TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – Fifty years ago Friday, crowds flocked to the cinema and met Bruce, a terrifying Great White. Millions skipped their next beach trip, shaking in fear.
With “Jaws” came the idea of a summer blockbuster that could captivate the world. Stephen Spielberg’s breakthrough hit was also a big break for a man with ties to Florida State University.
Rexford Metz got a job to work on the underwater scenes of the film, particularly the scene when Richard Dreyfuss’ character explores a sunken fishing boat.
He would go on to become the “King of the Second Unit,” his son Johnathan Metz said in an interview Friday. Rexford Metz’s IMDb page is impressive, including films from the Indiana Jones franchise to “Flubber.”
In about 2004, Metz took his talents to Tallahassee, where he became an instructor at the FSU film school.
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The cinematographer passed away in January at age 88, but in an interview Friday, his son said he had countless stories of his father, who would take him on set as a kid in Hollywood.
He described how his father got the gig for Jaws, working with Panavision to design cameras to film underwater.
“He went to Panavision and said, ‘Ok, these are the cameras I need, these are the lenses, this is how I’m going to shoot. Make it happen.’ And they built an underwater camera housing for the Panavision cameras,” Johnathan said.
His innovative style now lives on as his legacy. And none of his work still frightens and delights audiences like his underwater masterpiece from 1975.
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