Brody is distracted by two red herrings (one visual and one aural) before the real fish strikes without warning. The first is a black shape in the water just beyond the overweight woman. There is a cut to Brody's anxious reaction as he raises himself slightly from his seated position and then a shot that reveals the suspected fin to be nothing more than the black bathing cap of another of Amity's elderly residents. Another reaction shot shows Brody looking askance with a mixture of relief and self admonition. As a participant in the action, Brody has no visual or aural clues that will help him identify the presence of the shark. For him every suspicious movement in the water could be a threat. As viewers of the action, the audience, however, has been primed by the opening scene to associate the shark with an underwater POV shot and the throbbing music of the score. Although we do not feel the same misplaced anxiety as the main character, there remains a tension throughout the scene that dervies from the fact that we know something must happen, and we too, like Brody, are on the edge of our seats.
