saving private ryan

AS Media Textual AnalysisAdam Lievesley

(presentation by Scott Cartwright)

About the Film

Saving Private Ryan is a film that follows the story of the Normandy Landings, the story involves the search and rescue of a paratrooper

whose brother was killed in action.

The filmed is directed by famous director Steven Spielberg and stars famous actors such as Matt Damon (The Bourne Identity) and Tom

Hanks (Forrest Gump). The film is distributed by Dreamworks Pictures (Shrek) and Paramount Pictures into cinemas/theatres in late July 1998. The film managed to bag over four hundred and eighty million dollars at

the US Box Office.

Camera Angles and Shots

The first shot is of a slightly overexposed low saturation shot of the American flag flying in the wind. It is overexposed so you can see the sun coming through the thin looking material as the shot is backlight.

This straight away makes you feel like the war is/has taken its toll on America. As if they are all near the end. It also further sets up a sad fell

due to the low saturation shot of the flag making the colours dull like there isn’t much happiness left.

The next shot is a medium shot that pans up from the floor past someone’s feet and up to the torso and back of the head. The shot

makes the person look old and fragile because of the steadiness of his footsteps and the slow speed that he walks at.

The camera turns to a wide angle view from behind the elderly gentleman to reviling he Is being followed by his family the reason for this

is explained above.

The American flag at the beginning connotes that the film is going to be patriotic as it is the first thing we see in the whole film. The panning shot

of the elderly gentleman is used in conjunction with his costume. He sports beige clothing which is usually associated with older people.

The camera then switches as if it was looking behind the old man to see he is being followed by what looks like his close family. The proxemics of

them to him shows they are giving him space. They all have a sad worried expression on their faces. Their distance from him gives him

space to reflect and grieve as we later find out he is going to his friend’s memorial.

This is a very important occasion as one of what seems to be his grown up children carries a camera and is taking photos.

Mise-En-Scene

Sound

At the beginning there is only sound the screen is black; there are some military sounding trumpets. They sound like they are playing in a

funeral because of the soft sounds. This straight away grabs your attention and starts to give a sad feel and prepares you for what is

coming.

The diegetic sound of the camera clicking indicates he is only taking a few photos and doesn’t want to distract the elderly man.

The opening shot fades in from black to the shot of the flag this is synchronised to the music to create a relationship to the shot of the flag

and the trumpets.

The shot of the flag has been edited in post-production to give a low saturation. This is to show a dark time in the country’s history and that

reflection and grieving is occurring. After the many lives lost.

There is a continuity system and all of the takes are quite long. I believe this is to show the man’s old age and that he is slowly taking everything

in whilst he is thinking about his past.

Editing

The opening shot fades in from black to the shot of the flag this is synchronised to the music to create a relationship to the shot of the flag

and the trumpets.

The shot of the flag has been edited in post-production to give a low saturation. This is to show a dark time in the country’s history and that

reflection and grieving is occurring. After the many lives lost.

There is a continuity system and all of the takes are quite long. I believe this is to show the man’s old age and that he is slowly taking everything

in whilst he is thinking about his past.

Editing