The 'Jaws' Scene That Took Spielberg 50 Takes, and More Secrets From Big Directors

Q: How do you get an A-list director to open up in an interview? A: Make sure the interviewer is another A-list director. For the new issue of Empire, Spectre director Sam Mendes asked ten nosy questions of more than a dozen major filmmakers, including Steven Spielberg, David Fincher, Christopher Nolan, Sofia Coppola, Joss Whedon, and George Clooney. Seeing their responses side-by-side is a fascinating illustration of different directing styles, and illuminates just how challenging the job can be.

For example, in response to the question, “What’s the most takes you’ve ever done?”, Steven Spielberg remembers shooting one small moment from Jaws fifty times — in order to cover for the fact that the shark was broken that day. “I did 50 takes on Robert Shaw assembling the Greener gun on Jaws,” said Spielberg. “The shark wasn’t working, so I just kept shooting to make the production report look like we were accomplishing something and to keep cast and crew from going crazy from boredom. It was a strategic indulgence.”

In contrast, Rob Marshall (Into the Woods) told Mendes he has a policy of not doing “more than seven or eight” takes, and Edgar Wright (The World’s End) said he usually tops out at “six or seven.” Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity) and Stephen Soderbergh (Side Effects) have both shot in the ballpark of 50 takes. And famous perfectionist David Fincher (Gone Girl) says he once shot 107 takes of one scene — twice as many as the other director in Mendes’ survey.

Here are a few other things we learned from Mendes’ A-list director Q&A. To read more, go to Empire Online.

Directors are horrible caffeine addicts.

In response to the question “How many cups of coffee a day?”, most directors admitted to two or three — but a few admitted to caffeine addictions that bordered on dangerous. “Way too many, hence the beta-blockers,” said Joe Wright (Pan). “Once I had a potentially heart attack-inducing eight double espressos in one day. I think my assistant secretly swaps my coffee for decaf as she doesn’t want me to die of caffeine overdose,” said Edgar Wright. And Christopher Nolan (Interstellar) drank so much coffee that he “was forced to give it up and take up tea after Insomnia” — which explains his well-documented love affair with tea. A few health-conscious directors said they prefer herbal or green tea to coffee, including Spielberg, who drinks “at least a dozen cups of mint tea a day.”

Playing music on set is a very personal decision.

For some directors, including Ang Lee (Life of Pi), Stephen Soderbergh, and George Clooney (The Monuments Men), music on set is strictly verboten. For others, like Sofia Coppola (The Bling Ring) and Joe Wright, it’s a necessity. While shooting his movie The World’ s End, Edgar Wright played songs in the actors’ ear mics, “so they could all walk in time to The Doors.” Fincher doesn’t like music on set but will make exception for club scenes, “in which case we will play music earsplittingly loud so that the actors might speak to the level of the expected ambience.”

The best directing advice comes from other directors.

Sofia Coppola’s most useful bit of directorial wisdom came straight from her father, Francis Ford Coppola. “My dad told me, ‘Your movie’s never as good as the dailies and never as bad as the rough cut,’” she said. And Fincher got some priceless advice from another famed helmer. “[Martin] Scorsese once told me, ‘The things you do poorly are as much a part of your style as the things you do well,’” Fincher revealed. “Which was totally true, and oddly reassuring.”

Not all directors are good at pep talks.

I response to the question, “What is the most common phrase you use on set?”, most of the directors offered some variation on, “Great. Let’s do it again.” David Fincher, on the other hand, said his most-used phrase on set is “Shut the f— up, please.” And Clooney said the thing he says most often is, “What time is lunch?”