Saving Private Ryan

Camerawork-Close Ups

The opening shot of the film begins with a close up of the American flag. The use of this establishes the setting of the film, it provides the audience knowledge that this is set in America and has some relation to war.

The next example of a close up is the scene where the camera angle starts as a close up, the camera zooms in towards the veterans eyes. This is used to establish the character, a close up is used to demonstrate the characters distraught because he is at a war cemetery. The camera zooms into his eyes which provides the audience with more information, it shows he is crying at the sight of the graves-it adds detail to the scene

Camerawork-long shots

This shot is shown towards the middle of the opening scene. A long shot is used to establish the number of deaths seen during the war, it provides the audience with information regarding the scale of the war. A close up or a medium shot would have less effect because the audience would see less, they would have a limited understanding of the amount of deaths and the real impact of the war.

This long shot establishes the atmosphere for this film. It perspectives the seriousness of the film because it shows a veteran alone walking towards a cemetery. A long shot makes the shot more symbolic, it makes him appear alone after the war

Editing

• The film opens with a fade in from black to an American flag, this is used to establish the setting. It provides the audience with information, opening from black informs the audience that the film is dark-it sets the tone of the film for the audience straight away

When the camera zooms into the veterans eyes, there is a sudden jump cut to the war. This is done to demonstrate the disastrous effects of the war and it could indicate the suddenness of the war. This informs the audience of the tone of the film, it shows the film is dark

Sound• The film uses both diagetic and non-diagetic sound

• The non diagetic soundtrack is very prominentduring the scene where the veteran approaches thegrave. This is done to make the scene more tenseand creates a sad and grave atmosphere

• The diagetic sound is very limited during the openingscene, there is not much dialogue which adds to theatmosphere of the film. However, one significantpiece of diagetic sound is the crying of the veteran.This sound emphasizes the tone of the film, itdemonstrates to the audience how harrowing thewar was and the effect it had on the veteran.

• This film uses a L cut when the camera zooms intothe veterans eyes. The sound from the war createsthe effect of a flashback .

Mise en Scene

• The film uses the imagery of the graves to demonstrates the number of deaths in the war, it makes the audience empathize with the veteran. The imagery creates a dark tone for the film and perspectives the war’s effects for the audience

• In addition, the lighting in the end scene is much lower. This scene is from a flashback in the war, the lighting is lower to emphasize this was a violent and traumatic time in his life.