Saving Private Ryan - Beginning Scene Analysis

The opening shot is a mid shot that slowly tracks backwards into a long shot. The beginning of the shot focuses on the main protagonist showing how he is important and singled out, however as the shot tracks backwards he is shown to be one solider of many and just as vulnerable.

The next sequence of shots is mid shots to close up shots of the other soldiers, showing how scared and trapped they feel in that situation as well as the fact that the movie identifies them as individuals, not a group, to show the horror of war and how it can effect anyone. The next important shot is from our P.O.V which shows the US soldiers being gunned down by the Germans. The camera in this shot is quite shaky to mimic the movements of the boat and place us in the scenario, to make us feel like we are there.

The next is another P.O.V but from the German gunner's perspective, which is at a high angle. This shot shows them gunning down US military soldiers, the high angle making the soldiers look vulnerable and like vermin to be killed.

The next important shot is another P.O.V that is from our perspective, as the film wants to put us in the action which is shown by the second paragraph. The shot is very obscured as the scene before the camera is quite chaotic with German's firing away at the boat. The camera, with the other soldiers, jumps over board into the water and follows the main character. The bobbing up and down effect used makes it very realistic and seem like we are there, which is the main goal of this scene.

The next shot is another P.O.V from our perspective showing us the chaotic battling on the beach. The shot is very obscured and shaky as the location is still close to the waves. We are also shown many men dodging bullets, fighting back the waves and getting for cover. The quick movement of the camera in this shot shows how fast you must be in this scenario or you could die, emphasizing the danger of the situation.

The next sequence of shots goes along like that, from the P.O.V of us as we are shown the danger and horror of war. However the next important shot for analysis is from the P.O.V of Tom Hank's character, as he sees the gore and fear with his own eyes. The P.O.V shot from the main character is to help us empathize with him and gain a bit more perspective from him. The shot is shown in slow-mo and the sound is blocked out, which convey's to us that the character is going through shell shock at that moment. His P.O.V shows many soldiers keeping cover or moving ahead, many hiding in fear. One of the many important things we see from his P.O.V is a fellow solider looking for and picking up his arm, which has been blown of. The calm nature of the soldier shows us that the injury he sustained is quite common, he could also be in so much trauma and shock that he is unaffected.

The final few shots basically re-enforce the things I have said with shots of Tom Hank's character reacting to it all in a calm and unsure manner, thanks to the shell shock. From this analysis, it is obvious that this scene is to portray the troubles that the soldiers went through and to put us in the situation as well. I also think it was to make us empathize with the characters of the film and realize the dangers of their journey, through this chaotic and gory site.