Saving Private Ryan - Scene review

SAVING PRIVATE RYAN

The film starts with the boats approaching the beach. The unfriendly environment it already shown by the weather, as the crushing waves make soldiers puke. The hand held camera is used really effectively to show the harsh weather conditions. The camera focuses in to key parts, like the soldiers shaking hand or the soldiers praying, to show us the fear these soldiers are taking and creates tension as with what happens next.

As they get to the beach, a really impressive camera shot was when there was a camera at the back of the boat and as the gates dropped down, bullets flew in from the German gunners, killing the soldiers and the blood splatters on the camera. This shots shows the immense chaos and tells us that this scene was just a complete massacre. Another shot that I liked was a medium shot underwater which showed the bullets going through the water around the camera. There isn’t much sound in the underwater scene and this creates tension with the audience.

A P.O.V camera angle was used showing the German gunners in the bunkers raining led on the panicking soldiers below, this demonstrates the chaos around the battlefield. The high camera angle shows the soldiers as weak and really vulnerable.