Explain the techniques used by Spielberg that make the opening minutes of the landing scene in Saving Private Ryan a realistic and shocking portrayal of war. Saving Private Ryan is a film that is regarded as one of the best and most believable portrayals of war, because of the way he uses the camera and shoots the film. This is because sometimes he puts blood on the camera, sometimes the camera follows the soldiers and copies what they do. You also see people crying and people in shock he shows the film so there are no indestructible heroes like in many other films.
The people in Saving Private Ryan actually get hurt like the captain in most films the person in charge of the team or group never gets killed but Hanks does get killed in the film. Spielberg shows that war is gruesome, revolting and also quite shocking to some people. Spielberg does this by doing close up of peoples faces. Like were Hanks is on the beach where he is looking is looking around and everything goes quiet and then the sound slowly comes back again as someone pulls him out of it by screaming at him. He also follows the soldiers like when they jump over the side into the water and then the camera goes with them as well.
The first image is of the sea defences. This image is a close up shot with a close up looking up at them to make them look bigger. The colours in this part of the film are blacks, dull, overcast and the sea is a greyish colour. The sounds are the roaring of the sea as it comes up the beach. This is because it gives you a realistic portrayal of what it was like to try and get up the beach. All these things effect the audience by making them expect or anticipate death which makes you think nobody could survive getting up on to the beach. The second image is of Tom Hanks hand.
This image is a close up shot of his hand shaking, he tries to stop it. Then the camera angle follows his flask up to his face. It does this very smoothly then moves up to a close up of his face to see that he is worried and fearful. It is used to introduce him to the audience and then the camera pans out. The colours are dull, dirty, and shadowy and change from dark to light as the camera moves from his hand up to his face. The sounds are of the motor or engine of the boat, the other sound is of the sea and the rattling of his flask as he moves it around.
This effects the audience by making them think he’s scared or nervous. It also shows he has a weakness and so is a normal person who is vulnerable this makes the audience like him and makes them feel sympathetic to him. The third image is of Jackson. This shot is a close up of him and shows us his faith by kissing his cross and muttering a prayer. The colours are dark, dull and dirty. The sounds are of people being sick, coughing and retching. Another sound is of the water against the boat and the whistle signal to show they have to get ready to get out as they’ve got to the beach.
This effects the audience by suggesting it is an extreme situation. We also see something about different about him and want him to survive because of this. It also makes the audience feel they are closer to him than the rest of the people on the boat except for Hanks maybe. The fourth image is of the underwater scenes. This shot starts as a close up of Hanks face then when Hanks says over the side. After he said it the camera follows the soldiers over the side and as the soldiers walk up the beach and stumble on the dead bodies he makes the camera go up and down to resemble it doing the same thing.
The colours are dark, murky, have red splashes of blood, and the water is a dark grey blue colour. The sounds are of the bullets hitting the water and everything is muffled and distorted. Also it changes as you go in and out of the water. All of these things make the audience feel like they are there in the middle of the action. It also makes us feel we are one of the soldiers under the water. This scene feels realistic to the audience because we hear what we think they will hear. The fifth image is about Tom Hanks shock. This is a shot that starts a few feet away from Hanks.
After that it gently moves in towards Hanks and becomes a long angle shot. The camera then goes jerky as it moves into a close up of Hanks face and shows his eyes and sometimes goes into slow motion. Then it looks straight at his face and eyes which coincides with the way he breaths as he picks up his hat with bloody water in it. The colours are dark, murky, grey and shadowy. The sounds change and get quieter and then louder as Hanks goes in and out of his shock. This effects the audience by telling them how they should feel and makes them feel close to the action due to this
I conclude that Saving Private Ryan is probably the best portrayal of war I have seen. Because of the way he uses his camera angles and makes the audience feel they are in the centre of the film. I also think that it deserved the 5 Oscars it got. But it is only that good because of the way he uses the film to show the shocking and horrific portrayals of war. This is because the film is not only about a hero who never dies and lives against the odds and who is indestructible, but about a hero and team of soldiers who can actually die in the film. In most other films the best and most important characters always live.
But in Saving Private Ryan the main characters all die except for three of them. This film is also good because of the way Spielberg manages to, make the film interesting and slightly funny so you don’t get bored half way through the film. The film is also good as it adds a twist to it and this is the twist where you think Hanks plays the old man on Omaha beach at the start of the film. This is because when you zoom into his eyes and back out again you see it come out of Hanks eyes. It is not until the end of the film just as it finishes and Hanks dies that you find out that it is actually Matt Damon who plays Private Ryan.
Another way he creates the way the bullets hit the soldiers especially in the underwater scenes where they are all muffled. The other thing is the mangled and mutalated guts, arms, legs and heads which the audience are fully able to see them being blown apart. The other good bit is where the soldier who gets his arm blown off goes to pick it up again out of shock of losing his arm. I think Spielberg needs to be told how good his film is and portrays war for what it really is and what really happens during war.
