- The Kick. Open with a random killing that no one seems too concerned about.
- The Hero. Stick with a formula. Either go with the rogue "bad ass" with a shady past, or the fun-loving "good guy" type out to save mankind.
- The Brain...Oh, Never mind. Have the obligatory marine biologist, but use the "dingy woman" character who will immediately flirt with the hero and who is completely unbelievable as any type of scientist.
- The Villain. No. It's not the shark. This is the corrupt politician or business man who is out to make money and will disregard anything the hero says, forcing the hero to make some pseudo-philosophical statement about how the villain is an ass.
- The Quality. Budget got you down? Don't worry. Just use stock footage of some guy fishing shot on Super 8mm circa 1970. The audience won't notice the glaring difference between the shots.
- The Shark. Make sure you have it look as fake as possible. Rubber is good. Have all attack shots just close ups of the teeth. Add in some over the top crunching noises. And make the shark make an audible "roaring" sound- because that's EXTRA scary.
- The Shark Part II. Need a bigger shark? Of course, there's ALWAYS a mama shark. (Especially good for types of white sharks who are just so well known for their maternal instincts. *sarcasm*) Just use footage of a white shark and super-impose boats by it to make it look huge.
- The Sidekick. Have him ex-military for more punch. And slightly crazy. He'll try to save the day and either get eaten or fail.
- The Plan. The plan is so crazy that the hero can't find words to describe it. He just has to move and move quickly. When it comes down to it, the plan is actually quite simple and there are no excuses as to why the hero was unable to communicate it.
- Karma. Because we all know that in life, bad guys NEVER get ahead. Their evil ways will ALWAYS come back to bite them in the ass...no pun intended.
- The Punchline. Add in a few groaners, like "Chew on this!". We all know we'd be so witty if a shark was trying to eat us, so indulge us. This line is all the more powerful if uttered by the useless biologist who just spent the last 5 minutes screaming helplessly for the hero to save her.
- The Setup for the Sequel, a.k.a, Nature comes out on top. The shark was annihilated, right? It was the only one of its kind, right? Or was it... ???