Visible crew/equipment: When the fishermen start out on the hunt, Ben Gardner appears in a close-up leaning on the windshield at forward deck, while talking to his boatmate about how stupid some of the others are. In the next wide shot of the boats, Ben's green boat is towards the left of the screen, and the large reflector screen and camera, that are mounted to the bow of his boat, are visible in front of the forward window where Ben was seen in the previous shot. (00:30:25)
Visible crew/equipment: When Hooper is underwater in the cage wearing scuba gear, very bright light reflections from the crew are visible on the regulator. (01:53:05)
Visible crew/equipment: When Quint hears the clicking fishing reel, he puts on the harness and slowly lifts the rod. At the start of the shot facing the reel, a crew member's hand and the top of his head are reflected in the circular chrome. (01:15:25)
Visible crew/equipment: After losing Quint, Brody is in the flooded cabin as the ship tips. Just before the shark bursts in, there is an exterior shot looking into the cabin through the window with the shards of glass. A crew member wearing a jacket and hat is visible in the reflection of the triangular piece of glass, at the top right of the screen. (01:57:55)
Visible crew/equipment: After Quint walks on deck and tosses the life vests to Hooper and Brody, Quint asks, "Hooper, what exactly can you do with these things of yours?" Just as Hooper turns around, the clear moving reflection of a boom mic and pole are visible on the glass of the door to the cabin, just behind him. (01:50:15)
Visible crew/equipment: Just after the shark's first surprise attack on Hooper's cage, bright blue equipment is visible just past the cage, as the shark swims away. (01:54:10)
Visible crew/equipment: After Quint smashes up the radio, the shark re-appears. In the shot of Quint, as he walks along the side of the boat, the clear reflection of the filming crew's vessel is visible in the nearest window. (01:39:10)
Visible crew/equipment: After Brody buys the sign supplies, when Hendricks shows up Brody places the box in the front seat, and as Hendricks tells Brody about the Boy Scouts, pay attention to the left window across the street, where we can see one of the local residents holding a camera and looking out the window facing the location shoot, taking pictures of the actors and film crew. The filming took place at the corner of Main St and S. Water St, Edgartown. (00:10:50)
Visible crew/equipment: After tying off the cleats, the shark pulls Orca causing it to tip. As Hooper and Brody fall backwards onto the deck, in this close-up the white tape mark is visible on the black anti-slip mat - where Quint will land the machete in a subsequent shot. (01:43:00)
Visible crew/equipment: Aboard the Orca, Brody accidentally causes the cage bars to fall over, and as both air tanks roll forward the multiple head set lights are reflected on the two tanks. (01:13:35)
Visible crew/equipment: Hooper and Brody grab a couple of poles as the Orca pulls alongside the two floating barrels. When Quint says, "Watch those barrels, boys. Watch them," the crew's vessel is clearly reflected in the cabin's side glass window. (01:42:15)
Visible crew/equipment: When the three guys first see the shark, it shows a shot of the shark swimming past and there are shadows of equipment and about three crew members just watching the action. It's not eqiupment from the Orca because nothing is there that looks similar to this shadow. (01:22:00)
Visible crew/equipment: Just after the two barrels pop up, Hooper comes down from the bridge deck and quips, "Now what?" In the next shot as the two barrels bob up and down, Orca is in the distance with Quint still up on the bridge deck, and Hooper and Brody standing on deck at the stern, but we can see there's someone else aboard who's moving around inside the cabin, beside the hanging net. (01:41:50)
Visible crew/equipment: In the scene where Quint shoots the shark with a harpoon gun, when the harpoon hits the shark you can see the shadow of the cameraman. (01:39:25)
Visible crew/equipment: When the man is in front of Brody talking to him on the beach the film crew are reflected in Brody's glasses.
Visible crew/equipment: After hoisting up the damaged cage, when Quint walks over to stand beside Brody in the close-up the reflection of a male crew member's head is visible in the window, behind the ladder, until Brody lets go of the line. The crew's moving shadow is also visible under the cabin window, just after Quint passes it. (01:56:40)
Visible crew/equipment: In the scene after the shark has pulled out the stern cleats and the three men are kneeling down in the boat; look at the window of the cabin door of the Orca, and you can see the crew on a separate boat being reflected in the glass. (01:45:10)
Visible crew/equipment: After spotting the shark, which Quint declares is a twenty five footer, Brody asks, "How do we handle this?" and the crew's swaying vessel is visible in the reflection on the starboard windows. (01:22:20)
Visible crew/equipment: Just before the barrel smashes the cabin window, as Quint shouts, "Untie us! He'll pull out the transom!" the reflection of the crew's swaying vessel is visible in the window of the cabin, behind Hooper. (01:44:00)
Visible crew/equipment: When the first barrel goes on and Quint is at the front saying "5° port now." When we see a close up of the barrel at the bottom right of the picture you can see the wake from the camera boat. The wake is going toward the shark and not away from it.
Answer: Although the 1995 documentary "The Making of Jaws" claims that the shooting star was real, the fact is that the shooting-star background effect is a Steven Spielberg trademark in most of his films (first noticed in "Jaws," but also appearing in "Close Encounters," "E.T. The Extraterrestrial," "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom," "Saving Private Ryan" and others). Spielberg has always had a fascination with shooting stars, dating back to his childhood, and he works them into almost every film. Http://americanprofile.com/articles/steven-spielberg-shooting-stars-movies/.
Charles Austin Miller