What the heck is this thing? A bell, a light?

Here is a close up of it. Notice that there is also a flat disc attached to the bottom that is just a bit wider.

Is this device found on any other boats besides the one used in Jaws? I can't find any other boats with one on it. Looks like a wash basin to me. Perhaps it contained a speaker for communicating with the actors, that loose hanging wire that looks like speaker wire could be just that.

 

A day shape should be displayed a sufficient distance away from any structure so that the shape of it is clearly defined, I can't see how it would be of any benefit to store a shape inside a container like that unless the container formed part of the shape.

 

Maybe it contained a set camera in it, to obscure it and to shade from glare. For shark selfies and such.

 

Is it possible that it maybe had a bell hung from it and that black dome shape was simply to better distribute the sound to the fishermen below?? I gotta think this thing wasnt made by the prop depot,as Im pretty sure the mast was not a prop,but was simply purchased by the crew and stuck on the Orca.Jaws had very few things created for the film.

 

I very much doubt there was a camera in it. It would have to have been a specialized small camera and I can think of no shots in the movie taken from that angle.

I don't quite understand why a bell would be needed at all for "alerting" the crew. It is quite a small boat. Someone up in the crow's nest is only ~20 ft from someone on deck.

I've spent far too much time with google's image search trying to find another example of a boat with one of these things and have come up with nothing.

 

Regarding the movie, I remember seeing the mechanical shark when I was a kid at Universal Studios. I also remember them pointing out the pool with the tracks in it that the shark would ride on and the tour guide would explain that the shark scenes were actually filmed there and through "movie magic" made to look as it was filmed on the ocean. Whenever I would watch the movie I would be very impressed because try as hard as I could I could not see the fakery that they had employed.

Well, as you probably well know by now, the movie was actually filmed on the water. The shark did not ride on tracks but was towed by another boat.

 

Thankfully the shark didn't work most of the time. They wanted to use it more. But with Jaws less in more.

Now, the special version of Orca that could sink on command worked perfectly.

 

According to what I have read, the movie boat was heavily modified, it was originally a lobster boat named "Warlock". The crow's nest and the bow pulpit were added by the movie people, as well as changing the flybridge and adding a bunch of lead to keep her stable.

 

Might I also suggest that the title of this thread be changed to be more descriptive, mentioning the name of the boat and the movie that made it famous. Something like "What the heck is that black round thing on the mast of the Orca from the movie Jaws?". In doing so you might attract the attention of someone who has some insight - as has happened with another thread on this forum about the Orca.

 

It's a movie prop.
Simple as that.

 

It's a toit.

A round toit.

 

Finally, a round toit.

 

Unrelated inquiry (sorry) - are you the same guy who built "Rita" from scratch?

 

No.