Martha’s Vineyard-Amity Island

For the shooting of Jaws, traditional summer holiday retreat, Martha’s Vineyard, became Amity Island, traditional summer holiday retreat and site of a dramatic series of shark attacks. Martha’s Vineyard was once a whaling community, as is evident in the films dock scenes, and despite being busy during the summer it has retained it clapboard community charms, which is why it was chosen for the film… and is probably now it’s ruin, seeing as it’s one of the most popular locations to visit, despite the gory scenes that took place at Amity Island. The attack on ‘the Kinter boy’ took place at Joseph Sylvia State Beach and Brody’s son first encounters the shark at Sengekontacket Pond.

A lot of the shark scenes in Jaws were a nightmare to shoot because they couldn’t get the mechanical shark working properly and the tension of not being able to see the shark but knowing he’s there is more due to the footage they had than physiological intention. More for trivia lovers: one of the scariest scenes in the film, when Hooper finds the fisherman’s head on the boat was actually a pick up shot on the editor’s pool.