Joe Alves

Known for ArtBorn 1936-05-21 (age 90)San Leandro, California, USA

Joe Alves (born 21 May 1936, San Leandro, California) is an American film production designer, perhaps best known for his work on three of the Jaws films. He directed Jaws 3-D. Alves has designed three features for Steven Spielberg, firstly for The Sugarland Express. He designed the three mechanical sharks for the movie Jaws (1975) with mechanical effects man Bob Mattey supervising their physical construction in Sun Valley CA. After the sharks were completed, they were trucked to the shooting location, but unfortunately they had not been tested in water causing a series of delays that have become quite legendary over time. He was nominated for the Academy Award and won the BAFTA for Best Art Direction for his work on Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Alves worked on Jaws 2 (1978) in the capacity of both production designer and as second unit director. After John D. Hancock, the initial director of Jaws 2, was sacked, it was suggested that Alves co-direct it with Verna Fields (who edited the original Jaws). Jeannot Szwarc was hired, however, to complete the film. The model of New York he created for John Carpenter's Escape from New York (1981) has been described as "memorably derelict", and he was visual consultant on Carpenter's Starman (1984).Read more

Movies & web series

See the Man Run

The Young Country

Return to 'Escape from New York'

Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story

Sarge: The Badge or the Cross

Jaws

The Shark Is Still Working

Sharksploitation

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

The Making of 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind'

Escape from New York

Starman

The Making of 'Jaws'

Jaws, a Monstrous Success

The Sugarland Express

3D: A Brief History

Geronimo: An American Legend

Isn't It Shocking?

Pufnstuf

Scream, Pretty Peggy

Jaws 2

Fire Down Below

Winning

Drop Zone

Everybody's All-American

Change of Habit

Shadow Conspiracy

Sinbad: Beyond the Veil of Mists

Embryo

Double Indemnity

Jaws 3-D

Purgatory: Entering John Carpenter's 'Escape From New York'

The Farmer and the Shark

Viaggio nel cinema in 3D: Una storia vintage

Not Your Average Joe