Kids & Family

'Jaws' of Summer Fun [VIDEO]

Former Riverside kids recreate 'Jaws 2' on the Mianus River Pond in Riverside.

 

The setting's idyllic enough ... the calm waters of the Mianus River Pond in Riverside.

A lone swimmer plies the shimmering waters.

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Then ...

Dun, dun, dun, dun. Dun, dun, dun, dun.

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A horrifying black fin slices through the water and with a splash, the swimmer disappears.

Could it be? 'Jaws' in the Mianus River?

You bet.

It's a parody of the 1978 blockbuster "Jaws 2" - the brainchild of an imaginative former Riverside kid who aspired to be a filmmaker. Each summer Rob Hampton would travel from Cape Cod where he relocated with his mother Jill, to spend a month with his grandparents who owned a home on Cary Road in Riverside on the Mianus River Pond. He'd gather with his friends for summer fun which included making parodies of the season's blockbuster movies.

"That’s the one great one I made in Greenwich area…..we always would shoot these silent films … we’d try to do the latest blockbuster, "Jaws 2,"Star Wars," King Kong" and then "James Bond," Hampton recalled during an interview from his home in West Los Angeles where he writes, films, edits and produces television commercials for his company Splat Pictures.

"I wanted to make movies. My grandparents bought me a silent movie camera. (But) I didn’t want to make family home movies," Hampton said. "I had a Bell and Howell Super 8 camera. What kid would have a silent movie camera?"

So in 1978 the kids being kids—they let their collective imaginations run wild and create their own versions of blockbuster films. And in this case, the Mianus River Pond became the set for the Riverside version of "Jaws 2." The pond substituted for Long Island Sound, Hampton said.

Hampton's been working to add audio to his collection of 35-plus-year-old silent films and posting them on You Tube. His latest project was "Jaws 2" which he posted to You Tube in July to coincide with the release of the Blu-Ray version of  of Steven Spielberg's original 1975  "Jaws."

Seeing his grandfather's sailboat along the pond's shore, the idea to film "Jaws 2" was hatched by Hampton and his best friend who also lived on Cary Road, John Morgan, who's now a Greenwich Public School teacher who lives in Mount Kisco, NY, Hampton recalled.

"We went to the shipyard under the (Mianus River) bridge and got this huge piece of metal. My grandfather carved it up, painted it and carved the teeth," the 48-year-old Hampton said. "I tried to emulate Spielberg’s not showing the shark too much because he had (mechanical) problems with it. My grandfather wasn't too happy we didn't show it too much because of all the work he did on it."

The animation was rudimentary when compared to today's digital standards.

"We made a styrofoam fin that was nailed to a plank of wood which we dragged along on a string tied our foot while on a float.

Hampton's aunt and uncle Judy and Peter Montaner who now live in Ridgefield are cast members—he is the swimmer attacked in the opening scenes and she is his wife. Morgan played Chief Brody.

"We were so excited about using real adults in the movie," Hampton said. "We always used kids playing adults so it was kinda a new thing for us."

The filming of the scene of emergency crews arriving on the East Putnam Avenue/Mianus River Bridge was serendipitous.

"That was just pure luck," Hampton said. "We heard sirens up on the Post Road and we’re like 'hey, let’s run up there. We just started shooting. And then we saw the police car was empty, so we pretended to jump over the median and climb into the car. We got really close to the car but didn't want to get in trouble. So we shot the next scene inside my family's car."

Flash forward 34 years. Hampton decided to put to film, the dialog he used to perform whenever he showed his "Jaws." Morgan agreed to record his audio for Hampton to add to the movie. Using technology, Hampton said added music and credits and eliminated the splice marks in the original film.

With the audio project complete, Hampton added the Riverside edition of "Jaws 2" to his updated series of 1970s movies to his You Tube collection. About half of his "King Kong" parody also was shot in Riverside.

He said he looks at his two young daughters and realizes that as a safety-conscious parent today, he wouldn't allow them to play in the Mianus Pond the way he and his buddies did when making the movie.

Cary Road still holds a special place in Hampton's heart even though his grandparents John and Cora Husted have passed away. He said, "Anytime I do get back to that area I do drive down Cary Road past their house."


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