Joe Alves
- Known for
- Art
- Born
- May 21, 1936, San Leandro, California, USA
- Movies
- 12
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.
Best-Known Movies
Jaws 3-D
1983
Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story
2025
The Making of 'Jaws'
1995
The Shark Is Still Working
2009
The Making of 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind'
2001
Jaws, a Monstrous Success
2024
Sharksploitation
2024
3D: A Brief History
2004
Purgatory: Entering John Carpenter's 'Escape From New York'
2018
Viaggio nel cinema in 3D: Una storia vintage
2016
Filmography
| 2025 | The Farmer and the Shark | Self |
| 2025 | Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story | Self |
| 2024 | Jaws, a Monstrous Success | Self - set designer |
| 2024 | Sharksploitation | Self |
| 2018 | Purgatory: Entering John Carpenter's 'Escape From New York' | Self |
| 2016 | Viaggio nel cinema in 3D: Una storia vintage | |
| 2009 | The Shark Is Still Working | Self |
| 2004 | 3D: A Brief History | |
| 2003 | Return to 'Escape from New York' | Himself |
| 2001 | The Making of 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' | Self |
| 1995 | The Making of 'Jaws' | Self |
Directing, Writing & Producing
| 1983 | Jaws 3-D | Director |
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