JAWS cinematographer Bill Butler dies aged 101
The man who shot JAWS, its Director of Photography (DOP), Bill Butler has passed away just short of his 102nd birthday.
In anyone's book, that's not a bad record for this vicinity, but that doesn't mean his loss is no less felt across the JAWS community.
Part artist, part technician the DOP, or cinematographer, helps create the look and feel of a film, and the Steven Spielberg shark classic is certainly a film you feel.
And when that film in question is JAWS, we all know that look like the back of our city hands and that it looks just as gorgeous today as it did almost 50 years ago.
Ross Williams, founder of The Daily Jaws - the world's biggest JAWS fan site - said: "Put simply, Bill Butler plays a pivotal part in the look of and our continued love of and fascination for all things JAWS.
"He helps scare us as much as John Williams does with the score and Verna Fields with the editing. They are like the holy trinity of the great white shark.
"Butler helped develop cameras that made essential filming close to the water possible and allowed the water to lap the camera - giving that all important shark eye’s view."
What makes JAWS even more impressive is half of it was shot on or in the sea, and Butler takes full advantage of that.
Much of that was shot handheld as well, by Butler, who let his knees take in the roles of the ocean when on the Orca, rather than a costly, cumbersome and time-consuming gimbal.
Before even stepping foot in Martha’s Vineyard Butler had already worked on such classics as The Conversation and One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest.
And this wasn’t the first time he’d been cinematographer for Spielberg either, as he’d also performed the duties on two of his earlier TV movies, Savage and Something Evil.
He’d joked with Spielberg that he’d heard he was making a film about ‘a fish’ - the rest as they say is history.
Butler even got to shoot the final shot of JAWS, the exploding Bruce. With multiple cameras set up Butler warned Spielberg that the set up by the special effects crew was taking longer than hoped and with daylight fading it meant the final shot was unlikely to be got that night.
Spielberg told Butler that wasn’t a problem, but he was leaving, so Butler could finish it.
He did, and it is now said that Spielberg leaves prior to the final shot is in the can of all his films - call it is good luck charm if you will.
Post JAWS saw Butler work on a varied range of films as cinematographer from Grease to three Rocky sequels, Child’s Play and - back in the water - with the 1996 version of Flipper.
The viewfinder may have closed for Bill Butler, but his legacy continues for us and future generations as we devour the film again or discover JAWS for the very first time.
His significant contribution to its success back in 1975, and that it remains so beloved today, cannot and should not be underestimated. We’ll mourn, but we’ll never miss his mastery each time we sit back and enjoy JAWS, just one more time.
Words by Dean Newman
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