.

mmconhea

Also if you look closely the hole jaws bit into the boat was Spielberg hinting towards the giant plot holes in War of the Worlds.

auto

a handle

I did not read all the replies but the scene where two shooting stars go left to right has a full cloud cover with the shooters below this which is impossible. Shooting stars as you see them are 10s of miles up in the sky way above even the highest clouds. Ie with clouds no shooting stars can be seen.

steebo777

Worst.
Come Back.
Ever.

DonnachaOne

Let's not be silly.

"The shooting star was the sould of the 3 Men & a Baby ghost boy going to Heaven!"